DISCUSSION

I cannot…YET

I understand the challenge you felt while learning some of these skills. “Relax” can feel completely counterintuitive. It is hard—but it’s not impossible. It simply takes repetition. Remember: “You cannot … yet.”

I’ve included an old video of a pike that seems to learn from repeated failed attempts. Please watch it all the way to the end:

My takeaway is this: don’t give up, no matter how difficult something feels in the moment. You have a teacher (me) as a resource to support you. You have support from classmates that probably went through similar experiences. If you persevere, what feels hard today will eventually become easy.

Constraints

Water naturally takes the shape of its container and always flows to the lowest point—both well-known facts. But we also know water changes state under different temperatures. As steam, it rises; as liquid, it flows and adapts; as ice, it becomes rigid and even expands compared to its volume at room temperature.

The skills we learn in martial arts or self-defense also operate within certain parameters. For example, if space is limited, running away may no longer be an option. If an attacker is so tall that you cannot reach his nose, aiming for a nose-strike is not realistic. If you’re holding a thin bamboo stick, it won’t deliver much impact as a weapon. And if your arm is limp, you won’t have much leverage. While you must first practice techniques as they are taught, you should also test and adapt them under different conditions.

Constraints or limitations can be:

• Self-related constraints
  You may have injured your ankle the day before. You might be lying down and unable to move backward or get up easily. You could be physically outsized by your opponent. Or you may have a child with you whom you must protect.
• Opponent-related constraints
  Your opponent may have unusually long limbs and you may have a hard time reaching him. If it’s winter and he’s wearing a thick jacket, your punches may not cause enough damage. Or he may be strong, fast, muscular, and able to absorb hits more easily.
• Environmental constraints
  You might be in an elevator with very limited space. You could be walking on an icy surface while wearing shoes with poor traction. Or you might be seated on a park bench, making movement more difficult.

Crowbar Principle — Leverage

When escaping someone’s grip, we often rely on the crowbar principle.

• Relax and clear your mind.
  Tensing up prevents you from thinking clearly and usually disrupts the mechanics that would otherwise work in your favor.
• Do not “lift the box.”
  Do not try to lift or overpower the opponent’s hold directly. Most likely, you are not the stronger one.
• Establish a fixed pivot point that does not move.
  You may move other parts of your arm or body, but the pivot must remain stationary. A common mistake is accidentally pushing the pivot point itself—once it moves, you lose leverage.
• Generate a power lever by extending the energy through your body – a “longer handle” amplifies the power you can generate without tensing up more.
• Project energy through your arm and fingers. Do not leave your fingers bent or hold the hand in a fist. This creates a longer “crowbar tongue” for better leverage.

SCENARIOS
Defense Against a Straight Punch

“Wax on / wax off” demonstrated how seemingly simple or repetitive movements can become useful in self-defense, and it highlighted the value of training. However, from a technical standpoint, it is not our preferred method.

The “wax on / wax off” approach comes from a paradigm where you defend first and strike later. The focus is on blocking the attack and then looking for an opportunity to counter. This type of block has several drawbacks:

• If you misread a fake punch, your hand will be drawn out to the side, leaving you exposed to follow-up strikes.
• Because you react after the punch has started, you are already a beat behind. You must rely on speed and experience to intercept the punch in time. The extra, non-productive travel your hand must make to reach the punch is wasted time. As a senior, you cannot assume you will be faster than your attacker.
• You cannot predict whether you can actually move the attacker’s arm once you make contact. You won’t know until you touch, and by then it may be too late to change your action.
• A block that is not directed toward the attacker can actually fuel his aggression. By attempting to block, you may provoke him to prove he is stronger.

Defense Against a Swinging Punch

The most dangerous reaction is to panic, stiffen your body, and remain at arm’s-reach distance. At that range, punches, kicks, and tackles are all possible, and things happen so quickly that you are likely to get hit.

Staying out of reach is obviously safer—but going all the way in is often counterintuitive. Yet, if you close the distance until you are only inches away, a swinging punch may still hurt but is far less likely to knock you out. Most people cannot generate full power at extremely close range.

Characteristics of Our Preferred Defense Approach

• The blocking hand does not travel sideways. Instead, it shoots directly over the attacker’s arm toward his face or eyes.
• If the punch turns out to be a fake and the attacker retracts, your hand ends up right at his face, removing his initial advantage.
• A hand near his face forces him to pull back or duck, obstructing his vision and reducing his ability to react to your next move.

Review of the grips

We reviewed the following grips, can you name to key-points for each? Remember to look back at the class notes in for the fall season session or even earlier. If you really can’t find the answer, do arrive early to class and ask:

• Low, crossover, thumbs-up grip
• Low, same-side, thumbs-up grip
• High crossover grip
• High same-side grip
• Two-arms-low grip

We also discussed the following scenarios:

• What if you are stuck in a seated position and the attacker puts his full body weight into the grip?
• What if your hands are on a table and you are confined in a picnic bench with limited elbow movement?

EXERCISES

Hot everyone mastered the “gallop” version of mobility. Movements sometimes are still a bit raw or awkward. You must practice until it becomes smooth and relatively effortless.

If you arrive early at class early next week, do partner up and take turns to respond to various direction changes as required.

DISCUSSION

Partner work

You need good partners to excel. Learn to be a good partner! In partner drills, one person feeds and the other person respond. Here are key points to being a good partner:

• Communicate clearly. Make sure both of you understand the scope, speed, and force of each drill to establish clear expectations.
• Help each other learn. Work together to refine techniques through repetition and gradual increases in difficulty.
• Respect comfort zones. Everyone’s comfort level is different. As the feeder, create a supportive environment so your partner can adapt and learn effectively.
• Analyze together. Discussing why a technique didn’t work benefits both partners. It helps train your eye to spot mistakes and reinforces key points for improvement.
• Own the technique. Knowing a move is different from owning it. Repetition is the key to making your responses automatic.
• Be patient and courteous. Everyone learns differently. What seems simple to you now might have been confusing once too. Show the same patience you’d want others to show you. Remember, speaking louder doesn’t help someone understand better — rephrasing your explanation often does.
• Take it seriously. You are all learning techniques that could save lives. Not having — or not being — a good partner can deprive someone of the chance to develop life-saving skills.

De-escalation Strategy

Even world-class athletes sometimes fall behind in a match — what matters is their ability to recover. Likewise, in real-life confrontations, some strikes may get through. You need both mental and physical resilience to push through pain if necessary.

Still, the best outcome is always to de-escalate when possible. Here are some techniques:

• Change your positioning. Move from a face-to-face confrontation to the person’s side, facing the same direction.
• Stay calm, relax and assess. Relax first. Your tension can trigger further escalation. Read the situation — what resources are nearby? What’s the person’s end goal? Is time on your side? Do you have room to move?
• Avoid telegraphing your intent. Don’t fight strength with strength; operate subtly and stay under their radar.
• Use calm communication. Speak softly and look for common ground, e.g. “I’m sorry — I’m having a rough day too…”

Strategic Positioning (Situational Awareness)

• Avoid standing near the edge of train platforms or at the tops of stairways. A single bump could send you over the edge.
• Maintain a good field of vision. Don’t walk too close to blind corners in streets or supermarket aisles. Staying at least an arm’s length from edges and obstacles gives you time and space to react.
• Avoid keeping your hands in your pockets — they could get trapped if you fall.
• Stay aware of your surroundings. Know who and what is near you, and look ahead for potential risks.

Application of “Perpendicular”

The concept of perpendicular force applies to both offense and defense.

In offense: A punch or kick that lands perpendicular to the target surface maximizes impact.
Rather than pushing directly against strength, redirect force to where resistance is minimal — this allows small movements to overcome larger forces.

In defense: Applying force at a 90-degree angle to your opponent’s line of attack meets minimal resistance and can easily disrupt their balance.

SCENARIOS

Reviews

Remember the phrase: “Please Practice Relax First.”
The following grips were reviewed and practiced with different partners:

• Low cross-over (thumbs up) grip
• Low cross-over (palms down) grip
• Low same-side grip
• High cross-over grip

Common mistakes :

• Failing to follow up to reach a strategic position
• Not staying close enough to maintain control of the opponent
• Trying to yank the wrist away or lift the opponent
• Lack of coordination — body parts must move in unison for maximum efficiency
• Confusing “relaxed” with “limp”
• Telegraphing movements

EXERCISES

Continue working on all mobility and strengthening exercises from previous classes regularly.

DISCUSSION

Learning through visual vs understanding

In today’s class, we reviewed two basic moves:

1. Low cross-over, thumbs-up grip
2. Low same-side, thumbs-up grip

Some of you recalled how the moves look, but many missed the key points that make them work. Similar-looking movements are not always the same. Don’t just copy the motion—focus on applying the key principles so you can adapt to different but similar situations.

(If you forgot what the key-points are, review the notes from a couple of weeks ago and think of the phrase “Please Practice Relax First“.

Creating your own summaries

Someone suggested having a summary of the key points for each technique. I understand the idea, but that only helps on the surface. The real value comes from reviewing and processing the material yourself. When you jot down notes after class, read my notes, compare, reflect, and write your own summary, you activate your memory. By revisiting them multiple times, you don’t just learn one skill—you internalize a reusable concept that can be applied in many situations.

Best technique

When people begin martial arts, they often expect a one-to-one match between a specific attack and a specific defense. In reality, it doesn’t work that way.

For example, there’s an old Chinese saying: “Of the 36 techniques, running away is the best.” But even that isn’t always true. What if the aggressor is younger and faster? What if your knee hurts that day? When was the last time you actually sprinted—and are you sure you won’t cramp up? Are you even warmed up to run? And what if you’re in an elevator with nowhere to go? Do you have the right shoes?

Asking Questions

When we were in school, the teacher or professor always seemed so knowledgeable, often asking questions that left us stumped. But remember—because they’re the ones doing the testing, it’s natural that we eventually miss something. If we were to question them in return, they might not have all the answers either.

In self-defense, the same idea applies: it’s important to be proactive rather than passive. Taking initiative can disrupt your opponent’s plan and make them reconsider their actions.

SCENARIOS

How to block a punch?

Remember, blocking should be your last resort, not your preferred option. We can break blocking into three key phases:

• Noticing the Attack – You can’t defend against what you don’t see or feel. Train your awareness to recognize incoming threats early.
• Before Contact – Once you detect an attack, there’s a brief reaction delay before your body moves. The time it takes for your hand to reach the target depends on both speed and distance. This is “overhead” time—it has no effect until contact occurs. To shorten this delay, keep your hands ready and avoid placing them in your pockets or behind your back.
• At Contact – You won’t know your opponent’s strength until the moment of impact. Stay adaptable and responsive.
• After Contact – Don’t rely on brute strength to move the opponent’s arm; strength against strength is inefficient. Instead, redirect or guide the incoming force away from your body. At the same time, move your target area—every inch of movement creates more space and safety

EXERCISES

Gallops

As kids, we all pretended to be horses and galloped around the playground. We’ll use that same idea for this mobility exercise.

• Moving forward: Push into the ground with your front (leading) leg, then drag the trailing foot in.
• Moving left: Push with your left (leading) leg, then drag the trailing foot in.
• Moving right: Push with your right (leading) leg, then drag the trailing foot in.
• Moving backward: Push with your rear (leading) leg, then drag the trailing foot in.

At the concept level, you always push with the leading foot. Using directional terms like front, left, right, or back can be confusing, but the key idea remains the same—the leading leg drives the movement.using. Using teams like leading and trailing takes us off that confusing translation.

Mental training is just as important as physical training. Many of you find it difficult to stay relaxed during emergencies—and that’s completely natural. It takes consistent practice and experience. Just like an emergency doctor, calmness isn’t something they’re born with; it’s developed through repeated exposure and training until staying relaxed becomes second nature.

Think and Review

Some ideas and suggestions:

• Full-body tension and release: Tense all your muscles, then suddenly relax and exhale. This can also help warm you up on cold mornings.
• Emotional control: When you feel irritated or angry, try exhaling and relaxing instantly—both physically and emotionally.
• Mental review: Set aside time to read through the class notes, visualize the movements, and create your own summaries.
• Body awareness: Often, you don’t realize when you’re tense. Try standing with slightly bent knees, breathing slowly and naturally, and consciously relaxing your shoulders, chest, and abdomen.

DISCUSSIONS
BODY WAVES

This exercise serves as an excellent general warm-up for the spine and the entire body. It opens the chest and relaxes the spine in a coiled position. While it looks quite different from Yoga’s cat-cow pose, it actually involves a similar spinal motion. Furthermore, you are also engaging the legs, abs, and neck as the wave motion ripples through the body. Developing control and awareness of each body segment moving sequentially provides valuable neural training for the brain.

Key-points

• Push the knees forward.
• Push the hips forward.
• Extend the lower spine vertically.
• Open your chest toward the ceiling by bending through the thoracic section.
• Stand up through vertical with straight body
• Then allow yourself to droop forward, starting from your head and then one vertebra at a time, while keeping the pelvis rounded and butt tucked.

Common errors:

• Arching at the lower back instead of through the thoracic section of the spine.
• Not pushing the hips forward enough.
• Not moving one section of the body at a time.
• When the body is ripping past vertical, you must keep the back and neck relaxed instead of tension.
• Allowing the buttocks to stick out backward.

REALITY ABOUT STREET FIGHTS

• There are no referees; you cannot tap out.
• Even a push can be deadly if your opponent’s head hits the pavement.
• It is not a game—there are no reset buttons.
• Even on your best day, you may still get hit. Be prepared for pain; there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
• You don’t know what you don’t know—the aggressor might have unseen friends.
• A fight must never be about ego, anger, or teaching someone a lesson. It must be about protecting something more important than life itself.

PICKING TARGETS

Focus on soft, vulnerable targets such as the eyes and nose—areas that are especially painful and effective for self-defense.

When you are under stress, it is hard to manage things requiring a lot of precision. For example, you should not aim for an eye poke unless it is presented to you. Groin kicks, while effective, is well known and therefore you can miss if you telegraph.

SCENARIOS
A Frontal Push to the Chest

If you feel yourself stiffening up during training, it’s not good enough. This usually happens when the hips lock up or the panic reflex kicks in.

• Using the body wave to absorb the force buys you valuable milliseconds.
• Resisting the push directly often causes stiffness and creates leverage against yourself.
• You must “step out of the firing line” as you perform the wave by spinning your pivot heel outward, then moving your other leg off the line as well.
• If you feel yourself stiffening up during training, it’s not good enough. This usually happens when the hips lock up or the panic reflex kicks in

EXERCISES

• Stationary Body Waves: Focus on smooth spinal motion without unnecessary tension.
• Heel Spin: Spin the heel without lifting yourself up first. Make sure your heel, knee, and chest move as one.
• Body Waves with Spin: Perform body waves while rotating around one leg.
• Squat: Maintain control and grounding throughout the movement. Stay put until your legs burn and shake. Then count for another slow 8 count.
• Projection Through the Fingers: Extend energy and intent through your fingertips as you move.

DISCUSSION

Relax

We often use the word “relax”, but here it has a specific, technical meaning. Take a look at the banner picture of the article: the “just right” state is neither tense (“fight mode”) nor limp. Neither extreme allows for effective handling.

The “just right” state is actually a range, and the only way to discover it and perfect it is through experimenting and practicing. You also need to understand the functional purpose of each movement and be adaptable to different types of food and chopsticks. As an example, when you pick up tofu with chopsticks, you can’t squeeze it like you would a piece of chicken — you must adjust your grip.

Key points to get out of wrist grabs without escalation

When we reviewed techniques for escaping wrist grabs, several key concepts were common across all of them:

• Project through the fingers
• Pivot point
• Relax physically and emotionally
• Flow with the force and find weakness.

To help you remember these, use the phrase “Please Practice Relax First.”

• P – Please: Project through the fingers. Extend your arm with focused intent, as if energy is flowing outward. This helps create a stable and functional lever.
• P – Practice: Pivot point. Keep your pivot point steady — it should not move or wiggle. It’s a key element in creating leverage.
• R – Relax: Relax physically and emotionally. This helps you think clearly and avoid wasting effort by trying to move your opponent’s entire arm. It also prevents triggering their defensive reaction — your body language and mindset matter.
• F – First: Flow with your opponent’s energy. For example, when your opponent grabs you, their fingers exert inward pressure. Instead of resisting outward, find ways to move inward without fighting it directly.

Weaknesses in the human grip

Fingers – We grab objects like groceries or tools by bending our fingers inward. To tighten our grip, we squeeze inward. If someone push my fingers inward, I am more likely to loose the grip.

Wrists – The wrist is strong on the palm side because it’s used frequently for lifting. The back of the hand, however, is much weaker since it rarely bears weight. While you can always train yourself stronger, but if you compare your own strength inward vs outward, you will find one direction is weaker.

Grip – When someone grabs your wrist, they aim to control you. If you remain relaxed, a single hand grip can only restrict you at the grip but not anywhere else — you can still move your fingers, smile, turn your head, or bend your knees. But if you tense up or panic, that grip will control your whole body.

Situational Awareness and Strategy

When we communicate, we express ideas and respond to the topic at hand — adapting our tone and wording depending on the situation or the person we’re speaking to. Sometimes we even use body language like a smile, a smirk, a wink, tension of the body, etc.

When it comes to fighting, a lot of people thought it is fundamentally different and expect to have standard solutions like the routine/form they practice everyday. When they are told “it depends…” and asked to understand the mechanics and concepts behind the technique, they think it is too complicated. But life is complex. Intelligent conversation — like martial adaptability — is difficult to both teach and learn.

Fighting is just another form of interaction, with higher stakes. Through martial arts, you’ll gradually understand not only yourself but also how others think and react.

SCENARIOS

High crossover wrist grab

Key Points

• Relax and turn the wrist slightly so the palm faces downward.
• Align your fingers with your opponent’s forearm.
• “Wipe” 90 degrees with the fingers leading the motion.
• Wrap and grab your opponent’s arm to steer them into a non-confrontational but strategic position.

Reviewed all the other grips learned so far

Through repetitions with different partners, you start to see the common thread that links all these together. You will also be able to remember the key-points that make it work instead of just imitating what may not be important.

Common Mistakes

• Tensing the arm, causing the whole arm to move and sometimes even ended up trying to lift your opponent’s entire body. You should instead attempt to affect only his wrist and fingers.
• Lifting the shoulder or elbow to “fight” the grab.
• Forgetting to follow through to the strategic position.

EXERCISES

We didn’t have time for exercises together, but I trust you’re motivated to train on your own. Continue with the exercises from previous classes — your leg muscles and core could always use more work. Or maybe a simple plank for a couple of minutes.

DISCUSSION

Examples of things to do if you are early

• Warm-up – Do a quick warm-up before class, since we won’t be doing it together as a group. You should already have warmed up a little before leaving home so that your body is ready for anything. A short warm-up helps you transition smoothly into training and prevents injuries.
• Partner drills – Since class time is often used to cover new material, take advantage of the opportunity to practice with a partner when you can. Use this time to refresh your memory and test your reactions so that your responses become more instinctive and automatic.
• Different partners -Each person’s height, weight, strength, and reactions are different. The more people you practice with, the more varied your experiences become, and the better prepared you’ll be for real-life situations.
• Ask questions – If you have questions, ask them! Make the most of the time when I’m available to clarify techniques or concepts.

LRT (Listen, resources, target) – 3 pillars of self defense

Story: When I was coaching young kids, I noticed that I have much better success with them during class if I play some “listening games” right at the start. Once you can grab their attention through their urge to win the contest, half the battle is solved. By listening to their teacher / coach / parents willingly, you not only keep them safe, they are actively learning through listening better.

The SkyTrain’s original planning name was ALRT (Advanced Light Rapid Transit) or sometimes simply LRT. As an aid for memorization, we use the acronym LRT to represent the three major pillars of self-defense.

• L – Listen / Look / Learn – These represent the tools you use to detect and anticipate danger. Always stay aware of your surroundings.
• R – Your conditioning, training, knowledge, awareness of your environment, physical strengths, time, understanding of the opponent’s weaknesses, and even nearby strangers or traffic passing through—all are resources you can use. Effective self-defense is about maximizing your own resources while minimizing those of your opponent.
• T – Target – This involves changing the WHO or the WHAT is targeted. For instance, pretend to have a conversation with a total stranger, redirect attention, or maintain a confident posture to make you a less appealing target. Ask yourself: What is your opponent’s likely goal or intended target? Can you alter or hide the target? Can you cause them to hesitate, reset, or redirect their focus?

Managing distance

If you are too close to a potential threat, you won’t have enough time to react or defend yourself effectively. When you notice someone suspicious, maintain a safe distance before anything happens. Staying aware of people and things around you—without being anxious or panicky—is an excellent habit for situational awareness.

SCENARIOS

Experiment: Strong support line vs perpendicular line

In the bow-and-arrow stance, the “strong line” runs heel-to-heel. Force applied along this line can be resisted more easily. However, pushing from the perpendicular line (relative to the heel-to-heel line) is much harder to resist and therefore has greater effect. Understanding this helps you control direction and stability.

Note: While the concept is “perpendicular (to the line of support), things doesn’t have to be exact. There is an tolerance of deviation base on your physical attributes like strength.

EXERCISES

Push the wall

This exercise develops a powerful push that comes from your whole body—not just your arm muscles.

Common mistakes:

• Arching the back when you meet resistance, forgetting to engage your core for support.
• Leaning in with straight arms, relying only on body weight instead of muscular strength.

Correct form:

• Bend your legs slightly to engage your legs and glutes.
• Keep your arms bent so your triceps can assist in the push.
• Maintain a firm, supported spine and active abdominal engagement.

Arch the back / Pelvic Tilt / Normal relaxed position

Learning to control your tailbone and hip movement is essential—not only for martial arts but also for protecting your hips and groin during falls.

Posterior Pelvic Tilt:
Known as “tucking your tail under,” similar to a dog lowering its tail after losing a fight. In this position, the “bucket” tilts backward and the groin moves slightly forward.

Anterior Pelvic Tilt:
Commonly described as “sticking your butt out.” Imagine your pelvis as a bucket tilted forward when your tailbone sticks backward.

Practice Tip:
If you have trouble isolating your hip movement, place a cushion against the side of a table and press your hip into it—without moving your upper body. You’ll feel how the lower abs help move the hips forward or backward.

DISCUSSIONS

We don’t always have the luxury of having an extra 10–15 minutes before class to warm up or ask questions. However, we are fortunate that no one is ahead of us in the program. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. Ultimately, fighting and survival are about the ability to see and make use of opportunities as they arise.

Structural versus muscular power

When you perform an action such as standing or lifting, you are of course using muscles—but the focus should be on the intent or function you are trying to achieve, not on the muscles themselves.

Bodybuilders, for example, tense muscles on both sides of a joint. This makes them look bigger but actually limits speed and fluidity of movement. Our goal is not to show off muscle size but to make movements effective and functional. This is called technical relaxation—using only what is necessary for the task without unnecessary tension.

A few key comparisons:

• You don’t tire easily when relying on structural power. When relying solely on muscular power, fatigue sets in quickly unless you’ve trained specifically for endurance.
• Structural power requires no reaction time when your body’s shape and alignment are already positioned to handle force from that direction.
• As seniors, if you lack muscular strength, you must substitute it with power generated from other sources, as discussed below.
• Muscles are still essential for daily activities such as standing, balancing, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries. Keep exercising to slow natural deterioration.
• Those who bully you at your age are likely bigger and faster. Competing through muscle alone is not the best strategy—structure and technique are your advantage.

Escalate only when it is absolutely necessary

An ethical approach is paramount to acquiring fighting skills. You must understand the responsibility that comes with the skill. Any physical action, like punching someone, has repercussions. The mindset should be to start with the ‘gentle side’ rather than escalating a situation. This philosophy is a core part of the training, taught to prevent misuse of the skills learned.

Wavering between ‘fight-or-flight’ will guarantee a bad ending. You need to think ahead where your red-line is. Even if you decide not to fight, you must position yourself strategically: for example, maintain a good distance between you and aggressor; furthermore, are you repositioning yourself to a safe spot after every effortless skill? Can you redirect the body angles to something less aggressive?

Functional focus vs muscle contraction focus

When you stand, you don’t really know you are using muscles but you are. You don’t need to focus on naming the specific muscles or the contraction of any muscles. Any focus on tensing up any specific muscles is over doing it and may be applicable only if training those muscles is the purpose.

How to get yourself stronger?

Remember this phrase: “Bruce Lee Made Me Cry.”
(The first letter of each word represents one of the key categories.)

• B – Big muscles: These major muscles do most of the visible work. When training alone, people often focus only on these large muscle groups.
• L – Little muscles: Smaller stabilizing muscles engage when the large ones tire out. Because they’re weaker and less coordinated, fatigue often shows as shaking in certain parts of the body.
• M – Mind: We demonstrated the power of the mind through the firehose projection experiment. Changing what or where you focus dramatically alters the outcome.
• M – Mechanics: Familiar principles such as leverage, angles, and structure all influence how efficiently you use your strength.
• C – Coordination: The difference between a trained unit of soldiers and an unorganized group is coordination. When an order comes, trained soldiers act cohesively. Likewise, a trained body functions as a coordinated team—each part working in unison toward a single goal.

By projecting your intent and structure together, you force the opponent to deal with your entire body’s mass and alignment, making your technique far more effective.

SCENARIOS

“Being shoved from behind (or pulled from front)”

• Go with the flow to absorb the force
• Push the butt backwards to counterbalance the forward momentum of the upper body
• DO NOT start with bending your leg as that accelerates the descend
• Each of the following help reduce the impact of the fall: 1) going with the force helps reduce the force forward 2) pushing the butt back help reduce the weight on the front of your support 3) halving the body helps reduce your height 4) the net of the velocity backward and the upper body pushed forward is a lot less

If you have trouble distinguishing between pushing your butt back and leaning your upper body forward, stand about eight inches from a wall or similar obstacle. Then, gently push until your buttocks touch the wall—without leaning into it. Your upper body should lean forward just enough to counterbalance the backward motion of your hips.

“Two hands on shoulder” – We used this scenario to show how you can neutralize a much stronger opponent’s grip without direct resistance. The key mechanic here is similar to a door stopper or a pebble in the track of a sliding door—a small but strategic action that disrupts movement.

“What if it change to grabbing your shirt?” – When a conflict escalates to a point where an effortless solution is no longer possible, you may need to respond more assertively. For example, I might reach out and press on the opponent’s throat while stepping toward them to regain control and space.

EXERCISES

You don’t always have a partner feeding you pushes or grabs. So it is important to be able to work independently as well as work with a partner when you have a chance.

Reference points and projection – When discussing leverage systems, there is always a pivot point—like the center of a seesaw. The pivot remains fixed, and the board must be straight and strong. We simulate this by projecting a line of force from the belly button through the fingers. In some cases, such as the door stopper example, you need to prevent the opponent from moving with you to create an opening for escape.

Isolation and integration of different body parts – Work on moving individual parts of the body independently. For example:

• Draw circles with your shoulders, both forward and backward.
• Try arm circles—one arm forward while the other moves backward.

Caution: Move slowly and mindfully. Don’t hurt yourself.

Squat – Stay in a squat position until your legs start to burn and shake, then sustain it for an additional count of eight. This builds both strength and mental endurance.

Do you know why we keep the back parallel to the ground in this squat?

DISCUSSION

What if I don’t see the attack coming?

As we always say: “You cannot defend against what you cannot see.” While that’s generally true, there are still important things to keep in mind.

First, you must focus on surviving the initial attack. This often means enduring some pain, since you may get hurt during the conflict—hopefully nothing serious. Only after that can you look for opportunities to respond.

Most of the techniques I teach in this class are designed for seniors. I don’t expect you to step into a cage to compete. Real-life situations are very different: there are no mats, no referees, and no rules. The aggressor is often a bully who may be larger, stronger, and faster than you. They may shout, try to intimidate, or suddenly shove you off balance. Fortunately, there are strategies to help you anticipate and minimize these risks, and we’ll cover them in upcoming classes.

There are so many things to remember…

Learning something completely new is always challenging. The good news is that this provides valuable stimulation: it exercises your brain, sharpens your awareness of your body, and increases your alertness to your surroundings.

Over time, it will get easier because all techniques are built on a set of common principles. For example, last week we talked about relaxation and projection. These ideas form the foundation for most of our skills. With practice, they will start to feel natural, and the techniques will begin to make more sense.

Let’s enjoy the learning process together—it’s all part of the fun ride!

SCENARIOS

Practical Fall Prevention: The “unhook” technique

Pavement is often uneven, with cracks, tree roots, or raised surfaces that can catch your foot. This technique helps you recover from a trip by focusing on how to quickly free a foot that has become caught on an obstacle.

The Principle of Moving the Target in Self-Defense

Instead of trying to block an incoming attack—which is often ineffective—the priority should be to move your body or head (the target) out of the attack’s path. Avoiding the strike is far more effective than trying to stop the force, especially when facing a stronger opponent.

The Role of Relaxation in Absorbing and Redirecting Force

When pushed or attacked, our natural instinct is to tense up. However, tensing makes you less stable and more vulnerable. The correct response is to stay relaxed, which allows you to absorb and redirect the force, maintain balance, and even catch the attacker by surprise.

Techniques for Rebalancing and Stabilizing the Body

When your balance is compromised, the key is to use your hips and butt to counterbalance the force and regain stability. With practice, this can become instinctive—especially useful in situations where you don’t have the space or time to take a step.

The Psychology and Decision-Making of a Self-Defense Encounter

Self-defense is not only about physical techniques—it also involves understanding the attacker’s psychology and making conscious choices. You must decide whether engaging physically is worth the risk. The goal is always survival, not “winning.”

EXERCISES

Correct Hamstring Stretching Technique

• The bending motion should come from the hips, not the spine.
• Keep the knee of the stretching leg locked straight.
• Square the hips.
• Sit tall with your chin extended forward.
• Pull the toes of the stretching foot back toward the shin.
• Push the tailbone backward to intensify the stretch.
• Hold the stretch for at least 10 seconds, or until the sensation eases.

Low Squat

How long should I stay in the squat position?

• Everyone has a different starting point. Stay in the position until your body tells you to stop.
• Don’t quit just because it starts to “burn” or feel uncomfortable. Avoiding challenge over time reduces your capacity.
• When your legs start both “burning” and “shaking,” push through for a little longer—about 8 seconds. This builds not only strength but also mental toughness.
• As seniors, we often live within an arbitrary “box” of self-limitation. You must learn to push boundaries—without pushing yourself to extremes.
• If you’re getting stronger and can hold for over 5 minutes per session, that’s plenty. There are ways to make the exercise harder without increasing the time. Since time is also limited, come talk to me for adjustments if you’re ready to take it further.

DISCUSSIONS

Introduction

This is the first day back. We have 13 participants, with about half returning from last season and half joining for the first time. This is a great mix because it creates opportunities for you to learn from and help each other. Teaching or explaining to others helps reinforce what you learned last season. If you find you cannot clearly explain something, it may mean you don’t fully remember the key points—so don’t hesitate to ask questions.

Each time we revisit material, you gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the subtleties that make a technique work. Over time, instead of remembering details as steps in a technique, you begin to see them as broader concepts. These concepts not only apply to different techniques but can also carry over into everyday life.

For returning participants, we won’t repeat everything from last season. You will learn new skills, but we will also revisit some “old” material when relevant. I want you to notice how a technique feels slightly different each time you try it with a new partner. The key is to make a technique—or the idea behind it—work against anyone, in any situation.

This season (September to December), the focus will be on learning how to generate more power with the body you have now—without relying on being able to do 100 pushups or sit-ups. My goal is always to make things practical and relevant as soon as possible, not 10 years down the road.

What to look at and feel?

When you watch me demonstrate a skill—or when you experience it directly as part of the demonstration—it’s important to ask: What should I be looking at? How does it feel?

When you watch a demo, do note which body part is passively being moved, which body part stays static and which body part initiates the movement. For example, imagine someone sleeping on a bus. Many would conclude that both the person and the bus are moving. In reality, the bus is moving, while the sleeping person is being moved passively. This distinction changes the mechanics completely.

When practicing getting out of grabs, pay attention to what you feel through the point of contact. Which parts of your body remain free to move without any restraints? In many wrist-grab situations, your fingers, elbows, or feet remain mobile. The solution almost always comes from using these free-to-move parts rather than struggling directly against the grab at the point of contact.

SCENARIOS

I like to use “getting out of a wrist grab” as the gateway to understanding effortless power. It’s simple, yet it demonstrates how effective techniques don’t require muscle strength or speed. Just as important, I want to show you how to position yourself strategically afterward—remaining relatively non-aggressive while guiding the situation with calm words and body language.

Wrist Grabs

1. To escape a wrist grab, don’t yank. Instead, relax your fingers and draw your hand out over the opponent’s wrist using a gentle, non-forceful motion.
2. For an overhand grab, identify the weak point of the grip—where the thumb meets the fingers. Press toward that spot. This “inside pressing” works because of the natural weakness in that part of the grip.

Some Key Mechanics

Power of intent – Many have heard about the connection between mind and body, but it often sounds abstract. In class, we experimented with the “firehose method” and directly experienced how intent can change outcomes.

Leverage – Trying to fight someone larger using only arm muscles at the contact point won’t get far. Leverage amplifies your strength and makes techniques work more efficiently.

Move your whole body – When moving, take confident, purposeful steps instead of timid, small ones. Project your center of gravity through your arm so there are no “leaks” in your movement.

De-escalation – After applying a technique, position yourself strategically and use a calm voice to redirect the person’s attention. Ideally, they’ll forget about you as a target.

EXERCISES

Stand on one leg – For seniors, I don’t recommend kicks during self-defense, as standing on one leg reduces balance and increases risk. However, since falling is a major everyday risk for seniors, practicing one-legged balance exercises is very important.

Isometric chair exercise – Sit with your hands placed on a chair beside your thighs. Lift your knees off the floor while pressing your hands down. This works your pushing muscles as well as your abs and hip flexors.

Hamstring stretch – This simple, on the chair common hamstring stretch is often done incorrectly:

• Keep your foot flexed (toes toward shin/ceiling).
• Lock your knee straight—don’t let it bend.
• Instead of rounding your back by pushing your head down, extend your chest and chin forward.
• Avoid bouncing; slowly extend and focus on feeling the stretch.
• Extend your tailbone backwards and up to maximize the stretch

DISCUSSION

Last class until September

Today is the last class until September. The focus of today’s session was to teach some important exercises that will help establish a solid foundation for the new season.

During the session, we emphasized the efficiency of movement—generating maximum effect with minimal effort. However, this doesn’t mean training isn’t required. You still need to practice in order to program your nervous system so that responses become automatic.

You need muscles to carry groceries or help lift others. You need resistance training to see if you can maintain sustained pressure against an opponent. You need to bear weight to strengthen your bones, joints, ligaments, and more.

Summer is a great time to enjoy the sun—and also a great time to keep up with relevant training.

SCENARIOS

We did not have time to do scenarios. Do read all the notes available on this website.

EXERCISES

Consistency is key with all of these exercises. Try marking on your calendar the days you complete your workouts—it’s a form of positive reinforcement when you see your calendar filled with check marks.

The plank is a great exercise for training most of the muscles in your body to work together, helping you generate whole-body power. A common challenge for beginners is that when they execute a skill, they only copy the outlook of the move and forget about maintaining suitable tension for the rest of their body. Gaining control over your entire body is fundamental in all martial arts styles.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when doing a plank:

• Core not engaged, causing the belly to sink or the lower back to arch.
• Hips raised too high, forming a triangle shape. Your body should form a relatively straight line from shoulders to heels.
• Shoulders behind the hands instead of stacked directly over them.
• Arms locked out, relying on skeletal support rather than muscular engagement. Keep a slight bend in the elbows to engage your triceps and better connect to pushing/punching mechanics.
• Elbows flared out instead of close to the body. In a guard position, elbows should protect the ribs. Keeping the elbows in also allows the shoulders to relax more naturally, improving endurance and form.

At first, holding the plank position can be challenging. The body weight pressing onto the wrists might feel uncomfortable—but this discomfort is necessary training if you want to develop the ability to deliver powerful palm strikes, such as into an opponent’s nose.

Leg Raise Exercise

Stand with your back flat against a wall. Keep your body upright and your support leg vertical. Slowly raise one leg in front of you while keeping it straight. When you reach your maximum height, pause—and then try to lift it just one more inch. You’ll feel your quads burn almost immediately. Once your leg starts to shake, begin counting to eight, then lower the leg in a controlled manner. Repeat with the other leg.

Key points to keep in mind:

• Your entire body must stay vertical against the wall. Avoid leaning back or tilting your torso to help lift the leg.
• Toes can point outward and stay relaxed—this isn’t a flexibility or stretching exercise.
• If your quads or hip flexors cramp up, perform the runner’s stretch, extending the cramping side behind you to release the tension.

Shift and slide

We did the prep moves which simply bend the knee and lift the heel up. We activate the calf muscles by bouncing on the ball of our foot and landing on the ball of our foot.

• With chest facing sideways (east) and head looking (north) over your shoulder, you shuffle both legs simultaneously backwards. Then you practice shuffling forward
• With the left leading leg, move your right leg sideways first, dragging your left leading leg sideways in the same direction. Remembering which leg goes first may be too hard to remember, simply think open wider and then drag to follow versus using the numbers as in the illustration..
• With a left front leading leg, use the hip to move the entire body around so that the right leg becomes the leading leg.

Common mistakes

• Simultaneous shuffle becomes a step-step two beat stepping.
• During the alternate leg slide, the front leg over stepped and the legs get all crossed up
• During the lead leg switch. only the foot moved, the body remains static. The chest should switch WITH the hip. The head remains facing North.
• You should not be jumping up and down, you should instead be sliding at the same level using mostly your calf muscles.

Prep for mobility

You may notice that the illustration above includes dotted lines in the heel area. This is to emphasize that the heel is slightly off the floor, with most of the weight resting on the ball of the foot. If you watch high-level sports like tennis, where quick movement is essential, you’ll see that almost every player moves on the balls of their feet. This positioning allows for faster and more agile movement.

If you’re learning to jump, start by practicing landings on the balls of your feet after a small hop.

To develop explosive power in your calves and feet, in addition to standard drills like calf raises, try hopping directly upward from a straight-legged position, pushing off using only your feet, calves, and toes. This exercise is excellent for developing quick, non-telegraphed movements. However, you have to land on the ball of your feet. If the landing still create a shock to your legs, you are allowed to add the landing with bent knees.