Guros Lem and Joe taught class while I was out of town:
Attendees: Guros Joe and Lem, Kapatid David D., Brian, Ryan, Asim, Alex, Philip, and Cole (new prospective student).
We combined the drilling of Atienza Kali and Sayoc Kali. We used 3 of 9 as the template. First we started with no tapping and just moved out of the way utilizing body movements, footwork, and angles. Some utilized boxing movements like bob n weave or ducking. We continued to switch partners so that everyone experienced different levels of height. It was interesting to watch how they moved to see what worked and what didn’t work.
Next, we added the tapping with the movement in 3 of 9. Just like in AK, we stressed movement first and having the cross-tapping there just in case the blade got close enough to cut. Switching again partners to get a different energy. Last part of this exercise, we added a punch after every cross-tap.
We then moved the class indoors…
We practiced the cross-tapping drill Guro Victor shared last time he was here. Progressing the drill from: Two palms down tap — one palm down and the other palm up — regular cross-body tap — same side palm down tap. Later, we experimented with throwing a punch or an elbow while flowing during tapping. Next, we hit the focus mitts while tapping. Then we showed how it could flow from a punch to a tap and into phase 2 material.
Before we ended class, we discussed reactionary gap. We gave the dollar bill drop as a demonstration to show how futile it was to grab the dollar after the Feeder let it go (in the reactionary gap). So we asked the question, “how can we shorten our reaction time or how are you supposed to catch the dollar bill?”. So I purposely held the paper a little higher to see if anyone noticed what I was doing and let it drop. But this time Joe was able to catch it. Most of the guys picked up on what I did and we discussed what factors could shorten our reaction time. We came up with distance, gaining time, technique, and awareness (situational awareness). Joe and David provided excellent points about situational awareness. For example, being aware of potential dangers when walking down the street or how people posture to conceal a weapon.
Be the Feeder.
We had a good class!
Guro Joe added the following:
Nice class Lem!
