Being armed is an essential part of self defense.  Not every scenario can be solved by talking, running or even by using your empty hands.  If you do decide to arm yourself, you need to make sure you choose the right weapon for you and that you learn to use it properly.  This process starts with your personally outlook on life. Is Carrying a Weapon Right for You? You need to start by asking yourself some very important questions.  Are you capable of violence?  Do you believe it is ok to hurt someone else in order to defend yourself?  Are you willing to take a life in order to protect your own?  How about your family members and other loved ones?  Your religion, personal philosophy, and values will be your primary guides here. If you are not willing to hurt another to defend yourself, then you should not carry a weapon.  A weapon will be useless to you and may actually become a liability if someone who intends to do harm with it steals or takes it from you.   It may take you time to decide on your stance in regards to self defense, but you should consider the factors carefully and make a decision. You need to make these important decisions before the pressure is on!  If you wait to make your decisions while being the victim of a violent assault, then you may freeze or overreact because of the stress.  If you freeze, you could potentially lose your life or become gravely injured because you are unable to respond.  If you overreact, you could lose all your money and valuable possessions due to very expensive legal fees.  You may possibly live the rest of your life in prison.  None of these outcomes are good.  Make your decision while you have the time to think.  If you decide that you are capable of using a weapon, then you should take the time to pick the right one(s) to carry. Choosing the Right Weapon When choosing weapons for self defense, you must know and follow your local, state and federal laws.  Though staying alive is your primary concern, living in prison is not the future you want.  You should have options within the law that allow you to protect yourself.  If you do not, then move somewhere else that does.  Not every county, city or state has laws that are favorable to defending yourself. Some weapons are permitted in areas where others are not.  Examples of this are gun free zones, airport terminals and schools. You should consider what weapons you can have with you if you are in an area where your primary weapon is not allowed.   I carry a firearm most places, but when I am in the post office, I have a knife.  When I am on the plane, I have a flashlight and a tactical pen.  Know what you need and adjust to your environment. Understand the pros and cons for each weapon you consider.  Training is necessary for all types of self defense, but some weapons will require more training.  Firearms in particular, require lots of training not only for effective use, but also for safe use and handling.  Owning a firearm is a big responsibly and the ramifications of lacking discipline or making a mistake can be severe.  Some weapons such as pepper spray have limited effectiveness and may not stop an attacker.  With pepper spray, it is also easy to unintentionally spray yourself.  Other weapons, such as small impact weapons, require you to be very close to your attacker in order to use them.  This proximity puts you in more danger.  Understanding the pros and cons of each will help you decide which weapon to carry as well as how best to use each one. There are several different levels of force for the weapons types you can carry.  These types range from a weapon that is not likely to permanently injure someone to something that is likely to seriously injure or kill.  In regards to self defense, the following categories of weapons will be the most relative for you to consider: Non-lethal weapons - These weapons include pepper spray and tear gas.  They are not designed to kill or cause serious bodily injury.  Though they can kill someone in very rare situations, it is not likely and the chances are very remote. Less-than-lethal weapons -  These include impact weapons such as clubs, batons, keychains, flashlights as well as electronic devices such as stun guns and tasers. Though they are not designed or used with the intent to seriously injure or kill, they do have a greater likelihood of leading to serious injury or death than non-lethal weapons.  A strike to the thigh with a baton could simply make an attacker drop due to pain, but a blow to the head could easily kill him. Lethal weapons - These include weapons like knives, swords, and firearms which are designed to cause serious bodily injury or death, and are likely to do so.  No, your hands are not included, no matter how awesome your skills are. There are other weapons that fall into additional categories, but most of those are more appropriate for law enforcement or military use and are therefore not discussed here. You must know what the intended use is for each weapon and only use it when that use is necessary for your survival.  The amount of force you use to defend yourself must be proportional to that which is being used against you.  Your choice in weapon is related to this fact.  Because weapons fall into different categories of force, the appropriate use of each one varies.   If you are carrying a lethal weapon, but the situation you find yourself in only calls for a small amount of force, then you may not be able to (legally) use your weapon.  If you use it, you will be taking a big risk, and may end up in jail. Your choice of weapon has serious implications.  To avoid criminal charges, you want to use a weapon that fits the circumstance.  A common misconception with firearms use is that someone will plan to fire a warning shot or just shoot someone in the leg to wound them.  The problem here is that the defender is indicating that the lethal weapon was used in a situation wherein the immediate use of deadly force was not necessary.  For example: The warning shot could hit an unintended target, or the defender could accidentally kill the attacker when it was not justifiable to do so.  Your weapon and the amount of force it produces when used should match that of your threat. No weapon will answer all of your self defense needs.  Violent encounters occur in many different situations, and the appropriate responses for each vary in the amount of force you should use to defend yourself.  Though varying circumstances can change what is legally justifiable, you probably should not shoot someone only for yelling at you, even if you feel like he deserves it.  On the other hand, misting someone with pepper spray who is shooting at you is probably not enough.  The truth is, you will need more than one weapon and the ability to use your natural weapons (empty hands) in order to be well prepared for self defense. Get Training with your Weapon Just like driving a car requires instruction and practice, so does using a weapon.  Though it may be easy to pick up a bat and hit someone with it, it is harder to do that without getting hit or tackled in the process.  Proper training will give you a better chance of stopping your attacker and help you minimize any injuries that you may sustain in the process. You need training to be safe, so that you do not hurt yourself or others unintentionally.  One mistake with a firearm or a knife and you can be seriously injured.  Even with pepper spray you need to know by feel how to aim the spray.  The last thing you need to do when being attacked is to spray yourself in the face.  Get proper instruction and training so that you can handle and use your weapon safely. You need training to be effective, so that you will survive.  In order to get the best use of your weapon, you need to train how to use it and develop skill to access it and use it quickly.  Even at close range, shooting and hitting a target while you are under stress is hard.  You need to learn how to use your weapons and practice with them so that you are less likely to make a mistake.  Since you are carrying a weapon to protect yourself when the potential ramifications of failure means you could lose your life, you should take the time to develop your skills. The greater the complexity of the weapon, the more instruction, practice and training you will need.  Even with pepper spray, you will need to learn to draw the canister and spray at a target.  Though the overall concept is the same for a firearm, there is a lot more detail in doing this safely and effectively.  Don’t let that stop you.  Invest the time it takes.  If you do, then you will be prepared when you need the skill.

Training for Results Sparring can serve as bridge from your technical drills to realistic application or to competition. Whether you are training to apply Kali for self defense or for a fighting competition, the right sparring drills will give you the perspective you need to be successful. Rather than taking a leap of faith from the flow drills we practice with partners to a real life application, we can use a series of objective oriented drills to prepare for the unscripted application of our techniques. Sparring Preparation Drills and Training Objectives You must have objectives to get best results from your training. This is especially true with sparring. If you know what you want to improve, then you can train appropriately to make those improvements. Sparring without objectives can can be fun and you can get better, but you will learn much faster if you have specific goals in mind and use drills that are tailored to help you reach those goals. A well planned approach to sparring will include drills that initiate you to sparring, but have a narrow focus. For example: A drill could be designed to help you learn to move to a better position with your footwork, counter specific incoming angles, return an attack after being attacked, or all three of these. The narrow focus will help you identify and improve specific areas that need work. Whereas in an open sparring environment, it is difficult to remediate any skills that are lacking, because sparring can be so dynamic. Sparring preparation drills will prepare you for more success when sparring. These objective oriented drills should help you learn to implement your techniques while reacting to various attacks. They should also initiate you to the stress of sparring. They may even help you get used to sparring gear and getting hit a little. If you build up your skills this way, you will be prepared to learn much more during your actual sparring sessions. I think this is a much better alternative to learning to spar by just closing your eyes and swinging wildly like many unprepared beginners do. Sparring Methods There are several methods of sparring, each with different benefits. Here are a few: Distance Sparring Distance sparring is a safe way to express striking combinations, test footwork, analyze an opponent's movements, and develop reaction all without contact. In distance sparring, the opponents remain 10 to 15 feet away from each other, continuously strike and move while responding to each others movements. It is sparring at a distance. To distance spar, you just need to be comfortable with a few basic strikes and footwork. Two opponents face each other and move around the training area attempting to strike through lines that visually line up with their targets. It’s almost like sparring in only two dimensions. You ignore the depth or distance between targets and focus on the angles that lead to the targets. Because you stay 10 to 15 feet away from your partner, you can strike at the approximate height and direction of your targets without making contact. To distance spar properly, stay on the offensive and strike into the air when there are openings in your opponent's movements. Don’t focus on defensive techniques or blocking, you want to be on the offense. As you and your partner improve your control, you can get closer so that the angles are closer to the real contact distance and you can better react to your opponent’s footwork and strikes. Distance sparring is a great place to start for those who are new to sparring. It is the next step after solo shadow sparring exercises, and it is a bridge to other types of sparring. The nature and scope of distance sparring drills can vary, but it is a great way to move out of closed skill training wherein you simply repeat patterns for the purpose of coordination to something that requires the open skills of adapting to your partner’s unchoreographed movements. We often use distance sparring in our training to warmup for any other type of sparring. It helps build the ability to string together combinations and observe the opponent. The big advantage is that you can distance spar at full speed without the risk of injuring your partner. This means you can use it frequently in your training. Distance sparring with only 1 or 2 striking combinations is a great way to build both familiarity and stamina with those combinations.Technical Sparring Technical sparring is a type of sparring that allows the partners to explore and test techniques in a more live environment while still keeping within a flow sequence or technique structure. In technical sparring, the partners usually keep to a repetitive flow drill, but add inserts that a partner must counter. The objective is to develop a particular set of techniques while the partners both try to help each other develop their counter and recounter skills. To spar in this manner, two partners start with a particular flow or function drill then insert hits to a limited set of targets. This flow drill could be a simple as making contact with diagonal strikes one and two or something else that has a more advanced string of attacks and counters. The targets could be as simple as the belly and the shoulders, wherein the shoulders are a safe substitute for the head. The two partners lightly tap the targets whenever possible then continue with the original flow. When the flow breaks down, both partners return to the flow before adding any additional attacks.Technical sparring includes a mix of cooperation and competition. It is performed with a give and take approach wherein each allows the other to find the right response after a few successful hits or entries. By doing this, both partners can develop the application of their technique and prepare to recounter when the other counters his attack. With the right control and a playful approach, both partners can focus on technique with this method. Rather than be distracted by cumbersome gear or the possibility of getting hit hard, each partner can develop timing, learn to find openings, and even setup attacks and recounters. Using this method, you can strengthen your ability to apply your techniques and troubleshoot any issues you have with them. You will develop a greater understanding of the specific techniques and related elements in the flow. You will learn when you can break the flow, when you are exposed, and how to react within that context. Except for eye protection, you do not need any special gear for technical sparring. Contact Sparring Contact sparring is one of the most common methods of sparring. In it, two partners hit each other while both intend to best the other. Contact sparring is usually performed with some level of protective gear that allows the intensity level to ramp up. This includes an increase in the speed, force and sometimes the emotions together with the biochemical reactions participants have due to the added stress. Contact sparring may range from limited targets to "anything goes.” Here are a few versions of contact sparring: limited target contact sparring - Sparring drills may be designed to focus the scope of training by designating a limited number of targets. This is usually done to develop a particular set of tactics, like high and low attacks, or to focus on areas that need improvement, such as defending the hand or countering low attacks. These sparring drills can be used to break habits, explore new combinations, and improve specific attacks and counters. segmented - Contact sparring can be broken into very short encounters, so that when an objective is met, the sparring stops. For example, an objective may be just to enter and get the first hit or to contact with what would be a fatal blow in a real application. Because the exchanges are often only a few seconds, the participants can repeat for many repetitions. This will help them to develop those specific skills identified by each objective. This type of sparring can hone reaction speed and the ability to read “tells" from an opponent’s movements. continuous - Sparring may also be uninterrupted wherein the participants continue to compete regardless of the action. This type of sparring helps participants learn to adapt to the dynamics of a quickly changing situation. It also conditions the participants to continue, rather than stop or drop their mental guard just because they hit or got hit. Each approach to contact sparring has it’s value in a well rounded training program. Contact sparring is an intense method of testing and experimenting with your technique by competing against a partner who is trying to stop you. With proper preparation, it can be a very useful tool to improve your skills. The feedback of a mistake is instant, and the pressure will help you learn to control your thoughts. By building experience sparring, you will learn to calm your heart rate and fight off panic, so that you can keep your mind clear and ready for action. Contact sparring can be done with anything from light protective gear to heavy duty helmets, groin, hand and leg protection. The gear needed all depends on the intensity of the sparring and the relative risk involved. Sometimes it is good to spar with little gear so you can really feel when you do something wrong, and other times it is much safer for you to have gear that will prevent you from getting seriously injured when your opponent is hitting hard and fast at your head. Final Notes Sparring is a valuable training tool that will help you identify weakness, improve your techniques and learn to operate under pressure. The various methods of sparring all offer different opportunities to make improvements. Sparring can serve as a testing ground, a diagnostic tool, and an outlet to enjoy the skills you have developed. Whether you are preparing for competition or self defense, a good sparring progression will make you a much better fighter. In our training at the Tactical Arts Academy, we sometimes warmup with distance sparring, continue with technical sparring to sharpen the technique, then get out our gear and spar with contact. Our instructors coach the students each round. After a few rounds, we gather and discuss what is working, what we are struggling with, and what we want to accomplish. Then we go back to it.

To be able to defend against a knife attack, we must understand as much about edged weapon attacks as we can.  Knowing the mechanics of a how a knife is used and learning about the dynamics of an edged weapon attack will add a dimension to this understanding. What is an Edged Weapon? When considering the threat of edged weapons, there are more than just knives.  It is a category of weapons.  For the purpose of developing a defense against edged weapons, we can include conventional knives, blades, etc. as well as other objects that cause damage similar to a knife or blade in the same category.  These include things like homemade shanks, pens, pencils, scissors, screwdrivers, nails and anything else that can pierce flesh with a thrust.  This category also includes keys, keychains, fragments of glass, metal, plastic, eating utensils, sawing tools, and anything else that can cut or tear flesh. Having this wider definition of edged weapons will prevent you from underestimating the threat.  Often people who have been victims of knife attacks, say they did not even know they were being stabbed when it happened.  This is in part because it can be hard to detect a knife, especially when one is unexpectedly attacked.  But even if you do not see a knife, it does not mean it is not there.  If you acknowledge that other common implements can do the same damage as a knife, perhaps you will expect edged weapons to be involved in any assault and respond accordingly. Knife Grips The manner in which a knife is gripped can change the dynamics of an attack.  Knife grips largely differ in whether the knife tip is pointing forward from the hand or reversed.  Each grip offers slightly different advantages and variations in edge direction, such as turned inward or outward also create different problems for the defender. forward grip - In the forward grip, also known as a hammer grip, the knife is pointing forward from the hand.  The forward grip allows lots of maneuverability and a slightly better reach than the reverse grip. reverse grip - In the reverse grip, also known as the icepick grip, the knife is pointing downward from the hand.  In a reverse grip, the primary attack can be a thrust, but with the blade turned inward, it can also become a hook.  This is especially problematic if the defender attempts to block and gets his arm caught in the hook.  Any attempt to pull the arm back can lead to a fillet of his arm. palming - Whether the knife is held in a forward or reverse grip, the attacker can conceal the knife inside the palm and along the underside of the forearm using a method called palming.  This is simply intended to make it harder to see that the attacker is armed.  Not recognizing that a knife is present can lead to fatal mistakes by the unaware defender. Knife Strikes Knife attacks include a variety of strikes that each have unique properties.  Some strikes require low effort from the attacker and do little damage, but serve as a means to setup a more substantial attack. Other strikes are used to inflict maximum damage through deep penetration and devastating structural damage. jab -  The jab is a quick movement that requires little commitment.  Just like a boxing jab, the knife jab is simply a quick attack wherein the knife is extended rapidly and retracted even faster.   The jab can be used to initiate a more committed attack or to test the reaction of the defender. flick - The flick is often seen as a jabbing movement with a quick extension of the wrist.  It can be used to attack the eyes, rip a chunk of flesh off the hands and arms, or simply used to create a flinch response and setup a more significant attack.  The flick is really just a variation of the jab, and has many of the same properties. cut - The cut is more of a hacking or chopping motion that is seen more prominently in larger blades.  Imagine the hacking motion of a machete.  It’s function is to cleave through flesh and bone. slash - The slash is a drawing motion, wherein the blade edge is pulled across a target.  Imagine the action it takes to cut a steak.  This drawing action allows the cutting edge to penetrate deeply. fillet - A fillet is similar to a slash but often occurs when an edge cuts to the bone then shears off flesh as it scrapes along the bone.  This is common in defensive wounds where the defender raises his arm to block an incoming attack and the blade slashes then slides down along the arm. thrust - A thrust often gets deeper penetration than a slash or cut, especially with a smaller knife.  This can make it potentially more lethal than a slash depending on the blade size.  A thrust is very hard to defend against because the attacker only has to point at you in order to be successful. An attack can include more than one of these types of strikes. Knife Attack Dynamics Knife Attack Angles Common patterns of delivery are seen in knife attacks.  Regardless of grip, often repeated thrusts are seen along the same line of attack.  For the forward grip, the attacks are typically low thrusts to the body or high punch-like thrusts to the neck.  These neck attacks are often on the left side because it is more convenient for the more common right-handed attacker.  With the reverse grip, attacks tend to be downward thrusts at the neck and chest area, repeated along the same line of attack.  Sometimes the attacker with grab or off balance the victim with the empty hand and then repeated attack with the knife. Though some angles of attack are common, there are other options that make allow for multiple angles in one attack.We have a saying in our knife training: With every thrust there is a slash and with every slash there is a thrust.   This is simply a observation that multiple strikes can be repeated quickly by linking the movements of both a thrust and a slash in succession.  This is economy of motion, and it can lead to more damage, quicker. Knife Carry Locations and Concealment The most common place for a knife to be carried is hidden somewhere along the waistband.  The weapon is either secured in a pocket or somehow secured to the belt or waistband of the pants.  A knife is sometimes carried inside the waistband or outside.  Often, it will be concealed under an untucked shirt.  This area of carry lends to the frequency of low line attacks.  The knife can be drawn from concealment and a low attack can immediately be delivered.  Not only is waistband area a convenient place for the attacker to access, but it is also harder for the victim to see when the two are close. Edged weapons are also hidden inside hats or hair, around the neck and chest area, or inside socks or shoes. Knives can be easily camouflaged inside a paper bag or folded newspaper, so that it can be ready in the hand and even used while remaining concealed. Back in the 90’s, thugs in New York would often carry razor blades in the mouth and spit them out when needed.  The razors from a box cutter are used not only because they are easier to conceal than a larger knife, but also because you can be slashed with the razor and not know you are cut.  They would simply pinch the razor between the thumb and index finger or hold it between their ring and middle finger.  Small corners of razors can be broken off and taped to the hands to resemble a bandaged area, but then be used to slap at the victim or slash at the neck during a clinch.  Though the cuts with these fragments are not deep, they can be demoralizing. Unexpected Dangers Someone may catch you off guard using an unexpected method of deploying an edged weapon.  For example: Fish hooks or razor blades can be inserted from inside a baseball cap so that they protrude from the back of the cap facing upward.  With a quick flip of the hat the attacker can target the eyes and face of his victim.  Some criminals even sew fish hooks protruding from the back of their jeans pant legs to injure a police officer during a "pat-down" search.  Though you may not need to pat-down anyone (without their consent), you may grab someone by the arm or leg during a violent confrontation.  The advantages to most of these methods are that it is harder to see that there is a weapon and the existence of the threat is unexpected. Sometimes the threat is even worse than you would expect.  In traveling the Philippines and Indonesia for training, I have met a few old fighters who had hard, sharpened thumbnails they would use for attacking the throat, eyes, and ears. They literally had claws.  Though technically they are unarmed, the threat of their touch is deadly.  Sometimes those old men would even add poison to the tip of their nails and use a scuffle as an opportunity to get in and introduce it to their opponent.  When in close, they would jam their poisoned thumbnail into the ears, eyes, or even the mouth of an opponent. In many cases, an attack may start as an empty handed assault, but later become a knife attack.  This is why we must always assume an edged weapon is involved in an attack.  Assuming otherwise, could leave you exposed. Conclusion If you are going to defend yourself against a threat, you need to know as much as you can about that threat.  You need to understand the significance of the threat as well as the dynamics involved.  Without understanding the threat you will have a difficult time successfully protecting yourself. Knife attacks have some unique factors that are critical to consider when learning to prepare against them.  These factors are further complicated by the various grips and strikes that can be used with the knife as well as the options to conceal and camouflage them. This article is only an introduction to the issues that make training to defend against a knife attack difficult.  In upcoming articles, I will discuss more details about the solutions and methods we use in training to survive an attack.

At some point in the development of your Kali, Arnis, Escrima training, you are going to learn to spar. If you train right, you will be ready. Sparring is a useful training tool that will allow you to test and develop your skills. It will help you learn where your weaknesses are, and it will provide you with an environment in which you can try out new techniques. In the words of Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje, “It is your laboratory. It is where you experiment." Sparring will help you learn to perform your skills against someone who is not fully cooperating. This can be a real eye opening experience. The first time you spar, you really learn to appreciate the speed and timing it takes to apply the techniques you are practicing. When your opponent does not feed you like any of the drills you practiced and does not wait for you to finish your turn, it can be a shock. By having guided exposure to sparring and sparing related drills, you eventually cultivate the ability to apply your techniques in this more intense, messy environment. Though there are many different ways to spar, the main goal is typically to hit your opponent without being hit. Sparring can go from light and technical with a give-and-take approach to hard-hitting to more competitive, where each is trying to dominate the other. Sparring can be continuous, where both partners continue even though they have been hit, or it can stop when one of the partners receives a hit that would have been devastating or fatal were the fighting and weapons real. Each method has it’s uses and a good program will use a variety of approaches. The end result of sparring should be to improve your ability to effectively hit your opponent without dying at the same time. Regardless of the type of sparring you do, there will be some fundamentals that you can develop to get better at sparring. This starts with coordination. When you are coordinated, you will not be distracted with maintaining proper form while you move. Proper form will be a habit. You need all your movement patterns to be a habit. This is simply a matter of spending the time to get coordinated. If you let your mechanics trip you up, then you have less awareness to give to fighting your opponent. Even olympic athletes, with years of some of the world’s best training, choke. This is often happens when they second guess or modify their trained mechanics in the middle of competition. Rather than reply on the muscle memory, which they have developed in hundreds of practice sessions, they try to think through the mechanics. Doing this short-circuits all the coordination they already have and takes them out of the higher view of their performance they need to maintain. I often see this in Kali when a student first learns a double stick pattern. Once he gets it, he can continue as long as he does not think about it. But as soon as he tries to make adjustments to improve his form, he loses it. You don’t want this to happen to you when you are in the middle of sparring. It is too late to diagnose and fix any issues you have with mechanics while someone is trying to hit you in the head.  Consider the following when you are working on your sparring skills: Develop your ability to move fluidly. Work on your strikes. Coordinate your combinations until they are very smooth and fast. Practice your footwork and combine it with your strikes. Synchronize them. To be successful, you cannot just hit, then move or move, then hit. You need to be able to hit and move at the same time. Make it a habit to strike continuously and learn to seamlessly go from one combination to another. Practice changing directions without losing your rhythm. This will prepare you to fight an opponent that is mobile. Improve your precision. Make sure you can move precisely, so that when you deliver a strike you can consistently deliver it the same way each time. If your mechanics are consistent, then you will know just how far you can reach with your strikes, where each hit will land, and how you will recover after it is delivered. If you know this, then it will be much easier to adjust your strikes to hit a moving target. By having a standard for your strikes, you can deviate the path of each strike and know just how much you had to change it in order to hit the target. In other words, you have a reference and that reference will allow you to measure your timing, speed and distance because each change can be compared to that reference. Without the ability to be precise, you will struggle with improving your aim. Refine your aim. Learn to control your strikes so that you can hit any target you choose. Even if you are only striking through the air, you can improve your aim. Pick a visual point across the room and make sure your strike passes through that point. When you hit a striking dummy, tires or your partner’s stick, pick a very specific target on each. You can use chalk or paint to add smaller targets to your tires or dummy. When practicing with a partner, aim for a node or burn mark on your partner’s stick. If you do not try to hit a very specific target, your aim will not improve. Build your stamina. It is often the person who is in the best shape who wins a sparring match. The demands of moving at or near full speed for any length of time are challenging. You can build your stamina by shadow sparring, hitting tires and working on your overall fitness. No amount of experience can overcome being gassed out and too tired to continue. Practice your movements in a way that mimics how you will use them in application. Move beyond just practicing your footwork in isolated triangles or patterns. Don’t just limit yourself to striking by the numbers. Start with the patterns first, then practice your footwork and strikes in a way that resembles the continuous movements you will use in application. Though a triangle serves as a great reference for practicing the critical first step in applying a technique, it is only the first step. When sparring, you will need to be able to run in and out of range and coordinate many steps together. Understand how you will need to use your skills, so you can develop them properly. Sports science classifies skills as either closed skills or open skills. Closed skills are skills that can be applied in a controlled environment wherein responses can be planned. In sports, this is typically something that is self-paced like archery, golf, or gymnastics. Open skills are those that are applied when the environment is variable and unpredictable. Responses are based on what happens and are therefore paced by factors outside of our control. Open skills are found in sports like basketball, hockey or football where there is an opponent. In truth, skills are on a continuum from closed to open with many being mixed. In Kali, we need to focus on our open skills. We have to be sure we recognize this and practice our fighting skills so they can be adapted to the dynamic and changing environment an opponent presents. Conclusion If you want to move well and be prepared to start sparring, work on the recommendations above to refine your skills and your approach to developing them. Sparring shouldn’t be a crucible for ego or just a test of your ability to ignore the fear of getting hurt.  Sparring should be a tool for improving your skills. Approach your sparring training like any other training, build up the related skills and evaluate your progress.  Not only will you look good on fight night, but you will be hard to beat too.

Knife assaults occur in a variety of circumstances and have a wide variety of victims.  Knowing more about situations that lead to knife attacks will help you better understand who and how you need to train for self defense. Who are the Victims? It can happen to anyone from anyone. There appears to no combination of personal relationships in knife related crimes that does not make the news.  Kids as young as age six are attacking others in school and in their homes.  Kids are stabbing parents.  Parents are stabbing children.  Siblings are stabbing each other.  Husbands are stabbing wives.  Wives are stabbing husbands.  Friends are stabbing friends.  And, of course, strangers are stabbing each other.  Threats range from those you know to those you do not.  Unfortunately, that means, at it’s face value, everyone could be a threat. In many cases, the choice of victims simply does not make sense.  In 2013, Ryan DeSoto of Hagatna, Guam, went on a rampage targeting people that resembled his girlfriend, who had recently broken up with him.  He killed 3 and wounded 11.  His girlfriend had moved away, so he picked the next best thing to attack, someone who looked like her. Min Yongjun of Central China's Henan province injured 23 primary school students and one elderly woman in December 2012 because he feared the end of the world was coming.  There have been many mass knife attacks on children in China, but most seem to have been an outburst of rage or despair.  Before this attack, Yongjun had heard rumors that the end of the Mayan calendar meant the end of the world was coming with it.  Apparently, attempting to kill children was his solution. April 2014, in Alberta, Canada, University of Calgary student, Matthew Douglas de Grood, attended a residential party where he found a knife and, one-by-one, killed 5 other partygoers.  There were no drugs or alcohol in his system and no clear motive for the attack.  He had been welcomed in the house minutes before.  Everyone was completely caught off guard. These are just a few examples of attacks that would be difficult to predict.  Why? Often in these type of attacks, there was little or no connection between the attacker and the victims.  The attackers rage was caused by discontent or frustration from another source, but the attack was made on any available victims. In truth, you are wasting time if you are being attacked and are wondering why.  You simply need to act.  If you try to figure out why, then you will end up a victim.  If you decide to take action and fight immediately, then you have a much better chance of being a survivor. Yes, you should anticipate a potential attack from someone who is acting suspiciously and may have motive, right or wrong, to attack you.  However, you will not always be able to determine why you are selected and therefore must not feel you are safe if you can just “ reason" with your attacker. Knife attack statistics in the US The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division reports yearly on crime in the United States. They use data from agencies that submit data to the FBI, so it is not complete, but it is useful.  The most recent data from is from 2014. The 2014 report states that 13.1% of murders in the U.S. were committed with knives or cutting instruments, and 18.8% of aggravated assaults (otherwise known as attempted murders) were also committed with knives or cutting instruments.   There were 1,567 murders using a knife in 2014, and there were 126,187 aggravated assaults with a knife.  In addition, 23,680 robberies were committed with a knife. If you put all these crimes together, then the odds of you being in a knife attack or being threatened with a knife are high enough for us to pay attention. Furthermore, if it were not for such excellent medical care in many of our cities, the murder rate would be much higher in these statistics.  Here in Austin, as in many cities with good emergency care, if you come into the emergency room with a pulse, you are 99% likely to survive.  Students of mine who work in the medical field have seen patents walk into the emergency room with knives lodged in the chest, neck and even in the heart.  Thanks to a little luck and the right care, they walked out alive and were only listed as victims of aggravated assault rather than murder. Situations in which homicides with a knife occur In the FBI report, the primary situation cited for the homicides in 2014 were arguments of some kind.  These are likely mostly from domestic disputes, wherein those who live together have a confrontation that leads to violence or abuse.  Contrary to what we might guess, these situations involving homicides with knives were much more common than those of robbery, gangland killings, or rape.  Otherwise, only 15 murders were reported as having to do with romantic triangles.  Read the report.  I’m not kidding. In fact, the reasons or motives leading up to knife attacks are no different from other types of attacks.  Unfortunately, you will not necessarily be able to avoid them by staying out of particular places or hiding from public contact.  Though you can easily avoid "bar fights" by staying out of bars, you likely cannot avoid contact with family members in your home or avoid encountering strangers outside of your home who may randomly choose you to be their victim. Conclusion Though some situations may more likely lead to violence than others, in regards to statistics, you really can be attacked by almost anyone regardless of your relationship with them, known or unknown.  In fact, murders of all types in 2014 come from attackers who range from around 13 years old to 75 and older. You have to worry about adults of any ages as well as kids too. When you are the subject of a spontaneous knife attack, you do not need to know why you were selected as the target, you just need to know what to do immediately.  You may never know why someone chose you as their victim, don’t let that stop you from defending yourself immediately. Though the numbers of knife related assaults and murders are not in the majority of all other weapon attacks, they are significant enough numbers to suggest that we need to train to be prepared for attacks using a knife. Aside from using situational awareness, and perhaps, trying not to argue with people, you also need to be physically prepared to defend yourself against a knife assault because it can happen anywhere, including in your home.   If you are interested in learning more about defense against knife attacks, consider joining the Tactical Arts Academy Filipino Martial Arts Program.  It’s focused on training to use and defend against weapons of all types, especially edged weapons.  We can help you learn to protect yourself and enjoy making yourself better.  

Edged weapons have a unique set of dynamics that make them a critical subject to study for self defense.  Edged weapon attacks don’t typically have the same dynamics as an empty handed attack, yet they are often mistaken for an empty handed attack.  Sometimes an attack may even begin with an empty handed assault, then escalate to include a knife. Learning to successfully defend against knife attacks starts with a realistic understanding of the threat itself and the dynamics behind it. This knowledge will help keep you from making mistakes that will leave you exposed when you are trying to protect yourself against a knife attack.  In this first article of an upcoming series, I will discuss the unique dangers of edged weapons.  In later articles, I will discuss crime with edged weapons, the dynamics of edged weapon attacks, and solutions for training to defend against assaults with edged weapons. The Threat Knives have several unique characteristics when compared to other weapons.  These characteristics make them difficult to defend against. Any size is lethal.  Though a larger knife may be able to do more damage faster than a smaller one, a small knife can still be very deadly.  The structure of the human body protects many of our organs with bone, muscle and tissue serving as a shield.  However, life threatening targets are not all hidden deep behind bone and tissue.  Even a 1/2 inch blade can puncture an artery, open an airway, or disrupt the vacuum required for our lungs to function properly. Small blades also have the advantage of being concealed easily, a fact that adds another layer to their danger.  Box cutters, with a relatively small blade facilitated terrorists in controlling a plane killing thousands during the 9-11 attack on the US. Edged weapons injure everyone.  Edged weapons do not respect how fit, strong or trained a person is, they simply penetrate tissue.  Though you can train to absorb a punch and keep fighting, there is no amount of training that will improve your ability to trade knife blows with an attacker. Just a touch can be deadly. Not all cuts or stabs are lethal, but they can be.  The attacker just needs to be close to you to potentially kill you.  Blocking a punch or thwarting a tackle is difficult already.  Imagine how hard it is just to stop someone from just touching you.  If the blade is sharp and the targeting is correct, an attacker does not have to use tremendous power to be effective.  In using an impact weapon or empty handed strike, force is usually required for a good hit.  With a knife, this is not the case. Knives are lethal even in the hands of the untrained.  Even without training, someone can kill with a knife.  They simply need the intent and opportunity.  Aiming with a knife is fairly natural, unlike a weapon such as a firearm that requires training to operate properly and to use accurately.  In August 2014, a six year-old in Washington County Maryland, armed with 2 butcher knives, attacked his grandmother, cutting her arm, and holding her at bay.  He then turned to attack police as they arrived to help.  Though everyone survived, the threat was real. Knives do not require ammunition.  Knives do not have a limited number of uses and so allow an attacker to deliver many uninterrupted blows on one or more victims.  Even mass knife attacks occur, and they can have high numbers of injured and dead. In March 2014, eight attackers in the Kunming Railway Station in China killed 29 and injured more than 140 others by attacking passengers with knives and cleavers.  They attacked men, women and children indiscriminately with repeated slashes targeting the head and neck.  Uncontested until SWAT teams arrived 10 minutes after the start of the attack, the attackers had no need to stop their massacre.  They never had to reload. In September 2015, 9 attackers killed 50 workers and injured another 50 in a northwestern Chinese coal mine.  Numerous attacks in Chinese schools have left as many as 23 injured and several dead from only one attacker.   These numbers are high.  Many of them as high as or higher than most mass shootings. Knives do not malfunction.  Whereas a firearm my fail due to lack of care, improper use or poor quality, a knife is a very simple tool and therefore has fewer reasons to fail.  Criminals are not known for keeping their guns in good working order.  Because of this, it is common that their weapon will fail during a shooting or gunfight.  This fact has helped more than one shop owner successfully protect themselves during a robbery.  Though a poorly made knife may break, knives do not malfunction. This means that in a very short amount of time, many successive blows can be delivered without a technical issue or a reload.  This leaves little opportunity for a victim to recover during an assault to defend themselves. Knives are readily available.  Even a 14 year old kid can buy a $10 machete from the hardware store.  Every kitchen in America has at least one large knife.  No amount of control measures or laws will be effective in restricting criminals access to edged weapons.  Look at our prison system.  Knives are available in almost any of them regardless of the severity of security measures taken. Knives are difficult to detect.  It is not uncommon for someone to learn they have been stabbed or cut only after the attack is over.  Often, both the victim and the witnesses of an attack think the attacker is just punching the victim, when, in fact, he was stabbing him.  A knife is quiet and can be hard to see, especially in a low light situation.  If you do not know what you are fighting, then you will likely be exposed to even greater injury or death. Knives can double the damage.  A knife has the potential to double the number of blows delivered when compared to an impact weapon or empty handed attack.   What is normally a single blow with a club or empty hand strike becomes two blows with a knife using the exact same motion.  With a punch, the attacker must deliver the strike, then retract his hand in order to repeat the motion.  However, a knife attack can chain multiple slashes and thrusts together using each strike to setup for the next. For example: While holding a knife in forward grip, if I slash downward from an overhead position, then after completing that slash, I retract my arm back to the overhead position, I can use that retraction to thrust upwards. Both movements are an attack.  This is a two-for-one ratio when compared to other types of attacks.  This approach lends the knife to being quickly deployed in multiple directions, and the economy of motion can be a real advantage over the defender. Conclusion If you are going to defend yourself against a threat, you need to know as much as you can about that threat.  You need to understand the significance of the threat as well as the dynamics involved.  Without understanding the threat you will have a difficult time successfully protecting yourself. Knife attacks have some unique factors that are critical to consider when learning to prepare against them.  Once you are better aware of these qualities, you can better tune your training to be an accurate solution to the problem.  In upcoming articles, we will further explore these issues and make sure you will have a better understanding of your options for surviving an assault involving edged weapons.

The more frequently you train, the sooner you will see your skills develop. Having the right tools and having an area setup for training will encourage you to do it more often. Whether you have a dedicated space or have to go to the park may change how you prepare, but there are a few essentials you will want to have. Below is a list of tools that will facilitate your training as well as some suggestions for setting up a training area. Essential Tools These are some of the primary tools you will want to have available for training.  Sticks Though you can get a lot of training done with just one stick, having a variety can add other dimensions to your practice. Here are some options below. rattan sticks - Rattan sticks are the primary training tools for training the Filipino martial arts. At the very least, you want to have a pair of rattan sticks. These can be used for striking or placed on the ground to serve as a template for your footwork.lightweight sticks - For speed training, it is helpful to have a pair of light sticks. Though these will not hold up well for impact, they will help you get a feel for speed when practicing. Often thin rattan sticks will serve this purpose. Use these for testing your limits with quick combinations, jabbing attacks and witiks. heavy sticks - Heavy sticks will help you develop fluid strikes and build strength. You have to be careful not to put too much stress on your wrist, elbow and shoulder, but when used properly, a heavy stick is a very useful tool for developing your Kali skills. Heavy sticks can be made of plumbing pipe, hardwood, or even plastic rod. sticks of different lengths - Though there may be an ideal stick length for you determined by your body proportions, the actual weapon you are training for or your particular system, it is still useful to train with sticks of various lengths. You will find that using different lengths from time to time will help you become more versatile. One of the advantages the Filipino Martial Arts has is the commonality in mechanics across weapon types. If you train with sticks of various lengths, you can enhance your ability to apply your skills with many different weapons whether long or short.extra durable sticks - When training for impact you need sticks that will last. Rattan is good because it can absorb some of the reverberation caused by impact. However rattan will break down with impact training. Plastic rod or metal pipe is useful for hitting tires, but it can also put more stress on your joints, so work up to it gradually and be careful not to develop overuse injuries by doing to much. If you do use rattan for regular impact training, use your older sticks or some that are more rugged. electrical tape - Rattan sticks are perishable. The more frequently you hit them together or you hit tires, the more quickly they will deteriorate. Electrical tape will extend the life of your sticks. When they start to fray, add some electrical tape to the damaged area. Though duct tape sounds like a good idea, it can become a sticky mess. Other tapes may be stronger than electrical tape, but many of them become slippery when you grip them. Electrical tape will flex well with the stick. Also, it will not leave too much adhesive on the stick when it gets torn during use. When the tape tears from practice, just pull off the torn tape and apply more. Training Blades training knives - In addition to sticks, you will want to have some training knives for practice. Softer ones are better for sparring and hard contact drills with a partner. More rigid training knives are better for disarming drills. Longer knives may resemble traditional knives more, but shorter ones will likely be more similar to your everyday carry knife or knives. long training blades - To perfect your blade awareness skills, a long blade that has a simulated edge is very useful. These can range from a simple, thin flat board or wedge-shaped stick to a realistic plastic or metal replica blade. As long as it helps you see where your blade edge is, then you can benefit from using it. However, the more like the real blade you intend to fight with, the better it will serve you. By having a training blade that has a similar grip, weight and balance to the real blade, you will find that the transition from one to the other is easier to make. Training Area If you have the luxury of setting up a training area, there are a few more items that will enhance your training. striking dummy - Much like a boxer can learn to generate power, practice combinations and develop conditioning on a heavy bag, so can you with a striking dummy. One of the most common and cheapest solutions for this is using tires. You can construct a column with multiple tires placed over a mounted post, hang a single tire from a tree or build an elaborate dummy to give you multiple targets high and low. A portable solution is a single tire with a bungee cord or tie-down straps. footwork patterns - In a dedicated space, you may consider painting triangular patterns on the floor to act as a template for practicing your footwork. Otherwise, using your sticks or sidewalk chalk to make patterns on the ground will help you when you are perfecting your footwork skills. striking patterns - Using painter’s tape on a wall, dry erase markers on a whiteboard, or even chalk on a fence, draw triangles, exes, stars, etc. that help you make your striking combinations more precise. Simply follow them when perfecting the angles of your strikes or use them to help you imagine intersecting the strikes of your opponent. Other Useful Items Here are a few more things that you may find useful for your training. training notebook - Keep your training notebook handy to record any techniques you want to review or note anything about your practice session.   whiteboard - I like to have a whiteboard available during my training to post the techniques or skills I want to develop.  I can quickly jot down any thoughts on the board during training, then transfer them to my journal afterwards.timer - Whether it be a kitchen timer or your mobile phone, a timer will help you stay focused on specific drills, push yourself during a conditioning session, or simply keep you from wasting time when your schedule is tight.  If it has a par timer feature, you can use it for speed and timing drills.video camera - Use a camcorder and tripod or smart phone with a stand to record your training. Analyze your progress and diagnose your mechanics by watching yourself during your training session. gloves - Unless you are a sushi chef or a hand model, I don’t recommend your wear gloves all the time, but if you are doing a lot of impact training, you will develop blisters. A little is ok, but too much will interfere with your training. Some light baseball batting gloves or gloves with a gripping surface will help you when your hands start to break down. first aid supplies - Whether you caught your balisong wrong, burst your blister while hitting a tire, or tried live blade for the first time, some basic first aid supplies are useful to have.  Otherwise, there are a few other items that are a matter of personal preference to have with you, such as water, music, etc.  It's up to you. Conclusion One of the benefits of learning the Filipino martial arts, is that very little gear is actually needed. However, having a variety of gear will help you focus on specific skills. Having a dedicated training space is not required, but it will help you get into the mood for training and make it convenient to pick up a stick and go. The items described above are just the basic tools, there are certainly more you could add. Gather these items as you see a need for them, and good luck with your training.

You can’t effectively learn any martial art without training partners, but there are certain types of training that you need to be doing between classes if you want to get good at your chosen art. Classes offer instruction, coaching, drilling, sparring and the opportunity for guided review, but your time alone is best for coordination practice, impact training, conditioning and study. Coordination When you are fist learning a new skill, you need to start with your coordination. This will include some amount of demonstration from your instructor, probably some guided practice, and then some feedback to help you make corrections. After that, it’s up to you.You need to get all the repetition and self guided practice you can. Mastering a skill such as coordination comes from hours of attentive repetition. A master piano player may spend up to 10 hours a day to master the coordination, rhythm, tempo and presentation of a concert piece. It’s no different for you. You need to put in hours of solo training time refining your technique until you can execute it precisely and without conscious thought.The more you train, the better chances you have of performing with better control and accuracy in a sparring match or fight for your life. When you are met with a life or death stressor, your body prepares for action by going through significant changes including respiratory escalation, increased heart rate, and a chemical dump all to make you faster and stronger. The problem is that it can also make you lose some of your fine motor skills. Training can minimize this negative effect of stress. More repetition together with stress inoculation training will help you maintain sharper skills when someone is trying their best to hit you in the head.It’s about the hours you put in, not the years. Grandtuhon Leo Gaje likes to point out that we can claim to be in the martial arts for many years, but we may not have dedicated significant actual training time while those years ticked by. You can spend years dabbling with the piano and only be able to play twinkle, twinkle little star, but if you regularly devote many hours to your training, you can develop significant skill quickly. A pianist has to meet a deadline for a recital. Do you? Are you preparing for fight night, a tournament or a violent assault that could happen anytime? Impact Training One of the best conditioning tools for learning Kali is impact training. Full speed strikes through the air are useful for learning to control your weapon, but if you plan to win any fight, you need to get good at hitting something, not just the air. Sometimes we laugh at ourselves in class when even after only a few full speed strikes, we are already getting winded. That is before there is even an opponent in front of us. Build your stamina by hitting tires. You will have a much better command of your Kali skills and be able to keep up with the best of them.To hit harder you need to practice hitting things hard. Hang a tire and practice your strikes. Work up gradually to hitting with full power. First, get comfortable with the quality of your strike, then gradually hit the tire harder and faster. Make corrections and choose a very specific spot of the tire to target. When you are improving your mechanics and generating more power, you will feel and hear it.Impact training will build your grip. I can’t count how many new students have disregarded my advice to start hitting the tire lightly, then hit it the first time only to see their stick fly across the room and rattle across the floor. In my school, this is especially loud because a dropped stick means pushups.At first, you will find it is hard to grip your stick when your hands become sweaty and blisters develop. More impact training will solve that. Your grip will improve. It is likely your hand will be sweaty or even bloody should you ever need to use Kali, so working through it with tires is good preparation. You have to take care of your hands when you get a blister, but don’t let a thin layer of skin be the difference between life and death when you feel the discomfort of a little pain. Don’t over do it, but train through it. Don’t let a blister stop you.Strength and Conditioning If you expect to win a sparring match or violent assault, you need to have some strength and conditioning. One of the best indicators of a who will win a sparring match is conditioning. I sometimes see a more senior student lose to another with less experience simply because he ran out of gas. Don’t be that guy. Use some of your time outside of class to develop fitness.Athletes of almost any sport use strength and conditioning to support their sport specific skills. The majority of your time should be spent on the skills directly related to Kali, but 2-3 hours a week of strength and conditioning will help you make great gains in your fitness. That fitness will affect your Kali skills by giving you a better command of your body mechanics, more power, more speed and more resilience.Condition yourself specifically for the demands of Kali. A confrontation with more than one opponent my require multiple bursts of full power including rapid strikes, sprinting footwork with frequent direction changes and perhaps the full exertion of your hips in a dumog takedown or throw. Structure some of your workouts so that you include training that uses the energy systems need for those activities. This would look more like very short, high intensity, interval workouts with some explosive exercises and maybe some very heavy lifts. A bolo fight to the death may not last very long, but you should probably train for longer than a few seconds. Try conditioning workouts lasting from 3 to 10 minutes. You don’t need to run marathons, or do insanely long workouts. Study your Notes Take notes while reflecting on your lessons. Write down everything you learned in class. If your techniques or drills were taught first in parts, write down those progressions. Notes will help you in your practice sessions and become invaluable if you ever decide to teach. Many of my senior students have all the skills they need to perform the techniques I have taught them, but often forget what they did to get there. Having the notes will give you an advantage when you want to review or prepare your own lesson plans. Also, the act of writing down what you did will help you remember it.Memorize the terms, drills, principles and content contained in your lessons. Review your notes to help you commit the information to memory. It will enable you to learn faster. Study your notes and rewrite them to be more accurate. I often take my initial notes by hand in a notebook, then later type them into Evernote adding more detail, descriptions and formatting. This makes it say to organize, edit and reference them as needed. When you first start training, you may not feel like it is necessary to do this, but you will quickly realize that you should. You will avoid forgetting important details and be prime for moving up to the next level. Conclusion For best results, the instructor has to do a good job teaching, and the student has to do a good job learning. You have control of both. Find an instructor that knows how to teach, and learn how you can practice to maximize what he has taught you. I hope this article will help you get more out of your solo Filipino Martial Arts training.

It’s about mastering the details. Although I love the act of training itself, I don’t do it just for fun.  I train because I really want to be able to apply what I learn.  Likewise, I owe it to my students at Tactical Arts to make sure I am not just entertaining them, but I am really teaching them how to apply the techniques we study in class.  Sometimes this is easy with something like a basic strike, other times it may require more involved training methods.  This is often the case with a complex technique from Pencak Silat Mande Muda. Pencak Silat offers some novel techniques that range from the simple punch to the throat, which takes only a few seconds to learn, to a complex takedown that leaves you wondering what the hell happened.  The key factor in training the later is in the depth of study.  You have to thoroughly examine the technique, refine your application of it, and learn its weaknesses to really understand it. Below are a few suggestions that will help in your study of Pencak Silat (or any other martial art, really).  I use this approach when I am training myself. Completely Examine the Technique Understand the mechanics of the technique & know the intent behind it.  By asking the questions below, you will be able to break down what you are learning in order to really understand it. What is the technique designed to do?   Is it a strike, a throw, a trip, an off-balancing maneuver?   What is the expected outcome?  Should the opponent fall forward, fall backwards or just blink.  By knowing these details you will have direction when practicing. What is the specific purpose of the technique?  Is it a stun or a finishing attack?  Is it designed to totally break an opponent or just to setup another technique?  Why use the technique?  Find out more about the specifics of the technique.  This will help you understand more about the intent of the technique, better tune your body mechanics, and know when to use it. How is the technique performed?  Do I have to commit all my force or just a little.  What mechanics are needed to make it happen? Is it all arms, or do you use the hips.  Is the force circular, shearing or direct?  Is there a contrary force?  Know all the mechanics and specifics of applying the technique so you can get it right. When would conditions be best for this technique to be used?  Is it best if the opponent is light on his feet or grounded with a wide stance?  Does the person have to be leaning forward or standing upright for the technique to be applied successfully.  You need to know what to look for to be able to find an opportunity to use it. Master the Subtleties Find the ideal position for leverage.  Try applying the technique from slightly different angles to find the place where you have the best leverage and best access to the intended target or control point.  Ask your partner to give you feedback.  Examine how slight changes in joint angles can make or break a technique.  Observe how the movement of one joint affects other joints on the same limb. Work though the variations of all of these to find the ideal circumstances for applying the technique. Make sure you have the right balance to apply it properly.  Adjust your balance to see how you need to distribute your weight to apply the technique right. Do you need more weight forward to pin the opponent with a knee or should you withdraw your weight to avoid exposing your head?  Can you be pulled down if you are not grounded and low?  Test it out. See if changes in your grip position, foot placement or posture make a difference. Controlling the wrist, forearm or elbow can all be useful, but each technique is different.  Find the best place to hold for each technique.  Adjust your angle and foot placement.  Sweeps are often easier from particular angles, while shin compressions are easier from others.  Sometimes the effectiveness of a technique can be greatly affected by just lowering your center of gravity.  It may change how force is applied to a joint or it may give you more leverage.  Try controlling slightly different areas on the arms, adjust your feet to more to the front, side or rear of your opponent, and see how your posture can change your ability to apply the technique well. Train for the Weaknesses in the Technique Troubleshoot your technique to see where it can fall apart.  Look at what possible counters an opponent, whether trained or untrained, may try.  Knowing these will help you adjust your application to close any open windows. You will discover what key moments, during the application of your technique, may contain an opportunity for your opponent.  Use this knowledge to be ready with your recounter.  This will help you be much stronger in your application and less susceptible to being countered by your opponent. Look for the technical logic in related drills.  Is there a related series of techniques similar to the technique you are training?  Are there any answers in the series?  Sometimes they may not be taught outright, but a series may contain counters to the possible problems that can occur when a technique is used.  You may discover reasons that a technique is performed a certain way.  Challenge why any part of the technique is necessary, and don’t stop until you have an answer.  Use this knowledge to define your focus when training. Conclusion If you breakdown each technique and train to know the critical factors behind it, you will have the best chance of success when using it.  You will know the pros and cons of the technique and when you should apply it.  You will know how to make it work, and you will be ready for any counter your opponent may deliver. To be really good at Pencak Silat, you don’t always need to learn a lot of new techniques, but you do need to dissect and deeply examine the ones you have.