Today I hosted an Open Style Training event at my home. This is the second one I've hosted recently, where we invite all practitioners of all styles and ranks to come out and train together for an afternoon.
I got up this morning and spent the first two hours cleaning the house. I couldn't get either lawn mower to start so the grass was too tall to train in the yard, but I had my dojo, and my whole back patio, and a small set of mats on the deck. Dude's started showing up about 2:45 and we got to work.
These kinds of things usually go the same way. You get a bunch of people who say they'll come, and some who say they might. And then some do, and some don't, and some guys show up late, and some guys you didn't expect show up out of nowhere at the last minute. It ended up being a great group of diverse guys. All good guys, all good karate guys. Ended up having me, my old kenpo instructor, one of his black belts, two blue belts from another kenpo school I used to teach at, a 2nd degree TKD black belt who runs a local TKD club that I also used to teach some kenpo too, and a guy from STL who has a brown belt in Soo Bahk Do, which is an offshoot of Moo Duk Kwan.
As guys showed up we started stretching and then I got out some pads and a shield and we paired off and started working basics to warm up. Hands and feet. More guys started showing up, and we started talking about what we wanted to work on. One guy asked if anybody had some good hand speed drills, so we talked a little about physical speed and mental speed and perceptual speed, and then we did some flash drills and monitoring/telegraphing drills.
By then we had a good number of guys there so we paired up and started working on some chi sao. Started with just working with a partner to control the inside and outside position. Then moving around. Then we started working to more specific goals, like pushing our opponent's arms up and out, or down and in to his centerline. Then we started working to the outside or inside position with light counters to the body and simple "one step" type techniques.
We were rotating every once in a while at this point to make sure and work with different partners, then we added in some simple grabs and holds to the wrists and arms. Then we started breaking out during the drill and throwing medium speed strikes at our opponent. So we'd be in chi sao, grabbing and pressing and throwing light counters with checking to the inside and outside, and then either person could disengage and start throwing linear and circular hand strikes and his partner would block and defend and re-engage. Then we started adding in basic locks to the arm, two finger lock, downward wrist lock, straight arm bar, figure four arm lock. Then we added in body locks and clinch positions and arm holds. Then we added pushing the opponent out to kicking range and striking with the feet and then closing back to stand up grappling range. And remember at each step we continued to practice all the previous steps. We wrapped up by opening it up to spontaneous stand up about medium speed, using hands and feet and grabs and grapples and control positions and counter fighting, and then we decided to take a break.
The weather was weird today, we kept getting cloud cover and light rain and then the clouds would blow away and the sun would come out and cook us. But neither lasted long, so we just kept on training. Mostly it was just kind of gentle with a nice breeze.
After we took a break we had another guy show up, so we decided to split off in to groups and do some circuit training. A couple guys got some sticks and knives out and worked on some checking and passing and parrying, a couple guys went over to the mats and did some stand up fighting to submission grappling, and a couple guys worked some kenpo techniques and TKD one steps back and forth on the body. We were an odd number so I just floated from group to group dropping in and out of whatever was going on. We rotated again and then I worked on some kenpo techniques with one of the blue belts who's getting ready for a test, while a coupe guys practiced grappling 2 against 1, and a couple other guys worked on some offensive and defensive combinations and did some sparring. The guy I was working with and I practiced working some timing and counters and "live" training with his kenpo techniques, Dominating Circles, Bow of Compulsion, Grasp of Death, and Clipping the Storm, including sweeping, controlling the centerline, slipping grabs and locks, striking out at the opponent's base, choking and turning the head, holding and hitting, slipping club attacks and disarms, advancing with striking combinations, and practicing timing our techniques with openings in our opponent's attacks. The guys grappling 2 on 1 practiced one guy in the middle, while one opponent would work on holding and submitting his upper body, and the other would practice pulling out his legs and attacking for lower body submissions and rolling the whole engagement around the mat. The guys practicing combinations and sparring worked on stances, footwork, and long range striking.
About that time it was 5 and that was when we were planning to break up, so we kind of informally bowed out and some guys left and some guys stuck around for a while and practiced some of their different kata and tried out some techniques from each other's different styles and some guys just sat around and talked karate. After about forty five minutes the last guys got up to leave, and that was it.
All together, we did a lot of good training, and saw a lot of good techniques. We talked about how those techniques could be applied to both competitive sport fighting and street self defense. We talked about counters to our techniques and flowing from one technique to another. We talked about fighting strategy and moving between ranges and changing approaches based on context. We talked about how basic techniques are the foundations of advanced techniques and how to practice solid stances and footwork in a spontaneous encounter. As each group worked on some different things, of course they also had their own conversations with each other on how and when and why they apply the material that they know, and between rounds we'd compare notes and talk about whatever cropped up during that round while we worked with our partner.
All together it was a pretty good time. I made sure everyone knew that we'll be doing it again. I'm trying to space these things out every month or two to keep it special so people don't get burnt out on the idea. And I'd love it if I could get some other guys to host at their place so we could move it around. I want everyone to feel personally invested in what we're doing. I tried to really emphasize that these events are only as good as the people who show up, and I thanked everyone for coming and being a part of what we did today. Everybody seemed to have a really good time and was really positive about the experience and excited at the prospect of getting together again. I told them to invite their friends and spread the word and that everyone was always welcome. My only request is "no jerks." Don't bring anybody to the party who's gonna bring us down.
Nobody got hurt. That's always a good thing. Likewise it's always a good sign when people want to stay late. We stretched out, we took breaks, we cooled down at the end, and everyone got home safe. It was a good day, and so far each event has been bigger and better. Different group of guys for the most part, which was neat because it shows that we've got a lot of people who want to come out and play. The vibe all day was open minded, everyone was totally open to whatever advice or coaching anyone else could share, and was equally happy to give their own input on whatever we were doing. Guys came with drills they wanted to work on, and techniques they wanted to work on, and fighting ranges they wanted to work on, and we had a good mix of styles and ranks and experience levels.
I haven't looked at the schedule yet, but I'm planning to put something like this together again within the next couple months. Hopefully we can find a time that works for a large group of guys and have another awesome afternoon. My goal is to bring people together and to foster an environment where everyone is welcome to come and work and share, regardless of who they are or what their background is. Everyone is always invited, so if you're ever in the area you should join us. More's the merrier, all the way around.
I'm thinking about either the middle of July or August for our next Open Training event. I'll post about it when it's coming around.
-Rob
I got up this morning and spent the first two hours cleaning the house. I couldn't get either lawn mower to start so the grass was too tall to train in the yard, but I had my dojo, and my whole back patio, and a small set of mats on the deck. Dude's started showing up about 2:45 and we got to work.
These kinds of things usually go the same way. You get a bunch of people who say they'll come, and some who say they might. And then some do, and some don't, and some guys show up late, and some guys you didn't expect show up out of nowhere at the last minute. It ended up being a great group of diverse guys. All good guys, all good karate guys. Ended up having me, my old kenpo instructor, one of his black belts, two blue belts from another kenpo school I used to teach at, a 2nd degree TKD black belt who runs a local TKD club that I also used to teach some kenpo too, and a guy from STL who has a brown belt in Soo Bahk Do, which is an offshoot of Moo Duk Kwan.
As guys showed up we started stretching and then I got out some pads and a shield and we paired off and started working basics to warm up. Hands and feet. More guys started showing up, and we started talking about what we wanted to work on. One guy asked if anybody had some good hand speed drills, so we talked a little about physical speed and mental speed and perceptual speed, and then we did some flash drills and monitoring/telegraphing drills.
By then we had a good number of guys there so we paired up and started working on some chi sao. Started with just working with a partner to control the inside and outside position. Then moving around. Then we started working to more specific goals, like pushing our opponent's arms up and out, or down and in to his centerline. Then we started working to the outside or inside position with light counters to the body and simple "one step" type techniques.
We were rotating every once in a while at this point to make sure and work with different partners, then we added in some simple grabs and holds to the wrists and arms. Then we started breaking out during the drill and throwing medium speed strikes at our opponent. So we'd be in chi sao, grabbing and pressing and throwing light counters with checking to the inside and outside, and then either person could disengage and start throwing linear and circular hand strikes and his partner would block and defend and re-engage. Then we started adding in basic locks to the arm, two finger lock, downward wrist lock, straight arm bar, figure four arm lock. Then we added in body locks and clinch positions and arm holds. Then we added pushing the opponent out to kicking range and striking with the feet and then closing back to stand up grappling range. And remember at each step we continued to practice all the previous steps. We wrapped up by opening it up to spontaneous stand up about medium speed, using hands and feet and grabs and grapples and control positions and counter fighting, and then we decided to take a break.
The weather was weird today, we kept getting cloud cover and light rain and then the clouds would blow away and the sun would come out and cook us. But neither lasted long, so we just kept on training. Mostly it was just kind of gentle with a nice breeze.
After we took a break we had another guy show up, so we decided to split off in to groups and do some circuit training. A couple guys got some sticks and knives out and worked on some checking and passing and parrying, a couple guys went over to the mats and did some stand up fighting to submission grappling, and a couple guys worked some kenpo techniques and TKD one steps back and forth on the body. We were an odd number so I just floated from group to group dropping in and out of whatever was going on. We rotated again and then I worked on some kenpo techniques with one of the blue belts who's getting ready for a test, while a coupe guys practiced grappling 2 against 1, and a couple other guys worked on some offensive and defensive combinations and did some sparring. The guy I was working with and I practiced working some timing and counters and "live" training with his kenpo techniques, Dominating Circles, Bow of Compulsion, Grasp of Death, and Clipping the Storm, including sweeping, controlling the centerline, slipping grabs and locks, striking out at the opponent's base, choking and turning the head, holding and hitting, slipping club attacks and disarms, advancing with striking combinations, and practicing timing our techniques with openings in our opponent's attacks. The guys grappling 2 on 1 practiced one guy in the middle, while one opponent would work on holding and submitting his upper body, and the other would practice pulling out his legs and attacking for lower body submissions and rolling the whole engagement around the mat. The guys practicing combinations and sparring worked on stances, footwork, and long range striking.
About that time it was 5 and that was when we were planning to break up, so we kind of informally bowed out and some guys left and some guys stuck around for a while and practiced some of their different kata and tried out some techniques from each other's different styles and some guys just sat around and talked karate. After about forty five minutes the last guys got up to leave, and that was it.
All together, we did a lot of good training, and saw a lot of good techniques. We talked about how those techniques could be applied to both competitive sport fighting and street self defense. We talked about counters to our techniques and flowing from one technique to another. We talked about fighting strategy and moving between ranges and changing approaches based on context. We talked about how basic techniques are the foundations of advanced techniques and how to practice solid stances and footwork in a spontaneous encounter. As each group worked on some different things, of course they also had their own conversations with each other on how and when and why they apply the material that they know, and between rounds we'd compare notes and talk about whatever cropped up during that round while we worked with our partner.
All together it was a pretty good time. I made sure everyone knew that we'll be doing it again. I'm trying to space these things out every month or two to keep it special so people don't get burnt out on the idea. And I'd love it if I could get some other guys to host at their place so we could move it around. I want everyone to feel personally invested in what we're doing. I tried to really emphasize that these events are only as good as the people who show up, and I thanked everyone for coming and being a part of what we did today. Everybody seemed to have a really good time and was really positive about the experience and excited at the prospect of getting together again. I told them to invite their friends and spread the word and that everyone was always welcome. My only request is "no jerks." Don't bring anybody to the party who's gonna bring us down.
Nobody got hurt. That's always a good thing. Likewise it's always a good sign when people want to stay late. We stretched out, we took breaks, we cooled down at the end, and everyone got home safe. It was a good day, and so far each event has been bigger and better. Different group of guys for the most part, which was neat because it shows that we've got a lot of people who want to come out and play. The vibe all day was open minded, everyone was totally open to whatever advice or coaching anyone else could share, and was equally happy to give their own input on whatever we were doing. Guys came with drills they wanted to work on, and techniques they wanted to work on, and fighting ranges they wanted to work on, and we had a good mix of styles and ranks and experience levels.
I haven't looked at the schedule yet, but I'm planning to put something like this together again within the next couple months. Hopefully we can find a time that works for a large group of guys and have another awesome afternoon. My goal is to bring people together and to foster an environment where everyone is welcome to come and work and share, regardless of who they are or what their background is. Everyone is always invited, so if you're ever in the area you should join us. More's the merrier, all the way around.
I'm thinking about either the middle of July or August for our next Open Training event. I'll post about it when it's coming around.
-Rob
