@aflt
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Having trained with several types of kick shields (Century, ASP, others) I believe Revgear make the best on the market.
As for the kick shield itself, it is indispensible for high impact, lower accuracy strikes (knees, mule/rear kicks, front thrust/defensive stomp kicks, etc.) or if you have concerns about the accuracy of a given student with any strikes. It works well for both the attacker and the bag holder. The tombstone is awesome for multiple angle strikes and higher precision stuff. Personally, I consider both essential to cover all training, but if I only had money for one, I’d go with the shield over the tombstone, just because in many ways it offers more versatility.
One last thing, a great deal of bag holder \”comfort\” comes from holding technique – something difficult to communicate via written directions.
Military/LE is a bit different. You can get certified as an agency instructor, which authorizes you to teach the curriculum you were trained in to your agency (i.e. the unit you work for). For me, that is the Air Force Security Forces (military police). I also teach (I made sure I’d received authorization for this from Londale Theus) associated units, such as the Air Force O.S.I. (office of special investigations). However, I don’t teach the stuff to none-law enforcement types, unless it’s someone specifically deploying to a danger zone. Then I will show then some basic rifle fighting techniques.
I know there have been quite a few military units from all of the services who sent people through the Force Protection Division to become agency instructors. As mentioned before, they (Force Protection) can provide you a list of agencies who’ve been trained, and perhaps you can find someone near you. Even better, try and go through the certification process yourself. It’s awesome, and can only enhance the military units and their skill levels. . .
I’m active duty Air Force – military police. We get limited H2H. At my last base, due to a generous boss, I was able to bring in the Krav Force Protection guys and certify several as agency instructors. So, I know at least one SF unit (about 300+ people) have been exposed to Krav. I also trained a few Army National Guard that were working with us at the time.
I continued my training with one of the KM instructors until I moved to Guam. Still training on my own. . .teaching skills to my new unit. . .trying to spread Krav throughout the career field, but it’s slow going. 😕 I know some of the other troops that certified as agency instructors with me have also moved and are teaching their new units as well.
One more thing to keep in mind – H2H training, even with the effective approach of Krav, can be time-consuming. With limited training time, most units prefer to spend the time improving weapons skills and markmanship. After all, to an elite unit such as the SEALs, what’s the best way to take someone out? Usually with a bullet, followed by close range lethal weapons (knife), using H2H only as a last resort.
Not sure I agree about ninjutsu – all of the ninjutsu practitioners I’ve known were far too secretive and esoteric in their skills sets. It was cool stuff, but very removed from reality. Krav, in my 20+ years of MA experience, is by far the best system for realistic, applicable, H2H combat for military applications.
If you can, I would highly recommend attending one of the military/Law enforcement courses held by the center or around the country. Londale Theus is one of the most professional and knowledgeable instructors I’ve ever had the privilege of training under, as was his partner at the time of my course, Alex Smith. The skills you would learn could greatly enhance your knowledge as you prepare to earn your way into the SEAL teams. Good luck. . .
Actually, only the Army H2H is watered down Jujitsu, according to the Army hand to hand manual.
The Marines teach a comprehensive system that incorporates many standing techniques, some ground fighting, and extensive weapons (knife, bayonet, rifle butt). It is systematic, and appears excellent (without having gone through the training myself). It incorporates less than lethal techniques (restraints, etc.) as well as lethal techniques (chokes, killing strikes, etc.). It is also taught in sequential levels that are tied to rank, i.e. certain ranks are expected to have certain skill sets that must be passed off prior to qualifying for promotion. Obviously, these expand as the Marine goes up in rank.
I’m not aware of any service-wide system in the Navy, although units such as their security units and the SEALs get taught H2H. Many individual units also bring in supplemental instruction, as noted before in other replys/posts.
The Air Force (my service) has no service wide system. I’m in the Security Forces (military police) and we are taught some limited, very basic self-defense and restraint techniques. Some individual units get individual supplemental instruction. I did – at my last base I brought in the Krav Force Protection guys and they certifed several law enforcement agency instructors (including myself of course).
In all honesty, the reported skills of many military members, in my opinion, have much less to do with what they were taught in the service as far as skills, and far more to do with the attitude, confidence, and fitness level that the military teaches. A fit soldier with a confident, aggressive attack and basic knowledge (i.e. instinctual knowledge of how to punch) can be a very dangerous opponent, even to someone more skilled. After all, it’s often not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog that wins.
Hope this answers your question a bit better.
I didn’t read it in depth – because I thought it was crap. You NEVER go to the ground if you can help it, particularly when facing an edged weapon. Further, if he does in fact teach in the military (which I doubt) – this doesn’t take into account the fact that military personnel will be wearing 20-30 lbs worth of gear. I’ve never seen this type of response taught in the military (either in the Marines, or in the standard Army doctrine, or in the Air Force Security Forces) nor could I advocate for it. The standard krav responses are far superior.
I just finished watching the rest of the videos, including all of the weapons defense ones. Keeping in mind KM principles for handgun defense, they violated several of them. The weapon was never adequately controlled, they often went back into the line of fire, and it was never taken away from the attacker, leaving the possibility of secondary attacks. Similar problems exist in the knife defenses, especially going for leg takedowns while the attacker still controls the knife! I see all kinds of possibilities for the defender to merely die from stupidity. Almost all of the clips were laughable, especially the rear bear hug where he throws the woman down and then stands there waiting for her to execute a leg takedown. What real attacker convienently waits for you? I could go on and on, but bottom line, I only saw one or two sequences, hidden within larger patterns, that even had a possibility of working. If you’re in Chicago and looking for a good self-defense school, I’d recommend looking elsewhere. This school will set you up to get hurt.
Agreed. Most of these defenses are crap, and wouldn’t work against a resisting opponent. Notice how convienently they all waited until the defender was recovered from the last attack and ready to deal with the next one?
Honestly, to me, this looked much more like the \”techniques\” demonstrations that you often see in MA tournaments, most of which have little to do with realistic self-defense and much to do with over-the-top acting and razzle and dazzle. I thought it was BS from a reality self-defense perspective, and is a sad reminder of how far most American martial arts have come from their traditional roots as they seek to gain students, dollars, and impress people in this jaded, Hollywoodized age.
I’ve emailed him and asked his permission to tell you. Can you please provide your email address so I don’t violate Privacy Policy stuff by posting his information on an open forum??
Also, remember he’s certified as a Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics instructor. That means he has a good grasp of the basics, but probably not as extensive as a certified KM instructor, especially since everything he learned had to be applied in a Use of Force model. As cops, defensive tactics are lifesavers, and are designed to buy time to access higher force options (i.e. baton, pepper spray, firearms) – NOT necessarily to defeat the enemy using only personal combatives. Just wanted to be clear so that you wouldn’t have unreasonable expectations about his overall skill level.
I know an individual stationed at Osan who is a Krav Law Enforcement Agency certified instructor, who would love to find someone to work out with. What service and where are you stationed at? Let me know if you want his name. I believe his one year remote ends in June.
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PNF Stretching – That’s what I was trying to remember! Thanks a million. It was a little embarrassing not to remember that, since my degree’s in exercise physiology and sport science, although it has been a few years.As for the plyometrics, look up past articles in Black Belt magazine and some of the others such as MA Times (I believe). I don’t recall which magazine, or exactly how long ago (within the last 2 years, though) but there was a great article and routine with plyometrics that one of the world class martial artists did.
One last bit of advice to add to all of the other great routines that were mentioned: There’s a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. When it comes to working out, this is largely true. There are many workouts that are beneficial, but they all stagnate after time due to General Adaptation Syndrome. It is wise to vary your workouts constantly – vary intensity, length, # of sets/reps, amount of weight, exercises, etc. Periodically, shake it all up and do something completely different! Easy enough to do in some stuff, but many martial artists have problems because they don’t like giving up their MA practice. I’m not saying do that – I am saying take a different focus. For myself, I go in 2-3 month cycles. One cycle may be a focus on basic technique execution/fighting fitness, the next may be incorporating the basics into a fluid, dynamic fighting structure. Then I may concentrate on ground fighting, etc. I always touch on everything, but my main focus can vary quite a bit. Not only does it keep the challenge for my body going, allowing constant physical improvement, but focusing on specific sub-areas helps build greater proficiency over time in those areas. If I were to try to practice everything all of the time, with my limited practice time, my practice would be a \”mile wide and an inch deep\” rather than a deeper proficiency.
Rev,
Wow, you’re asking a pretty encompassing question. There have been books written about any one of those subjects, much less all of them. 1st, let’s talk about explosive speed. Your body performs as you train it. If for cardio you’re doing steady pace running, etc, you will be in great cardio shape, but you’ll be a plodding athlete. Incorporate speed work. Here’s my running program (this is separate from other fitness and cardio aspects). M – steady pace (8 to 8 1/2 min miles) for 4-5 miles. Wed – 2 miles on a 1/4 mile oval track. 1st lap slow warmup, next 4 laps, full out sprint on straightaway, jog on curves. 6th lap slow. 7th lap full lap at top possible speed for whole lap. 8th lap cooldown. Fridays I run 2 – 4 miles, usually trail running or hills. This builds power and speed.
Next, I work weights for strength once per body part per week. But that’s not the whole resistance training program. Wed, Fri, and Sat, I work \”body weight\” exercises. Varieties of pushups, pullups, crunches. For legs I do squats, lunges, jumping lunges, and other plyometrics. To train explosive power with your footwork, plyometrics is key. There are many good books on the subject, as well as websites. Most of your hand speed actually comes from good footwork and explosive springing ability, in my opinion. I feel that with the pullups, including hanging from the bar and doing heel hooks over the bar, the pushups, and plyometrics, I not only get a good, strength and endurance building workout, I also use my body in more functional whole body motions than the typical weight workouts that work isolated muscle groups.
For balance, work slow kicks. This will work balance as well as core muscle strength. This is how Bill Wallace maintains his six pack well into his 50’s and 60’s, according to an article I read. He doesn’t do crunches, munches regularly on double cheeseburgers, etc. But, he performs many repetitions of extremely slow kicks – like a 5 to 10 slow count extension, same on retraction, with probably a hold at full extension. Great way to develop precision, muscle memory, control, balance and strength. By the way, the more upright you maintain your torso, the better balance, and the less recovery time/distance/motion you have to make upon the completion of the kick.
For hand speed, I believe much of hand speed is technique, as much as genetics and ability. The key is relaxation, both during technique extension, retraction, and inbetween techniques. Muscle tension slows you down. If you can establish a \”neutral\” (where muscle relaxation in both extensors and flexors is at its greatest point) position between techniques, and practice muscle tension only at the point of contact, your speed will be enhanced. Unfortunately, without being able to show you, it’s difficult to describe.
Flexibility is largely limited by genetics, but can be enhanced by stretching post-workout. Pre-stretching does little, and a gentle, gradually building warm-up accompanied by stretching will prepare you for physical activity, but to increase flexibility you must stretch diligently post-workout. Again, it’s hard to describe, and I don’t recall the exact technical term (I’ll try and look it up and post later) but there is a method of contract-relax stretching that requires a partner that is MOST effective at increasing flexibility, because it sidesteps/short circuits the muscles natural neurological response and tightening to protect itself from extreme lengthening, i.e. strain. You must be familiar with how to do it properly though – I’m just giving you a direction to research.
Finally, one more thing. It’s better to be controlled, smooth, and decisive than fast. As one of my MA trainers has often told me, speed without skill is a spasm. If you watch the more experienced fighters, they often seem to be moving much slower than a younger \”spastic\” but they’re never there to get hit and have things under control.
Well, some of my training tips. It’s not all comprehensive, not even close, but could gi
Yes, I’m on a military base. I actually love the island – tons of outdoor stuff to do: snorkeling, hiking, WWII sites to visit, Scuba diving, sea kayaking, mountain biking, etc. Just no decent martial arts. So, overall, I’m happy.
As for the extinct birds – yes, birds are rare here and many native species are endangered or possibly extinct, but it has nothing to do with the military exemption act. The military tries in all conscience to preserve the environment when the mission allows. The real reason for the bird’s demise is the brown tree snake, a voracious predator introduced in the 1940s, probably as a stowaway on a cargo ship. It has no natural predators, and consumes bird eggs and birds. Significant control efforts have been going on for many years, but it is still estimated that the snake population numbers 15000 per sq mile. Well, a little off topic, but there’s the facts.
