[Aslan]

One thing, that everyone should be able to do, is get out of a chair.

I know, you're thinking "wtf? is this guy an idiot - I get in and out of chairs all the time. what a maroon.."

True we all get in and out of chairs, but have you ever practiced it as a tactical move?

You should be able to get out of a chair to the left, right, or straight ahead, in such a way that the chair is a barrier between you and an attacker.

How quickly, how many moves, and do you have to expose yourself to potential harm while moving - these are all things you need to think about.

For example, if I am sitting in a chair and you approach me from my left, it is only reasonable to expect me to exit the chair to my right.

The idea is to end up facing you with the chair between us.

Simply place the right foot down slightly forward and to the right of the chair. As you stand, the left leg comes back and you pivot slightly. (you may need to adjust your stance slightly)

You are now facing the attacker with the chair between you. You also did not turn your back on him.

As you stand, your hands should go to a defensive posture. I would do a sweeping motion with my left arm, palm facing the attacker, right arm doing shorter similar motion. I will end up with my left shoulder towards the attacker.

At this point, you have put yourself in a defensive posture with a barricade between you and the attacker. He can go around the chair, over the chair, or move it out of the way. all of these things require him to do something that requires time, energy, and attention.

I'll leave the pratical applications and variations for you to work out.

But, you should pratice this, even if you already are super fast etc.

have fun...
:devil:

 

[Hard Ball]

A good tip Aslan.

 

[RIKA]

Thanks Aslan. Its those little attention to detail things that can save your life.

RIKA

 

[Aslan]

There's also a whole slew of things that can be done while sitting. Plus, I haven't talked about getting up and getting behind the chair quickly.

Much of this is so much easier to demonstrate than to describe....

But, I hope you got enough of the idea to work some of this stuff out for yourselves...

We only learn what we teach ourselves. A good teacher simply facilitates the process.

:devil:

 

[gripper]

Another option for practice/practical consideration is the rise from the chair as part of a 2 or three step cheap-shot.You're sitting;you're being approached by someone who needs to have his behavior modified.As hecloses on you,you're rising;both hands comming up,but using the "push-up "from the toes to drive a head-but into his face.Simultaneous(or just before),you've grabbed lapels,biceps(whatever works) to help pull him against the blow.A good time to bring your knee up (hard) is right at or after the head but to the face impacts.Just keep on hitting him,or move him into joint/limb locking/control or destruction.Repeat as needed ,sometimes these little behavior modification seminars are given to peol;e that don't modify their behavior readily :dgrin:

 

[john42]

Sounds like some fun practice. My Chinese karate instructor trained with a man who was in a wheelchair, but he said he could hurt you more than most other people, and seemed to do it with less effort! Any other everyday moves? What about little joint locks for crowded areas? I have always wanted to know about those.

 

[Hard Rock]

Something else to consider about chairs...

They make great makeshift weapons...

Also, a huge mistake I see a lot of people making is during drills where they must draw and fire on a target starting from a seated position... stay seated, don't waste the motion or time standing. Just draw and go. The interesting thing is that most people learn if their holsters are good or not while drawing from a chair.

Excellent topic Aslan!

Mike

 

[john42]

hey, that's a great idea aout staying seated. (why didn't i think of it?) So what about if you are in a rolling chair and use yourself as an unguided missle?

:blowup01:

 

[andy]

I used to bet guys in jail their supper that I could jump and kick the wall, from sitting, than they could standing. I'd then only take their dessert. This was from a concrete picnic table. The arms thrust is ADDED to the leg thrust, so, if you time it all correctly, you can jump an amazing distance from a seated position.

 

[gripper]

I was always the proverbial"white guy that couldn't jump".....in general I'm VERY destructive within an arms length .I can go beyond that,but general build,experience&traininghas me playing to my strengths where possible.
Jumping&other explosive movements ARE very good things to include in your training,whether its dedicated H2H,CQ or martial arts.Also a good way to break up standard PT sessions.What do you think of the old plyo type drills?Ordinarily I reserve tmovements like that to upper body work(plyo &"ballistic" lifts/pushups)but now that my feet are getting better(tendonitis from old breaks&injuries)I'm kind thinking onother things to throw into the mix.

 

[andy]

I only know what I was taught, the Moo Duk Kwan branch of the TaeKwanDo association stuff. I never got into the spinning-jumping stuff, only the "skipping" type of 'jump", to close with the enemy from further away than he thinks possible, FASTER than he thinks possible, and then either jump back again, out of his reach, or swarm all over him, biting his nose if I have to.

 

[RIKA]

Beware of GK's deadly nose bite. One touch of his dentures means rabies shots.

RIKA

 

[Aslan]

One of these days, he's going to try his skipping jump on the wrong person and get a real nasty surprise.

I am curious about one thing, though, how many skips or steps are involved in a typical attack? Just trying to understand what you are describing...

:devil:

 

[RIKA]

I know how he gets his skipping jumping practice. He takes a piece of chalk, see, and draws these squares on the sidewalk ... well you get the picture ...

RIKA

 

[Aslan]

The problem is, that what he may be trying to explain is somewhat valid, but he can't describe it fully, or he really doesn't understand it enough.

There are kicks that build momentum by sorta doing a skipping action. There are variations on a front snap kick that can be done by basically bringing one foot up, hoping forward onto that foot and then jumping and kicking with the other foot. Generally, we teach this to lower belts starting from a front cat stance.

A front cat stance is done with about 80% of your weight on your back foot, and your front foot is toe down (heel raised) with about 20% of your weight on it. Again, this is one of those stances that is very obvious when you see it, and very easy to master.

It's usually most visible as part of a kata, or when instructing beginners. Rarely would one every actually hold that position in combat - you may transition through the stance, but unless you were watching someone closely, you'd never see it.

It's a good stance for learning transitions, posture, and balance.

:devil:

 

[gripper]

I guess different folks use different strokes...or at least different words.I always had what s being discussed as a "cat stance',as a back stance,usually the basis for a knifehand block or strike...also seems to ework well for a variation of a "cross"(if you think of a "jab" as a punch off of the front(or at least more bent" leg.Hey,whatever it takes to not get took...

 

[Aslan]

I guess different folks use different strokes...or at least different words.I always had what s being discussed as a "cat stance',as a back stance,usually the basis for a knifehand block or strike...also seems to ework well for a variation of a "cross"(if you think of a "jab" as a punch off of the front(or at least more bent" leg.Hey,whatever it takes to not get took...

By a back stance, I assume that you mean the weight is more on the back foot, in which case, we are probably in agreement. There are literally dozens of variations on the basic cat stance.

Some are greatly exagerated for teaching purposes and for "art" during a kata, but it really boils down to where your weight is placed and what kinds of movements you can do out of this stance (which is why it is really a transitional stance, at least the way we teach it.)

That's the real problem, the human body can only move in so many ways, but there are millions of ways to describe those movements, so we can be talking about the same exact thing and not realize it because of terminology.

:devil:

 

[gripper]

Yes, you're right;weight on the back foot. Also ,as to the numerous variations(lead foot pointing forward,back-45 or so degree angle outward)yees to that as well. These days my form would be considered sloppy to the point of disgust from any of teachers that were more traditional(as opposed to H2H/CQB types)
When I was a kid, I was a little street hockey thug until I was old enough for the neighborhood boxing gyms;my cousins were into some of the Japanese styles(Shotokan, Uechie Ryu,Shorin-Jitsu).We used to do our version of mixed marial arts/fight clubs; basically on the weekends we'd work out together( give and take time. As an infantryman,we just had the shake&bake hand to hand at Benning(sawdust fields and pits),in the units I served with, other opportunities presented themselves(some Hapkido&Kobudo, a few other things).
I still train hard physically,but the closest I do to anything classical these days is just a little Muy Thai with a lady friend, or getting together with old Korean friends and mixing iup th eboxing with a little of what was already mentioned.As time presents other opportunites to get seriously back into martiual arts, I'd like to. All I've really got now is my fighting experience in varied situations and a good residual physical toughness and muscle memory. Porbably would be a good idea to start eating healthy more often again; I tend to drop wieght TOO easily( i'm 5'8",147-150)