Jamie Clubb Seminar Review Sat. 29th March 2008
It was my pleasure to host a seminar delivered by UK based self defence instructor Jamie Clubb. I initially met Jamie while I was in the UK training with the Legendary Geoff Thompson. Jamie- like myself was asked by Geoff to teach certain parts of the class, and it was immediately obvious to me that he was very much a realist when it came to combative's training. I wanted to see more, so on the Saturday 29th March I invited Jamie over to deliver a seminar for my club Hard Target Self Defence Systems in Dublin.
It was well attended, which is great achievement for Jamie considering that it was his first time ever to visit Ireland. Many of you will have heard of Jamie through his regular contribution for both Martial Art illustrated and Combat magazine. But Jamie is so much more than just a talented writer. He is a very charismatic instructor, and he has a massive passion for teaching self defence.
The day started with a high intensity warm up. He explained the importance of all warm up drills in his Clubb Chimera System. He only does warm ups that have a direct correlation to actual physical attacks. The initial drill involved 4 attackers wearing protective head gear and attacking (on Jamie’s cue) the nearest student by grappling him/her to the ground. The defenders objective was avoidance and escape, which was not easily done when you have 4 attacking all at once. Needless to say many found this an extremely tough drill.
He also has a unique way of enforcing that Action always beats reaction in a conflict situation. The students where put into groups of 3. One was given the tag of A and the other was tagged B, the third parson in the group was to give instructions as well as monitoring the range between the two opponents. On the instructors command, either A or B was asked to attack with head shots only and his/her opponent had to try and block the chosen strike. Some used straight punches, others used slaps uppercuts, hooks etc but very few where successful in blocking any strikes. Proving that situational control and pre-emption is the only way!
Clubb Chimera enforces attention to common sense when it comes to self preservation. : In CCMA terms, common sense is defined as intuition and obvious data. Intuition is the individual instinctive response to a situation. Obvious data is what is immediately apparent in a situation. Common sense produces the CCMA principles. In fact, everything in CCMA winds back to the common sense part of the Process
All the techniques Jamie showed on the day are and where pressure tested. Pressure testing is the bed-rock of Jamie’s teaching. We had a brief break for lunch, which always gives the students a chance to refuel and have a chat with Jamie. After the break Jamie discussed the main principles behind his system:
Principles: Non-physical principles are represented by the tenets Respect, Awareness, Courage, Discipline and Open Mind. Because these are based on intuition all five tenets are applied with a proactive and independent mind set. Respect includes attitude and confidence. Awareness means being switched on – not unaware or paranoid. Courage is defined as being able to handle your fear in a real life situation. Discipline is internal fortitude in training and in real life execution. Open Mind is defined as the ability to adapt and progress. Physical principles are based on gross motor skills body mechanics, such as generating force from the lowest area of the body possible depending on the situation or using gravity to pull a person off balance.
Strategies: We can develop two general physical strategies from the CCMA physical principles that encompass all forms of close-quarter combat. Strategy one is the priority strategy of creating and maintaining distance. Strategy Two is the temporary contingency strategy of closing the distance.
Tactics: Strategy One tactics include escape, the fence, pushing and striking. Strategy Two tactics include the cover and grappling. Strategy Two tactics are only used when Strategy One tactics are not preferable and as a means to better position a person to use Strategy One tactics.
Methods of Coaching and Training
Proactive Coaching: CCMA encourages independence in its students and coaches. By being proactive you take responsibility for your own performance and the performance of whoever you are partnering in your training. Therefore if you are feeding a drill or using a piece of training equipment, your job is to make sure that the exercise you are performing is going to produce the most realistic results. You simply learn material better by teaching. By self-teaching you adopt a proactive or action-based mind set rather than a reactive or passive mind set
Pressure Testing: In order to be as honest as safely possible in your training you need to test your techniques in a resistance-based environment. CCMA uses various forms of pressure testing in order to reveal the techniques an individual will use and then cultivates them through other areas of training. Furthermore, pressure testing also helps develop the “never give in” attitude that must back up any tactic in a real-life situation. Pressure testing is an essential and core area of CCMA training.
Isolating Training: In CCMA once a certain technique has been identified and confirmed to have a high percentage of efficiency, this technique is then cultivated. There are several methods for doing this varying from a more specific form of pressure testing or by use of equipment.
Identifying the Aim of Training: The aim of an exercise and the reasoning behind that aim shapes how a person’s performance. The aim of an exercise must be established at the beginning and reinforced throughout. For example, if you are training for self defence your objective needs to be based on survival not necessarily domination.
Recognising the Flaws of Training: Every training drill or exercise has a flaw that makes the activity relatively safe and, therefore, not “real”. This is so that you can perform the exercise on a regular basis. However, the flaw must be identified and understood by all participants. These flaws then must be addressed in another type of exercise or drill.
Cross Training: CCMA cross training is done in order to acquire certain attributes or condition functional fitness that can be brought back to the main body of self defence. To cross train intelligently we do not aim to accumulate techniques, but to appreciate the strength behind a certain specialist area. The knowledge we acquire comes principally from the experience of physical training. We research western boxing to become comfortable in using our hands for striking in a full contact environment and we research the grappling sports to understand how to maneuver around a fully resistant person at very close quarters.
The Hierarchy of Training
A CCMA student aims to get the most out of his training and therefore applies strict time management skills. The following is a hierarchy of importance. A simple rule to follow is that in order to get good at an activity you need to train that activity.
Specific Training: All warm-ups must be specifically geared towards your activity, training the motions you will be using in your main training. We avoid exercises not directly related to our training – everything must have a clear purpose. The best forms of sparring and resistant training are those that concentrate on a specific area with a clearly defined aim. Normal sparring that works purely for domination is secondary to training that is designed to promote survival.
Attribute Training: This is support training, designed to better reinforce mental and physical fortitude. It includes normal full contact and grappling training.
Functional Fitness Training: These are exercises that are designed to strengthen specific actions or positions, and are usually performed as a solo activity. In order of importance they vary from training a specific action at a high intensity to compound weight exercises.
A Final Note: Jamie explained that sceptically-minded research is essential to ensure that CCMA does not become a style or that students do not become stylized. Training must always be geared towards providing the best self defence service possible for students rather than to enforce an ideology.
It was a great day, and all who attend where awarded a certificate of completion. I hope it will be the first of many visits by Jamie. He has so much to offer. If you would like to contact Jamie you can contact him through his website