Life has a funny way of changing your priorities. The last year was an exciting one but one that has seen my occupied with other facets of life. After a number of years training intensely with Jissen Dojos and at various seminars, including those reviewed on this blog and a couple of excellent seminars that I didn't get around to reviewing (Eddie Wazen and Robin Doenicke), I am at a cross roads once again. I've been through this before, when I stopped teaching Qigong and Daoist Internal Alchemy and shut down the Beiji Healing Arts website. At that time I felt the need to shift focus as I do again now. So this is the end of this blog, for now at least. I intent to continue pursuing my own interests and personal path, which at the moment is leading me to want to explore the historical aspects of Ninjutsu. I remain a proud Bujinkan and baguazhang practitioner, and have enjoyed all of my training, but with fatherhood and career restricting my ability to get to a dojo, I will move to more private training and study. I have started the Brisbane Historical Ninjutsu Research Society and intend to concentrate on studying those texts of Ninjutsu that predate the Japanese and Western Ninja Booms. I also intent to look at some texts from the 19th and early 20th Centuries which are not yet translated from Japanese, but which may lead to additional insight into this art. To all those who have supported me and trained with me up to this point, thank you for all you have done. Sometimes the most interesting views are found on the path less traveled.
Bryn
PS I'd like to leave you some parting gifts. The first is this interview with Eddie Wazen From Penthouse Magazine (yeah, yeah I know what you're thinking, just read it). The Second is the interview with Robin Doenicke from Blitz Magazine conducted by Paul Johnstone, my instructor from Jissen Dojos International.
Jun 2, 2012
Jun 14, 2011
A gift from Shirashi Sensei
During the recent trip to Japan to train with senior members of the Bujinkan, Shirashi Sensei presented Sensei Johnstone with a gift for Jissen Dojos International in the form of a Demon Mask. The Demon Mask is found within the nine ryuha of the Bujinkan, particularly within the Kumogakure Ryu. Demon Masks, however, feature prominently within other aspects of Japanese culture, especially within Noh Theater, Shinto Ritual Dances and Kyogen Plays. There are a large variety of different 'Demon Masks', and they are far from Uniform. Briefly I'd like to explore the Demon Mask and its' relationship to Ninjutsu.
The most commonly known Demon Masks are arguably the Hannya, the Oni and the Tengu. The Hannya is widely know in the West as it is a very common Irezumi (Japanese Tattooing) design. It is usually considered to represent a women whose jealousy or obsession is so extreme that it turns her into a demon.
Tengu (literally 'Heavenly Dogs') are Bird Demons, and the masks that represent them have either a beak, or a very long nose. The Tengu in some Ninja creation myths is said to have taught the original Ninja. We find similar stories of Tengu linked to Yamabushi and other mountain ascetics who practiced Shugendo and were said to develop super-natural powers. These same ascetics are said to have founded Ninjutsu in other creation myths, so there is a common link here. We must consider that having stories of demons or ascetics with super-natural powers as teachers, infers that the Ninja themselves had such powers. In feudal Japan this is both a good cover story to conceal the real origins/ techniques of Ninjutsu; and a powerful form of psychological warfare against superstitious minds.
Oni are gigantic demons which are somewhat humanoid, but have characteristics of both Oxen (Horns) and Tigers (Claws, Fangs and often a tiger fur loincloth). There skin is often blue or red, and they are very strong. Often they are armed with an iron club. Originally they were more spiritual beings who caused disease, disaster and warfare, a characteristic they share with the Tengu. Also like the Tengu, Oni have over time come to be a symbol of protection against evil, rather than being evil. At first this seems strange, but if we consider that sometimes you need a mean individual to scare away other mean individuals, it makes more sense. This is along the lines of "he's a bad guy", "yeah but he's OUR bad guy". Better the devil you know.
We find a link between Ninjutsu and Oni within the esoteric aspects of the art, particularly Kuji Kiri (the 'nine cuts'). This is a practice of cutting horizontal and vertical lines, using the 'sword fingers' mudra, over the symbol for Oni as a kind of protective spell. This is by no means something unique to Ninjutsu, rather it was taken from Buddhism and Daoism (also spelled Taoism). Kuji kiri and Kuji-In (the famous finger knitting practice made famous by Stephen Hayes & 80's ninja movies) are in-depth subjects which are beyond the scope of this article, so I will give only a brief overview. The first written reference to the Kuji Kiri is by the Chinese Daoist Master Ge Hong (283 - 343) in the Neipian. He uses says it is a a spell for safety in the mountains, which were thought to contain many dangerous entities in Chinese folklore. So we can see why this would be considered to be a useful charm be the Ninja families, who lived in the mountainous regions of Koga and Iga.
If we examine other later Daoist ritual texts we will find the the Kuji Kiri is to be performed in the north-eastern direction. This direction is called the Demon Gate ('Kimon' in Japanese) and is one of two directions from which evil is considered to enter the world. By cutting the lines of the kuji-kiri we symbolically seal out evil influences and provide protection. When we look at the Chinese astrology we find that the North Eastern direction is the 'Tiger-Ox' direction and now the Oni's appearance starts to make sense.
Another fact not found in any published Ninjutsu text, new or old, that I'm aware of, is that the Kuji Kiri is sometimes cut with four horizontal and five vertical lines, but at other times it is the opposite. This fact can be found in the Chinese Daoist ritual texts, and is dependant on the day on which the Kuji Kiri is performed. This relates to some of the material found within the Tenmon ('Heavens Gate' - Astrology, Astronomy and Meteorology) aspects of Ninjutsu.
Back to Shirashi Sensei's gift to the dojo, I believe he has given us this gift to bring good luck and ward away evil from our dojo. Shirashi Sensei, thank you for this wonderful gift, we are deeply honored.
The most commonly known Demon Masks are arguably the Hannya, the Oni and the Tengu. The Hannya is widely know in the West as it is a very common Irezumi (Japanese Tattooing) design. It is usually considered to represent a women whose jealousy or obsession is so extreme that it turns her into a demon.
Tengu (literally 'Heavenly Dogs') are Bird Demons, and the masks that represent them have either a beak, or a very long nose. The Tengu in some Ninja creation myths is said to have taught the original Ninja. We find similar stories of Tengu linked to Yamabushi and other mountain ascetics who practiced Shugendo and were said to develop super-natural powers. These same ascetics are said to have founded Ninjutsu in other creation myths, so there is a common link here. We must consider that having stories of demons or ascetics with super-natural powers as teachers, infers that the Ninja themselves had such powers. In feudal Japan this is both a good cover story to conceal the real origins/ techniques of Ninjutsu; and a powerful form of psychological warfare against superstitious minds.
Oni are gigantic demons which are somewhat humanoid, but have characteristics of both Oxen (Horns) and Tigers (Claws, Fangs and often a tiger fur loincloth). There skin is often blue or red, and they are very strong. Often they are armed with an iron club. Originally they were more spiritual beings who caused disease, disaster and warfare, a characteristic they share with the Tengu. Also like the Tengu, Oni have over time come to be a symbol of protection against evil, rather than being evil. At first this seems strange, but if we consider that sometimes you need a mean individual to scare away other mean individuals, it makes more sense. This is along the lines of "he's a bad guy", "yeah but he's OUR bad guy". Better the devil you know.
We find a link between Ninjutsu and Oni within the esoteric aspects of the art, particularly Kuji Kiri (the 'nine cuts'). This is a practice of cutting horizontal and vertical lines, using the 'sword fingers' mudra, over the symbol for Oni as a kind of protective spell. This is by no means something unique to Ninjutsu, rather it was taken from Buddhism and Daoism (also spelled Taoism). Kuji kiri and Kuji-In (the famous finger knitting practice made famous by Stephen Hayes & 80's ninja movies) are in-depth subjects which are beyond the scope of this article, so I will give only a brief overview. The first written reference to the Kuji Kiri is by the Chinese Daoist Master Ge Hong (283 - 343) in the Neipian. He uses says it is a a spell for safety in the mountains, which were thought to contain many dangerous entities in Chinese folklore. So we can see why this would be considered to be a useful charm be the Ninja families, who lived in the mountainous regions of Koga and Iga.
If we examine other later Daoist ritual texts we will find the the Kuji Kiri is to be performed in the north-eastern direction. This direction is called the Demon Gate ('Kimon' in Japanese) and is one of two directions from which evil is considered to enter the world. By cutting the lines of the kuji-kiri we symbolically seal out evil influences and provide protection. When we look at the Chinese astrology we find that the North Eastern direction is the 'Tiger-Ox' direction and now the Oni's appearance starts to make sense.
Another fact not found in any published Ninjutsu text, new or old, that I'm aware of, is that the Kuji Kiri is sometimes cut with four horizontal and five vertical lines, but at other times it is the opposite. This fact can be found in the Chinese Daoist ritual texts, and is dependant on the day on which the Kuji Kiri is performed. This relates to some of the material found within the Tenmon ('Heavens Gate' - Astrology, Astronomy and Meteorology) aspects of Ninjutsu.
Back to Shirashi Sensei's gift to the dojo, I believe he has given us this gift to bring good luck and ward away evil from our dojo. Shirashi Sensei, thank you for this wonderful gift, we are deeply honored.
Jissen Dojos International News
OK so it's been quite a while between posts and lots has happened within our school. Jissen Dojos International has been confirmed by sources within the Bujinkan Hombu as the largest Bujinkan school in Queensland. As far as we know we are the only Bujinkan School in our area to offer Children's classes in the form of the Little Warrior program. The instructors hold child protection Blue Cards (click here for more information about Blue Cards).
Many of our Instructors and Senior Students trained with Soke Hatsumi and a number of the Senior Shihans over the past few weeks during a trip to Japan. They came back black and blue, but with big smiles of their faces. Sensei Johnstone was awarded his Tenth Dan and also the Bujinkan Gold Medal for an act of Bravery in 2005.
More seminars have been held at the Brisbane Dojo (Mt Gravatt) of the past months. Topics have included Kyusho Jutsu (Pressure Point fighting) and Tanto Jutsu (Knife Fighting and Knife Defense). Both contained a wealth of information.
The Dojo has regularly appeared in Blitz Magazine with articles on Kunai, Metsubushi, Kusari Gama; and Senseis Johnstone, Eddie Wazen and Shihhan Robin Doenicke. Sensei Wazen runs the Jissen Beijing Dojo and has a strong background in Military and Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics as well as the Buijnkan arts.
Shihan Robin Doenicke lives in Japan and teaches at the Hombu. He has studied extensively with Soke and many of the Japanese Shihan over the last 15 years, whilst living in Japan.
Both Eddie Wazen and Robin Doenicke will be running seminars at the Dojo over the new couple of months.
For more information on Robin's seminar, click here. This will open a PDF on this seminar.
For information on Eddie's seminar please contact the dojo here.
Many of our Instructors and Senior Students trained with Soke Hatsumi and a number of the Senior Shihans over the past few weeks during a trip to Japan. They came back black and blue, but with big smiles of their faces. Sensei Johnstone was awarded his Tenth Dan and also the Bujinkan Gold Medal for an act of Bravery in 2005.
More seminars have been held at the Brisbane Dojo (Mt Gravatt) of the past months. Topics have included Kyusho Jutsu (Pressure Point fighting) and Tanto Jutsu (Knife Fighting and Knife Defense). Both contained a wealth of information.
The Dojo has regularly appeared in Blitz Magazine with articles on Kunai, Metsubushi, Kusari Gama; and Senseis Johnstone, Eddie Wazen and Shihhan Robin Doenicke. Sensei Wazen runs the Jissen Beijing Dojo and has a strong background in Military and Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics as well as the Buijnkan arts.
Shihan Robin Doenicke lives in Japan and teaches at the Hombu. He has studied extensively with Soke and many of the Japanese Shihan over the last 15 years, whilst living in Japan.
Both Eddie Wazen and Robin Doenicke will be running seminars at the Dojo over the new couple of months.
For more information on Robin's seminar, click here. This will open a PDF on this seminar.
For information on Eddie's seminar please contact the dojo here.
Jul 20, 2010
Mike Hammond Gyokko Ryu Seminar
This weekend just gone I attended the Ninjutsu Seminar run by Jissen Dojos International in conjunction with Takanoha Dojos Australia. The presenter was Australian Ninjutsu pioneer and 10th Dan, Mike Hammond. Some folks might remember Mike from Blitz Magazine articles during the 90's. Mike has a strong background in Close Personal Protection, Emergency Medicine and Education, as well as the martial arts.
Saturday started with Introductions and was follwed by Mike demonstrating the Kosshijutsu of the Gyokko Ryu system. Mike's medical background was evident in his accurate descriptions of the anatomical landmarks used to find the intented targets. A huge variety of points were covered, most demonstrated with painful effectiveness on me. I didn't mind as I'd volunteered, as feeling is believing! When the technique is done on you, you know where the target is, how to attack it and exactly how effective it is. We covered targets ranging from fingers, to ears, subscapular plexus, brachial plexus, insertions of bicep and triceps, thumbs, mastoid process and a whole lot more.
Other topics covered included the stances and basic receiving techniques of the kosshi sanpo, sanshin and torite goho. These were shown at a beginner level but also at a advanced level (ie blackbelt). Also covered were the Go Dai 5 element attitudes in combat, using the same technique but changing its 'flavour' with the different elements.
Some of the esoteric facets of ninjutsu were covered, including the healing side of ninjutsu and exercises based around the Sakki test.
Footwork was covered in great detail.
We practiced grappling and anti-grappling techniques, which Mike had learned a BJJ practitioner associated with the Gracie Family.
We covered knife defense and disarms. These Mike neatly summed up as 'IOU'; inside, outside and underneath.
Mike also entertained us with stories from the early days of ninjutsu, both in Australia and on from his travels to Japan to train with Soke Hatsumi and other senior Shihan. Mike also passed on anecdotes and advice from Soke Hatsumi.
I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar, the first Mike has consented to teach in nearly a decade. It is a testament to Sensei Johnstone for his tenacity and persistence. It is also a testament to the mutual respect between Sensei Hammond and Sensei Johnstone.
Hopeful we will get to do it all again next year.
For further information try these links:
Takanoha Dojos Australia
Jissen Dojos International
Bujinkan Hombu Dojo
Saturday started with Introductions and was follwed by Mike demonstrating the Kosshijutsu of the Gyokko Ryu system. Mike's medical background was evident in his accurate descriptions of the anatomical landmarks used to find the intented targets. A huge variety of points were covered, most demonstrated with painful effectiveness on me. I didn't mind as I'd volunteered, as feeling is believing! When the technique is done on you, you know where the target is, how to attack it and exactly how effective it is. We covered targets ranging from fingers, to ears, subscapular plexus, brachial plexus, insertions of bicep and triceps, thumbs, mastoid process and a whole lot more.
Other topics covered included the stances and basic receiving techniques of the kosshi sanpo, sanshin and torite goho. These were shown at a beginner level but also at a advanced level (ie blackbelt). Also covered were the Go Dai 5 element attitudes in combat, using the same technique but changing its 'flavour' with the different elements.
Some of the esoteric facets of ninjutsu were covered, including the healing side of ninjutsu and exercises based around the Sakki test.
Footwork was covered in great detail.
We practiced grappling and anti-grappling techniques, which Mike had learned a BJJ practitioner associated with the Gracie Family.
We covered knife defense and disarms. These Mike neatly summed up as 'IOU'; inside, outside and underneath.
Mike also entertained us with stories from the early days of ninjutsu, both in Australia and on from his travels to Japan to train with Soke Hatsumi and other senior Shihan. Mike also passed on anecdotes and advice from Soke Hatsumi.
I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar, the first Mike has consented to teach in nearly a decade. It is a testament to Sensei Johnstone for his tenacity and persistence. It is also a testament to the mutual respect between Sensei Hammond and Sensei Johnstone.
Hopeful we will get to do it all again next year.
For further information try these links:
Takanoha Dojos Australia
Jissen Dojos International
Bujinkan Hombu Dojo
Mar 8, 2010
Hock Hochheim 2010 Brisbane Seminar
This weekend just gone, 6/7 march 2010, Hock held a seminar at Defensive Measures International's Brisbane Training Facility at Mt Gravatt. It was an action packed weekend, making it hard work to get up early to go to work this morning.
Hock covered various aspect's of Stick, Knife, Gun and Barehand Fighting, covering various counters to being attacked by these weapons.
Hock covered Stick level 1, knife 1 (revision for last year's participants), knife 2 and a fair bit of his Pacific Archipelago Unarmed Combat.
We did some great Arnis, Silat and Escrima type stick, knife and hand work. We did some very JKD / Wing Chun / Fillipino type handwork, including trapping drills, hubud and destructions, covering what would take months or years to cover at a normal club. As always the trick will be maintaining the skills developed and remembering all that we did.
It was great to get to practice some fast handwork and wake up some old neural pathways. Caught up with Dan, an old training buddy. Great to practice handwork with someone who can work at the same break-neck speed.
Learned some great stick drills, including some concepts which Dan said he hadn't learned in over three years of training Fillipino martial arts. It seemed to be a bit of an 'a-ha moment' for him, which is great. The stick disarms ending in joint locks were painful (and therefore good in my books) and I could tell Sempai Raymond was enjoying them as much as me.
The knife material was also brilliant, and can be found in Hock's Knife/ Counter Knife Book, which was a popular seller at the seminar.
A big thanks to Tim for playing crash-dummy for Hock and helping us all when we weren't quite getting it, Sensei Paul Johnstone for arranging the seminar, All the lads from regular training who showed (you know who you are!) and all the other participants. And of course a big shout out to Hock for a great weekend. To sum up the seminar, it was top notch!!! Hock is great in that he has some much info that if the group asks about a particular topic, he can explain and show the answer in great detail (that's how the two and a half hours of handwork drills started). It is a flexible approach that allows the group to really learn what they want to know with no BS about rank or readiness. If you ask, you are ready to here about it.
Hock covered various aspect's of Stick, Knife, Gun and Barehand Fighting, covering various counters to being attacked by these weapons.
Hock covered Stick level 1, knife 1 (revision for last year's participants), knife 2 and a fair bit of his Pacific Archipelago Unarmed Combat.
We did some great Arnis, Silat and Escrima type stick, knife and hand work. We did some very JKD / Wing Chun / Fillipino type handwork, including trapping drills, hubud and destructions, covering what would take months or years to cover at a normal club. As always the trick will be maintaining the skills developed and remembering all that we did.
It was great to get to practice some fast handwork and wake up some old neural pathways. Caught up with Dan, an old training buddy. Great to practice handwork with someone who can work at the same break-neck speed.
Learned some great stick drills, including some concepts which Dan said he hadn't learned in over three years of training Fillipino martial arts. It seemed to be a bit of an 'a-ha moment' for him, which is great. The stick disarms ending in joint locks were painful (and therefore good in my books) and I could tell Sempai Raymond was enjoying them as much as me.
The knife material was also brilliant, and can be found in Hock's Knife/ Counter Knife Book, which was a popular seller at the seminar.
A big thanks to Tim for playing crash-dummy for Hock and helping us all when we weren't quite getting it, Sensei Paul Johnstone for arranging the seminar, All the lads from regular training who showed (you know who you are!) and all the other participants. And of course a big shout out to Hock for a great weekend. To sum up the seminar, it was top notch!!! Hock is great in that he has some much info that if the group asks about a particular topic, he can explain and show the answer in great detail (that's how the two and a half hours of handwork drills started). It is a flexible approach that allows the group to really learn what they want to know with no BS about rank or readiness. If you ask, you are ready to here about it.
Mar 2, 2010
Hock's back in Australia this month
Well Hock Hochheim is heading back down under this month. Last years seminars were fantastic and I have no doubt that this years will be even bigger and better. For more info go here:
http://www.street-edge.com.au/hock_hochheim_seminar.php
or here:
http://www.hockscqc.com/shop/product353.html
Hock will be in Brisbane this weekend (6 & 7 of March 2010) covering knife, stick, gun and unarmed threat responses. Looking forward to this. Hock really takes time to help each participant and has a whole lot of funny stories to illustrate his points.
See you soon Hock!
Also heard a rumour that Richard Dimitri of Senshido may be returning to Australia this year too...
http://www.street-edge.com.au/hock_hochheim_seminar.php
or here:
http://www.hockscqc.com/shop/product353.html
Hock will be in Brisbane this weekend (6 & 7 of March 2010) covering knife, stick, gun and unarmed threat responses. Looking forward to this. Hock really takes time to help each participant and has a whole lot of funny stories to illustrate his points.
See you soon Hock!
Also heard a rumour that Richard Dimitri of Senshido may be returning to Australia this year too...
Aug 29, 2009
Close Quarter Battle Course
I've spent the last week training with Geoff 'Tank' Todd in his Phase 1 Close Quarter Battle system. This is a system of unarmed close combat derived from European military systems, such as those taught to Allied Service people in the Second World War. This system was pioneered by the likes of Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate, Biddle, Nelson and others, and taught to the shadow warriors of the Special Operations Executive, OSS, Commando squads and other similar groups. More about this system can be found here.
Monday through Thursday was basic skills development, with Friday being spent on Test Preparation and the Phase Test.
The course initially covered basic options for Unarmed Offense and Counter-Offense, including long and short range options. In line with Tank's philosophy of 'take 'em out, don't take 'em on' this methods are designed to end a fight quickly and decisively. We followed on with contigency options, in case you fail to take out the opponent with your primary options. These included techniques for quickly ending a stalemate situation. Favoured techniques are those found in books such as 'Kill or be Killed', 'Do or Die', 'Get Tough', 'Defendu', 'The Red and Gray Manuals' & US Military Field Manuals on Combatives.
The system appears simple on the surface, but is designed to be reliable under extreme stress. Range is crucial, as is a correct mindset, use of vision, and control over breathing and heart rate.
Also covered were edged and blunt weapon disarming, both when the opponent presents the weapon and then swings or stabs, and when you find yourself held at knife point or pinned with a blunt weapon (ambush phase attacks).
Hold Prevention and Hold Escapes were covered. In hold prevention you don't let the opponent grab you. With hold escapes, you've stuffed up and been grabbed in a hold such as a full nelson, hammer lock, sleeper hold, headlock, bear hug, etc, and must now escape this hold. All responses are based on those learned in the Offensive and Counter Offensive phase. This is the great strength of the Todd System, it is cohesive and logical. It relies on dirty fighting, from a sound technical base.
The tone of the seminar is very military, with techniques being performed to command in a method reminiscient of my Army Basic Training. This method did seem to increase retention, even if you didn't feel you were retaining it at the time. But this training always feels that way to me.
Lastly we moved into Combat Milling (sort of sparring, but with no 'in-out' invloved. Geoff said sparring is too sport-oriented and against the ethos of CQB. For those familiar with Kapap, Combat Milling embraces the concept of Kadeema) and the free fighting aspects.
The Course started with about 28 participants, including Security professionals, Police from a number of States and Countries, Martial Art and Self Defense Instructors, and Civilians; but within the first couple of days, some had decided that CQB wasn't for them. By Friday afternoon, all but 8, having been warned of the intense nature of the Testing Phase and the high level of perfection required to pass, had elected not to test at this time. I think many were put off by the footage we were shown of previous tests.
The Eight Testees (not to be confused with 8 Testis which would be just plain weird) began testing late Friday afternoon, after a full day of intensive preparation.
The test phase started with a 'Combat Sickener', designed to rattle and fatigue the participants and test thier determination and 'intestinal fortitude', as Tank would say. Then all of the aforemention skills were tested and graded on a scale of 1 - 5, with anything less than a 4 being not good enough to pass. The Knife Disarms were done with a live (and very sharp) blade, with the course Doctor on standby (as he was for the entire course). The Knife used was Tank's Green Role Knife, which can be seen here.
By the end of the skills testing, Tank told us that only three of the eight of us had not already failed. When he read out my name, I was stoked, being sure I'd already failed. I had decided sometime earlier that I would keep going with the testing phase until told to stop. These participants were told they could still participate in the combat phase of the testing, but should take five minutes to weigh up whether the risk of serious injury was worth it, knowing they had already failed. Many participants had already been injured by this time.
All but one of them decided not to continue, which left only four of us (none of whom were the big guys and one of whomwas a lady). We then proceed to fight each other participant in continuous rounds. upon completion of these fights, we were told we had not yet sufficiently internalised the skills and mentality of CQB. The testing phase was now over, yielding a 100% failure rate. Some participants appeared sad or pissed off, I just felt elated that I had pushed my self to go on and had gotten that far. I asked for and received feedback as to what I could have done better, but also was told that I had looked calm, centered and wasn't breathing too hard, which I put down to the intensive nature of the Street Edge training I've done over the last couple of years.
All in all, I really enjoyed most of the course and am glad I had a go. Lots of people talk a good talk, but with this course it's 'put up or shut up', with nowhere to hide and no room for excuses and BS.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, then check out the website, www.toddgroup.com, now I'm off to rub some more liniment into my bruises...
To Tank, Shane-o, Doc, Rowdy, Gusto, Jonathon, Badass and the other instructors on the course, thanks for all your help and support during the course, and for pushing us when we needed it.
Monday through Thursday was basic skills development, with Friday being spent on Test Preparation and the Phase Test.
The course initially covered basic options for Unarmed Offense and Counter-Offense, including long and short range options. In line with Tank's philosophy of 'take 'em out, don't take 'em on' this methods are designed to end a fight quickly and decisively. We followed on with contigency options, in case you fail to take out the opponent with your primary options. These included techniques for quickly ending a stalemate situation. Favoured techniques are those found in books such as 'Kill or be Killed', 'Do or Die', 'Get Tough', 'Defendu', 'The Red and Gray Manuals' & US Military Field Manuals on Combatives.
The system appears simple on the surface, but is designed to be reliable under extreme stress. Range is crucial, as is a correct mindset, use of vision, and control over breathing and heart rate.
Also covered were edged and blunt weapon disarming, both when the opponent presents the weapon and then swings or stabs, and when you find yourself held at knife point or pinned with a blunt weapon (ambush phase attacks).
Hold Prevention and Hold Escapes were covered. In hold prevention you don't let the opponent grab you. With hold escapes, you've stuffed up and been grabbed in a hold such as a full nelson, hammer lock, sleeper hold, headlock, bear hug, etc, and must now escape this hold. All responses are based on those learned in the Offensive and Counter Offensive phase. This is the great strength of the Todd System, it is cohesive and logical. It relies on dirty fighting, from a sound technical base.
The tone of the seminar is very military, with techniques being performed to command in a method reminiscient of my Army Basic Training. This method did seem to increase retention, even if you didn't feel you were retaining it at the time. But this training always feels that way to me.
Lastly we moved into Combat Milling (sort of sparring, but with no 'in-out' invloved. Geoff said sparring is too sport-oriented and against the ethos of CQB. For those familiar with Kapap, Combat Milling embraces the concept of Kadeema) and the free fighting aspects.
The Course started with about 28 participants, including Security professionals, Police from a number of States and Countries, Martial Art and Self Defense Instructors, and Civilians; but within the first couple of days, some had decided that CQB wasn't for them. By Friday afternoon, all but 8, having been warned of the intense nature of the Testing Phase and the high level of perfection required to pass, had elected not to test at this time. I think many were put off by the footage we were shown of previous tests.
The Eight Testees (not to be confused with 8 Testis which would be just plain weird) began testing late Friday afternoon, after a full day of intensive preparation.
The test phase started with a 'Combat Sickener', designed to rattle and fatigue the participants and test thier determination and 'intestinal fortitude', as Tank would say. Then all of the aforemention skills were tested and graded on a scale of 1 - 5, with anything less than a 4 being not good enough to pass. The Knife Disarms were done with a live (and very sharp) blade, with the course Doctor on standby (as he was for the entire course). The Knife used was Tank's Green Role Knife, which can be seen here.
By the end of the skills testing, Tank told us that only three of the eight of us had not already failed. When he read out my name, I was stoked, being sure I'd already failed. I had decided sometime earlier that I would keep going with the testing phase until told to stop. These participants were told they could still participate in the combat phase of the testing, but should take five minutes to weigh up whether the risk of serious injury was worth it, knowing they had already failed. Many participants had already been injured by this time.
All but one of them decided not to continue, which left only four of us (none of whom were the big guys and one of whomwas a lady). We then proceed to fight each other participant in continuous rounds. upon completion of these fights, we were told we had not yet sufficiently internalised the skills and mentality of CQB. The testing phase was now over, yielding a 100% failure rate. Some participants appeared sad or pissed off, I just felt elated that I had pushed my self to go on and had gotten that far. I asked for and received feedback as to what I could have done better, but also was told that I had looked calm, centered and wasn't breathing too hard, which I put down to the intensive nature of the Street Edge training I've done over the last couple of years.
All in all, I really enjoyed most of the course and am glad I had a go. Lots of people talk a good talk, but with this course it's 'put up or shut up', with nowhere to hide and no room for excuses and BS.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, then check out the website, www.toddgroup.com, now I'm off to rub some more liniment into my bruises...
To Tank, Shane-o, Doc, Rowdy, Gusto, Jonathon, Badass and the other instructors on the course, thanks for all your help and support during the course, and for pushing us when we needed it.
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