Saturday, 22 August 2015

A quote from an internet forum;
'It has been said that real fights—true hand-to-hand combat—are tantamount to a head-on car-crash. Bodies violently collide and the energy and pressures involved are ferocious. The dominant combatant in such engagements will be the one that is able to stabilize the whirling forces of this storm and achieve dominant position, first. It is a race—a drag-race; a sprint. This is perhaps the most overlooked benefit to training MMA: The ability to take hold of the reins, so to speak, and control the energy of the fight.
If we remain reactive to the forces of our opponent (his flailing fists and feet; his feral attempts at eye-gouges and clawing; his attempts to access weapons), we stand at a distinct and dangerous disadvantage. We must stabilize the situation by controlling his body and momentum, thereby nullifying any initiative he may be gaining. Once that is accomplished, we can force our will upon him. We do this by applying a properly timed strike (afforded by the timing garnered through countless hours of sparring); and/or by controlling his movement and balance (afforded by the positional dominance hierarchies garnered through countless hours of rolling on the mat).'
I POSTED THIS ELSEWHERE REFERENCE SOME PEOPLE'S TAKE ON 'NEO-BARTITSU', AND MY PERSONAL PUZZLEMENT WITH THE WHOLE AFFAIR...
'For me personally, boxing, wrestling, jujitsu, savate and weapons work contain all that's needed for any type of fight (with some adaptation at times). The self defence ethos of Bartitsu and it's slightly later French cousin, 'Defense Dans La Rue', with today's training methods and equipment (scenario training, padded assailants, etc.), alongside the general development of 'Mixed Martial Arts', and the possibility of ANY of us learning from and testing our skills against fighters from the core Bartitsu disciplines (and elsewhere), means that the potential is there for it to be 'the ultimate martial art'. Not some bulls**t claim to magical abilities- but proven, real world ways of solving the puzzles of combat, in real time against real resistance in real fights (did I say 'real', yet?! LOL). The cage/ring/mat, the 'street' and (to some degree, as long as they involve a proper FIGHT!) scenario drills and simulations show us what works. We don't need to take anyone's word for it- it'll be us, not them, there fighting (hopefully just in the gym, but the 'street' is even MORE lonely...). Combat practice is the route to combat skill. How do you learn to fight? Not just by thinking about it, or reading about it, or talking about it, or watching videos (though these are all important supplementary parts of the process)- you learn to fight by FIGHTING!!! Which is why the criminal has such a massive edge on the average 'law abiding' citizen; because he's learnt to do his unsavoury business on the job, and a few successful fights teaches you more than endless hours of drills and safe practice against a compliant club mate. So, people are playing a 'catch up game', often learning how to actually be aggressive and hurt another human being, and to have another aggressive human being tryng to hurt us. This doesn't always have to be 'all out' in training (friendly fun is healthy, too! Emoticono smile ), but the fight/fear/pain aspect has to be present SOMEWHERE down the line, if we're really preparing for self defence, and not just 'self pretence' that we can make criminal violence 'easy', after a bit of EASY training! Emoticono smile'



I went off the point there (nothing new for me!), but I'm saying that Bartitsu/DDLR has everything you possibly need, if you're creative and hardworking. You don't need other arts to fill in any gaps, because there's enough there already. I suppose everyone's different though (and who am I to complain?!) Emoticono smile Even though my inspiration comes from the original sources and their component arts, I don't even really have a 'name' for what I do. Then there are plenty of people adding all sorts of stuff to their 'Bartitsu', yet neglecting the central core arts that are very much alive. Nothing is as it seems.....(or so it seems!) Emoticono wink LOL
We're much more likely to face this

http://www.gfi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/burglar-crowbar.jpg

or this

http://www.intmensorg.info/images/thug.jpg

or this

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/polopoly_fs/1.3857344.1416565203%21/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/image.jpg

and very much more likely these two

https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/bottle.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200

http://www.extranewspapers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/knife-600x337.jpg

than another person armed with a walking stick (especially a TRAINED person with a walking stick!).

Does our Bartitsu training help us prepare for this?

Do we even walk with a cane, in our daily lives?
'Up until about the mid 1940’s, many boxers wrestled in training camp as part of their strength-and-conditioning program. It was a common practice. A few examples:
Last Bare-Knuckle champ John L. Sullivan trained under William Muldoon, top pro wrestler, physical culturist, and later chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. Forgotten Heavyweight Champ Jim Jeffries also wrestled in training camp, and his wrestling skills were respected by top grapplers. Will-O-The-Wisp Willie Pep trained in wrestling specifically for the Sandy Saddler fight. While looking through old boxing photos, I’ve seen photos of old-time boxers on the mat grappling.
Legendary Heavyweight Champion of the 1920’s, “The Manassa Mauler” Jack Dempsey, also wrestled in training camp and later took judo lessons. '
http://www.sirwilliamhope.org/Library/Bartitsu/newart/nart2_6.gif
 
Picture of a basic throw from old savate.

http://monsieursavate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/prise1.jpg

You would obviously lift the leg, push down with the right arm, and block,sweep or kick out the supporting foot.


A variation; leg caught from the 'inside' (I guess an o-soto-gari-like reap would follow); http://p1.storage.canalblog.com/16/17/232402/9383795_p.jpg
Old savate technique poster

 http://modernantagonistics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/blog-post_12.html
Monsieur Dubois wasn't in the mood for a dance, that day...
http://defensedanslarue.files.wordpress.com/…/…/tranche6.jpg