Sparring after viewing Fisticuffs and practicing PYB

[StuMcD]

Hi All,

I just wanted to report on the immediate effect that the Fisticuffs series has had on my performance.

I have watched the whole series through once, and last night, the other Stu (forum member Fbleagh) and I decided that our brains were full after doing PYB and that it was time to do some sparring.

The first thing I noticed was that my whole torso felt both relaxed and activated at the same time. I was able to move my upper body far more fluidly after PYB than I normally do after WW. Of course, if it weren't for Warrior Wellness, I wouldn't have been able to do the majority of what was on the tape.

Next Stu and I did some shock absorption with a particular concentration on the head to help prepare us for "Softwork Sparring". This was where the first big jump in performance came for us. After a while, instead of directing our gaze at the breastbone as we normally do, we directed our gaze 15 degrees off centre as Scott suggests to do in the video. There is something about doing this that allows one to remain fully aware but somewhat "detached" which in turn ramps down the fear reactivity to being hit quite dramatically.

Scott goes on to say that you should direct your gaze whereever you are used to but in all honesty, I think he is selling his method short. Moving off 15 degrees lead to an immediate increase in efficiency of perception, ramped down the fear reactivity, and also allowed for better movement of the head when absorbing shock as it becomes a little harder to target the point of the chin. (I don't know about anyone else, but I find the chin absorption much harder than the jaw due to the ROM available to absorb shots to the jaw compared to the chin).

As for using more joints in our striking as per the tapes, the level of power we were recruiting at our usual sparring intensities (Softwork all the way to Hardwork) seemed to go up by a fair percentage and we actually had to turn down a bit more than usual. This is despite the fact that we weren't really sinking much except on bodyshots. (Incidentally, we are finding it alot harder to hurt each other with body blows these days since working hard on shock absorption.

All this happened to us after watching the tapes and then doing PYB. Imagine how good we are going to be at the end of our standup striking phase......(another 4 weeks or so).

This tape set is invaluable for anyone regardless of the art they practice. It will make you better......straight away.

I hope this post precipitates some more here on the Continuum Forum as we all have alot to share and alot to learn and the board has been a little dead lately in terms of "experience" threads.
All my best,
Stu.

[Jarlo Ilano]

Really nice report Stu! Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to hearing more as you progress in your standup cycle!

Sounds like I need to get Fisticuffs! I want to wait until its on DVD though, because I'm overflowing with tapes. (I can just hear my wife right now.. "More tapes?!" :lol: )

Thanks again, I'll always take some good things away from your posts.

[Scott Sonnon]

Great review, Stu. Keep the reports coming, amigo!

[Ryan Murdock]

Great work, Stu!!

We found the same thing re: shock absorption to the head. It didn't really come together until we took it Fluid..

Please post further results, this is excellent!

[fbleagh]

Just wanted to chime in and say that Tuesdays session of PYB and Fisticuffs was probably the most comfortable I've ever been playing the standup game.
Truely the first time in a long time where i have felt relaxed in standup sparring. Normally the fear reactivity is up and I can't access my flow, but tuesday was very different.

i'm Excited to see where this is gonna go.

[Scott Sonnon]

Awesome, Stuart.

[StuMcD]

Thanks for your encouragement chaps,

We are going to have another crack at this tonight. I will post something tomorrow.

Congrats on your CST qualification Jarlo. You bring a unique combo of skills to the forum. From what I have been able to glean from your posts about the training you do, Fisticuffs is a must buy for you.

Tape 1. Has lead to another level of understanding of the role of biomechanical exercise in training by providing something of a bridge between Warrior Wellness and the more specific training in PYB.

Not much to say about tape two yet as I have only watched it once and only then to get an overview.

The physio-psychology (is that even a word?) section of tapes 3 and 4 I have only watched once but listened to in the car via the audio tape a bunch of times. The material has crystalised my understanding of performance breathing and how it fits with actual sparring of fighting.

On the second half of tape 4 is a section on clinch control. I have only watched this once two but used one of the methods to totally uproot Stu in the clinch a number of times on Tuesday.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't wait to get the DVDs. You too Chuck if you haven't got them.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Scott Sonnon]

Stu,

You need to get some of your sessions on video for the forum. Great stuff.

(Psychophysiology: The branch of physiology dealing with the relationship between physiological processes and thoughts, emotions, and behavior.)

[Chuck Kechter]

Stu,

Great report!

And I do have Fisticuffs. . . I have been using the material in my boxing & MMA group for several years now. . .

Awesome stuff!

All the best!

[bill cogswell]

Thanks for the great reports Stu(s)! :D

[StuMcD]

Thanks for the great reports Stu(s)! :D

As we like to say
There can be only two....
(Highlander for those not nerdy enough to know :))

Well,

Last night we attempted (and I mean attempted) PYB again and did a little better. We had an extra last night as another of our group turned up and each of us had different problems in different areas. Mine was the elbow exercise where both the elbow and the wrist move around a node set in the centre of my forearm. The wrist is willing but the elbow isn't. The other, younger and less wise Stu found my frustration rather funny :oops:

After PYB, we turned on Weaponise your Architecture and started watching. We got about halfway through the tape before we figured that we had better start sparring or we would run out of time.

Basically, WYA turned our arms into clubs. We ended up hitting with each part of our fists, all sides of our elbows and also our forearms. Like last time we had to turn our power down again. The casting method just develops so much power without really even trying and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple of red noses this morning from my partners.

The big change I noticed last night was in the flow of the fight. Instead of standing at range, circling and picking each other off with the occasional deliberate clinch, we would clash and then one of the combatants would gain a clear advantage. It's all about pressure applied at the right time.

On a more technical level, the change was that we would constantly change leads in the middle of flurries of punches and also in defence. As historical fencers and FMA practitioners, we have never been able to apply the same movements from these arts to unarmed work. Now we can.

The big revelation was that the inoculations are finally working occasionally as they are not only much easier to apply when using the constant movement structure but are often the only response you can make when your arms end up in odd positions at odd times and you don't have the wherewithall to slip, bob or wear the shot on top of your head. Method two in particular set up a great angular crash outside the jabbing arm. We actually found that keeping the arms moving in patterns rather like sinawali only forward presented allows you to pick up and inoculate or slip and counter strikes far more quickly than a "cage" style classic boxing guard.

Certainly I have never found upper body takedowns so easy off of my striking before. I am a fan of unorthodox strikes like slaps to the back of the neck and the like but with the new method, they happen alot more often and are far more useful.

One thing I wasn't able to help and Stu managed far better than I was in picking my shots. I still find myself occasionally looking for the chin in a deliberate fashion.

That's about all I've got time for.
Cheers,
Stu.

[cht]

Hi Stu :D ,

Am trying to reach you via PMing and e-mail so am not sure whether you had checked your mails.

Anyway, would love to get in touch with your group while in Sydney.

Could you care to inform me how to contact you in Sydney and whereabouts is your training group ?

Hope to hear from you

Cheers 8)

[StuMcD]

PM's sent to Garth and cht.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Scott Sonnon]

Get your meet on film men and post some photos to the forum. Someone write a report for the magazine.

[cht]

hi all :D ,

since i'm the tourist, the photos will be taken care of. Will post for Coach.

as for articles ... mmm ... u guys are the senior/senpai/elders etc. ...

Cheers 8)

[Scott Sonnon]

Every person's experience is equally valuable.

[tictac]

*SPAM DELETED*

I smell another troll.
Must be troll/keyboard warrior season!!!

A.

[tictac]

*SPAM DELETED*

Yawn,
Tic tac, please observe the rules of the forum, go over and introduce yourself on the Tribe Welcome Mat, and include your real name in your signature, and profile.

Andrew.

[tictac]

*SPAM DELETED*

[AnthonyThompson]

Funny how these keybord warriors never wanna give there real name or location .

Anthony

[TimOR]

tic tac
If you can't even give the common courtesy of introducing yourself and you decide to remain anonymous, then your just another troll (notice you don't even qualify for a capital T).
I won't look at your video nor really register what you say as you have chosen to remain anonymous.
Just remember,
If it isn't written down it didn't happen
If you can't identify the author then their
opinion/evidence is invalid.
Now go troll somewhere else grownups are trying to talk.

I apologize to anyone else here who takes offense to my response.
Tim.

[StuMcD]

Hi Tic Tac,

If this doesn't work for you then that's just fine.

There is something you should know about RMAX practitioners and the unusual way in which we train. We don't work on technique and then go into sparring mode. We use incremental pressure in drills that slowly and steadily takes us from the realm of Softwork (drilling for efficiency) to Hardwork (pressure testing/cooking our skills).

My question to you based on the above information is:
How can you tell from the video what was supposed to be all out sparring and what was supposed to be drilling? I just watched it again and I know I can't tell. And this is a style that I have some familiarity with.

Maybe a more useful attitude to have would be to ask why Scott's method looks the way it does. I fail to see the purpose of coming to this board if you are not truly interested in what is being done here. What do you expect to achieve?

Here are some points to ponder.

Sport boxing cannot be applied to MMA or a real situation without wholesale modification. For example, stances need to be shorter and more backweighted or you risk being leg kicked or taken down.

When you train pugilism as a true martial art designed ultimately to be applied without gloves, you simply cannot put your entire bodyweight behind modern style blows unless you are hitting soft targets.

Accounts written around the period in which the LPRR (London Prize Ring Rules) prize the shot to the solar plexus as the most telling. Nowadays with handwraps and gloves, most shots are aimed at the head. Our ancestors were not stupid, they just didn't want to bust up their hands in fights that could last for hours in the ring.

Maybe punching to force the other guy to react so as to use shock engineering to put him on the ground where he can be stomped on or restrained is a more realistic strategy in a real fight than dancing about looking for a K.O.? It's certainly a better strategy in the MMA ring.

As for the "casting" method of power generation, why don't we ask the Emelianenko bros or Igor Vovchanchyn how well it works?

I daresay one of the reasons why Scott probably looks like he is arm punching rather than laying in "good and proper" is that the casting method develops alot of power in a way that makes it very difficult to "pull your blows" during drills where you don't want to hit all that hard.

I hope this helps. Lighten up a little. There is no need to lash out to be heard in this environment. As Scott says in his post above "Every persons' experience is valuable". You can disagree with the method here and as long as you ask constructive questions and remain polite, nobody will mind.
Stu.

[Ryan Murdock]

tictac,

You've ignored forum courtesies by failing to post an intro in the Welcome Mat and by failing to include your full real name in your posts, despite repeated requests to do so.

Further, your sole interest in visiting our Forum is to talk empty trash rather than to engage in productive discussion. If you can't see the difference between drills and "real world fighting applications", I suggest you visit a seminar where you'll have the opportunity to test your dearly held notions.

Hmmm, I smell something funny here. Could it be....

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/trolltrap.jpg

See ya!

[john1970]

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/images/smiles/spam1.gif deleted

[Ryan Murdock]

You again? Same IP address, another brand new hotmail account. This is your third attempt, including tictac, the little mint that refreshes. Bored in New Zealand?

See ya!

[Scott Sonnon]

Five usernames in the one day I'm away from my gym? :lol: Pity the timing. :wink: I'm in PA prep'ing for the seminar weekend, so I only have a few minutes.

For all of his juvenile anonymous trolling, the individual had a point. He's asking how would the performance in the Fisticuffs examples on the montage stand-up in an amateur boxing match. It is a question I posed myself to the Russian national boxing coach I trained with several times. As he said poignantly, the question has a logical error, since it's like asking how demolition derby experience translates to formula one car racing. In other words, the above individual's question is like asking how would RMAX Leg Fencing hold up in a judo match. Obviously there would be a great deal of cross-over. But judo prohibits most of the maneuvers presented in Leg Fencing (such as something as basic as kicking.)

We all remember what happened to the pure boxer who attempted to box in the early UFCs. It's taken nearly a decade for fighters to successfully adapt boxing to the dynamic environment of MMA. Those who have, such as Arlovski have very 'unorthodox' (to amateur boxing) styles.

Let's try and take something positive out of the vitriol of this troll's agenda: see the performance enhancement aids in the spirit they were intended and don't misperceive them as cure-all platforms for any venue. The key is the cultivation of improvisation, adaptation and play.

The success of our thousands of athletes in so many sports, disciplines and fields of life needs no defending. Trolls will either begrudgingly move on to the next target of their projected self-loathing or they will evolve. Hopefully our good example will allow it to be more of the latter than the former. Congratulations to everyone for making lemonade out of this lemon.