Attack, Avoid, Survive: Global Epub Edition

By Phil West

Now in Epub: Global edition of "Attack, Avoid, Survive". Additional content, more illustrations, more techniques and more pages makes this version even better value. Additional content added 2020. Very few combat manuals choose to explain the mechanics and principles on which techniques are based. This book does. Not only are the essential principles explained, but they are also illustrated with practical real world applications. Examples are drawn from proven martial arts including Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, Karate, Combat Tai Chi, Capoeira, Jujitsu, Bagua, Boxing and the Filipino Martial Arts. Included in this book is a detailed section on Dim mak or Vital points which features a new simplified system for learning the point locations. • Advice on avoiding trouble before the fighting starts. •Defence against Knives and other armed attacks. •The use of Dim mak Vital points and Pressure Points •Locks, Throws, Takedowns, Strikes and Kicking. •Use of Knives and everyday objects for defence. •Selecting firearms for close range defence

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781326718367

Phil West

Phil West is one of the UK’s best-known and longest established motorcycle journalists and authors. His thirty-plus years at the top of the profession has included being editor of leading magazines Bike and What Bike as well as creating and launching American Motorcycles and Biking Times. He was also Executive Editor at Motor Cycle News. As a freelancer his work has been published around the globe, in publications varying from Stuff to FHM and the Evening Standard and he remains a regular contributor to MCN, Bike, RiDE, Autotrader and others. He is also a prolific, successful author of motorcycling books.

Book preview

Attack, Avoid, Survive:

Essential Principles of Self Defence

Phil West

Global Edition.

Copyright Phil West ©2011 and 2016. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-326-71836-7

Global Format Epub Edition Version 1.1 2016/ 2020

If you have enjoyed this book and did not pay for it please consider making a donation at

http://www.angelfire.com/art/enchanter/epsdbook.html

Thank you.

Visit the blog at survive.phillosoph.com

It is the reader’s responsibility to train safely and observe any relevant local laws.

Neither the author nor the publisher are liable for any injuries or consequences that you may incur as a result of acting upon any information from this book.

Acknowledgements

Firstly, to two very tolerant teachers, Richard Clark and Prof. Pastel.

To Alex Pirchl, for not being able to go to a class and starting me jotting ideas down.

To Trevor Calder of Perth and Shazad of Karachi, for letting me bounce so many ideas off them.

To Jay Paravate, for lots of encouragement.

To Kevin She, who describes himself as …an amateur thrower with too much time on his hands so he throws it away... for discovering a new throw and sharing it.

To Michael Christensen, for the useful advice on unusual throwing weapons and techniques.

To Lt. Mike Sparks for the enthusiasm and solving the publication problem.

To Marc MacYoung and Peyton Quinn, for writing some of the best books in the field and being kind enough to allow me to reproduce some of their work in this book.

To Erle Montaigue, who generosity provided me with invaluable information on dim-mak and many other aspects of the martial arts. Sadly, he passed on a few months before the first edition of this work was published. He made an immense contribution to the world of martial arts.

To Caroline de Souza, for her strength, her love and for giving me a life and a future.

Foreword by Erle Montaigue

This book by Phil West will be a valuable tool in learning about point striking as it gives a good introduction for the novice.

Much rubbish has been written about point striking, especially on the mystical side, however, this book helps to put point striking into a good basic style of learning with no super-natural garbage. Here are the points, hit them! And that is basically what I also teach. It must also be said however, that in order to use any kind of point striking the student must have been studying a good martial system for a number of years and must of course already know how to fight!

All the point knowledge in the world will not help you unless you can DO IT!

I have read the rest of Phil’s book and I am especially impressed with the information on the Jujitsu section as I am with the whole book. Each section will add that little something to any Martial Arts practitioner’s training no matter what system you study.

I am sure that you will be pleased with this book.

Erle Montaigue,

Co-Author of the Encyclopaedia of Dim-Mak.

April 1999

Preface

During the Second World War Lt. Col. W.E Fairbairn was responsible for developing a program of close quarter fighting for the newly formed British Commandos and later the agents of the SOE and OSS. He brought to the program a variety of oriental and occidental fighting techniques, many of them learnt as an officer with the Shanghai police.

One night a German Military Police unit turned up to arrest a SOE agent. One soldier found the agent (Harry Rée) in the kitchen. Rée struck him with a brandy bottle and a fist fight followed that wrecked most of the kitchen. As Rée tried to run he was shot six times. One bullet grazed his heart, another penetrated his lung. Despite this he managed to swim across a nearby fast flowing river and crawled six kilometres through the woods to reach a friendly doctor.

Rée was later asked how useful Fairbairn’s training had been to him. He answered that he didn’t remember using a single technique that he was taught but what the training had given him was the determination that he was not going to give in without a fight.

Adapted from Clandestine Warfare by James Ladd and Keith Melton.

Blandford Press.

The Introduction, and How This Book Began

Sometime ago the increasing size of the love handles convinced me that I should take up martial arts again.

Previously I’d trained in Karate and periodically practised Tai Chi, being interested in the martial applications of the postures. Like many martial artists, I’d read a lot of articles and books on other styles. I had been planning to take up Kali, but before I could follow up an address given to me, I came across a poster advertising Capoeira with a newly arrived Brazilian instructor. Since this was an art that interested me, and was very different to the styles I was familiar with, I took up Capoeira instead.

Shortly after this, I was corresponding with a friend in Austria and he commented that he would love to practice a martial art, but the nearest class was an hour and a half’s drive each way.

Shame, I said, how about me jotting down a few tricks and things I’ve picked up over the years?

So I began to scribble down ideas and the brief notes began to grow. I began to re-learn the old adage that if you want to learn; teach, and began learning and understanding techniques and disciplines that the arts I’d learnt had neglected.

Certain trends common to all martial arts began to emerge and several other friends became interested in these notes. Discussions with other martial artists often found me referring to a passage from the notes to explain something.

I began to realise that these notes might be of interest to a much wider audience.

You may have noted that so far I haven’t described my extensive Special Forces’ service, the world-famous masters I’ve studied with or the numerous black belts and equivalents I’ve gained in my decades of study. This is because none of the above applies but partially because I personally regard martial arts as a tool to help me live, rather than my main purpose in life.

Now some of you will read no further and put down this book because of the previous statement, but you’re likely to be losing out. What I do have at my disposal is a highly analytical mind and considerable experience teaching complex biological and scientific principles and reducing them into an easily understood form. I once remarked to a black belt friend of mine that it seemed odd that he should ask me for suggestions about techniques and tactics. His response was that I displayed a better understanding than most people he had practised with and seemed more capable of simplifying things to the basic underlying principles. He even coined the slightly ludicrous term Research martial artist.

This book is about what I can hopefully teach you and increasing your own understanding and safety. It is not about me.

This book is about the underlying principles of combat arts. To those of you still reading, all I can ask is that you read this book with an open mind and judge it by its contents.

This is the second edition of Attack, Avoid Survive. It has more content, more illustrations and more techniques. I have also rewritten and hopefully clarified many sections.

Martial Arts

Martial arts is a term that covers many fields.

Although most people take up martial arts to learn how to fight, the majority of arts they will encounter will in fact be practised as sports, or for spiritual development, or for health reasons or for their own sake as a part of one’s cultural inheritance. Historically and sociologically the practice of martial arts had several important functions. They were a constructive way to channel youthful aggression and competition and helped break down the generation gap. They were also an important aspect in individual growth, the objective in many martial arts being to tame the individual’s ego. The modern martial arts world is often highly competitive and commercial, and it is debatable if the previous statement applies to some individuals.

What many people do not appreciate is that the various kata, stances and rules of a martial arts style were originally just tools to help the fighter to achieve the state that Bruce Lee called the No-Style style. At this level the use of effective techniques becomes fluid and instinctive. The different styles can be thought of as simply different paths to the same mountain top. It is the new viewpoint from that mountain top that is important, not the path you took to the top. Unfortunately, it is quite common for these tools to become enshrined and perceived as the objective itself. A martial art becomes a set of beliefs, dogma and a particular approach and any different route to the same summit considered wrong. Obsession with the structure of a martial art can easily become a cage that prevents you moving in the direction that you should be going. Lee wrote that the function of a boat was to carry you across a river. Once the river was crossed the boat was discarded and you moved on rather than trying to carry the boat on your back. Follow the signpost, don’t stop and worship it!

This is not to say that those arts lack effective techniques that can be used in a real fight, but you should bear the above in mind. Some techniques will only work in a dojo or a competition or against someone fighting in the same style. Many combat sports contain effective techniques but provide an indirect path towards self-defence.

Where possible, this book concentrates on techniques that can be used for self-defence. Some of these may not be allowed in a sporting contest, even though I have not included the more lethal attacks. That doesn’t mean some of these techniques cannot cause great harm, so practice with caution and restraint and only use them in a fight if you feel genuinely endangered.

Strictly speaking, this is a book about learning self-defence, not martial arts. Just as it would be impossible to write a cookbook without some consideration of chemistry no self-defence book can do its topic justice without some consideration of the tools various martial arts offer.

Some Martial Arts Mentioned in the Following Pages.

I’ve yet to encounter a martial art that has it all.

Most seem to concentrate on one aspect or another of fighting. Sometimes this is just a matter of emphasis. Karate has some interesting throwing techniques, but very rarely will you see these being taught. Jujitsu has many of the striking techniques of Karate but the main emphasis is on throws and locks so these may not be so well practised.

Karate

Back in the 60s and 70s Karate seemed an exotic art but now it is so familiar that many people forget just how effective it can be. Tae Kwon Do seems very similar to Karate but with possibly more emphasis on foot techniques.

The original Okinawan Karate seems to have been practised as both a hard and a soft art, using what power the Karateka had but also exploiting the foe’s power. In the western world now Karate seems to be most commonly practised as a hard sporting art (Time to warm up, carry that 15 stone guy around the room!). This is a great shame, since the softer side is probably the more effective.

I studied Karate with Richard Clark of Bedfordshire. His interest was in studying the softer applications of the art, and taught so that he could learn more himself.

It’s polite to mention your teachers in a book such as this, so there is the first one. Please understand that any errors in the text are my own and should not be taken as a reflection of any of my instructors’ abilities.

Many of the most physically powerful techniques in this book are provided by Karate principles.

Capoeira

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art, described as being equally a dance, a game and a martial art.

Capoeira seems to have originated within the slave populations of Brazil during the eighteenth century and it is the only martial art I know of that has no demonstrable eastern origin. This can be seen in its often very different approach and philosophy.

Capoeirista tend to avoid and duck attacks rather than opposing them, often using acrobatics. The spectacular seeming moves often prove to be surprisingly practical. The cartwheel, for example, can act as a breakfall but leaves the player in a better position to counterattack. While most martial arts stress maintaining balance, the Capoeirista will often be out of balance and use the motion to make his moves.

The sparing/ performance of Capoeira is the jogo (game), and is performed in the roda (circle or ring). Capoeira appears to mainly use the feet but in fact the hands, head, elbows and knees may all be used. My Capoeira teacher was Prof. Pastel (now Mestre Pastel), currently in France, but previously of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.

Written material on Capoeira in English is currently rare and to the best of my knowledge this is the first book that incorporates Capoeira ideas and techniques alongside other martial arts. Capoeira’s main strengths are mobility and sweeping techniques. Experienced players tend to be very fit and agile.

A Capoeira master was once asked what he would do if attacked. He shamelessly answered he would run away.

And if they chased you?

Then that is the best time to ambush them. he answered.

Judo and Jujitsu

Judo is the sporting form of Jujitsu (also spelt Ju-jitsu, Jujutsu and Jiu-jitsu). Judo is essentially Jujitsu without the kicks and punches.

Judo is a highly effective throwing art and the one I have drawn on for most of the throwing techniques in this book. In a self-defence application it needs to be supplemented by striking techniques and practice against techniques and situations that do not occur in competition. Traditional Jujitsu not only used strikes but a variety of Weapons too. It was realized that in real world combat it would often be necessary to soften up a foe before a throw or restraint technique could be used.

Brazilian Jujitsu is currently the vogue in certain circles. Emphasis seems to concentrate on grappling, groundwork and locks. While some writers treat Brazilian Jujitsu as a distinct martial art as far as I’m aware the main differences are in its training philosophy and sparring rules. The majority of their techniques are the same as those used in Japanese Judo.

Tai Chi and Bagua/ Pa-Kua

I was once told that Tai Chi was not a fighting art, which amused me greatly.

Tai Chi is mainly practised as a form of exercise and meditation, and the martial applications are not well-known and somewhat neglected. In fact, the slow practising of the form (kata) promotes relaxation and balance, which combined with the postures, produce a very effective close-range fighting art.

Many of the fighting principles in this book, not just those from Tai Chi are based on information from books and videos by Erle Montaigue.

We’ll also look at Pa-Kua, another internal martial art often described as the daughter of Tai Chi.

While Tai Chi and Pa-Kua are classed as internal arts many of their movements also serve as effective external techniques. This allows then to be used for self-defence by students at an early or intermediate level.

Under the Pinyin system for converting Mandarin into Roman alphabet Pa-Kua may be encountered spelt Bagua, Bagwazhang or Bagwa and Tai Chi as Taiji.

Wing Chun

Wing Chun is another close-range Chinese style and more obviously a fighting art. This is described in more detail later on.

Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do was the martial art developed by Bruce Lee, although his writings in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do describe it more as a philosophy than a style, the intention being for the individual to take what personally works for them from various styles and discard what does not.

That having been said, he did recommend certain techniques and postures and many instructors teach these moves as a style, sometimes by the alternate name of Jun Fan. In addition to the Asian-based martial arts, Lee also drew heavily on western boxing techniques and fencing.

Jeet Kune Do translates as way of the intercepting fist (or foot). Lee adopted this name since one of his favourite tactics was to neutralise an attack by a stop-hit counterattack. For example, a foe moving forward to grab him would be met by a side kick to the knee. As Lee described it:

My longest ranged weapon against the closest target.

Thought of another way:

The most appropriate/ convenient weapon applied to the most accessible target.

Bando

Bando is a Burmese martial art that during this century has had a strong Japanese influence. There are several different styles that are based on the actions of various animals. I’m indebted to my friend Shahzad for giving me the interesting information on the boar style.

Filipino Martial Arts

Known variously as Kali, Arnis and Escrima, these have gained great popularity in recent years.

They are best known as stick fighting or knife fighting arts, although in fact they teach techniques and skills applicable to a wide range of weapons, including empty hand.

The Filipino styles seem to be more combat orientated than many of the arts taught in the west, although sporting and competition influences are beginning to become more apparent.

Boxing

Boxing, English boxing or pugilism is a sport sometimes foolishly mocked by some students of eastern martial arts. On the negative side, boxing is a sport so many boxers have little idea how to handle techniques that are not used in the ring and may be vulnerable to trips, throws and various low attacks. Clinching a foe to stop them hitting you works fine in the ring but on the street may simply get you thrown to the ground and kicked senseless. Interestingly, as late as the 19th century the rules for boxing allowed several tripping and throwing techniques to be used. Boxing gloves can give a false impression of how effective the boxer’s offensive and defensive techniques are. Mike Tyson is by no means the only boxer to break his hand punching in a street fight.

On the other hand boxers tend to train hard and frequently and are no strangers to contact sparring. What a boxer can do he can generally do very well. He’ll be adept at avoiding blows by slipping, bobbing and weaving, have good endurance, hit hard and fast and will fight aggressively.

Readers may find it useful to take a look at Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey (1950), which can be found on websites such as www.scribd.com.

Savate

Savate, also called Boxe Française is a French martial art that is most well-known for its kicking techniques. Savate is sometimes erroneously referred to as the only uniquely western martial art, a title that actually belongs to Capoeira. The naval ancestry of Savate makes it very likely there may have been some influence from Asian fighting techniques. It has also been called the only European martial art, which depending on your definition of martial art does have some validity.

Traditionally Savate has two origins. The first was from French sailors who used a fighting style they called Chausson (slipper, although this term may have referred to some form of deckshoe). Chausson used kicking attacks with the hands sometimes placed on the ground for stability. It has been theorized that on board a moving deck fighting with kicks allowed the hands to be kept available for handholds or stability. A friend of mine had a pet theory that Chausson allowed the hands to parry with Weapons and counterattack with kicks. Chausson also used open handed techniques, possibly as a loophole against stricter legal penalties for striking with the fist. The other origin of Savate was from a variety of street fighting techniques used by French hoodlums and criminals. Kicking was also a prominent technique among these gangs and the fighting style became known as Savate (old boot). During the 19th century these two sources were brought together into a more systematized self-defence and sporting style called Boxe Française. The art was to gain a third influence, improving its offensive and defensive hand techniques by adopting those of English boxing. Lutte Parisienne (Parisian wrestling) was often taught with Boxe Française to add some grappling techniques. Weapons taught included likely available objects such as the walking cane, knife, chair and overcoat.

Savate presumes that the fighter is wearing suitable stout footwear so many kicking techniques use the toe rather than the parts of the foot usually used in styles that train barefoot or in lighter footwear.

While Savate is undoubtedly an effective fighting style what is interesting is that only a relatively small number of techniques are used in the ring. Punches are limited to jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts. Kicks allowed are usually the fouetté: a roundhouse kick using the toe, side kick (chassé lateral), front thrust (chassé frontal), outward/ reverse crescent (revers frontal), revers lateral (reverse roundhouse hitting with the sole) and the coup de pied bas. Note that two of these are reverse kicks approaching a potential foe from one side, two are inward kicks coming in the other direction and two thrust straight ahead.

The self-defence techniques of Savate, known as Savate dans la rue or Savate de rue (street Savate) includes a wider variety of kicks, open and closed hand techniques and head-butts but I suspect most modern Savateurs rely on the ring techniques that they are most familiar with from training.

Learning a Martial Art

Knowing the techniques and principles in this or any book is only part of the story.

Kung Fu in its original meaning meant something like achievement by constant practice. You performed kung fu by studying martial arts, but it could equally apply to painting walls or filleting fish. The key word here is practice. It is only by practising that techniques become ingrained and the most appropriate is selected and executed seemingly without conscious thought. You can read and memorise this or any other book as many times as you want but this will be nothing without practising until your muscles know the moves better than your memory.

You could teach martial arts in the way that some armies teach close combat and various other things: select a few basic techniques that will suit most situations and practice them from sun-up to sun-down for days on end. This works very well but in a civilian context an instructor that tried this would soon lose all his pupils as they became bored.

A good basic system is detailed in Peyton Quinn’s book A Bouncer’s Guide to Barroom Brawling and involves just two parries and five hand strikes: snap punch, reverse punch, throat shot, knife-hand and back-fist, plus a few techniques for special situations such as grabs and full-nelsons. This is based on his observation that the most common attack is a punch to the head.

W. E. Fairbairn’s system only bothered to describe five strikes in detail: knife-hand, chin jab (with palm-heel), knee strike, low side kick and bronco kick.

There are points for surviving, not style, in the real world.

Another basic system is just learning to throw continuous full power hooks into the torso. Crude, but often effective.

You can practice your martial arts at home, preferably with a few friends, but it is more likely you will find some form of class in your area. When you find a class it is important to work out what is the main purpose of the class. Is the emphasis on training for competition, living history etc. The way a class is taught is also very important. Some classes tend to be way too physical or macho, so the emphasis moves to strength rather than skill. There’s nothing wrong with being strong, but there is always someone stronger.

Martial arts classes also range in approach from the highly informal to incredibly strict set-ups where most of the students won’t dare speak to the master. The latter may be a product of tradition, or may just be a case of egotism, but in either case is part of the package you have to accept if you take this particular class. Personally I prefer an informal but respectful atmosphere as being more conducive to learning but you may have to take what you can get.

In either situation as a student it is usually prudent and polite to keep your eyes and mind open and your mouth closed. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask intelligent questions but try to keep the constant chatter down and don’t question how valid a technique may be. For heaven’s sake, don’t suddenly announce that this or any other book says that the move doesn’t work in a certain situation. You could politely ask what would happen if the other person did such and such, although some instructors will feel they have lost face if they can’t answer convincingly. Sometimes it is better to just experiment for yourself later.

It may be that a move becomes more practical as you become more familiar with it or it is used in a way you didn’t imagine. It is possible that the technique won’t work on the street, but this may be part of the art for some other purpose, so just keep your opinions to yourself and do your best with it.

Training should involve three elements.

The first is non-contact practice. This ranges from repeating basic kicks or simple combinations to long katas. All of these help ingrain the moves into your mind. The repetition tends to teach you to make the moves with a relaxed body.

Katas (called forms in Chinese arts) are long sequences of pre-set moves. Some martial artists love them and would do nothing else. In fact, Tai Chi to most people is just the practice of one of the forms. Other artists, Bruce Lee amongst them, considered them of little worth or too much trouble to learn. Personally, I can see both sides of this argument. A kata can be a great way to ingrain the moves into you, but unless you are aware of the applications of the moves you are just waving your arms around. Performing a move slowly promotes control and balance, while performing a move fast has various benefits, including co-ordination. A useful technique is to sometimes practice a kata or move without the hand movements, allowing you to concentrate on your footwork and hip movements. A common mistake, incidentally, is trying to execute newly learned moves too fast. Walk before you can run, and you won’t try to cover up poor technique with speed.

Second element to practice is sparring, preferably with as many different people as possible. Like chess, you get better by playing with someone better than yourself, providing they play down to a similar level. Sparring also builds confidence in your ability to use moves.

The third element to practice is to execute the moves against targets such as punch bags. This builds confidence in your abilities, an appreciation for distance and tends to reveal any faulty technique. Some styles like to break bricks and stuff, which looks good and builds confidence but bear in mind people are made of very different stuff and often need to be hit with a different technique. Bone is apparently 50% stronger than the equivalent weight of mild steel, which makes it more than three times stronger than a tile and nowhere near as brittle.

Exercise

A good combat art uses what is available to the fighter to the best advantage, be it Weapons in the vicinity or the fighter’s own strength or weight. There is nothing wrong with building up your strength to have a little more power to utilise. In a real combat situation a bit of muscle can make up for a lack in skill or an imperfectly applied technique.

Before practising or exercising, always warm up properly. This greatly reduces the likelihood of injuries that can postpone your training. Warm up means exactly that: warm up, not wear out. A routine that leaves you too tired to practice or requires great feats of strength is not sensible.

Stretch at least once every day. I’m not talking about the Karate warm-ups where you have someone pushing on your legs. Stand up straight, arch your back and lean back. Do this every morning in the shower or when riding the train to work and you’ll feel better for it. You may like to look up the Salute the Sun (Surya Namaskar) yoga sequence on the internet and try at least the first couple of moves.

Muscle needs time to recover and grow after being exercised. Working out every day will actually produce less results than if you leave a day or two between workouts. Alternately exercise different muscle groups on consecutive days.

Best exercise for the upper body is without doubt press ups. It is also without doubt one of the exercises I like the least, but then nobody mistakes me for Schwarzenegger that often either.

Not everyone can do push ups straight off. These people often have not so fond memories of PE lessons in school where the only purpose to doing press ups was to reveal to the class who couldn’t, without any attempts ever being made to improve the pupil’s ability. If this describes you, try the exercise against a table edge with the body at about 45 degrees and move the feet further away as your strength builds. Push ups with the knees on the ground rather than the toes is another good way to build up to true push ups.

Push ups with the palms flat on the ground bends your wrists unnaturally far. Push up handles or stands can be brought for the price of a few beers and keep your wrists in a more natural position. Polygonal dumbbells can be used in the same way, or you can make your push ups with your fists against the ground, perhaps with a little cushioning from a folded towel. If these become too easy then do push ups supported by your fingers and thumbs. Some martial arts consider these the best way to build up strength in the hands.

Make your push-ups slow and steady. Take two seconds descending and another two rising up. You can practice your breathing while doing press ups, incidentally. Exhale as you straighten the arms and inhale as you descend to the ground again. I think of this as inhaling the ground.

http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/chest.htm#pushups

Working out with weights is also good but bear in mind that you want to build strength rather than bulk, so lots of repetitions with moderate weights. A good start is curls with a dumbbell of around 3 to 5kg. Make thirty reps with one arm, then the other. Rest a minute or so and then attempt another set for each arm if you feel up to it. As you improve you can increase the weight a little but also increase number of reps and sets. This workout will only take a few minutes a couple of times a week. Lying on the floor and performing dumbbell flys and presses will build up your chest and arm strength if you are not yet ready for full push-ups.

For more information on efficient exercising, increasing strength and reducing body fat see my web article at

http://www.angelfire.com/art/enchanter/leanandmean.html

One use of weights I’m very dubious about is the sometimes-seen practice of punching while holding a weight. Now, for an upward punch this may have some use if done at moderate speed. What I’m not so sure about are horizontal punches with weights, the sort usually seen. Think about this for a moment. For most of the punch you are accelerating the weight as fast as you can, then in the last instant and in a much smaller distance you have to bring it to a dead stop. Which is going to take the more energy? Punching in this fashion seems a good way to develop the muscles that pull a punch! And that is if you don’t pull a muscle the first few times you try it. In actual fact a punching hand reaches its maximum velocity when the arm is at about 75% extension. This means the last 25% of a punch to full extension is braking the hand. If this were not the case the body would damage itself whenever you thrust your arms with any force.

Often the moves themselves will be enough exercise for the legs, although you can try holding dumbbells in your hands or over your shoulders and kicking or squatting. Some styles use weighted footwear or ankle bands. Many of the cautions given about punching with weights should be kept in mind.

A training aid that has been used for centuries for both armed and unarmed combat exercises is the Indian club. Modern versions of these are sometimes called clubbells. You can buy these or make your own. Indian clubs available for sale are often quite expensive and too heavy. My first set of Indian clubs was a pair of plastic juggling clubs filled up with salt. They should weigh no more than 4lbs.

While on the general topic of exercise, make time to exercise your cardiovascular system. Cardio needn’t mean jogging or aerobics classes. Brisk walking is one of the best cardio exercises going. There is little chance of injury, you can do it nearly anywhere and you actually go somewhere! Park a little further from your destination or consider getting off the bus or train a stop or two earlier. Take the stairs down rather than the lift. Take the stairs up and you’ll be surprised and pleased at how soon you begin to notice a difference. A cardio workout is any activity that raises your heart-rate for at least 20 minutes. Ideally this should be every day but try to aim for at least three times a week. Notice here I said activity and not sport. Walking, cycling and swimming are good but so are things such as dancing. Find something you like. If you climb out of your girlfriend’s warm bed on a cold early morning to go jogging reflect that there may be far more enjoyable ways to raise your heartbeat for 20 minutes or more.

http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/cardio.htm

Jumping and landing from jumps is a good exercise for the legs and a useful skill to acquire. The running jumps used in athletics are not as useful as the standing jumps practised in parkour.

Conditioning

Conditioning refers to exercises that are designed to toughen up parts of the body. Proper conditioning reduces the chance of injury during combat or training and may speed the healing of any injuries sustained.

For self-defence purposes it is unnecessary to condition the whole body. The elbows are pretty tough to start with, so need very little conditioning. Our feet are generally protected by footwear so conditioning them is not a priority for most of us. The body area that most benefits from conditioning is the hands.

The best way to condition your hands is by practising your strikes against a punch bag or training pads. Since your training should include some impact work you get to condition your hands at the same time as you hone your skills.

Another area worth conditioning are the forearms. You can do this against a punch bag, but it is better if you have a partner, since