Wim Demeere's Blog

Martial Arts, Self Defense and a Whole Lot More.

Archives for February 2011

What was your first real fight like?

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Here’s a question for you: What was your first real fight like?

There are some qualifiers though, to make sure we’re talking about the same thing:

  • I’m not talking about a schoolyard scuffle because some kid stepped on your toes and the teacher breaks it up after he pulls your hair. Or when your sister broke one of your toys and you ran at her, screaming “I hate you!!!” Let’s leave this stuff out.
  • There was a clear and present danger. Meaning, not fighting was either not an option or the beating you’d take refusing to fight would mean a trip to the hospital or the morgue.
  • You were scared. Either before, during or after. But for the first time, you were scared big time because you knew the stakes were higher than ever before.
  • You actually fought. You punched, kicked, pulled or pushed the other guy. It didn’t stay at the verbal stage.

Here’s mine:

I must have been 9 or 10 years old, I’m not sure anymore because it all happened so long ago.  There was this kid living in my street and we didn’t get along. He was obnoxious, loud, dirty and in hindsight, missing a few nuts and bolts in his brain.  In short, he was the kid your parents didn’t want you to play with.

Damn, that'll hurt when it smashes into your head...

Anyway, for some reason, we didn’t get along.  I also must have done something to piss him off at one time (honestly can’t remember) because one day as I came home, walking down the street, he suddenly stepped in front of me   I obviously hadn’t seen him hiding out (hello awareness!) so he was right there in my face, cursing and threatening me. In and of itself, that wasn’t a big deal. Though he was older than me, I was bigger and stronger. The problem was that he had figured that out too and had geared up for the occasion. He was: [Read more…]

Sanshou Footwork Drill

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This is a Sanshou footwork drill I like to do in class. It’s not terribly complicated but it’s effective in teaching certain things. Here goes:

  • You do pyramid striking up to five techniques. That means you hit 1, then step away. Then you throw two techniques, start over. And so on until you do a 5-count combo.
  • Every time you finish striking, you try to use sideways footwork, working both the left and right side. This simulates anticipating a countering opponent and getting away from the line of fire.
  • Once you’re comfortable with that, the partner walks forward each time you finish up. He can just walk, spring forward ,extend his arms, strike lightly, it’s all good. This makes the drill a little bit harder because now you have to wait  for his movement to time your side step and its direction.
  • Next round, go for a throw/takedown as he steps in (preferably, he punches at the same time.) Try to not go straight forward for the entry but use the sidestepping or angle off slightly. Anything but a head-on collision.

Here’s me, getting my sanshou groove on in the drill:

I did some editing to only show the parts where I’m working or the video would have been too long. But usually, you take turns being the attacker after you finish the 5-count. The round is 3 minutes long.

Some more pointers:

[Read more…]

Spinning back kick knock out

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Here’s a cool video: a guy does a beautiful spinning back kick and knocks out his opponent during a karate tournament.  Check it out:

What I liked best: how he was sneaky about it.

If you look closely, when he starts the kick, he’s slightly out of range. His opponent spots the set-up and starts by pulling back his head to get clear of the incoming kick. Normally speaking, he’d have been fine. However, the guy on the left scoots forward on his support leg right in the middle of the kick. At which point it’s too late for his opponent to get out of the way or block. Result: instant KO.

Nicely done.

When I started competing, I did a lot of high and spinning kicks. A couple times, I TKOed people with them. This video here reminded me of those fights a long time ago. (Crap, I’m getting old…). I’ll see if I can find a way to convert the VCR tape to digital and put it online.

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Knife in Chinese man’s head

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Here’s something you don’t see every day…

A Chinese man living in Yuxi, Yunnan province, had a knife removed from his head after it had been lodged there for four years…

He suffered from headaches, had difficulty swallowing and so on. He self-medicated for years to live with the pain but eventually, he went to see the doctors. Imagine their surprise when they took an x-ray and saw a knife lodged in his skull…

Knife in Chinese man's head.
X-ray of the knife inside the Chinese man's head.

Turns out the man fought a robber four years ago and remembered being struck in the jaw during the fight. I guess you could say he was pretty lucky to survive it…  But that’s not what I wanted to point out, this is: [Read more…]

Podcast prep-work: Need your input

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So I’m busy doing the prep-work for a podcast. There are different ways I can go with that and they all have good and bad sides to them.  Before I get started, I’d like to run it by you for some input.

Here’s what I’m thinking right now:

  • +/- 30min. per episode. Interviews might run longer.
  • One episode  a month, more or less frequently will depend on my workload.
  • A couple of regular features:
    • What I’m up to at the moment.
    • Some thoughts on a specific topic relating to MAs or SD.
    • Training tips.
    • Q&A with the questions you send in.
    • Stuff I’m reading/viewing that I recommend.

If you have Qs you’d like me to tackle in the Q&A section, send them to me via this page. I won’t respond to all the emails (don’t have the time for it, sorry) but they will all go into the Q&A file from which I’ll draw ideas for the podcast.

What do you guys think of this plan so far? Any suggestions?

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