Hi from Sherman Self Defense! ^_~

[mook jong man]

As long as one of your hands is chasing center, that's good. But, your opponent has another hand as well. That's why I believe it's always preferable to chase center with both hands whenever possible, so that either is a direct threat.

Maybe we're arguing apples and oranges though. It sounds like you're describing pak-sau from a point of contact, where his hand is already in contact with your guard. That is the best way to use pak-sau, and in that case, you can feel where he is definitively thanks to the contact you've made. I was refering more to the use of pak-sau in an out-of-contact context, as demonstrated in the video. It is not uncommon for me, at least, to find myself hitting thin air with another fist in my face upon trying to enter on someone with pak-da, for example. A fighter will often just pull his forward hand back and hit you with the other. That's what's dangerous about chasing the wrist while out of contact, I believe.

Incidentally, the same is true of intercepting round attacks on the inside. A lot of people try to intercept them at the wrist, but I feel that's far too risky. It's safer if your priorities go: step in, hit him, cover the line. You'll usually catch him around the elbow this way, but still with plenty of structure to avoid being hit yourself. And the important thing, of course, is that you're hitting him and disrupting his attack that way. Chasing the wrist, you have to turn further away from your opponent, and are more committed towards chasing his attack. Not only can you miss if he changes the line of his attack, but if you fail to connect, you're in a bad position for his follow up as you have more distance to turn.



Tok-sau. Get up underneath him
But, generally speaking, if his arms are fully extending to reach you, then his elbow will be somewhere around the half-way point. That allows you to intercept the elbow with a bent arm. At the same time, you should be moving in on him to counter, which further shortens the distance.
Usually you want to intercept before he's fully extending his fist to you, but we are talking about pressing the elbow, and generally, the best opportunity to do that is when your opponent's arm is fully extended and he has a weak structure anyway.
But I'm with you here. If you're over extending your arm to reach his elbow, you're putting yourself in danger.

I honestly don't think much about where I'm intercepting. I just close the line, threaten the opponent, and respond to pressure. And if an elbow presents itself, press it.

Rather than turn this Sherman guys thread into more of a Wing Chun thread than it already is , I think I'll take it over to the Wing Chun section and find out what the other lineages do.

 

[Argus]

That's probably a good idea

 

[drop bear]

Okay, here's the video showing elbow control but with weapons:

Why are you using your elbow to secure his arm when you could be using your chest and therefore your whole body?

 

[Sherman]

Of course you can do that. Although I was controlling my opponent's elbow with my own elbow, it was with the weight of my whole body behind it (hence the need to mirror the opponent with my body just like in Aikido). However, it is the principles that are important and not the technique. In a real life self defense situation, everything constantly changes. The key takeaway principle point here is knowing what the treats you need to really focus on. Knowing the elbow changes the direction of the strike will help you do that. Also know what your opponent's shoulder controls and what your position exposes. This will allow you to be flexible and constantly know how to adapt according to the situation. And as I kept mentioning in my previous videos, run first if you have the chance. If you face a skilled weapons fighter, he will be trained to counter your disarming move. My videos are meant for a person with no martial arts background to be able to pull off in a self defense situation with only those key principle points in mind. It is not in the same mindset as a martial artist. It is in the mindset of a person who wants to escape but has no other choice but to defend him or her self.

 

[Transk53]

Of course you can do that. Although I was controlling my opponent's elbow with my own elbow, it was with the weight of my whole body behind it (hence the need to mirror the opponent with my body just like in Aikido). However, it is the principles that are important and not the technique. In a real life self defense situation, everything constantly changes. The key takeaway principle point here is knowing what the treats you need to really focus on. Knowing the elbow changes the direction of the strike will help you do that. Also know what your opponent's shoulder controls and what your position exposes. This will allow you to be flexible and constantly know how to adapt according to the situation. And as I kept mentioning in my previous videos, run first if you have the chance. If you face a skilled weapons fighter, he will be trained to counter your disarming move. My videos are meant for a person with no martial arts background to be able to pull off in a self defense situation with only those key principle points in mind. It is not in the same mindset as a martial artist. It is in the mindset of a person who wants to escape but has no other choice but to defend him or her self.

It does make sense that the average 9-5 Joe would want to leg it, but that would depend on them being able to disengage from the hostile situation. I would imagine that would be be a fair few that would freeze. Personally I would be picking the nearest furniture and throwing it at the maniac. I just do not think that the philosophy fits someone who is going to leg it after any potential engagement.

 

[Sherman]

Yup, picking the nearest furniture and throwing it works. Going to rethink and cover that in future video clips as I feel that the series is a bit too martial arts in style now, which wasn't my intention. However, there were certain key principles that I thought was necessary and covered except for posture and stances (again very martial arts like but I still think is important), which I haven't touched on yet.

If someone were to break into your house, the best place to head to defend yourself is the kitchen where you can find lots of things to throw at your opponent. Then comes the knives. Would love to film something like that so will get there eventually.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Yup, picking the nearest furniture and throwing it works. Going to rethink and cover that in future video clips as I feel that the series is a bit too martial arts in style now, which wasn't my intention. However, there were certain key principles that I thought was necessary and covered except for posture and stances (again very martial arts like but I still think is important), which I haven't touched on yet.

If someone were to break into your house, the best place to head to defend yourself is the kitchen where you can find lots of things to throw at your opponent. Then comes the knives. Would love to film something like that so will get there eventually.

That's silly. The best place to defend myself is my right hip...

 

[donald1]

Ca

Yup, picking the nearest furniture and throwing it works. Going to rethink and cover that in future video clips as I feel that the series is a bit too martial arts in style now, which wasn't my intention. However, there were certain key principles that I thought was necessary and covered except for posture and stances (again very martial arts like but I still think is important), which I haven't touched on yet.

If someone were to break into your house, the best place to head to defend yourself is the kitchen where you can find lots of things to throw at your opponent. Then comes the knives. Would love to film something like that so will get there eventually.

Depends on who's house your in... In my house i'd go straight to my room i got a full grown great dane and he can bite and a pudao that just happened to be located next to the bed

 

[drop bear]

Of course you can do that. Although I was controlling my opponent's elbow with my own elbow, it was with the weight of my whole body behind it (hence the need to mirror the opponent with my body just like in Aikido). However, it is the principles that are important and not the technique. In a real life self defense situation, everything constantly changes. The key takeaway principle point here is knowing what the treats you need to really focus on. Knowing the elbow changes the direction of the strike will help you do that. Also know what your opponent's shoulder controls and what your position exposes. This will allow you to be flexible and constantly know how to adapt according to the situation. And as I kept mentioning in my previous videos, run first if you have the chance. If you face a skilled weapons fighter, he will be trained to counter your disarming move. My videos are meant for a person with no martial arts background to be able to pull off in a self defense situation with only those key principle points in mind. It is not in the same mindset as a martial artist. It is in the mindset of a person who wants to escape but has no other choice but to defend him or her self.

It just looks like you need to put your wrist at an unnatural angle and face a greater danger of it slipping out. And I am not sure what advantage that creates.

Admittedly I am looking at this like a martial artist and just weighing up the percentages.

 

[Chris Parker]

It just looks like you need to put your wrist at an unnatural angle and face a greater danger of it slipping out. And I am not sure what advantage that creates.

Admittedly I am looking at this like a martial artist and just weighing up the percentages.

And, admittedly, I'm only coming at this as a martial artist whose systems include a lot of sword and knife defence, and yeah, what's on that video is really deeply flawed, in the way that drop bear mentions as well as many more. For the record.

 

[Sherman]

And, admittedly, I'm only coming at this as a martial artist whose systems include a lot of sword and knife defence, and yeah, what's on that video is really deeply flawed, in the way that drop bear mentions as well as many more. For the record.

The defense against knives comes directly from my friend who is a street fighter and has successfully fought off opponents with knives before. It is not what I have learned from my martial arts experience for the record. Once again, I would emphasize that the technique is not as important as the principle of controlling the elbow (and the clawing of the opponent's wrist which my friend put to use during his time on the streets).

The one against a sword has not been fully tested though although we did try with a wooden sword in a practice situation and not in a real life street fight.

 

[donald1]

You seem like a good person, you seem really interested in what you're talking about in the videos but I only have two things to say though
I know that drop bear and Chris know what they are talking about so im going to have to agree
Best of luck

 

[Chris Parker]

The defense against knives comes directly from my friend who is a street fighter and has successfully fought off opponents with knives before. It is not what I have learned from my martial arts experience for the record.

So it's something you've never really been taught, never really trained, from someone else who is a "street fighter", rather than any martial systems themselves… is that right? Look, there are some okay ideas, but the way you're doing it is highly dubious, dangerous, and liable to get you killed. It might just be your performance (although there are aspects besides that), but the reality is, even if it is just your performance of it, then you shouldn't be trying to promote it as a safe/effective response… mainly as the way you're doing it is neither safe, nor effective.

Once again, I would emphasize that the technique is not as important as the principle of controlling the elbow (and the clawing of the opponent's wrist which my friend put to use during his time on the streets).

Principles are the essence, yeah… but they need to be backed up/applied with proper effective mechanics… that's not being seen here.

The one against a sword has not been fully tested though although we did try with a wooden sword in a practice situation and not in a real life street fight.

The sheer lack of swordsmanship ability in the video makes me wonder just how you could test your technique, bluntly.

 

[Buka]

Tough crowd.

 

[Sherman]

So it's something you've never really been taught, never really trained, from someone else who is a "street fighter", rather than any martial systems themselves… is that right?

I have been trained by my friend who was there during filming to make sure that it was done right and it would work in a street fight. I actually wanted to do a gun disarming segment too since he has a license to own one but he never disarmed anyone with a gun in a street fight before so that footage was taken out. We figured that we could keep the wooden sword footage since it was literally just a wooden sword and we used the same principles for disarming of a knife. Anyway, I am not interested in arguing about whether it is effective or not because it is taught to me by my friend who has actually used them in a real fight. He told me to tell you guys that whoever wants to challenge him is welcomed to do so as he loves to fight. LOL We actually recorded a segment of him addressing you guys but I decided not to upload it as it would be too martial arts serious and that's the last thing I want my Youtube channel to be. >_<;;; I personally believe that there might be more effective ways to do this but I have only learned all of them from some martial arts teacher who has done them in theory only. My friend has done them in real life so they are what I will be using until I can learn something better from someone else who has got practical experience and lived to tell the tale.

In the meantime, to anyone who is reading this, although my video series is meant for anyone without martial arts training, it must be remembered that the self defense mindset is different from the martial arts mindset so please run and not fight if you can (Remember the distance video. Anything in the middle range and long range will allow you to back up and run). Hmm...perhaps I have been posting in the wrong forum after all. ^_^;;;

 

[K-man]

I have been trained by my friend who was there during filming to make sure that it was done right and it would work in a street fight. I actually wanted to do a gun disarming segment too since he has a license to own one but he never disarmed anyone with a gun in a street fight before so that footage was taken out. We figured that we could keep the wooden sword footage since it was literally just a wooden sword and we used the same principles for disarming of a knife. Anyway, I am not interested in arguing about whether it is effective or not because it is taught to me by my friend who has actually used them in a real fight. He told me to tell you guys that whoever wants to challenge him is welcomed to do so as he loves to fight. LOL We actually recorded a segment of him addressing you guys but I decided not to upload it as it would be too martial arts serious and that's the last thing I want my Youtube channel to be. >_<;;; I personally believe that there might be more effective ways to do this but I have only learned all of them from some martial arts teacher who has done them in theory only. My friend has done them in real life so they are what I will be using until I can learn something better from someone else who has got practical experience and lived to tell the tale.

In the meantime, to anyone who is reading this, although my video series is meant for anyone without martial arts training, it must be remembered that the self defense mindset is different from the martial arts mindset so please run and not fight if you can (Remember the distance video. Anything in the middle range and long range will allow you to back up and run). Hmm...perhaps I have been posting in the wrong forum after all. ^_^;;;

I think it admirable that you are learning to defend yourself but the question is, does your friend have the required skill set to be instructing and do you have sufficient skill to recognise what will work and what will not? To make a video and post it for critique is a brave move. As you have seen, it will provoke a lot of criticism and advice. But to make a video to post to instruct others is a different ball game. You are then putting yourself up as an expert, qualified to instruct, and in all honesty that is just not the case.
:asian:

 

[Sherman]

I think it admirable that you are learning to defend yourself but the question is, does your friend have the required skill set to be instructing and do you have sufficient skill to recognise what will work and what will not? To make a video and post it for critique is a brave move. As you have seen, it will provoke a lot of criticism and advice. But to make a video to post to instruct others is a different ball game. You are then putting yourself up as an expert, qualified to instruct, and in all honesty that is just not the case.
:asian:

My friend thinks I am a better person to teach and I am confident enough with his ability to fight on the streets having seen him fight before. What I am doing is merely being a conduit for passing on his experience. And so far, nobody has convinced me that anything in my videos would not work. I have gone through all criticisms with my friend and is also frankly why I posted my videos here. I also wanted to know how some of what I am demonstrating might not work - hey, I am going to be using these myself after all if the situation ever crops up. LOL My friend has demonstrated in every case that it works even after all the counter points brought up.

Once again, what I am showing is not for the trained martial artist. It is very different when you defend yourself with a conditioned body. Speaking of which, there is a lot of martial arts stuff for me to unlearn and number one is the mindset, which I try to convey in my video series - try not to get in a fight, smile often, act like you don't know anything until the last minute, have a light heart (of not thinking too much) and light feet! LOL :asian:

 

[K-man]

My friend thinks I am a better person to teach and I am confident enough with his ability to fight on the streets having seen him fight before. What I am doing is merely being a conduit for passing on his experience. And so far, nobody has convinced me that anything in my videos would not work. I have gone through all criticisms with my friend and is also frankly why I posted my videos here. I also wanted to know how some of what I am demonstrating might not work - hey, I am going to be using these myself after all if the situation ever crops up. LOL My friend has demonstrated in every case that it works even after all the counter points brought up.

Once again, what I am showing is not for the trained martial artist. It is very different when you defend yourself with a conditioned body. Speaking of which, there is a lot of martial arts stuff for me to unlearn and number one is the mindset, which I try to convey in my video series - try not to get in a fight, smile often, act like you don't know anything until the last minute, have a light heart (of not thinking too much) and light feet! LOL :asian:

Good thoughts but let's go back to your first video where you show to push the elbow away. That works in slow motion but is likely to fail at full speed as in a real fight. I teach Karate and Krav and I have a black belt in Aikido, plus some training in Systema. There is no way I would teach anyone to attempt what you are demonstrating, let alone suggest that an untrained person could succeed. What you are demonstrating by controlling the elbow is absolutely true, how you achieved it is totally wrong. As others have said, your first action should have been with the other hand to deflect the fist with the follow up to the elbow. That is building on an instinctive response as distinct from your defence which requires you to watch the strike, something that ends up with you getting hit unless you move off the line as you did. It is part of entering in Aikido, it is basic to all defence in Karate and it taught slightly differently but basically the same in Krav and Systema. Why? Because there are certain principles that apply across all systems. The fact that it is not part of your demonstration, to me, is a huge failing. As I said, it's great to do what you are doing but don't put it up on the net as expert advice. It is totally flawed.
:asian:

 

[drop bear]

I have been trained by my friend who was there during filming to make sure that it was done right and it would work in a street fight. I actually wanted to do a gun disarming segment too since he has a license to own one but he never disarmed anyone with a gun in a street fight before so that footage was taken out. We figured that we could keep the wooden sword footage since it was literally just a wooden sword and we used the same principles for disarming of a knife. Anyway, I am not interested in arguing about whether it is effective or not because it is taught to me by my friend who has actually used them in a real fight. He told me to tell you guys that whoever wants to challenge him is welcomed to do so as he loves to fight. LOL We actually recorded a segment of him addressing you guys but I decided not to upload it as it would be too martial arts serious and that's the last thing I want my Youtube channel to be. >_<;;; I personally believe that there might be more effective ways to do this but I have only learned all of them from some martial arts teacher who has done them in theory only. My friend has done them in real life so they are what I will be using until I can learn something better from someone else who has got practical experience and lived to tell the tale.

In the meantime, to anyone who is reading this, although my video series is meant for anyone without martial arts training, it must be remembered that the self defense mindset is different from the martial arts mindset so please run and not fight if you can (Remember the distance video. Anything in the middle range and long range will allow you to back up and run). Hmm...perhaps I have been posting in the wrong forum after all. ^_^;;;

Don't use a real gun.

Really.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=am-Qdx6vky0

You know we should develop a competition so that a mix of martial artists could get together an actually fight. That way those who do want to show off their prowess could actually challenge people rather than just calling people out over the internet. Maybe we could put it in a cage or something.

My instructor loves to fight as well. He just doesn't think it is very mature to just pick on random noobs on the street.

 

[Transk53]

You know we should develop a competition so that a mix of martial artists could get together an actually fight. That way those who do want to show off their prowess could actually challenge people rather than just calling people out over the internet. Maybe we could put it in a cage or something.

My instructor loves to fight as well. He just doesn't think it is very mature to just pick on random noobs on the street.

I was shocked at reading that. That idea would have potential, despite being a hell of a task to arrange that. Oh well guess some people their your cool on an internet forum big time.

@Sherman, I genuinely intrigued by you're use of "Street Fighter" To me, and this is just a personal observation, do you and you're friend have any intentions of applying what you have on the streets? There is some inference there to some nasty behaviour. I could be very wrong here, but perhaps not. If my inkling is right, then this whole issue just ain't cool man!