First off here is a clip of Greg Nelson from the Eric Paulson Camp 2005 doing the combinations we have been working for the past few weeks.  I first saw Greg do similar combos back about five years ago and they have a ton of validity so we will continue to use them. Here they are:

Secondly, here is the Scott Smith / Pete Sell fight which shows what we have been simulating with flash knockouts.  You need to make sure you keep the lead hand up when throwing the cross so this doesn’t happen:

Here are some more demos and seminar footage from Manila.  Thank you to Kevin Seaman for his approval in sharing this footage.

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This eBook has been floating around the internet for quite some time now and has a good run down of the history of Muay Thai.

Muay Thai eBook
(Right Click, Save As)

 Gruhn

Regardless of what the situation is in Martial Arts, there can be a variable to throw into the mix which will disrupt the planned outcome. This is precisely why a fight is a fight. Quoting one of the best boxers of all time, Iron Mike put it well when he said “Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” Yes, Joe Lewis said this first but for some reason Iron Mike is credited with saying it. In any event, when he said this he obviously meant that everyone has a plan until the hit they did not expect, lands. In other words the plan is solid until something unplanned enters the equitation. Please keep in mind that in all of your training that there will never be any absolutes (yes this line contradict itself). For instance, everything that I teach has its place and time but not everything I teach is 100% sound for all situations. I encourage all of you to understand first that what you learn in a class is immediately related to the situation we are observing. Secondly understand that I try to never say “always” as this can lead to false understandings of situational change variables. Instead, when I do say always it is most likely in relation to the exact situation we are exploring at that time. Or, the “always” has to do with something that is constant, such as a goal. For instance, in knife defense we ALWAYS want to avoid getting cut. In ring oriented sports we ALWAYS want to try and win. Keep in mind this is different than always trying “not to loose.” Keep an open mind and an empty cup and allow everyone and anyone to share their insight with you. “A person who can teach me one thing is of value to me”

There was this guy who needed to take a shit real bad so he went to a public toliet and did his business.  To his horror, when he’d finished his huge dump, he finds out that there is no toilet paper!  So he looks up and sees a sign on the door, with a hole under it, that says:

“If you are reading this sign it must mean that there is no toilet paper. So follow these easy steps:

1. take your index finger and wipe your arse until all the shit is on your finger.
2. after that stick your finger in the hole under this sign.
3. and, finally it will be clean. Guaranteed!”

So the guy followed the directions and stuck his finger, with all the shit on it, through the hole.  On the other side of the door there was another guy waiting with a brick in each hand. When the guy stuck his shitty finger in the hole the other guy smashed the guy’s finger with the bricks.  The guy felt the pain so bad that he took out his finger and put it in his mouth because it was throbbing.  And when he took it out of his mouth, it was clean as guaranteed!!

What I like to call the Retractionary Response (RR) is something that is built into all living things that feel pain. For instance, you put your hand on a hot stove the RR is to bring that hand away from the cause of pain and as close to your body as possible. Another example would be with a dog. When it gets its paw stepped on it pulls it up out of the way of whatever is doing the stepping. Think back to a time when you have cut yourself in some way. As soon as you felt the pain your RR made you pull what was cut out of the way of danger and close to you for a closer inspection. Next time you have a chance to play with a cat grab a hold of its paw and watch it reconsider attacking your hand because it has felt threatened.

In martial arts we can use the RR to our advantage. Similar to how a venomous snake will bite and release a threat as a way of asking them to retreat we can do the same. As a very broad example, think of any time when your opponent has looked to control you. This could be in grappling, clinch, self defense, etc. If you respond to their actions with some sort of control of your own they will reconsider their initial intentions. If they grab your sleeve you grab theirs, if they are looking to choke you, attack the arm that is doing the choking. Think of this as countering their attack with an attack, not countering with a defense.

This was taken by my late instructor Bill Gebhardt. If I can remember correctly Sifu Gebhardt ended up buying the knives that the saleman was using. One was given as gifts to one of his friends and the other one is MIA.

Side Rant: We once found the missing one of them at the gym along time ago on Sifu’s desk. I had a hard time resisting so I picked it up to take a look at it. It had what looked to be someones name etched on the brass portion of the handel. At the time we didn’t know much about the knife and where it had come from. A few other were in the room at this time and we were having the hardest time figuring out who PHIL was. . .

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My late instructor Bill Gebhardt and current instructor Kevin Seaman competed in the world championships in Manila, January of 1992.  These are some clips of the demonstrations of the various styles and systems from the days prior to the competition.  As I dissect the clips I am going to post more information on what grandmasters are shown and where in the clips they can be found.  If you have any information on the clips please feel free to email me @ info@realcontactfighter.com . 

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Enjoy,

Gruhn