Monday, September 2, 2013

Forearm Strikes etc.



The art of studying kata movement application using the forearm

I start with kata as being an energy development study, where your practice intensifies and your ability to bind the energies used becomes more and more focused.

The application of those techniques isn’t bound by the practice of the kata, however. To more fully understand what any technique may do you need to look at as wide a range of ways you can enter an attack and deliver the technique.

When I began to understand this I created my ‘unlocking principle’, or a template how a technique might be used, not specific to just one technique.

Then meeting Harrill Sensei, I discovered a man who took this to the extreme from his own studies.

One of my favorite techniques is that of the elbow strike, or more frequently the forearm strike, the rear backarm strike and the chambering elbow strike.

The following set of drills come from Indonesian Silat, but the techniques are in Wansu, SunNuSU and every durn chamber you’ve ever used.

Of course this doesn’t follow the entire range of potentials, but it’s a good place to start.

By necessity of lack of a technical vocabulary to really describe many of the more subtle aspects of these techniques (leg checks, parries, how the forearm strike is often in effect striking towards your other hand, the resulting alignment creates a sharper strike.




1.      Attacker RFF Right Punch  (exterior line of defense)
a.       LFF side with left cross parry
b.      RFF (outside their right leg) with a right horizontal forearm strike to the right outside of the attackers head

2.      Attacker RFF Right punch  (interior line of defense)
a.       RF side with a right cross parry
b.      LFF (inside their right leg) with a left horizontal forearm strike to the right outside of the attackers head

3.      Attacker RFF Right Punch   (exterior line of defense)
a.       RF skip left as right open hand counter clockwise descending parry of attackers arm – and –
b.      LFF skip forward as a left horizontal forearm strike to the right outside of the attackers head.

4.      Attacker RFF Right Punch  (interior line of defense)
a.       LF skip to right as left open hand clockwise descending parry of attackers arm – and –
b.      RFF skip forward with a right horizontal forearm strike to the front of the attackers head (jaw)

5.      Attacker RFF Right Punch
a.       RFF small step to the right and then
b.      LFF skips to 11 o’clock while ducking (deep stance) under the attackers arm and keeping your body on the interior of their arm and delivering a left horizontal forearm strike under the armpit (side of the ribs)

6.      Attacker RFF Right Punch
a.       LFF small step to the left and then
b.      RFF skips to 1 o’clock past and inside the opponents leg while ducking (deep stance) under the attackers arm and keeping your body on the exterior of their arm and delivering a right horizontal forearm strike under the armpit.

7.      Attacker RFF Right Punch
a.       LFF on the outside of their lead foot, the right hand parries across your body as you duck under their arm
b.      Deliver a Left horizontal forearm strike into their ribs

8.      Attacker RFF Right Punch
a.       Jump RFF to left and LFF behind their leg while rotating your body clockwise so you finish facing the direction of their punch
b.      Left back reverse elbow strike to the rear under their arm

9.      Attacker RFF Right Punch
a.       Jump LFF to right and RFF behind their leg while rotating your body counter-clockwise so you finish facing the direction of their punch
b.      Right back reverse elbow strike to the rear under their arm.

Note: Wherever possible the leg leaping forward can check the opponents leg by locking it behind their lead leg

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