HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO ARM PRESSURE IN CONTACT FLOW?
"I
have a question about sensitivity and contact flow. When I am doing
contact flow, I know you say that if the arms are pushed beyond the
range of my own or my partner\'s chest, to just go straight in for a
strike. But how do I do this if my partner\'s arm is in the way? This
pertains to the \"outward pressure on your arm\" part in the
sensitivity/looseness parts of your book, which, unfortunately, I think
is hard to understand (the rest is great!). So if you could talk a
little bit about outward pressure on your arm, that would help us. Some
praise: I love KCD even though I am trained in a very traditional
martial art. The balance chapter has been especially helpful; it
actually compliments all of the other training I have, instead of
working against it. That\'s why, when I recommend the book to my
comrades, I call it \"martial grease\". I am really glad that I
happened upon your book and website (waiting for the DVD to arrive!).
Hope to make it to a seminar some day. ---L. PS - \"In the Eye of the
Storm\" would have been a better title for your book, in my opinion.
You should have kept it that way... :)"
ANSWER:
Unfortunately
our publisher had the last word on the book's title ("if you don't like
it we won't print it!") and so our book's content and name send mixed
messages. Maybe our next book we'll self publish...
Here's the
deal with regard to Contact Flow (students in class have heard me say
this a million times but at least they get to see it visually): Contact
Flow is about FEELING where your opponent is and where he isn't. We
focus on feel because, as John described in Newsletter #45, there's always someone stronger than you and it's usually your attacker.
To find
an opening in your opponent's defense you can't bash your way thru (if
you could, you wouldn't need this or any art anyway). You must learn to
fold, slither, slide, skim, weasel, and ricochet into openings but
you'll never learn to find them if you always challenge your opponent's
strength. You may say "but there ARE no openings!" Unless your
attacker is encased in a plexiglass sphere, this is a physical
impossibility. There are infinite openings that are limited only by:
1- Your looseness
2- Your balance
3-
Your ability to freely step to a new root point that is of equal or
closer distance to your opponent (as explained many times by Col. Al in
his Newsletter articles and of course in the Attackproof Companion Video Part 2).
If
outward pressure is being exerted on your arm, here are just a few of
mmany possible reactions that are dictated NOT by rote memorization of
techniques, but by your sensitivity to energy:
1-Turn your body in the opposite direction like a revolving door and hit him with the other hand.
2-Shrug your shoulder high and take a different, higher entry angle to his face.
3-Collapse at the elbow and fold your hand strike in.
4-Collapse the elbow the other way, step in and hit with the elbow.
5-Pull
his outward pressure in the same direction he's going: he'll either
fall into his own trap and he can meet your oncoming fist or he'll pull
back--in which case you reverse direction and follow him back with the
same hand strike.
6-Use the outward pressure to rotate you into a knee strike from the
opposite side.
...and
on and on limited only by your PRACTICED creativity. Yes, creativity
must be practiced, because a closed mind and nervous system is what we
humans practice MOST.
(Note that all of these should not be felt
at all by your oppoent until he is struck. A common error is to push
off of the opponent's block which practically email's your intentions
to him!)
Remember: a snake slithering thru grass doesn't slam
his head repeatedly against rocks in his path. His sensitive tongue
senses heat and pressure and he winds his way around obstacles. A
venomous snake will do the same thing in a fight,
saving it's power for the actual impact of the bite. Hope this helps!
--Matt K.
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