One of the backbones of my teaching is the “In fight Intent Triage” idea. It is a conceptual/strategic/tactical roadmap that acts as a mental checklist during a fight to ensure that even in the most chaotic situations, you are attempting to always choose the best and most efficient path to winning, while avoiding opening up unnecessary windows of vulnerability.

A number of people are surprised that I use it for all types of fights, whether grappling, standing striking and clinch, or even weapons. The knee jerk reaction to seeing it presented in one area (for example on the ground) has a tendency to make them look at it very narrowly.

However, it is most certainly not narrow. It is very broad in fact. IIT (In fight Intent Triage) is not about the specific mechanics, but rather about the overall direction of the fight. One area where people are most surprised at this is at the final stage, the “Finish”.

This is at the end of the checklist. I purposefully labeled it the way I did, rather than anything specific. The reason is that whatever finish you would like to do, they all require the same circumstances. If you are unsure of what I mean, or even that you disagree, let’s breakdown one specific type of finish and go from there.

So, to apply a submission as my finish, I need to do three things:

1) I need to maintain the spatial relationship/positioning between my
opponent and myself. If he can move away or even shift around too
much, the submission might become out of reach or closed off, or he is able to move into a position where he can actually turn the tide of the fight in his favor, so I
have to control both mine and his relative positions.

2) I have to have some control or open space for whatever I am putting
the submission on. I need to have the ability to get to his arm if I
want to do a kimura for example. I can’t choke him if he is covering
up his neck. If I can’t get to his legs or prevent them from moving, I can’t do a kneebar.

3) I have to prevent him from stopping my attack. If I am doing an
americana and I leave his other arm free, he can reach in and grab his
arm and defend the sub. If I am looking to do a loop choke and he gets
one or both hands in the way, I will fail, etc..

So, those steps have to be there for me to do a submission (the
“finish”). But those things all also have to be accounted for if I am
going to strike him, if I am going to disengage and escape, if I need
to hold him so others can come to my aid, or if I am going to draw a
weapon. If any of those three things are not present, and I draw a
pistol, my opponent has the same chance of fouling/stopping me as he
would defending a submission! All of the same exact circumstances have to be met in order to make my chosen finish a high percentage move.

Can I try to finish without all those prerequisites being met? Sure, but the chance of failure skyrockets. If I try to draw a weapon without those three steps, I am betting literally my life that I can out drag race the bad guy. Maybe I can, and maybe I can’t. But if I had only followed the above rules, I minimize the effects my opponent’s attributes will have on the outcome of the fight. Which is certainly important, especially if said opponent is bigger, stronger, faster, tougher, in better shape, less injured, etc.

So it is irrelevant what we are looking for as a finish. I need to
have the same steps in play for any desired end state. Whether I want to play the striking game, or get a submission, or be Mr. Gunfighter, I need the same things. Unless I want to risk a
scramble/drag race, in which I have a decent (probably even at least)
chance of failing. If I take the time and effort to fulfill the above
requirements, I am stacking the odds towards my favor.

 What if I told you there was an absolutely guaranteed way to make your jiu-jitsu performance noticeably better in a short time? Sometimes as short as immediately? Would you be interested?

Okay, here is where I show that I have no ability to do fancy money making internet marketing stunts, and am doomed to never be the next Social Media Marketing Guru. I am about to tell you, free of charge and with no caveats, how to increase your BJJ ability possibly overnight.  Are you ready?

Work the upa!

Yes, I know it is one of the two most fundamental moves in jiu-jitsu. I know everyone learns it in their first couple of lessons. And I know that everyone probably does them regularly. Here’s the thing though. Most people don’t do them correctly, or do them at the correct time. I see it time after time, at gyms and training groups all over the world. People think they are doing them, and they are actually far from the ideal.

A few years ago, I taught at a school in the UK. The head coach at the time was a solid purple. And when I watched the attendees warm up, they all had terrific hip escapes, but no one could do even close to a decent upa. When I pointed that out, there was some indignation until I demonstrated it under pressure how poorly they were at it.They thought they could do it, but didn’t realize how far from the ideal they actually were.

I recently did a seminar where a number of attendees were experienced BJJ players. There were even a couple of purple belts there. When they did positional sparring, I saw over and over again failures at performing an upa correctly, or not performing it when they should, or failing to chaining it together with other things. All I had to do to turbo boost their success rate at escaping was to simply say “do an upa”. Suddenly, where before they were stuck futilely trying to escape, now they immediately were doing it left and right! Of course, this was after about 30 minutes of actively working the move with correct details. This is absolutely not an isolated instance, but rather the most recent example of how simple it is to achieve this goal.

I know it sounds simple, but it is true.

In the next two parts of this article, we will look at the two issues (technical failure, tactical failure) and how to fix them.

A couple of years ago,  I wrote a post on the best Forum on the internet, Total Protection Interactive (www.totalprotectioninteractive.com) about what I thought was a good approach to trying to establish a solid and functional H2H self-defense game for the regular guy, who only had a small and finite amount of time to train. I wrote the following to give my perspective on how to make the right decisions.

I offer this up only as MY take on priorities in allocating training time for Practical Unarmed Combat (PUC), no one else’s. This is how I categorize it in my head to help with my own structuring. Take it for what it’s worth.

In order of importance, I would list the main skill sets as:

Area 1) Keeping from getting KTFO and efficient movement while vertical
Area 2) Dictating range, position, and attachment or un-attachment
Area 3) Groundwork
Area 4)  Basic high percentage offensive moves
Area 5) Staying on your feet
Area 6) IFWA (in-fight weapons access) at contact distances

So where to train these and where do we get the material from?

For Area 1) Boxing/MT/Savate/MMA – these arts have methods/techniques that work under stress. They all have developed high percentage defenses and ways of moving. I have found most TMAs actually pay mostly lip service to defense. They all are much more focused on the cool offensive moves. And here lies my biggest issue with most combatives guys. They give almost no thought to defense, either in the technique or in flight time training. It’s why I give the thumbs up to very few combatives instructors.

For Area 2) Folk/freestyle wrestling, Greco, Judo, and MMA are the predominant arts here, but any art that has any legit grappling will have some validity. This is essentially clinch work, but unfortunately since so few people actually train it, few understand what it entails. Clinch DOES NOT always mean you are attached. It simple refers to the general range where each participant can easily attach. The person who controls this aspect can also control the range, the relative positioning, and when the space can open up to longer range. In doing so, you can go a long way towards controlling the fight and winning (surviving).

For Area 3) I think BJJ is the highest expression of groundwork in that it works for everyone regardless of physical attributes, but judo, sambo, western wrestling, and MMA are terrific as well (with the understanding that there are some weakness’ with those arts).

For Area 4) This should be good solid material that can be relied on over and over again. There are a lot of arts you can choose from here but the best are: boxing/MT/savate/MMA/combatives. The general thought behind this choice should be what are the highest percentage, most robust, and easily maintained functional techniques?

For Area 5) There are a myriad of reasons a fight might go to the ground, many of which you have no control over. It is a good idea to try to ensure you are as well versed as possible in those areas where you do have control. So it makes sense that the arts that have the highest level of functional takedown ability have the highest development of countering those takedowns. It is hilarious to me to see someone showing how to defend a takedown by demo-ing against someone who has never taken someone down in their lives. Not exactly the best way to ensure your stuff actually works. Try against someone who spends a lot of time training it for real. So we are back to folk/freestyle wrestling, judo, sambo, and MMA.

For Area 6) I placed IFWA here because good IFWA is so dependent on the prior skills. While you do have to put in dedicated training time to this area, IMO it should only be done after you have a reasonable grasp of 1-5. Otherwise, you will find you have a lot of holes, and you will waste time trying to reinvent the wheel , i.e. you won’t know what you don’t know.

Caveats and considerations in training:
Just because these components are listed in this order of importance does not necessarily mean that is the order you should train them in. There are many factors to consider.

First, what is available to you? It would be stupid of me to tell someone to go do BJJ if all they had around them was a guy who got his blue belt online and has never trained with a high level instructor. Or if that gym by your office advertising MMA was actually run by a guy whose background was only kenpo and another guy who was a joke as a blue belt. If the choice is between a top judo program and someone teaching Muay Thai who has never really sparred, then go with the legit program.

Second, some things are much harder to come by. Finding a real wrestling program is like winning the lottery. And arguably the majority of MMA gyms have a low level of clinch work, and often really crappy BJJ. If you find something that is harder to come across, you should most likely jump at that before it is gone.

Third, some of these things are easier to develop a decent level in than others. For example, it takes only a few months to get good at DEFENSIVE clinch work. It takes years and years and thousands of hours of flight time to get decent at OFFENSIVE clinch work, but defensively it is quick to learn to negate what the other guy is attempting. So if you are looking for a functional level, you might only need say six months of focus in this area (you still need maintenance and understand you only have a piece of the overall clinch game). I would say the same thing in regards to learning to not get KOed. Six months of implementing those defensive skills against resisting opponents who are actually trying to hit you will go a long way towards internalizing that skill set. Other skills take much longer. Groundwork for example is the most complicated and chaotic part of H2H.  

And finally, some things have a better bang for the buck. If you are studying a system that covers a bunch of things, you are being more efficient. As an example, most people don’t realize it, but BJJ trains your clinch extremely well. A closed guard or butterfly guard game requires the same general techniques that a standing clinch game does. But because BJJ is generally done in a horizontal manner, people fail to mentally translate that to the vertical plane. And if you are lucky enough to train at a BJJ school that has a strong stand up/judo game, it is even better.

So, taking these things into consideration, you can decide how to prioritize it for yourself. Do you want to focus on the things that require less time, get solid at those, and then tackle the longer harder skills (BJJ, IFWA, counter takedowns), or do you want to get a jump on those ASAP since they do take such a long time to functionalize? Only each individual can answer what is the best path.

As for the question of BJJ being a good fit in a gun/knife context – If it is a good idea in an empty hand situation, it is good in a weapons situation. While there are things you need to tweak, BJJ is a must for a weapon grapple. Period. Those who go through ECQC with a solid BJJ base are FAR ahead of those who don’t have that base. It has been proven time and time again.

One of the hoary myths that people will try to use to discredit grappling for self-defense is something along the lines of “I don’t want to be rolling on the ground with someone while their friend kicks me in the head”.

If you hear someone say this, you will know immediately that they have spent ZERO time actually training grappling in a legitimate gym against varied opponents under the eye of an experienced coach. Why do I say that? Because if they had done that, they would know how utterly foolish that line is. But, since they have not actually bothered to really train any real grappling, they only have second and third hand ideas to go on. So they look at  what is happening in a sport BJJ match, or a MMA fight. They see two fighters of matched skill having to play a strategic game of chess, and they assume that is how an encounter in the street will play out.

Let me tell you how that encounter will truly play out. That high level grappler will maul the non-grappler in SECONDS. If you don’t know how to counter the moves of an experienced, knowledgeable grappler, your friend is not going to have time to kick the grappler in the head, because the fight will be over before he can wind up said leg.

And that is a fact, that is proven night after night in every BJJ gym in the world. Every night somewhere, a new guy walks in to try it out, and is soundly beaten in seconds. Usually by someone with about six months of experience. Often the new guy is some young, muscular tough guy, who is matched up with a skinny, nerdy computer guy, and the nerd stomps him like a narc at a biker rally.  Of course, it is done in the nicest way possible, generally with no real pain or injury to the tough guy. He just realizes he has a lot to learn! This is not hyperbole, but easily verifiable fact.

So the next time you hear someone go on a rant how you don’t want to be rolling around on the ground for hours in a fight, understand you are listening to hot air.

http://thefightworkspodcast.com/2008/03/09/107-wellington-megaton-dias/

A couple of years old, but still a lot of good stuff in this interview, and you can start to get a glimpse of why Roger Gracie has publicly declared that Megaton is the greatest competitor in BJJ history.

IAJJ endorses only two holsters: the Vanguard 2 from Raven Concealment (http://www.ravenconcealment.com/holsters/vanguard-holster-systems/vanguard-2-holster-full-kit ) and the Keeper invented and made by my good friend, Spencer Keepers. Not only is he a great holster maker, but he is one of the finest pistol shooting instructors on the planet. Here is a link to an in-depth review of his holster.

http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-keeper-appendix-carry-holster

Do yourself a favor. Get a VG2 (if you shoot Glocks or M&Ps) and a Keeper (for most popular pistols), and never look back .

You can contact Spencer for info/ordering of the Keeper, or get info on his shooting courses, at: Keepersconcealment@gmail.com

On May 4 & 5, 2013, I conducted a seminar in Sacramento at Monster BJJ (http://www.monstergym916.com/). Here are some thoughts from some of those attending, as well as my thoughts at the end.

AAR Summary for IAJ/IAP NorCal

First, let me just say that for those of you miss out on training with Cecil, you are missing a great opportunity to put together your empty hand structure of the physical component of ECQCish training – but under Cecil’s very capable, real- time performance coaching. Wow that was quite the run on sentence.

Overall, the beauty of taking IAJ together with IAP is that you can see how congruent this platform of training is. From the standpoint of the importance of surviving the initial “ambush” or initiative deficit impact event and the importance of moving to regaining initiative from a solid defensive platform, the underlying concepts and even some of the physical structure expressions are consistent.

Having now taken this coursework three times, I have seen how each time I continue to learn and pick up additional tweaks and major pieces to augment my empty hands training. Cecil continues to refine his messaging and delivery all for the better. One of the big “light bulb” gems was how he communicated the structural similarity of the “default” structure and CM structure, as well as the ground survival structure.

One of the interesting circumstances of the weekend was that my coach came in and rolled during the end of the IAJ weapons portion. We discussed this a bit thereafter and during my private lesson last week. Needless to say, I’m personally going to truly benefit from his exposure to this material. He adapted very quickly to weapons- based and probably in two cycles he was really starting to get it. His take on it was that he thought of “weapons” as just another technique/submission – once he gained positional control, albeit with a priority to hand monitoring, weapons access was there – that is accessing his opponents weapons.

Same thing during IAJ, my coach came in and worked with me in a “moving” wall drill. He is a skilled attribute based boxer, but was unable to penetrate my defensive structure. He commented that he really sees the value of this structure, especially for guys like me that don’t train this for hours a day.

Because our class consisted of all ECQC alums and experienced jits or MMA guys, we were able to move along and cover quite a bit more material than from previous courses. We were then able to go thru a lot of cycles and evos with Cecil watching and giving us individual live performance coaching – which he excels in. I’m certain I speak for all the attendees that all of us benefited greatly from this course!

Thanks again Cecil, for putting together this material and flying out to NorCal!
Byrren

I enjoyed Byrren’s comments, especially where he talked about the congruency between the standing default, the standing striking game, the vertical clinch, and the grounded game. It is one of the most important things I try to get across. The more congruent we are across all those elements, as well as when weapons are in play, we can streamline our training, while still maximizing it.

It was a great class, and especially the CM stuff was very eye opening to me and not what I was expecting based on the clips I’ve seen on YouTube. There’s a lot more to it than just moving your arms like that.

Drew

And my own comments:

It was great getting out there this year. As always, Byrren is a great host, as well as a talented and hard working athlete.

It was great to get some feedback about my evolution as a coach and the materials’ evolution. It is one thing to think I am on the right path and doing some good things, but it is something else entirely if other people don’t share that belief. To have such positive feedback was very gratifying.

I also enjoyed being able to go beyond my fundamental coursework and at least get a “taste” of the next level by being able to work some offensive stuff from the ground, and to go a little deeper into CM than I usually am able to, because of the attendees already having trained with me before, or had a good game already.

Thanks to everyone who came, and to Byrren for jumping through hops to put ti together, and to Seth for coming out and giving his deep insight and analysis not just to me, but freely to everyone at the seminar. I am looking forward to the video clips that will come out of it!

That was a pretty gratifying moment. Watching B deal with someone far younger, stronger, far faster hands, and an ungodly amount of superior experience. He really tried to amp up what he was doing to try to land even one clean shot and couldn’t, and you could see his frustration mount. Afterwards, he volunteered to write a testimonial for CM to put up on the CM main website. That’s how impressive Byrren’s performance was!

Here is a link to a nice article about my teammate (who also happens to be my coach’s daughter) and it has some funny (and true stories about my coach). One day I will write a post about the old days of training with Megaton. As soon as the therapy helps me deal with it, that is!

http://www.cagepotato.com/cagepotato-exclusive-interview-mini-megaton-mackenzie-dern-looks-to-make-her-mark-at-metamoris-ii/

The following is an AAR of a course I co-hosted recently in Northern AZ, ECQC run by my friend and one of  my mentors, Craig Douglas. There are some really insightful comments by the writer, Jason. BTW, he is a really good dude who makes some solid kydex holsters and he stands by them 100% . He is going to make me a pistol mag carrier that is perfect for the ECQC environment(for info on pricing and availability, as well as custom work, contact him at : info@tcbfirearms.com

So here is a factual story about a woman using Jiu-jitsu to save her life. Even though there are a lot of Self-defense trainers who still try to convince people that Jiu-jitsu is nothing but a sport and has no value in the street.

I would like to ask these experts what alternative would they have suggested that would reliably work in this situation – i.e. a woman in a foreign country without backup, and unable to carry any kind of weapon, trapped in an enclosed environment against a bigger, stronger attacker? Because her solution worked pretty damned good.

http://www.bjjee.com/bjj-news/female-us-navy-sailor-puts-rapist-to-sleep-with-triangle-choke-in-dubai/