Session 1-22-12

Chris and I today…

2 rounds shadow boxing

2 rounds boxing

1 round savate

2 rounds cover drills…one puncher and the other guy gets to cover up, no offense allowed. Each round started with the defender working off the wall.

Our boxing is usually a combination of Russian fisticuffs, classical pugilism and modern boxing. At times I will choose to work one over the other but most often we work a blend of the three.

Up next…sambo:

We worked on a chain, hip throw to ankle pick to inside leg hook takedown. We ended the sambo with some work on the low single.

Sambo Technique – Throw combination #4 Ankle Pick to Inside Hook

We finished out session with the navaja. First we covered close range throwing. Not a big fan of throwing my weapon away but it is fun:) That out of the way we worked on switching from saber to icepick grip and some work from griped arms. We covered the Castillian guard and played with the matadors thrust a bit.

Session 1-15-12

Only Matt and I today.

2 rounds of shadow boxing

4 rounds boxing

1 round kickfighting(no punches just kicks…great fun!)

On with the jackets for the much neglected sambo..

2 rounds grip work

1 round combat glima blocking drill

1 round combat glima headhold take down drill

2 rounds freestyle sambo

We ended the session with some work on the footpad and the cane text again. Drilling the attacks and defensive movements then limited bouting using only the methods described in the article. Flank guard with the lower part of the stick directly followed by a face thrust proved to be the winner of the most interesting thing we did today. Very simple system but really a pretty complete method for defending oneself with a shillelagh. It seems that the FaC text might fit well with the Cunningham method, will be looking at that during the week to try out next Sunday.

Highlights of the session…me dropping Matt with a left fouette to the solar plexus and Matt throwing me for a Total Victory in sambo. If he had not stopped to admire his handywork he would have cinched up that armbar as well.

Measuring the grip from the FaC article. Heavy end near elbow, ferrule end out the top of the hand…backwards!

Session 1-8-12

Four of us today…First group training for three weeks! It has been a rough three weeks…lots of solo work and one session with Chris last Tuesday working on boxing and navaja.

Even though this was the first group session of the year I had to make it short one due to pressing issues. Still very glad we got together.

2 rounds shadow boxing

3 rounds 3 count cadence drill

2 rounds everyone against everyone boxing…head gear and gloves, everyone was your opponent. Really hectic, fast paced training. Learned so much just in these two rounds. I can’t wait to do it again!

Here is a Russian clip from RAF showing this type of drill:

Dogfight

I got lazy and didn’t use my gum shield resulting in a chipped tooth but it was worth it!

We worked on kick from the ground from Russian style kickfighting then did a ground kick combo from Savate Defense. Minor family emergency came to a head and we had to quit early…still great session even if short.

Looking forward to another year of training!

Ken

Session 12-11-11

Chris, Matt and I today…

2 rounds shadow boxing

1 rounds heavy bag

2 rounds 3 count cadence drill

Anvils…these are Russian fisticuff drills that are fast paced feed and parry.

Straight lead

straight rear

hooks

We then mixed all three for some intense drilling.

Our grappling this week was some no kurtka entries from combat sambo and wrestling…arm grabs/traps and whizzers were the order of the day, We also worked a few lifts and takedowns from against the wall.

We dove into the Combat Glima material again this week, Reviewing al the work from last week and adding in a backheel from a body lock. This stuff is simple and great fun. looking forward to doing more.

We ended the session working on Navaja and stiletto…we worked the figure eight movements with the blade using a stick to learn and move onto the shorter knife made it a little easier but still challenging for those not immersed in the idea of figure eights.

Tuesday Chris was out and we spent and hour and a half on boxing, savate and navaja.

Here is a clip I made doing some figure 8′s with my Garotte:

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Session 12-4-11

Just Matt and I today…

We reviewed some of the material that Randal showed us last week
before our normal routine. We spent most of our time on the turning
actions from the buza footwork we did…whizzer, turn then uppercut.

2 rounds shadow boxing
3 rounds boxing
1 round savate

We then did some Russian fisticuff drills:


We also worked through a couple of the stick grab moves from the
Footpad and the Cane article:


Next up, something new….Combat Glima! We wen through a basic warm
up, then all the way through lesson 3. You can find more about this on
the Facebook group Combat Glima:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/320313734661370/
Awesome plates from an 1830′s manual as well as some great video
clips. Worth checking out if you are already on FB.
Here is a link to the Combat Glima videos:
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Lastly we threw on our kurtka and worked a few foot sweeps.

What’s happening in your training?

Session 11-27-11

We had a guest instructor this week…Randal Gustitis.

He first took us through some footwork from traditional Northern Russian Buza. This was some pretty active stuff and I decided to do it while holding a 50 lb weight. I am still paying for that. We also worked on some of the defensive hand motions but I really wanted to get some of the footwork ingrained so I can work on it here during solo training.
Here is a look at some Traditional Buza:
Buza

We ended the session going over some basics of sword and buckler in the German tradition. My knee was a bit tweaked so I sat out and watched this which turned out just fine. At time si can get more just by watching something like this.

We then went into the house for a nice meal of black bread and borscht. Guest instructors are always welcome and well fed:)

Session 11-20-11

Chris, Matt and I today…

2 rounds shadowboxing
2 rounds three count cadence drill with gloves and head gear worn.
2 rounds boxing
2 rounds partnered footwork

On with the jackets for some sambo…
We each did two rounds of grip work and since we were in a gripping state of mind followed that with some work on breaking grips on the jacket and gaining a belt grip, either side over the back.

We then worked a cross lapel grab series…left hand to left lapel for a Podvhat (rising leg) throw, a ski lift of if all else fails a melnitsa(firemans) into a hip lock.

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Out came the shillelaghs for a bit more work with the Footpad and the Cane text. A general review of what we did last week.for starters then we got into some specifics on the upward and straight cross stick strikes. Worked on the idea of a ready stance based on the info in the text as well as tried out some defenses listed from various attitudes.

We finished up the session with some Spanish knife work. First some basic stance and footwork then onto cambio with a focus on switching from a saber grip in the right hand to a ice pick grip in the left. We finished with the Sevellian Star.

Session 11-13

Chris, Matt and I today…
2 rounds shadow boxing
2 rounds three count cadence drill
1 round heavy bag
2 rounds boxing

We then went over the Fitzsimmons shift. We have done it before but it has been a while and I realized that this was something new to Chris so it seemed like a good subject for the day. We also worked in Biddle’s Killing shift and a few variations of our own on the concept. Once we had this ingrained a bit we geared up again and each boxed two more rounds with an emphasis on landing the shift.

Next up shillelagh working through the Footpad and the Cane article:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jimmy_fatwing/Western/wittman/wittman.htm

We had a good bit of fun working with this short text. It is short but has a good deal of useful and interesting material.

We ended the session working through some basic attack and defense with the shillelagh followed up with two bout each shillelagh vs shillelagh. Always the most violent of all.

Session 11-6-11

Chris, Matt and I today…
2 rounds shadow boxing
About a half hour spent on a nifty fisticuff drill for dealing with hooks. Starting simple with a cover for lead hooks and then going more in depth ending up with covers, bobbing and weaving lead or rear hooks in real time.
We then worked a simple but nice combo I call the double half round blow. Take a look at it here:

We then sparred 2 rounds a piece, boxing very hard, probably the hardest we have gone ever. We had one KO. Hours later an I am still feeling the adrenaline rush.

We ended the session with knives, working through some of the Spanish material as well as the French material from Andre. We also did a brief overview of bowie use.

Still a bit under the weather…so no grappling this week. Next week we are on it though!

Ken

Session 10-23-11

Chris, Matt and I on Sunday.

Still getting over my bout with the super flu. Very weak so not the best training session imo.

2 rounds shadow boxing
2 rounds boxing
2 rounds kickfighting(Sparring using only feet)
We then went through some of the difference between different styles of knife work, mostly FMA and Spanish navaja styles.

We ended the session with some German longsword.

Tuesday, Chris came out and we had a good session, still feeling weak but semi-happy about how I did.
2 rounds shadow boxing
5 rounds boxing
1 round savate
1 round focus mitts

Some nice boxing by Chris…such improvement over the years. I find it hard to believe this is the same guy who was so easy to box up when he started. Now only absolute treachery allows me to land a solid shot on him. I have been adding more of the Russian fisticuff movements to my boxing lately so that helps at times.

Hopefully by next Sunday I will have put all this flu crap behind me and feel human again.