Inosanto Blend and the Four Safeties

[bart]

Hey There,

This last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a Guro Dan Inosanto Seminar. It was very informative and as usual Guro Dan was full of information and very generous about sharing it. He covered a lot of subjects, but one particularly interested me. He called them the Four Safeties:

1. Upper body
2. Footwork
3. Cover/Check
4. Strike

This isn't unique to his system as he was quick to tell us in the seminar, but I wondered what other people thought about it. This type of thing was what interested me in the FMA in the beginning. When responding to a strike, the upper body moves out of the way, then the feet move you even further away or reposition for the follow up, then the check or cover is put out, and a strike fills the space. We worked on it a bit and I could see that at work in the stuff that we do in class all the time.

Any comments? Are these "safeties" actively taught in any of the FMA that any of you practice? If so, what's it called? By the way, if any of you get a chance to go to one of Guro Dan's seminars I really suggest them. Not only does he have a lot to offer technically, but he has lived a lot of the history of the FMA in America. Thanks.

 

[chfroehlich]

Hello Bart,

interesting Topic. Has Guro Dan tought them in this order??

Sure the Strike is last, but we could discuss about the rest.

If learned in Lameco that Footwork is the most essential Attribute, because when somebody tries to hit you, you definitly don't want to be where your enemy is hitting.

If your Footwork fails, then Upperbody and Cover/Check comes into play. Mostly simultaniously. I couldn't make a ranking.

But that's my personal way.

How about your's

Best to you in Martial Arts

Christof

PS: I definitely support your recommendation to visit Guro Dan's Seminars. This living legend has forgotten more than most of us will ever learn in the Martial Arts.

 

[GAB]

Hi Bart,

What you observed is something that is taught in the Dojo I attend, I was not able to go to that seminar, would not have received a practice round on me with those very safties being used efficiently.

It is nice to be able to see the system working, when it is you who is trying to overcome the techs and still unable because of the safties involved.

The skill to make it work is not that hard, it is like watching a good boxer, jab move, footwork and punch, all working at the same time. Keeping the distance is a learned tech. then to close and finish, might be in 5 seconds or 25 seconds. Back peddling comes to mind in the art of boxing.

The system is very good and Guro Dan is very accomplished, there are not many (teachers) out there with the class this man has.
Regards, Gary

 

[arnisandyz]

Hey There,
When responding to a strike, the upper body moves out of the way, then the feet move you even further away or reposition for the follow up, then the check or cover is put out, and a strike fills the space.

Hey Bart,

we do something similar but we do it as.. zone(footwork), face(upperbody), then cover or strike. The zone and face happen close to the same time, but ideally the footwork will start the rotation of the body much in the same way a tai chi person's energy comes from the legs, goes through the body and exits the arms (rubber hose analogy)

 

[Dan Anderson]

Hey There,

He covered a lot of subjects, but one particularly interested me. He called them the Four Safeties:

1. Upper body
2. Footwork
3. Cover/Check
4. Strike

Hi Bart,

Could you go into how he taught the safeties and what he stressed about them a little bit more in detail? I haven't been a Guro Dan seminar for some time.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

 

[bart]

Hello Bart,

interesting Topic. Has Guro Dan tought them in this order??

Sure the Strike is last, but we could discuss about the rest.

When Guro Dan was describing The Four Safeties they all can occur simultaneously or others can be contemporary with each other. In my own opinion different incidents require different things and any or all of these could be employed at any given time together or separately. They were just listed in that order arbitrarily I think.

 

[dohap]

In fact one of Ray Floro's instructors (hello Radek ) has shown me the same order.
Upper body movement is like "elastico", then You decide whether move back or not.
It works, also against fakes.

 

[chfroehlich]

In fact one of Ray Floro's instructors (hello Radek ) has shown me the same order.
Upper body movement is like "elastico", then You decide whether move back or not.

I learned Elastico as a possibility if my footwork or timing is to slow, but not as something to do before I use my footwork.

And there are a lot more upper Body movments (Duck, Bob&Weave, etc.), but most are done in combination with footwork, not alone.

Just my 0.02 $

Christof

 

[GAB]

Hi, I believe the body work and the feet are not always tied to each other, sometimes yes sometimes no. It just can not be laid in concrete.

I see a lot of that type of talk in many of the martial arts. This must be this way and this must be that. One of the reasons the Kali and JKD work so well, is that neither are stuck in concrete.

When Guro Dan was younger, he and Bruce Lee were friends, but more important then that, they both believed in the same thought, that was the JKD mentality of Bruce Lee.
Also the reason Guro Dan inherited the System, when Bruce Lee passed. (IMO)
Regards, Gary

 

[lhommedieu]

Bart makes a good point when he says that the Four Safeties can occur in different orders. Consider e.g. when you're sucker-punched (a straight right)to the face. In this case the cover might occur first because you've got to get something up there to make contact with the punch and stop or re-direct it. This is akin to something I've heard called the "Oh s**t!" move. Almost simultaneous with this is to move your head out of the way because you can't count on the stop or parry. Almost simultaneous with this is flanking footwork to get you off-line and in a better position to counter. In this case you're allowing the opponent to push you off-line due to the force of his punch, but you're controlling the angle and range. Almost simultaneous with this is the counter, which is best done as your weight settles and your opponent is slightly off-balance due to the force of his punch.

In contrast, footwork may occur first when you're moving around and are expecting something to happen (i.e., you're not caught as much by surprise); the important thing here is to position yourself first so that your counters can occur more efficiently.

I'm sure that other people can give examples of different orders of the Four Safeties; the important thing is that they all occur in an appropriate manner.

Best,

Steve

 

[GAB]

Hi Steve, Right on the mark, I wish I had wrote that.

Being in the Kajukenbo part of Kenpo from an early stage of the martial arts was very good (not knowing at the time) 1) It was a blend 2) it was related to being able to fight, first and foremost 3) the rest is all gravy.

While talking that art, it is also (was) a blend which not specifically specified in the name (but very much so in practice due to the escrima brought to it by the founder Sijo Emperado) had a lot of escaping arts, rather then brute force to brute force. You will see much of the Escrima (stick) mentality in the art, after all it is not an art of no weapons.

Considering that it is needed to have numerous escape thoughts and then to strike the object that is the closest (or close when you are able).

The art of Kajukenbo is as close to the best all around art that is on the page of karate. IMO

Now with the stick it is a progression or extension of the hand and therefore you are more concerned with not getting tagged with the weapon. yet you still need to get to the person or the offending part that is going to do the damage.

While concentrating on the weapon the live hand is then the very essence of the weapon, the suttle ability to check, to hold, to strike. (one stick)

In my opinion the double stick is good for using both sides of the body to teach the sides to react the same, there is no other art that has that ability, to teach as quick as the double stick, using footwork and using the hands and arms in a sequence to overcome the opposition.

In normal day to day activity we are not able to have the stick unless you are carrying a cane. So we go to the empty hands, or the ability to evade the person, move, get out of the way, run if you have to.

I think the weapon of choice is the empty hands, but the teaching of the double stick is really a great advantage to a person who has not learned the art of defense.

That coupled with the Art of JKD is one of the other, better arts on the Market.

Regards, Gary

 

[lhommedieu]

Gary,

Interesting that you bring up Kajukenbo: I was thinking specifically of Punch Set #1 as taught by my teacher of Estacada-Kajukenbo, Bill Schettino. The sequence of parry/head movement (body movement)/footwork/counter is a touchstone of Bill's method of teaching Estacada/Kajukenbo. There are other sequences but this one is foundational. The fact that all of the parts happen so quickly together (in fact blend together) is whimsically called "schettinotaneous" by some of the students of this art.

Bill was a direct student for a while of both Sijo Emperado and Vince Black while Sijo was living with Vince in San Diego. His interpretation of Kajukenbo is personally endorsed by Sijo. Bill teaches his own unique art, which he calls Estacada, in New York City.

Best,

Steve

 

[GAB]

Steve, Small world, Yes another thought that comes to mind is explosive the moves are just like you say instantaneous, I like that.

Many good arts but like I say Kaju is hard to beat.

I was an early student of Sifu John Leonings back in the middle 60s, He was a good teacher, passed at an early age, same year as Al Reyes 1977. So much for the art giving you longivity.

Regards, Gary