sources for solo drills / critical general info

[KD Jones]

OK... yet another base-level question.

I don't have an RMAX group within range, and the conversion of the MA school I attend to RMAX principles may take a while...

So, I need to focus on solo drills, and information critical to understanding the system - with the intent of going as deep as is possible until RMAX owns everything, everywhere.

What I've got is enough for a LOT of study (I've listed it all below, for reference), but additional exercises from other RMAX sources keep coming up as being useful for various purposes which are important to me. Among them are apparently the first tapes of both the Fisticuffs and Leg Fencing series.

So, could some super equipped person list out for me all the sources of solo drills?

Blessings, and thank you thank you thank you.

Intu-Flow, Warrior Wellness, Body Flow (dvd and book), Clubbell Training for Circular Strength (dvd only, waiting for big book), Be Breathed, FlowFit (on its way).

[StuMcD]

I don't have an RMAX group within range, and the conversion of the MA school I attend to RMAX principles may take a while...


So start your own club.

I tried to gently change things at my MA club and it wasn't taken well at all. In fact it tore the school in thirds. One group didn't want to change at all, another accepted some of the changes but didn't want to work hard for better performance and the third group came with me. I felt bad about what happened for a long time.

So, I started my own group a few years ago and not only is my training more enjoyable, it is easier to motivate myself to train, it is safer due to a lack of ego between friends, and more effective because we choose the subject matter and refine it to suit our individual characteristics.



So, I need to focus on solo drills, and information critical to understanding the system - with the intent of going as deep as is possible until RMAX owns everything, everywhere.


Forget about solo MA drills IMHO, and concentrate on WW/Intuflow, BF/Prasara and Swinging Clubs. Apart from hitting bags, grappling dummy work and shadow sparring, the only solo drills for MA I would recommend are from the first two tapes of Fisticuffs. (the ones you mention in your post)
Cheers,
Stu.

[KD Jones]

Excellent. I appreciate your directness.

And you're right, of course. I really have no intention of hacking the path that others are taking, and within which all are occupying discrete spaces. Also, there are still a lot of things I hope to learn at my current club.

I really wasn't looking for solo MA work, I've long since learned that concept to be nonsense - just hoping to drive as much RMAX basis into my body/mind as possible.

Thanks again. This kind of advice is invaluable.

[Scott Sonnon]

KD,

The solo work for RMAX is CST. CST comprises a three-pronged, integrated approach:
1. Intu-Flow: progressively sophsiticating dynamic mobility
2. Prasara Body-Flow: internally challenging proprioceptive expression
3. Clubbell Training: integrated application of attributes towards real-world strength and conditioning
It's all redundantly encoded within those three directions.

[Ryan Murdock]

So start your own club.

I tried to gently change things at my MA club and it wasn't taken well at all. In fact it tore the school in thirds. One group didn't want to change at all, another accepted some of the changes but didn't want to work hard for better performance and the third group came with me. I felt bad about what happened for a long time.

So, I started my own group a few years ago and not only is my training more enjoyable, it is easier to motivate myself to train, it is safer due to a lack of ego between friends, and more effective because we choose the subject matter and refine it to suit our individual characteristics.

Stu and I have discussed this on the forum before (along with many others). I'm really glad he brought this up. We have similar experiences here, and judging by the emails I've received there are many more who have been down this road. The success of Stu's group is an excellent demonstration of the viability of this path.

Stu nails dead on why small independent training groups can be such vehicles for transformation. We're working to make this process even easier to grasp with the RMAX Training Group Manual (I know, I know, it's long overdue, but I'm working on it right now... and I've enlarged it to possibly include a video companion...).

In the meantime, for more info on this direction, check out these two articles:

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/34/murdock.html
http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/36/merritt.html

[KD Jones]

Wow. Beautiful articles - really nice work. Started reading with the intent to skim for now (work to do...), but here I am standing, attempting to digest them both in full.

All I can say right now is: yes it really is a paradigm shift, and these articles are truly supportive and encouraging.

To be really, really honest (which, for me, is often like saying "watch me fall face-first into a cow pie") the idea of "formlessness" will take a while to sink in completely. Maybe I need to watch Softwork. Maybe I just need to practice what I've got longer, and with greater regularity (my personal psychic wart). Maybe I need more Kool-aid hahahahahahahasplatthudow.

Here's to what's coming, as it comes, by nature and honesty.

Blessings, truly.

[Scott Sonnon]

Drink. Driiiiiiiiink. :lol:

In all seriousness, formlessness is the underlying goal of all martial arts. It's just that many people become enamored with the trappings along the way.

[Jarlo Ilano]

KD,

An Rmax seminar would help you immensely.

It's all in the doing. And it will definitely spur your training on to higher levels.

[KD Jones]

Thanks all, for the (usual) encouragement and clarity.

Jarlo - I'm thinking you're right, and it's coming. Not sure when, but it's becoming inevitable.

Coach Sonnon - Perfect sense. My blinders seem to be on loose... there's so much in here, touching on so much, that it's a bit like being whipped around in a cyclone. (That the cyclone has a single eye is yet something more of a belief or hope for me, still out here in the circling winds...)

But I do think that my current task is as you said, Intu-Flow, Prasara (FlowFit?) and Body Flow.

Is there a way to block my access to other areas of the forums? You know, like an "RMAX-nanny?"

(Seriously, I'm done, got my answer. If I ask anything like this again, chain me against a wall in the full moon.)

[Jarlo Ilano]

KD,

Head Coach Dan Chomycia has workshops that he leads up in Bellingham. They have been 6 weeks long or so. I'm not sure when the next one of these is. You should take the opportunity and go work with him. He is a premier example of RMAX martial art. And a really good guy!

You should PM/email him about his schedule. Or even better would be to take a private session with him. One hour would probably answer all of your questions and lead you to even more!

[Doc]

I really wasn't looking for solo MA work, I've long since learned that concept to be nonsense - just hoping to drive as much RMAX basis into my body/mind as possible.

.


Haven't I seen the term "solo softwork" used? I have been doing this in my personal practice, even before I saw the term. I look at it as the equivalent of Bodyflow while standing. :D I let the basic ranges of motion turn into more "martial" movements much like you see on the first Fisticuffs video. Then I blend in some patterned movement drills that I know as I see fit. I link them, deconstruct them, change them, and just flow. Its the old "shadowboxing" with an RMAX twist! :D In Filipino Martial Arts its called "carenza."

[Coach Jones]

Haven't I seen the term "solo softwork" used? I have been doing this in my personal practice, even before I saw the term. I look at it as the equivalent of Body-Flow™ while standing. I let the basic ranges of motion turn into more "martial" movements much like you see on the first Fisticuffs video. Then I blend in some patterned movement drills that I know as I see fit. I link them, deconstruct them, change them, and just flow. Its the old "shadowboxing" with an RMAX twist! In Filipino Martial Arts its called "carenza."

You make an important distinction here, Keith. Softwork is an RMAX training tool which is often misunderstood by martial artists as the whole of RMAX martial arts. Developing your skill and confort level through softwork is a vital component of Flowfighting, but is still a component.

When you're on your own, work your CST, swing your Clubbells, do your Intu Flow work on your Prasara.

Go outside and find a group of likeminded folks that want to train and explore RMAX material. Work Softwork and get to a Flowfighting seminar.

Now there's a progression for ya' :wink: