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Hello all,
Please see below the first draft for my write-up of the Self Defence Forum's first seminar. It has no title yet, maybe someone could come up with one! I have posted it here as it seemed fit that this was the placed that gave birth to it. Please feel free to take it down and keep it among the admins/instructors for editing, or leave it up here as a "sticky" for everyone to put their tuppence worth in. Just give me a consensus of opinion what you would like the final draft to read like and I will send it off to Martial Arts Illustrated who have agreed to print it.
I hope you all enjoy it and feel it is a fair reflection of what was a great day.
Best wishes,
Jamie
20th February 2009 – Ultimate Self Defence Seminar
The Self Defence Forum first seminar brought together top UK and international coaches to for one day at the unbelievably good value of £10 per ticket. To the best of my knowledge this has only ever been done via an internet forum on a much lower scale. The seminar had eight instructors teaching specialist aspects of self protection. From what I can gather it was the brainchild of forum administrators such as Rick Kirby and Craig Galvin along with Bristish Combat Association 5th dan Al Peasland.
Bob Spour kicked things off dealing with the pre-fight soft skills. The area of awareness is nothing new to the world of practical martial arts, combatives or self protection. As Bob pointed out, the old karate masters talked a lot about what they called Zanshin, unfortunately a lot of its application got lost as martial arts became more commercialized and focused on other objectives. It was an area I made sure was put across on both of my “Cross Training in the Martial Arts” DVDs and, with books such as Gavin De Becker’s “The Gift of Fear” becoming virtual bibles for aspiring self defence coaches, it is becoming a more popular area of study. Despite its importance becoming more apparent the desire to find techniques and gimmicks often dressed up in military or scientific jargon is also arising. Fortunately Bob, who has a highly reputable military (ex-SAS) and psychology-based background, did not follow this superficial approach. He looked at ways to keep switched on and, more importantly, how to make them a habit.
Commentary walking is not a common tactic taught by self protection coaches, but it is endorsed by the likes of Peter Consterdine and can be a very useful tool. As Bob explained, it was adapted from commentary driving a method taught to people taking advanced driving lessons. On a basic level the student learns how to be in the moment. This is a point I have made time and again: awareness is about living for the present. On a deeper level, however, I believe commentary walking prompts good self-teaching. It is also in alignment with mental training expert Tony Burzan’s approach to reintroducing fundamental early learning methods to better train the brain. Think about it, how often do you find that you talk yourself through an awkward situation, something you would never normally do with actions that you take for granted. Being switched means never taking anything for granted and fully taking in your environment. Of course, if this is taken to its extreme we find something equally as dangerous as being unaware: paranoia. Bob was quick to point out the folly of going into this mindstate. Good awareness puts you in control, it allows you take decisions and take action ahead of time. This breeds confidence and develops correct attitude, the opposite effect to being paranoid.
Tony Terranova and Alan Macdonald brought some functional fitness into the days proceedings. Tony’s background in engineering and his three decades of practical martial arts experience have produced a system of conditioning completely in alighnment with the cutting edge technologies of today’s high performance sports coaching. He has often been quick to point out that a lot of the profile he has achieved through his own system would not have been possible without the support of Alan Macdonald who has been both his support and a source of encouragement.
In addition to some great movement drills that combined punches, kicks, knees, elbows, sprawling, sit throughs and clinch work as well as “beat” training to defeat in-fight predictability, Tony introduced the seminat attendees to his own impact method. He used rice bags or Thai pads that were struck in a downwards motion to promote weighted strikes before applying this to forward striking pressure on the focus mitts. My own experience in this form of training came with press-up and downward striking on the Thai pads and I can testify that the principle is very sound for good impact development and it also encourages good functional striking form.
Tony’s section fits into the self defence jigsaw of the day in that it develops attitude. The techniques he taught were all functional, but their purpose was not for literal self defence application but rather progressive attribute training. It sharpens and conditions in the body, but most importantly it develops good mental strength vital for when the body is under the type of pressure a real life situation presents. Furthermore, it reinforces the soft skills point Bob Spour made regarding being switched on but not paranoid. Tony and Alan both present good examples of the well-rounded self defence ideal.
Al Peasland really broke out in earnest on the self defence scene in 2008. Al is one of Geoff Thompson’s longest serving students from the original class and was one of the youngest to compete in the notorious Animal Days that were held every Thursday night. Last year he began his weekly intensive class, brought out his first book and accompanying DVD, called “Fence Concepts” and started getting booked for seminars. Al was also a great independent guest examiner on CCMA’s grading board in February 2008. His section focused on the development of ideas that were born out of Geoff Thompson’s Real Combat, methods that he has articulated and made his own.
Back in 2004 Geoff Thompson told an assembled group of seminar attendees that they would all have to fight in a full contact bout. For minutes that seemed like hours we stewed in the juice of anxiety before a mass endorphin rush was signalled by Geoff telling us that we weren’t going to have to fight each other at all. I was entertained to see Al progress this trick five years later by asking for volunteers to fight in an Animal Day. He carefully built the pressure by bringing in other students and coaches who warmed up with MMA kit on. The reality of the situation was increased as he began to start asking for volunteers and referees. After he released the mass endorphine rush that is usually shared by a large gathering of students who have just been told that they won’t be trying to batter each other to a pulp, Al gave an interesting insight into the all the feelings he felt when he used to knowingly await his very real Animal Days back when he trained at Geoff Thompson’s regular classes. All of this led nicely into topics Al is currently covering in his written work, namely “What is your Animal Day?”
The soft skills section then moved onto some line-up work on the focus mitts, using the fence to deliver a pre-emptive strike. After this was covered we moved onto restrictive training. This also has an application outside of the obvious physical self defence training. Restriction forces you to compensate and find new strength.
Carl Lewis
This was my first introduction to Carl Lewis and his methods. Carl is the founder of Scimitar Martial Arts and has a vast range of martial arts skills. Despite having solid knowledge of various striking arts he was asked to cover the chokes for self defence applications. Of all grappling holds, the choke – or strangle to be specific – has a high percentage of putting a person down or knocking them out. Many of those who taught on the day will probably agree that grappling, as a whole, is a support system that comes into its own when restraint is preferred over neutralizing a potentional threat.
Carl had some interesting set ups for the rear naked choke, all which fall within the realm of self defence as opposed to sport, where most “live” grappling is taught in the world of martial arts. First of all, he followed on from the fence pre-emptive set-up Alan introduced. He showed entries to the hold like grabbing the skin or using the head. He also showed methods for breaking the base behind and a takedown. The base breaking is particularly important for adapting this technique for taller enemies.
Peter Skillen
Peter Skillen is the “other” Skillen brother, the other being the founder of “The Pentagon System”, John Skillen. He is fast becoming a force in his own right and has some very impressive ambitions. I have always had a lot of time for Peter and it is great to see him getting his time in the spotlight. He has knowledge of many different martial arts, but specializes a lot in new methods for improving kickboxing and self defence.
Peter looked at developing force in punches and kicks in isolation followed by combination work. Isolation work is needed with a lot of martial arts who have only scratched the surface with what they have learnt. Good isolation training, such as the methods being employed by Peter on focus mitts, Thai pads and the Shukokai style impact pads, demonstrate just how much is required to really “own” a technique. Likewise his simple combinations were great for developing coordination, particularly coordination between hands and feet.
Eddie Quinn
Returning from a near fatal stabbing almost two decades ago Eddie immersed himself in the study of martial arts. A master instructor in Muay Thai under Bob Spour, Eddie now runs his regular classes in Solihull. The stabbing incident clearly and understandably had a profound effect on Eddie, who also looked deeply into the edged weapon arts from Thailand’s own method of Krabbi Krabbong to the Filipino and Malaysian systems who have an entire cultre built around fighting with and against blades. Eddie’s eventual answer the serious problem posed to him all those years ago comes in the form of “The Approach”. This is a distilled version of silat fitrah. This is a martial art Eddie holds the title of Guru in under Guru Tua Chris Parks.
The Approach works off the basic kali, esrcima and silat double diagonal strike or slash. The motion comes from using a blade, but is equally applicable with a blunt instrument and, as is the case with The Approach, unarmed. We trained it against focus mitts and against opponents, using hammer fists, forearms and elbows, striking whatever targets got in the way. This is a classic “de-fanging the snake” tactic. Eddie’s style of instruction was also full of passion and drive. Attributes I always warm to in both coaches and students. He also had a good sense of humour and conveyed his message very well. The Approach is definitely going to be a concept we are going to be hearing a lot more from in the near future.
Lee Morrisson
All multi-instructor seminars need a moment to reflect on how everything fits into the grand scheme of things. In addition to delivering a perfect introduction to his Urban Combatives approach to self protection, Lee Morrisson fulfilled this role admirably. He reinforced the awareness points that Bob had begun the seminar with, explaining their importance, this linked in perfectly with Al Peasland’s fence-work, he explained that Tony and Peter’s slots were examples of “attribute training” that would improve the functional fitness aspects of self defence, and the importance of being proactive when applying Eddie’s “Approach”.
Proactivity was the name of the game with Lee. He set up a series of focus mitt drills, designed to promote aggressive forward pressure. His methods are totally in line with pretty much the core of what I teach at CCMA (Clubb Chimera Martial Arts). A key point being the distinction between cross training and core self defence training. In the former you condition yourself through other disciplines to give and take in a resistance based environment. In the latter, however, there is no “your turn, my turn” rhythm in tactical approach it is all “My turn, my turn, my turn, until you are clear of your threat”.
Mick Tully
I first met Mick Tully when I was looking around for another Muay Thai club. We would meet up again on seminars we both attended and were both inspired a lot by our mutual friend, the self defence innovator, Geoff Thompson. As a matter of fact, Al Peasland (a Geoff Thompson coach), Tony Terranova, Bob Spout and Lee Morrison were also people I met through my association with Geoff!
Mick has been on the self defence and martial arts scene for a long time now. He has trained with some of the best in the business and it was the knowledge he had acquired from many of these sources that he brought to the difficult area of groundwork. I say difficult as the general consensus among the self defence community is that the ground is the very worst place to be fighting. Mick made this point abundantly clear before covering a variety of applications taken from a basic takedown into a scarf hold.
All the material provided in the entire seminar was relevant and there were some great moments given by all the coaches. There are fair few shared principles, enough for a degree of consensus of opinion. For example, few there would argue with the “soft skills” that made up all of Bob’s spot and a good part of Al’s. However, there are also some fundamental differences that should also be acknowledged – not for being right or wrong, but just in terms of preference. I still feel there is a need for more openness from students and instructors training at events such as these. Too many prefer to revert back to the way they’ve always done things. My attitude is that we should avoid this, at least for the short period someone is showing us something new, otherwise we do not get the full benefit of the experience. At my club I take back my cross-training experiences with other instructors and bring it back to my class as impartially as possible and then start setting up activities to test the concept. For example, Eddie Quinn’s section added a dynamic I haven’t explored for quite a long time and it appealed to two of my students that attended to the seminar. I have a very individualistic approach to training and can accept that certain tactics work better for some than others.
The seminar was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the UK self defence scene and proof of the internet’s place in the martial arts scene. I would like to offer my thanks to all the instructors on the day who did a brilliant job, all the students who attended for their support and Self Defence Forum administrators who came up with such a brilliant idea.
For more information:
Bob Spour www.bobspour.co.uk
Tony Terranova and Alan Macdonald www.fightingfit.gb.com
Alan Peasland and Mick Tully www.completeselfprotection.com
Carl Lewis www.scimitarmartialarts.co.uk
Eddie Quinn www.the-approach.com
Peter Skillen www.warrior.moonfruit.com
Lee Morrison www.urbancombatives.com
Self Defence Forum https://selfdefence.darkbb.com
Jamie Clubb www.clubbchimera.com
Please see below the first draft for my write-up of the Self Defence Forum's first seminar. It has no title yet, maybe someone could come up with one! I have posted it here as it seemed fit that this was the placed that gave birth to it. Please feel free to take it down and keep it among the admins/instructors for editing, or leave it up here as a "sticky" for everyone to put their tuppence worth in. Just give me a consensus of opinion what you would like the final draft to read like and I will send it off to Martial Arts Illustrated who have agreed to print it.
I hope you all enjoy it and feel it is a fair reflection of what was a great day.
Best wishes,
Jamie
20th February 2009 – Ultimate Self Defence Seminar
The Self Defence Forum first seminar brought together top UK and international coaches to for one day at the unbelievably good value of £10 per ticket. To the best of my knowledge this has only ever been done via an internet forum on a much lower scale. The seminar had eight instructors teaching specialist aspects of self protection. From what I can gather it was the brainchild of forum administrators such as Rick Kirby and Craig Galvin along with Bristish Combat Association 5th dan Al Peasland.
Bob Spour kicked things off dealing with the pre-fight soft skills. The area of awareness is nothing new to the world of practical martial arts, combatives or self protection. As Bob pointed out, the old karate masters talked a lot about what they called Zanshin, unfortunately a lot of its application got lost as martial arts became more commercialized and focused on other objectives. It was an area I made sure was put across on both of my “Cross Training in the Martial Arts” DVDs and, with books such as Gavin De Becker’s “The Gift of Fear” becoming virtual bibles for aspiring self defence coaches, it is becoming a more popular area of study. Despite its importance becoming more apparent the desire to find techniques and gimmicks often dressed up in military or scientific jargon is also arising. Fortunately Bob, who has a highly reputable military (ex-SAS) and psychology-based background, did not follow this superficial approach. He looked at ways to keep switched on and, more importantly, how to make them a habit.
Commentary walking is not a common tactic taught by self protection coaches, but it is endorsed by the likes of Peter Consterdine and can be a very useful tool. As Bob explained, it was adapted from commentary driving a method taught to people taking advanced driving lessons. On a basic level the student learns how to be in the moment. This is a point I have made time and again: awareness is about living for the present. On a deeper level, however, I believe commentary walking prompts good self-teaching. It is also in alignment with mental training expert Tony Burzan’s approach to reintroducing fundamental early learning methods to better train the brain. Think about it, how often do you find that you talk yourself through an awkward situation, something you would never normally do with actions that you take for granted. Being switched means never taking anything for granted and fully taking in your environment. Of course, if this is taken to its extreme we find something equally as dangerous as being unaware: paranoia. Bob was quick to point out the folly of going into this mindstate. Good awareness puts you in control, it allows you take decisions and take action ahead of time. This breeds confidence and develops correct attitude, the opposite effect to being paranoid.
Tony Terranova and Alan Macdonald brought some functional fitness into the days proceedings. Tony’s background in engineering and his three decades of practical martial arts experience have produced a system of conditioning completely in alighnment with the cutting edge technologies of today’s high performance sports coaching. He has often been quick to point out that a lot of the profile he has achieved through his own system would not have been possible without the support of Alan Macdonald who has been both his support and a source of encouragement.
In addition to some great movement drills that combined punches, kicks, knees, elbows, sprawling, sit throughs and clinch work as well as “beat” training to defeat in-fight predictability, Tony introduced the seminat attendees to his own impact method. He used rice bags or Thai pads that were struck in a downwards motion to promote weighted strikes before applying this to forward striking pressure on the focus mitts. My own experience in this form of training came with press-up and downward striking on the Thai pads and I can testify that the principle is very sound for good impact development and it also encourages good functional striking form.
Tony’s section fits into the self defence jigsaw of the day in that it develops attitude. The techniques he taught were all functional, but their purpose was not for literal self defence application but rather progressive attribute training. It sharpens and conditions in the body, but most importantly it develops good mental strength vital for when the body is under the type of pressure a real life situation presents. Furthermore, it reinforces the soft skills point Bob Spour made regarding being switched on but not paranoid. Tony and Alan both present good examples of the well-rounded self defence ideal.
Al Peasland really broke out in earnest on the self defence scene in 2008. Al is one of Geoff Thompson’s longest serving students from the original class and was one of the youngest to compete in the notorious Animal Days that were held every Thursday night. Last year he began his weekly intensive class, brought out his first book and accompanying DVD, called “Fence Concepts” and started getting booked for seminars. Al was also a great independent guest examiner on CCMA’s grading board in February 2008. His section focused on the development of ideas that were born out of Geoff Thompson’s Real Combat, methods that he has articulated and made his own.
Back in 2004 Geoff Thompson told an assembled group of seminar attendees that they would all have to fight in a full contact bout. For minutes that seemed like hours we stewed in the juice of anxiety before a mass endorphin rush was signalled by Geoff telling us that we weren’t going to have to fight each other at all. I was entertained to see Al progress this trick five years later by asking for volunteers to fight in an Animal Day. He carefully built the pressure by bringing in other students and coaches who warmed up with MMA kit on. The reality of the situation was increased as he began to start asking for volunteers and referees. After he released the mass endorphine rush that is usually shared by a large gathering of students who have just been told that they won’t be trying to batter each other to a pulp, Al gave an interesting insight into the all the feelings he felt when he used to knowingly await his very real Animal Days back when he trained at Geoff Thompson’s regular classes. All of this led nicely into topics Al is currently covering in his written work, namely “What is your Animal Day?”
The soft skills section then moved onto some line-up work on the focus mitts, using the fence to deliver a pre-emptive strike. After this was covered we moved onto restrictive training. This also has an application outside of the obvious physical self defence training. Restriction forces you to compensate and find new strength.
Carl Lewis
This was my first introduction to Carl Lewis and his methods. Carl is the founder of Scimitar Martial Arts and has a vast range of martial arts skills. Despite having solid knowledge of various striking arts he was asked to cover the chokes for self defence applications. Of all grappling holds, the choke – or strangle to be specific – has a high percentage of putting a person down or knocking them out. Many of those who taught on the day will probably agree that grappling, as a whole, is a support system that comes into its own when restraint is preferred over neutralizing a potentional threat.
Carl had some interesting set ups for the rear naked choke, all which fall within the realm of self defence as opposed to sport, where most “live” grappling is taught in the world of martial arts. First of all, he followed on from the fence pre-emptive set-up Alan introduced. He showed entries to the hold like grabbing the skin or using the head. He also showed methods for breaking the base behind and a takedown. The base breaking is particularly important for adapting this technique for taller enemies.
Peter Skillen
Peter Skillen is the “other” Skillen brother, the other being the founder of “The Pentagon System”, John Skillen. He is fast becoming a force in his own right and has some very impressive ambitions. I have always had a lot of time for Peter and it is great to see him getting his time in the spotlight. He has knowledge of many different martial arts, but specializes a lot in new methods for improving kickboxing and self defence.
Peter looked at developing force in punches and kicks in isolation followed by combination work. Isolation work is needed with a lot of martial arts who have only scratched the surface with what they have learnt. Good isolation training, such as the methods being employed by Peter on focus mitts, Thai pads and the Shukokai style impact pads, demonstrate just how much is required to really “own” a technique. Likewise his simple combinations were great for developing coordination, particularly coordination between hands and feet.
Eddie Quinn
Returning from a near fatal stabbing almost two decades ago Eddie immersed himself in the study of martial arts. A master instructor in Muay Thai under Bob Spour, Eddie now runs his regular classes in Solihull. The stabbing incident clearly and understandably had a profound effect on Eddie, who also looked deeply into the edged weapon arts from Thailand’s own method of Krabbi Krabbong to the Filipino and Malaysian systems who have an entire cultre built around fighting with and against blades. Eddie’s eventual answer the serious problem posed to him all those years ago comes in the form of “The Approach”. This is a distilled version of silat fitrah. This is a martial art Eddie holds the title of Guru in under Guru Tua Chris Parks.
The Approach works off the basic kali, esrcima and silat double diagonal strike or slash. The motion comes from using a blade, but is equally applicable with a blunt instrument and, as is the case with The Approach, unarmed. We trained it against focus mitts and against opponents, using hammer fists, forearms and elbows, striking whatever targets got in the way. This is a classic “de-fanging the snake” tactic. Eddie’s style of instruction was also full of passion and drive. Attributes I always warm to in both coaches and students. He also had a good sense of humour and conveyed his message very well. The Approach is definitely going to be a concept we are going to be hearing a lot more from in the near future.
Lee Morrisson
All multi-instructor seminars need a moment to reflect on how everything fits into the grand scheme of things. In addition to delivering a perfect introduction to his Urban Combatives approach to self protection, Lee Morrisson fulfilled this role admirably. He reinforced the awareness points that Bob had begun the seminar with, explaining their importance, this linked in perfectly with Al Peasland’s fence-work, he explained that Tony and Peter’s slots were examples of “attribute training” that would improve the functional fitness aspects of self defence, and the importance of being proactive when applying Eddie’s “Approach”.
Proactivity was the name of the game with Lee. He set up a series of focus mitt drills, designed to promote aggressive forward pressure. His methods are totally in line with pretty much the core of what I teach at CCMA (Clubb Chimera Martial Arts). A key point being the distinction between cross training and core self defence training. In the former you condition yourself through other disciplines to give and take in a resistance based environment. In the latter, however, there is no “your turn, my turn” rhythm in tactical approach it is all “My turn, my turn, my turn, until you are clear of your threat”.
Mick Tully
I first met Mick Tully when I was looking around for another Muay Thai club. We would meet up again on seminars we both attended and were both inspired a lot by our mutual friend, the self defence innovator, Geoff Thompson. As a matter of fact, Al Peasland (a Geoff Thompson coach), Tony Terranova, Bob Spout and Lee Morrison were also people I met through my association with Geoff!
Mick has been on the self defence and martial arts scene for a long time now. He has trained with some of the best in the business and it was the knowledge he had acquired from many of these sources that he brought to the difficult area of groundwork. I say difficult as the general consensus among the self defence community is that the ground is the very worst place to be fighting. Mick made this point abundantly clear before covering a variety of applications taken from a basic takedown into a scarf hold.
All the material provided in the entire seminar was relevant and there were some great moments given by all the coaches. There are fair few shared principles, enough for a degree of consensus of opinion. For example, few there would argue with the “soft skills” that made up all of Bob’s spot and a good part of Al’s. However, there are also some fundamental differences that should also be acknowledged – not for being right or wrong, but just in terms of preference. I still feel there is a need for more openness from students and instructors training at events such as these. Too many prefer to revert back to the way they’ve always done things. My attitude is that we should avoid this, at least for the short period someone is showing us something new, otherwise we do not get the full benefit of the experience. At my club I take back my cross-training experiences with other instructors and bring it back to my class as impartially as possible and then start setting up activities to test the concept. For example, Eddie Quinn’s section added a dynamic I haven’t explored for quite a long time and it appealed to two of my students that attended to the seminar. I have a very individualistic approach to training and can accept that certain tactics work better for some than others.
The seminar was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the UK self defence scene and proof of the internet’s place in the martial arts scene. I would like to offer my thanks to all the instructors on the day who did a brilliant job, all the students who attended for their support and Self Defence Forum administrators who came up with such a brilliant idea.
For more information:
Bob Spour www.bobspour.co.uk
Tony Terranova and Alan Macdonald www.fightingfit.gb.com
Alan Peasland and Mick Tully www.completeselfprotection.com
Carl Lewis www.scimitarmartialarts.co.uk
Eddie Quinn www.the-approach.com
Peter Skillen www.warrior.moonfruit.com
Lee Morrison www.urbancombatives.com
Self Defence Forum https://selfdefence.darkbb.com
Jamie Clubb www.clubbchimera.com
or it could just be a typo 
Excellent, brought back memories of the day and you've added some great additional context.
