I have Tony Blauer's SPEAR tapes which I liked very much but since I ordered your tapes, I much preferred your approach on the flinch response as I found it more practical and less stylized than the SPEAR. I found your approach is much more open to change and the various spontaneous types of assaults than the SPEAR. I ordered several of your tapes from black belt and found them to be excellent and some of the best I've seen. My question is based on your fundamentals tape where you talk about "human and variable error" which is something I don't think anyone has ever even thought of. My partner and I were working off of defending from a sudden attack off of human and variable error, we did as you said and created an uncertain terrain with obstacles where one person would capitilize on the other's mistakes and attack quickly and suddenly and I found that my initial flinch (especially immediately after hitting the ground and my partner was still standing) was to cover up almost in a fetal position while my partner would repeatedly kick and stomp me. I tend to panic there and find myself not being able to retaliate. Do you have any suggestions? Any help would be appreciated.

Gill

Hi Gill, I find Riche’s tapes are great as well and I like how he teaches drills in a way that allow us to take the ball and roll with it just as it seems you have done. Just wondering if you find yourself going to the ground while in a clinch or off a shove or just while trying to de-escalate the situation?

If it is when you are in a clinch or the person is trying to take you down and you slip on something you are still able to shred on the way down. By doing this you are not giving your opponent the opportunity to start striking you when you are down.

If it is off a shove or just while backing up while talking to your opponent I have found that awareness plays a big part in allowing you to use your footwork successfully. When I first started training I would find myself so absorbed in my opponent that I would back into walls or trip over things because I was not aware of my surroundings. The more I trained my awareness the less I went to the ground because while defusing the situation or getting shoved I knew where the wall/people/furniture/objects were and I could use my footwork to avoid them and stay on my feet.

Having said that I know that no matter how good you are there are times when you will find yourself on the ground. So to answer your question, the best way I have found to get comfortable with a situation is to train it. I would suggest you do scenarios from the ground. Place yourself in compromising positions and work from there. Take it slow at first and ask your partner to move in at medium slow speed. Read his body language and familiarize yourself with the mechanics of the attack that is coming at you (ie. kick to the head etc). Then play the opportunity game. What can you effectively do within the time it takes for you to say opportunity (another one of Rich’s drills that can be found in his tapes). Can you jam his kick with your forearm and trap it before the point of impact. Or rotate on the ground before he gets to you so that your legs are in the way and you can kick his legs to jam him etc.

Keep on training it until you find what works and then go all out like before. Your brain will now have files to access or options so that you will not find yourself frozen in the fetal position.

On a side note I find that when I’m on the ground with someone attacking me my hands and arms are out (kind of like the passive stance but on the ground) and I bring my knee to my elbow (sort of like when blocking a kick in kickboxing). This still lets me reflexively respond and have access to my weapons while creating a barrier. If the attacker has not entered into range yet I will lie on my side and kick his shin with my top leg as he approaches. When the opportunity arises I will get up in one movement from that position (took some practice to get it quick). In Senshido class we do drills like this with the attacker moving around you trying to get in while you keep him away with kicks until you see the chance to get up. I find it is a great drill. It is important not to kick to high as it allows the attacker to sweep the kick aside and enter.

Sorry for the long winded post [I had to stop myself from writing more ] hope this helps some,

Luke
“Aim for perfection”

First ought to say I am not a Senshido rep and I have not studied any of the tapes Rich refers to (I am awaiting my first order from Senshido ...very excited) but I wanted to add my thoughts to this discussion.

As Luke says when you are on the ground I feel it is important to keep distance until you are able to get back up safely. Personally I do not want to be on the ground...for one it is not where I do most of my training.

Although in every situation "it depends" rather than falling straight to the ground you might want to consider "rolling" (not a forward roll but like you see kids going downhill sometimes) to gain a little distance. YOu ought to start this roll as soon as you feel the sweep (or whatever) is on. You have to remember his mobility is likely to be better than yours so as soon as you can get into the position Luke suggests (on your side). IMHO you want to 1. Keep the attacker at distance (with kicks to the knees/shins) and hopefully distract him long enough to get up or 2. draw him in between your legs so you can scissor kick to sweep and then get up.

If you are on the ground then you need to keep your legs towards the attacker, if there are multiples then you need to get up quickly. Luke suggested not kicking too high or the foot will be swept, in some circumstances I might think about encouraging this and using this motion turn the way of the kick and kick with my other leg. So for example if I were laid on my left, kick with the right leg then if swept to the right (which would put me on my back) go with this and execute a turning kick from the floor.

Remember with multiples you do not have the luxury of waiting for him to do something.

Hope this is clear and hope it gives another (slightly different) point of view.

All the best

Bear

Thank you for your kind words, they are sincerely appreciated. First and foremost, although I have never seen Tony's SPEAR system (except from what I have read about it and the little he spoke to me about it) it has saved many LEO's lives and that speaks volumes of his work. It was his work which inspired mine.

I appreciate you liking my work so much and am happy to hear you can relate to it well. Thank you.

In answer to your question, there's not much more I can add to what Luke has already said. Keep in mind that you have some of our earlier work and should invest in some of our newer materials as we very much cover the specific nature of your question.

I would suggest the following tapes to you:

1. Submission Termination
2. The Get R.E.A.L.
3. The Coalition NJ Seminar

These tapes cover in detail working off the defensive reflexive response and have tons of applicable drills.

Thanks again.

Sincerely
Rich

As usual Rich, you're a class act. Very kind words in regards to your former teacher. Shows respect, security and maturity. Good stuff.

Alex