Irish Fighter – Feature Article December 2008
It was a warm humid day in June when I landed in Birmingham airport for the first day of my master class instructor course with Geoff Thompson. Myself and two of my assistant instructors( Paul Byrne & Sharon Hutchinson) in the Hard Target Self Defence systems had traveled from Dublin to be very kindly collected by my old mate Steve Maycock form Krav Maga Birmingham. Steve has been teaching martial arts and self defence for over 25 years-many refer to Steve as the encyclopedia of martial arts, and anyone who met Steve will vouch for this.
We had no time to spare. The plane landed at 7:30am and training started at 8:30am. We had to make the journey from Birmingham airport to Coventry city centre. This gave us just enough time to get something to eat and listen to another story from the human martial arts encyclopedia.
Most of you who read this article will be very familiar with Geoff’s and his work within the BCA (British Combat Association). Those of you who haven’t heard of him – let me give you a brief history of the man. He has to be one of the most widely experienced martial artists in the world. He is ABA , Assn Boxing Coach, British Amateur Wrestling Association Coach, 6th Dan in Japanese Karate, 1st Dan in Judo, 2nd Dan in K.U.G.B., 1st Dan Modga Kung Fu, BCA Coach, 4th Dan in C.E.K.A. , a former British Weapons champion and was voted the number one self defence author in the world by Black Belt Magazine in the USA.
He is also a BAFTA award winning film maker & prolific writer with over a quarter of a million books in print. Geoff’s first book – the highly acclaimed” Watch My Back- A bouncers Story” has been made into a feature film titled “ Clubbed” which should hit our screens this year.
We arrived at 8:45am, luckily for us Geoff was also running late. The human encyclopedia managed to get lost in his home city even with a Sat Nav. Only joking Steve – you know we love you!
Geoff starts each day off with an inspirational talk. The first morning was all about FEAR. How we react to it and how it controls all of us (if we allow) everyday of our lives. We all had the opportunity to talk about our own experiences when adrenaline kicks in. It was inspirational to hear the different stories of how majority of the group had tackled their own fears. One of the students quoted the great boxing trainer Cus D’Amato thoughts on fear” "The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters."
I personally believe the that only difference between a coward and a hero is that latter knows how to control the adrenaline release, and the coward doesn't.
Geoff was about to take us all out of our comforts zones. We each had to volunteer to take a section of the class and teach it to the group. All in attendance where experienced material artist, who teach on a regular basis, but when asked to teach to a room full of Dan graded martial artists and having Geoff on the side lines this triggered adrenaline in all of us.
As Geoff rightly said “ There is growth in the discomfort” We have to learn to enjoy this discomfort. I think we can all understand this. If we look back at the most rewarding things we have achieved in our lives we will see that they did’nt come easy. That could be the job promotion, the black belt, the new house, the change of career, etc etc all take hard work. It is those of us who realise that there is growth in the discomfort are the people who archive most out of life.
After each inspirational talk, we then got stuck into pad work, sparring drills, grappling, take-downs and ground fighting.
The take-downs and ground work where initially done at a slow and controlled pace and then taken to another level where by he or she became non compliant. We started with some reaping –firstly the Osoto gari ( Large outer reap) and then into Ouchi gari( Large inner reap). Geoff Judo skills are phenomenal. He seemed happy that all in attendance where breakfalling well , so he then demonstrated some more advanced techniques. We moved into some combination throws. We practiced this in such a way that you got to spar with everyone in the group. From the clinch you would try to take your opponent down with a large outer reap to a sweeping hip throw- Osoto gari to harai goshi. We you completed the take down ( successful or not) you had to turn to person next to you and try to apply the same technique. This gave everyone in the class a chance to spar with everyone – all different weights, shapes and sizes, bodies where rolling all over the mats.
Geoff was continually reminding us all the that the clinch, take-downs and ground fighting work is a support system and that in a LIVE situation we should always stick to the basics.
This is also the the bed rock of my own system Hard Target Self Defence systems. If we are faced with a situation that demands a physical response we must always stick to the basics. What we see in the movies simply will not work on the street. All my students are thought to how to deliver maximum impact( hitting with their body weight) with their hands. We don’t practice semi – contact. As Geoff reminded us- looking good counts for nothing, all that matters is what gets the job done.
Simply put –use the most basic and quickest techniques available to you.
The majority of my training with Geoff concentrated on increasing punching power. He made some slight adjustments to my body mechanics and the results where phenomenal. Anyone who has trained with Geoff will know the power the man hits it. I can honestly say during my 25 years of training have I felt anyone hit with the power that Geoff creates. After a few weeks of training Geoff had everyone in the class hitting harder than they ever had before. All of the punching techniques where also practiced from a fence position.
The Fence:
The fundamentals of Geoff ‘s lessons are based on the FENCE. Over the years the fence has and is being thought by many instructors and has become a very watered down version of how it should be correctly applied. The are no rules when teaching the fence , however there are some guidelines that must be adhered to.
Firstly we must remember that the fence will only be effective if applied correctly .
Most situations will start from conversation range( arm length) but if your fence is not applied correctly this range will deteriorate very quickly and in the blink of an eye you could end up in a vertical grapple or worse – be taken to the ground! This is why we must have good capability at all ranges, conversation range , clinch and ground fighting. If your system or art does not cover all these ranges then sadly it will crumble under pressure.
Lets look at the 3 main principles behind the fence.
The sensory tentacle:
Your lead hand ( if your right handed this will be your left hand and vice versa) acts as your early warning signal and sensory tentacle. It should be extend in front of you( in a non aggressive way) , but not touching the opponent( to touch the opponent initially could trigger aggression) if your aggressor should touch the fence this should immediately tell you he is trying to close down the distance. It is vital that we maintain distance. Your lead hand acting as the sensory tentacle should now push the attacker back to maintain this distance. It is important to note that the lead hand should not stay in contact with the aggressor as to do so would make him feel controlled. This may sound contradictory , because we are of course controlling him, but not on a conscious level.
The lead hand must never be dropped. If your ploy is not effective he may try to close this distance down again, or as you push him back to maintain distance he could grab or slap your lead hand down. From the the very start of any potentially threatening situation you should have your opponent lined up for a pre-emptive strike.
One guideline line that must be adhered to is that we should never allow the opponent to touch the fence twice. If we have offered a loophole and it has’nt been taken ( either by using passive or aggressive dialogue) we must always be pre-emptive.
To get proficient in any self protection system- practice is what's needed, the fence is no different. You may learn the basics from a book, but this will not be good enough if you need to employ it in a live situations. If you want to learn to swim you will have to get wet. So make sure when you practice the fence that you do so from all ranges, angles, with aggression, without aggression, have your training partner make the situation as real as possible and not only from a static position. We should always assume that there is more than one aggressor and that they may employ weapons.
The Range Finder:
Think of your lead hand as your jab hand. This will not be your preferred hand for delivering your most powerful strike, but it will act as your range finder for your dominant hand to strike. Think of the boxer in the ring he will constantly flick out his jab hand to maintain distance and then when the time is right he will deliver the a more powerful strike with the dominant hand. We must always maintain the controlling range.
Action Trigger:
If your opponent touches your fence twice this should act as you trigger for action. We should use this trigger to deliver our pre-emptive strikes. When the distance is closed down this is a definite body language cue for bad intention. It is without doubt a pre-cursor for attack. This can and will be shown with many different body language cues before attack. The neck and head may be pushed forward in order to psyche us out, and then the chin may drop just before attack-this is natural reaction to protect the throat . The eyebrows may drop to protect the eyes. The attacker may also alter his or her stance just before attacking , this altered stance will put the attacker in a better position to deliver more power behind the attack, it is also a subconscious maneuver to protect the vital organs from attack.
In Summary
I met so many wonderful people from training with Geoff. One lad I had the pleasure of meeting is Paul Butterfield. I briefly met Paul over a year ago when I hosted a seminar with Tony Somers from Intelligent Self Protection. It was obvious to all in attendance that Paul has great talent. We have now become good friends and he is a name to watch out for in the near future. Tony Somers is also a man I have great admiration for. He is had all the qualities that make a great instructor and more importantly a complete gentleman. I will be inviting Tony over again this year to host another BCA ( British Combat Association) seminar. Jamie Clubb was also in attendance. Jamie is the founder of Clubb Chimera Martial Arts. He is a highly accomplished martial artist and He regularly writes for both Martial Arts Illustrated and Combat Magazine among various other marital arts publications. I would also like to thank my good friend Steve (the walking encyclopedia) Maycock for his friendship and continued support.
I know I can speak for my fellow instructors Paul Byrne, John Figgis and Sharon Hutchinson when I say that we have all grown spiritually from our training with Geoff and Tony. Finally I would like to thank Geoff and his lovely wife Sharon for being so welcoming to myself and my instructors. It was a pleasure to met and trained with both of you.
Aidan Carroll is the founder of Hard Target Self Defence Systems. He provides regular classes/seminars in self protection in Ireland and worldwide.
For more information on classes and seminars visit www.hardtargetselfdefence.com