[tomtrauma]

Re: My first pressure test

quote TigerUpperCut:

What, a little more specifically did you get to do? Each place does things like this a little differently so I’m curious as to what you did.

We worked in groups of five, with each group including a couple of level II or III students. Each evolution would start with exercise intended to exhaust the participant (mine for instance was 40 mountain climbers, ten dirty burpies, 20 mountain climbers, five dirty burpies, 10 mountain climbers, and five more dirty burpies), with the pressure test beginning the moment the participant finished the exercises. The four other students were expected to steadily attack the participant, with grabs, chokes, punches or kicks, with at least one ‘go to the ground’. If the participant did not manage to regain his feet from the bottom position within ~5 seconds, all four aggressors would begin thumping on him. (my school subscribes to the theory that your opponent is presumed to always be better then you, always have a weapon, and always have friends. Our doctrine is that staying on the ground grappling is a great way to get kicked to death by your opponent’s friends. We’re taught to do damage and regain our feet ASAP) We were expected as aggressors to keep a constant, steady pressure of attacks up with no breaks for the participant, but not to simply ‘mob’ them. As a participant (at my level), we were expected to meet chokes with a windmill, palm strike or other level I defense, expected to get a rhino block / #6 elbow up and burst into punches with a counterattack, steadily step off line, block solidly, be proactive rather then purely reactive and keep a decent fence up. Testing was supposed to go for three minutes, but there was some sort of oversight and mine lasted for about a week and a half. This was purely a combatives test – some of our tests are ‘fight your way to the exit’ based rather then time based.

Some of my screw-ups included trying to throw knees when an aggressor would try to shoot into me instead of driving their head down or sprawling, grabbing onto opponents instead of dealing with them quickly enough to be able to deal with the next threat, and reverting to TKD closed fist punches, high kicks etc. When I went to the ground, my opponent was in a committed choke, with his weight on his arms. Instead of first nailing him in the eyes / face to drive him back, I ‘swam’ out of his grip and tried to get outside of his left leg while grabbing his left arm so I could roll him. Worked in a half-ass way, but I could have gotten some solid fight-stopping licks in first. The feedback I received from the instructor and other students was on target, useful and to the point. I learned a tremendous amount about where I am in my skills and what I need to work on.

Everyone did the exercises before each evolution, not just the participant. I was the third in my group to test, so I’d done the exercise portion three times and been an aggressor twice, all in rapid succession, before my test came up. I felt completely out of gas before my test even started. It’s amazing how much energy you can find when you really reach down deep though. When others are too tired to fight anymore, a Kravist is just getting started.

I guess I’d better clarify; this was an exposure to pressure testing, not the actual ‘advance a level’ pressure test. I’m a level I student, and won’t be looking at level II for several months. Our level II test is six minutes rather then three.

[tomtrauma]

Re: Bursting

Jumping in this instead of starting another all too similar thread…

Trying to work on my burst. Seems like an explosive movement of both quads and calves, so would heave squats, lunges and calf raises with emphasis on explosive positives be the way to increase my speed?

Thanks for any input,
T.

[tomtrauma]

Re: Any other gun nuts?

quote Jeremy Stafford:

MMmmmm Glock Kool Aide is yummy! Those SLR guns are top notch kit, Sully makes a fine rifle.

He does indeed, and his training is high quality too. I wasn’t going to get a grail until I shot one in a class. Gave him a deposit that day.

Next purchase is going to have to be a .22 conversion kit though. Ammo cost is killing me.

[tomtrauma]

Re: Any other gun nuts?

My name’s Tom, and I’m a gunaholic.

I’ll have to go against the grain of the thread though – Had an XD (two actually, a sub and a tactical), but have transitioned to a Glock 19 as my primary handgun. Also have a 17, but the 19 is small enough to carry, big enough to shoot well. Saw an XD fail in class, a grip safety malfunction that left a live round in the chamber that could neither be fired nor cleared. The weapon had to be boxed up and sent back to springfield. Had a chance to take a Glock armorers course a short time later, and drank deeply of the Glock kool-aid.

I’ve been badly bitten, and deeply infected with the black rifle disease. Have a SLR-15 Grail AR, a SLR-15 Operator AR and a Cav Arms. After a few years of forcing myself to run iron sights through training, I broke down and bought an Aimpoint for the Grail. Love it. I’m glad I forced myself to master irons first, ’cause I can really see how a red dot sight could become a crutch.

I’ve been taking a few handgun or carbine courses each year for about six years now, and have started coaching level I classes. Now, instead of learning how to shoot, I’m learning how to teach. Entirely different skill set, and a really fun challenge. I’m also teaching first aid in the tactical environment, and learning as much as I teach in the process.

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