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Andi Kidd
Andi Kidd's picture
'Blocking drill'

I thought I had posted this before, but maybe not. Here is a 'blocking drill' that we sometimes do for a warm up!

The funny thing is that we had been using this for some time when I went to train wit Al Peasland and Mick Tully at IAn Rand's dojo and they taught exactly the same drill with a different entry!

Then after I put this on facebook a guy from Koyru Uchinandi emailed me and said that he didn't know I did that as they have a drill the same! 

I've still not seen their version.

So I'm hoping it's not fools never differ and more great minds......

anyway, enjoy!

Andi

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

I like that Andi. A nice drill that not only has people warming with the common “blocking” motions, but which also includes stances, shifting, angles and sticking. A great drill.

Andi Kidd wrote:
The funny thing is that we had been using this for some time when I went to train with Al Peasland and Mick Tully at Ian Rand's dojo and they taught exactly the same drill with a different entry!

Then after I put this on facebook a guy from Koyru Uchinandi emailed me and said that he didn't know I did that as they have a drill the same!

There’s nothing new under the sun! When you have millions of people all independently studying the same things it is inevitable that common solutions appear. It’s a sign that “great minds think alike” ;-)

I have a similar drill – in intent and content, if not design – which I’ve posted below.

All the best,

Iain

PASmith
PASmith's picture

I'm wondering if there is an additional step that can be added to Andi's drill so it swaps sides at some point and so becomes a drill that can be done by both participants in a cyclical manner and uses both hands equally? Both drills remind me a little bit of "hubud" from Fillipino martial arts and that has loads of transitions and passes that swap sides so the drill can flow.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

PASmith wrote:
I'm wondering if there is an additional step that can be added to Andi's drill so it swaps sides at some point and so becomes a drill that can be done by both participants in a cyclical manner and uses both hands equally?

If Andi has the time, I’m sure he will answer. For me, drills can have formal switches, or you simply stop and swap sides after a given number of repetitions / the passing of a given time period. I tend to prefer the latter (simper), but I can understand how a formal swap is a little more satisfying.

PASmith wrote:
Both drills remind me a little bit of "hubud" from Fillipino martial arts and that has loads of transitions and passes that swap sides so the drill can flow.

Nothing new under the sun! :-) Of course, these are not the only drills Andi or I do, and you do have ones that switch sides (normally to practise passing a block / clash).

One caveat with all such drills is that we need to remember they are a means to an end; getting good at the drill is not an end in itself. We do drills so we develop a given skill or to practise a given attribute … but we should never be doing drills to get good at drills; as an end it itself.

The flow of such drills can be very satisfying and give both an internal and external illusion of skill and control. If the drill is the aim; then that illusion persists and that can be problematic. If the skills are drilled in others ways too, with live application being the aim, then that illusion is avoided.

Live, unscripted practise is very important because it instantly makes clear that long extended “trap-athons” – while useful for practicing various options in a time efficient way – are not a replication of how it plays out in reality. They do look cool though … as Hollywood has discovered and hence the movies now contribute to that illusion of reality.

So I’m OK with such drills as a wider package of training. I do, however, think that long flow drills are problematic if perused for their own sake or deemed to be an actuate representation of applied skill.

All the best,

Iain