BASEBALL BAT SCENARIO

Great work lads on this week's chosen scenario... Baseball Bat Attack!

After a 'Combat Calesthenics' warm up with S.P.E.A.R. System™ Drills & Skills, we isolated the P.I.A. (Primary Initiation Attack), analysing it through the 'Emotional Climate Training' filter.

This mentally records all the 'Pre-Contact Cues' throughout the whole timeline of the Baseball Bat Attack.

Then it's a matter of experiencing how it effects our 'Startle-Flinch' Reflex.

In the photos you can see a 'Primal' version (pure recoil & cover the head) vs a more 'Tactical' version where the Good Guy has seen it coming sooner, allowing him to move towards the threat!

The E.C.T. Drill develops clear recognition of the pre-contact cues of specific attacks, allowing the Good Guy a better chance of protecting himself, by converting his flinch into a Tactic quickly!

...Choose a Scenario, add some Bad Guy Role Play, with Verbal Aggression, Encroachment, Posturing, and the Attack... and you have a 'nice' BMF (Ballistic MicroFight™) to train.

"Experience is normally something you get AFTER the event!... Get it before through Realistic Scenario-Based Training!" BTS Maxim

CROSSFIT 3D GETS THE POINT

A big thank you to Karl Steadman of CrossFit 3D in Manchester, for inviting us up to run a Personal Defence Readiness™/S.P.E.A.R. Intro Course for his CrossFit members. He has a fantastic CrossFit Box and all the attendees were very motivated and friendly people! It was very enjoyable sharing the SPEAR research and training with such engaging athletes.

It's always so fascinating to see the connection between PDR/SPEAR and CrossFit. The functionality in both is so very apparent and it's enjoyable watching CrossFitters perform so well in the training due to the functionality of their fitness and determined mind-set that supports them in the PDR/SPEAR drills.

Karl is a great CrossFit Coach (Level 2) and he applies the same enthusiasm to spreading these Self Protection skills to others, so thank you for that! He sees and truly 'gets' the wholistic value to training in both disciplines. In fact, he got the bug so bad, that he spontaneously signed up to the first UK PDR Instructor Course in June and is now a certified Coach! Congrats! He runs a weekly class now, so if you're local it's a great opportunity for you.

http://www.crossfit3d.com

Also I'd like to say thank you to my Assistant Instructors, Karl Stone and Max Lobatto for their help and to Miles Key of CrossFit Hove for the photos, video and support.

Thanks again to all that attended for your energy and hope to see you again in the future.

Stay Safe

Zeb

SHOTGUN ROBBERY

Some photos from a recent Personal Defence Readiness™ Class that focused on a 'Robbery Scenario' in a car park, where the Bad Guy uses a Shotgun as a tool of intimidation to try get what he wants (valuables/body/life).

The specifics of this scenario was that the Bad Guy wanted your car keys to steal your car, as well as your wallet. Handing over your keys and wallet may normally be a wise choice, but the murphy moment was that your family were waiting for you in that car!! Hence the motivation and probable choice to fight back right there to avoid risk to your family. The scenario dictates your response right!

Great work guys, that was intense!

EDGED WEAPON MAYHEM

There was a great energy at class this week, with everyone getting a good anaerobic workout whilst training with the S.P.E.A.R. System™ Weapon Protection drills.

This week the focus was on protecting against 'Edged Weapons' and practicing the core drills that will help develop the ability to survive such a high-risk situation. Over the next few weeks we will build up and lego together the isolated components to replicate the complete scenarios that have a weapon included within it, such as a home invasion, ATM robbery, power-trip attack, etc. using real-life incidents on video to ensure it is replication and not simulation.

The core drills explores how the 'Startle-Flinch' applies to edged weapons and how to convert it to tactics that keep you protected.

The S.P.E.A.R. System™ as always addresses violence from a 3-Dimensional perspective, making sure that we are mirroring in training, what our body/mind/emotions will instinctively do in a real situation. Considering that if a weapon is present, then that of course is amplified and the need for simple, gross-motor based skill sets and tactics is ever greater.

In a gym or dojo, pretty much any technique can be made to work in a demo! However in the street the Bad Guy is trying to destroy you as quickly as possible and not trying to make you look good! That's why in the S.P.E.A.R. System™ we replicate that energy and behaviour of the Bad Guy to stress-inoculate against it and pressure-test what actually works, in a safe but realistic way, to the individual level of students. In our drills, the Bad Guy is always moving, resisting, fighting back and not just standing there in a static pose, allowing the Good Guy to perform their complex-motor skill based techniques.

We also discussed some psychology of the Bad Guy in hostage/threat scenarios. Understanding what the Bag Guy wants and what they don't want, really helps to create better strategy and response options, enhancing safety. Does he just want your wallet? Or does he want more than that?

If you want to learn more and enhance your and your loved ones safety, then feel free to contact us:

www.safespacegym.org.uk

info@safespace.org.uk

Be Safe!

Feel Safe!

PHYSIOLOGY FIRST

In an ambush moment, when we are surprised, we flinch!

It's not that we want to flinch, it's that we will... if we are caught off-guard!

In this flinch moment, there is only pure physiology! There is no cognition at this point, just the body's genetically-wired reflex of wanting to push away the danger. This is the fastest reaction we have and the most reliable. Our body uses gross motor skill stabilisation to effectively protect the brain and then only when there is more time and relative calm, can we use the more complex motor skills.

The S.P.E.A.R. System utilises this principal of physiology happening first in all our training drills. That way we are mirroring physiology that is likely to happen in a real fight. Learnt techniques requires 'muscle-memory', but without cognition there is no memory! Therefore no complex motor skills are accessible until we are back in some degree of control.

The sudden adrenaline spike caused by a sudden, aggressive and close threat creates an amazing kinetic energy that we can use through training.

This is our bridge to our next move!

IT'S NOT WHO'S RIGHT; IT'S WHO'S LEFT

The title of this post is a maxim of Tony Blauer and it certainly applied to the last PDR Class, dealing with a rear choke. This is certainly an eye-opener and a great attack to pressure-test using a 'street' model.

There are many 'theories' to deal with this type of attack but many fail under stress.

The S.P.E.A.R. System™ makes sure we train and replicate human behaviour of the good guy and the bad guy in a real, violent fight, as accurately as is safely possible. It is 'gross-motor' skill based; not 'complex-motor' skill based!

The intention, energy, motivation, commitment, and movement is different in a 'death-match' as opposed to a 'sport-match'. It is an asymmetrical relationship, not a symmetrical relationship. There is no consent, no preparation, no timing, no referee! Simply the bad guy is trying to destroy the good guy in an instinctive and violent way, so we should use our natural, genetic reflex to initially survive the ambush and then transition to a specific tool, whether it is strike, escape, use of a baton (Police Officer), etc.

The rear choke is most definitely one of the worst situations to be surprised by and is certainly a life-threatening attack. Yes, we should be aware, but are we always fully aware, 100% of the time. This makes it the most dangerous aspect of self protection. Better to train it and not need it; than to need it and not train it!

Quote of the class: "I had the paradigm shift from how horrible the experience is, to how much you can do to protect yourself!"

Good work guys!

BAR RAGE

Karl Stone is currently taking the PDR Class in my absence (due to work). Karl has been training in the PDR & S.P.E.A.R. System™ with me since 2004 and is a good coach.

This week they focused on developing functional 'street' close quarter striking tools and introduced the 'Range Rover' drill. Also warming up with some startle-flinch conversion drills, they did the 'Emotional Climate Training' drill for developing pre-contact cues from the world-reknowned 'Haymaker', the most common of street attacks. Then after training very isolated parts of the whole scenario/fight, they did a BMF (Ballistic MicroFight™) - the Big Bang moment of the start of the fight, where all the skills come together. The scenario was 'Bar Rage' - spilt pint, Bad Guy makes verbal threats and then attacks Good Guy with a Haymaker, as the Primary Initiation Attack. Good Guy flinches (due to sucker punch/relative surprise) and converts it into a 'Stun & Run' response. (Gross motor skills into Complex motor skills).

Good work guys!