Iban Parang

Humans have been using weapons since the beginning of their existence, and for good reason. Weapons provide a massive advantage in both attack and defense.  Every martial arts practitioner interested in self defense should learn how to use weapons both to better defend against their use, and to gain an advantage in a serious self defense situation. You can see how I categorize weapons and their use on my self defense weapons page.

Although people in most 1st world countries no longer carry swords, practicing with them (or a stick of a similar length) can provide very valuable lessons in self defense. The methods of attack and defense that work with a sword also work with a stick, cane, hammer, wrench, knife, machete…even a household iron. You can learn to use a “stick” or any other long blunt or sharp object through the curriculum and videos on my single stick page, which I plan to add to in the very near future.

Parang Handle

Aside from the usefulness of sword and stick training for self defense, swords from different cultures can be fascinating. I recently posted a review of the Filipino ginunting, one of my favorite swords for functionality, and thought I’d add a few pictures of another favorite, an Iban parang from the island of Borneo. I purchased this parang in the state of Sarawak on the Malaysian side of Borneo. It’s about 100 years old, and decorated with human hair. The handle and scabbard are the most beautiful of all the swords I own.

As beautiful as the parang is, it’s hard for a modern westerner to imagine they were used on head hunting raids.  Up until the late 1800′s or so, several tribes of Borneo required heads for all sorts of ceremonies, from those related to the rice harvest to weddings. Imagine having to cut a person’s head off before you could be married…or walking through the jungle where people were looking for heads! In any case, the parang is an amazing sword, very similar to others used in Indonesia and the Philippines.  It’s designed for one handed use, fast, well balanced, and the design of the handle prevents the parang from slipping out of your hand.

Parang Scabbard

I’ve asked a few older Iban about their sword training, but never really gotten any detailed answers. They do have dances that involve the use of the sword and shield, but it seems that their “martial art” was lost when the practice of head hunting was abandoned.  If anyone reading this has information on the martial arts of the tribes of Borneo, I’d love to hear from you! I can’t imagine people like the Iban wouldn’t have had their own martial art. If you were living in a jungle at a time when nearby tribes wanted your head, wouldn’t you?

Stop Kick

After yesterday’s post on the default/flinch response, I’d like to make a couple points of clarification.  The crash (our primary default response against a surprise punching attack) and the spear (Tony Blauer’s default response against a surprise attack) are both excellent responses that really work.  They’re far better than the vast majority of defenses that require a person to match a specific defense to a specific punch.  When you’re attacked by surprise you need a single, gross-motor-skill-based-response that works no matter what punch the attacker threw.  In such a situation your mind and body will not be fast enough to determine exactly what’s coming and pick a particular matching response before you get hit.

However, ideally you should not be in a position in which you are attacked by surprise.  Ideally you should be aware of your surroundings and maintain a safe distance from any potential threat, so you have the time to see the attack coming without being surprised…without having a “jack in the box moment”.  If you are aware of your surroundings and maintain a safe distance (distance = time), you can intercept an attack using a variety of methods from the stop kick shown in the image above, to a preemptive attack if justified, or even better, escaping before the attack occurs.  You can also use a technique such as the crash or spear if you prefer.  But it is better to be aware and have a greater variety of options.  So while techniques like the spear are brilliant and very effective, you should aim not to be in such a position where you have so little choice.  This is why we emphasize awareness first, and then the Fundamental Five in Hertao…five default responses/strategies for a greater variety of situations…one of which is the crash.  Of course you never know what situation you may end up in, so having such a flinch response in your arsenal is a must for self defense!

Although we use our own default response, the crash, rather than “the spear”, the concept is the same. Both techniques are a bridge that utilize natural physiological reactions instead of an attempt to unnaturally react to an attack with a complex response.

His points on the “jack in the box” effect, not knowing which particular attack is coming, etc., are all excellent. They explain why so many self defense and martial arts techniques will fail in a real assault. The majority of attacks on the street are going to be surprising, violent forward pressure assaults. You need a simple default response to deal with such an attack, and the spear is another great option.

See the follow up post: Default Response Clarification.

I’ve just finished a new self defense e-book on empty hand stand up fundamentals. The book is over 100 pages, with over 300 images, and has 3 main sections:

Fundamental Concepts – The most important concepts for self defense including timing, distance, position, effective training, and zone theory.

The MMA Base – Detailed instruction on the fundamental techniques of boxing, Thai boxing, and stand up wrestling along with training methods and sparring tips.

The Fundamental Five – Going far beyond the MMA base into the most efficient and effective techniques for self defense, including default responses and combinations, follow ups, and more.

This book is the result of nearly 20 years of teaching and training, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

After yesterday’s post on good boundaries I decided to add a long overdue section to the site on awareness and prevention, along with what constitutes legal self defense.  When self defense is legally justifiable, it’s going to be extremely dangerous.  You’ll be dealing with an attacker who wants to injure or kill you.  While this site IS about physical self defense, you should do everything you possibly can to avoid having to resort to that.  The two sections above explain why.

If you’re aware of your surroundings, take simple precautionary measures (lighted areas, locked doors, alarm, etc.), and keep your distance from potential threats, you’re highly unlikely to be attacked.  By adding “good boundaries”…not being afraid to say no, exiting situations you feel have the potential to turn nasty, and fighting when necessary…the chances of you being successfully assaulted are so low it’s ridiculous.  And if you do happen to know a few solid self defense techniques and training methods, well, you’re covered.

Burton Richardson & Randy Couture

This is the third in six posts on “what makes Hertao different”. You can find the six concepts in a list at the bottom of our home page.

One of the great strengths of MMA and sport based martial arts like boxing, kickboxing, judo, BJJ, etc, is that the majority of time spent training is against an uncooperative partner. In sport based systems practitioners compete against each other and quickly discover what works and what doesn’t work. But all too often in traditional martial arts and so called “reality based self defense”, training never progresses to the level where your partner is completely uncooperative.

Burton Richardson, from JKD Unlimited, has a great saying:

If you want to learn how to fight, you have to practice fighting against someone who is fighting back.

Not many people would disagree with that statement, yet so many people fail to put it into practice. There are several levels at which your partner needs to be uncooperative if you want to be able to defend yourself: in resistance, form, and technique.

Progressive resistance (gradually increasing the physical resistance to your techniques as your skill increases) is essential, but it’s not enough. Your training partners also need to use form that doesn’t match the style you’re practicing. For example, a wing chun practitioner that only deals with straight line vertical punches thrown by other wing chun practitioners will likely be hit by an unskilled opponent throwing a punch at an angle they’ve never trained against. You and your training partners must vary the form of attacks to include form used by other styles and by unconventional fighters.

In addition to progressive resistance and form variations, free sparring must be done where any and all techniques are allowed. No real attacker is going to limit attacks to those you’ve trained, so you need to be prepared for anything. Every particular style has limitations. Even though boxers train against uncooperative opponents, they don’t train against takedowns from grapplers. Self defense training must include all three levels of “uncooperativeness”: resistance, form, and technique.

Don't Try That

This is the second post in a series of six, covering the six concepts that make Hertao different from the majority of martial art and self defense systems.  The first post was on footwork.  This one will cover countering.

Many fighting systems, whether for self defense or sport, teach blocks and strikes as separate techniques.  When the opponent attacks, you block, and then you strike back.  While this is common, it’s the worst way to deal with an attack.

Using the opponent’s attack as a reference, there are three points in time in which you can launch your attack: before, during, and after.  If you’ve been threatened and attempted to exit the situation, but are unable to due to your opponent blocking your exit or following you, you can attack first.  There certainly may be legal ramifications here, but in any given situation you need to decide whether you’d rather allow someone to attack you first, or preempt that and possibly face charges.  Every situation is different.  Anyway, we’ll call this an “attack”…when you attack first.

Interception

We’ll use the Jeet Kune Do terminology for the second option, attacking during the opponent’s attack, and call it an “interception”.  If you’re unable or unwilling to attack before your opponent launches his physical attack, you can attack him as he begins his attack on you.  There are a great many ways to use the interception, but the two major classifications are: blocking/covering with a simultaneous attack and evading with a simultaneous attack.

The last and worst option is to block your opponent’s attack and counter attack after.  Why is this such a bad option?  There are several reasons.  If you block your opponent’s attack without striking back, there’s nothing to keep him from continuing his attack.  You’re on defense and he’s on offense.  Whereas if you attack him before or during his attack, he’ll either be struck (in the case of striking) or forced to switch to defense…where you want him.  Additionally, the best time to attack is when your opponent doesn’t expect it.  While he’s in the midst of his attack his mind will be on that, and you’ll have a much easier time landing an attack of your own.

Fencing Stop Hit

Of course it isn’t always possible to attack first, and you won’t always be ready to attack the instant your opponent does.  However, your training should focus on attacking first, intercepting second, and countering as an absolute last resort.  Even if you are forced to block, cover, or evade an initial attack, your attacker will likely continue pressing you.  It’s highly likely that if you wait to counter until after an attack is over, you’ll never get the chance.  So even if you do miss the first opportunity, the second opportunity will most likely be one for an interception, not a pure counter.  In any case, if you are forced to block first, you should block your way into your attack.

At least three of the systems we use in Hertao share the concept of avoiding the counter in favor of the interception or attack: boxing, Pekiti Tirsia, and Wing Chun.  Although boxing certainly does have defensive techniques that don’t involve a simultaneous attack, counter punching (striking during the opponent’s attack…with an evasion or cover) is a necessary skill.  One reason boxing may have more defensive-only techniques than Pekiti Tirsia for example is that it’s a sport, where both participants are wearing thick gloves and target areas are extremely limited.  It’s easier and less dangerous to only cover when your opponent has padded gloves and a limited striking area.

Stick Interception

Pekiti Tirsia on the other hand, and many other Filipino martial arts, almost exclusively utilize the interception…so much so that they use the term “counter offense” rather than simply counter.  Because the Filipino martial arts involve swords, knives, and sticks it’s especially apparent that blocking or covering without a simultaneous attack is entirely ineffective.  When your attacker is attempting to cut your head or arm off with a machete, trying to block and THEN counter is a great way to end up dead!  Instead, when the attacker comes at you with his blade or stick, his arm becomes the target of your blade or stick.  While you may not always have such a weapon yourself, the concept still applies.

Don’t block first and attack second.  Either attack first, or at the same time.  It’s far more effective, and in the rare case that you and your opponent have machetes, it’s likely to save your head!

Movement Is Essential

This is the first in six posts on “what makes Hertao different”.  You can find the six concepts in a list at the bottom of our home page.

The term “martial arts” covers a wide variety of styles and practices, and means different things to different people, but most would agree that martial arts originated as “fighting methods” in some sense of the term…combat, war, self defense, etc.  If martial arts are to remain true to their original purpose, they need to include techniques and training methods that work in fighting and/or self defense.  Footwork is a vital part of any real martial art.

In a real physical conflict, people move.  They don’t stand still.  If you get hit, you move.  If you hit someone, they move.  If you try to hit someone and miss, it’s either because they moved, or you’ve got a REALLY bad aim.  Sure, people can stand still and block, but that rarely happens unless they’re up against an immovable object.

In Hertao all training reflects this, and if you want to be able to fight or defend yourself, your training needs to reflect this too.  You need to practice striking while moving forward, backward, and side to side, while moving diagonally, and while ducking and rising.  Training combinations of strikes or blocks while standing still is all but useless.  If you hit someone once, they’ll move.  If you’re standing in the same spot, your follow up shots will be hitting only air.

Poor Training

When you block or cover you also need to move.  Standing in place and blocking only gives your opponent the opportunity to strike whatever target you’ve just uncovered.  By moving, you limit the opponent’s follow up options.  Dynamic movement needs to be a part of every technique and drill.  In some “traditional martial arts” far too much emphasis has been placed on stances.  Although this has been completely de-emphasized in MMA these days (and rightly so), most people who trained martial arts prior to the early 90′s know the terms “horse stance”, “forward stance”, “cat stance”, etc.  Training these stances rather than footwork is a great way to get you seriously hurt in a real fight.

Although some classical stances may appear for an instant in real fighting and can also be seen in the footwork patterns of effective Filipino martial arts or even in western wrestling, they need to be largely forgotten and replaced with footwork.  If you are someone who trains techniques in stances, try thinking of them as positions you hit momentarily in the context of footwork.  It will change your training and ability for the better!