Locks - FMA Style

In this cycle, we have spent some time on the floor.  Practicing from a pummel position, we've been looking at some ways of breaking the base, moving attention from high line to low line, and using the pummel as a way to seek a finishing lock either standing or on the floor.  FMA differs from MMA, BJJ/Jujitsu or wrestling since there are no submissions.  The end result of every finishing hold is a joint destruction, neck crank or a choke/strangle.

When applying locks, it is important to work in your own comfortable workspace, no higher than the line of your own shoulders and hopefully close to your body on the center line.  This allows for better delivery of the body weight and power than locks done at arms' length.  If the opponent happens to be taller, we should use low line kicks/knees/stomps to bring them down to our workspace rather than attempt to reach higher for the lock.

To improve how to execute effective locks, I suggest the following three step approach:

1) Set the Shape
Every lock is structured with a relationship between our body and our opponent's.  Using our footwork to enter, and our arms and hands to control (sometimes legs, too), we establish the shape of the lock.  This is like loading a bullet in the chamber of a gun.  In practice, it is good to study the locking shapes carefully, since many different shapes can appear in each scenario and we need to choose an effective shape for the ever-changing situation.  Whenever possible, our shape involves causing the other person to have their head/neck/spine out of alignment or twisted, which limits their resistance.

2) Remove the slack
Once the shape is set, we remove all the slack - thereby isolating the joint.  If the joint is not isolated, the shape will move, since the opponent will be actively trying to escape or counter the shape we create. Their arms or legs will wriggle and snake.  The elbows/knees will bend, the opponent will try to bridge or shrimp away, etc.  Once the slack is removed, the isolated joint can be attacked with the maximum pressure and leverage.  Think of  it like a wrench turning a bolt.  If you use a wrench which is too big, the force is lost and the bolt cannot be tightened.

3) Apply Force
When we apply force, it is best to use the largest possible muscle groups since they generate the most power.  Particularly, the best locks are done using the chest, back, hips/pelvis, or thighs.  There is a tendency for beginners to try to apply locks using just the arms.  This can work, but it is slower and riskier than using the body weight and the core.  By applying force this way, even a smaller person can deliver effective results since the major muscle groups and core allow them to use their full body weight for the lock.  Of course, gravity is also an effective force multiplier, and many of the best locks are completed by dropping our body weight onto the opponent or causing them to fall while locked.  In KM, many of our locks are done using the breath exhale/chest expansion as this is very difficult to resist and yields a lot of power.

Done properly, locking represents an effective way of finishing a situation without the need to strike or kick.  In KM we emphasize mobility but it is still important to have at least some basic skills in case a fight ends up on the ground.

Practice Effectively.

Knowing a Little

They caught me.  Again.  I was walking over to my best friend Paul's house and they got me just after I had turned the corner from Summit Avenue onto Adams street.  Their car skidded to a stop and Ron, Donnie and Mike got out ready to have some fun at my expense - again.  The official story was that I fell on the ice and they started kicking me, managing to (accidentally) stomp on my hand and break it in the process.  The truth is I put my hands up to cover my face and got knocked down immediately.  I probably broke my hand when I went down.  I never even threw a single punch in my own defense.

I never made it to Paul's house.  Instead, I crawled home on my hands and knees and through the front door, leaving a sparse, thin trail of blood along the snow and ice the whole way.  My parents wanted to take me to the emergency room.  All I wanted was to find my brother, Casey.  He would know what to do.  Casey was my polar opposite.  Short, squat and powerful, me could max the leg press in the school gym already when he was still just a freshman.  He was a fullback on the football team and everybody in school loved and respected him.

Because we were foster kids, we had different names and most people didn't know he was my brother.  If Ron, Donnie and Mike had known, they definitely would have left me alone.  They found out firsthand who Casey was very soon after this incident.  Casey never told me what he said or did to them, but when the hospital let me out and I went back to school the three of them were terrified of me, as if I had the power of life and death over them.  Ron even offered to carry my books from one class to another.  For the next few years, even after Casey had already graduated, the fact that he was my brother kept all my enemies at bay.  I wanted to be strong like Casey.  Strong enough to never be bullied again.  Strong enough to never be afraid again.

The following summer, when I turned 14, Casey was taken away again and I started martial arts training at an old garage in Glendale Heights.  I've been in the martial arts one way or another ever since.

After a year or so, I no longer felt I needed Casey watching my back, which was good because he was still gone.  Maybe he was in Florida with his real Dad.  We didn't really know.  Foster kids tend to get moved around a lot and we never knew if or when we would see Casey again.  In the end he was gone for 3 years this time and didn't come back again until his senior year in high school.

With a bit of training, I felt confident.  I could do the basic punches and kicks and even a few combinations.  I could twirl a few weapons around and even strike a pose or two.  I fantasized about what I would do if Ron, Donnie and Mike ever came after me again, and I'd daydream about slashing them with a katana or bashing them with nunchaku.  Thankfully, it never happened.

It's been almost 40 years (and four black belts) since I started.  I feel like I've come a long way.  I don't daydream about fighting (well, maybe a little), and in time I've come to use what I learned to help people rather than harm them.  That overconfident 15 year old has been replaced by a middle-aged husband and father that thinks mostly about the weekends and what to cook (pizza anyone?).

I have also realized after nearly 40 years how little I actually know about martial arts.  I have tried to dig deeply into Japanese martial arts, especially kenjutsu/iaijutsu, aikido, judo, jujitsu.  Since 2008 Kali Majapahit has been my passion, and has helped introduce me to Filipino, Malaysian/Indonesian, Thai and Southern Chinese martial arts.  Together, these blend into a flow that seems to make sense to me.  That said, for each system I have studied, I know many people far more skilled than I can ever be - masters who understand things I am just on the verge of discovering.  I still have so much to learn - too much to ever fully grasp in the time I have left.

Knowing a little has also taught me that I want to avoid physical confrontation whenever possible.  There are far too many variables to ever really know the outcome of any such situation.  Things can escalate very quickly and many actions, once done, cannot be undone.  In the worst case, there are potentially permanent effects that could involve prison or worse.  It's just not worth it unless there is really no other option.  Like life insurance, it's better to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it.  The peace of mind I get from knowing myself and my capabilities/limitations is enough for me.  Martial arts has given me so much more than fighting skill.  I use what I have learned every single day.

Ron, Donnie and Mike are probably still living in or around my hometown in suburban Chicago.  If we met again, I'd probably buy them a drink and we could laugh about how stupid we all were back then.

Work In Progress

(thanks for the inspiration Guro Vince)

Modern society has given us very high expectations - we expect perfection.  In movies and on TV, perfect people with perfect smiles always seem to have the perfect answers for every situation.  Every problem is solved in an hour or less (including commercial breaks).  Flawless models grace the covers of magazines or post relentlessly on Instagram (or at least their Photoshopped avatars do).  Perfect athletes achieve superhuman feats on the pitch or in the ring.  Internet billionaires (or their YouTube avatars) live perfect lives of luxury...the list goes on and on.  We are all caught in an endless cycle of "upgrading" to the next better job, girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband, circle of friends, car, house, jacket, ISP, mobile plan, popular celebrity, etc.  It seems we can never truly be satisfied and the duration of our satiety grows shorter almost by the day.

Very often these external influences cause us to expect perfection from ourselves, too.  We can start to believe that our lives should be like those we see on TV and become disappointed when they aren't.  As this disappointment inevitably repeats itself, and it will since none of us can match an imaginary or fabricated reality, we may even spiral into depression, exhausted at trying to "keep up with the Kardashians".  We encounter hardship, we struggle, and we may feel like giving up.

The truth is that we are all a work in progress.  All of us.  Always.  Every single person we meet.  EVERY SINGLE PERSON has something they are working on, something they are struggling with.  In fact, the ones we see as the most successful are often the ones with the greatest insecurities about their success.  Some of the people I thought were the most "successful" turned out to be the most dysfunctional - dealing with serious mental and emotional issues.  Conversely, some of the people with the most daunting obstacles have risen to some of the greatest feats of human achievement despite them (Stephen Hawking anyone?).  We are NOT absolutes.  Rather, we are a messy, fascinating combination of both crisis and opportunity; hope and despair.

First, we must accept that this is our natural human state of being - flux. We are NOT perfect and perfection, since it is static, cannot possibly be our natural state of being.  We are meant to be on the Journey Toward Perfection.  Embracing our connectedness, we then realize that all of us are on a journey - none of us have arrived - and it is our love, empathy and compassion that fuels those around us to help them continue moving forward.  They, in turn, fuel us.  Together, we rise.

Likewise, I know I haven't failed because I'm not done yet.  I haven't given up. The final results are not out.  There is still time to improve and go farther.  There is still a chance to make a difference and push my life in the right direction toward my goals.  I can still contribute to others and to myself.

We could each choose to wake up every morning filled with dread and worried about what bad things could happen or what could go wrong.  Instead, we could choose to face each day with hopefulness and anticipation at all the endless possible things that could go RIGHT.  Even the smallest positive outcome is worthy of our gratitude.  Even a little bit of change brings us that much closer and shows that we are making progress.  Never forget to celebrate the good, just as we learn from and let go of the bad.

Success is mostly a by-product of perseverance.  It helps me to remember I'm not done yet.  Neither are you.  Not even close.

Please excuse the dust - work in progress.