Muay Thai: Grizzly Gym: Kingston, ON

Background: Muay Thai exploded into western consciousness with the rise of UFC and Mixed Martial Arts in general. What had been viewed in the past as an eclectic Martial Art suddenly blew up as one of the most functional and dangerous fighting styles in the world. As fighters learned to overcome the grapplers and wrestlers in MMA it gave rise to infamous "Sprawl & Brawl" fighters before gradually growing into more complete fighters.

Kru Pete checking a kick beautifully.

What is it that makes Muay Thai so dangerous in the ring over some of the other fighting styles like Kung Fu and Karate? Is it that Muay Thai is fundamentally better than other Martial Arts? As a fighter with a background in Chinese Martial Arts I have always been curious on this. Surely no fighting style is better than another? Yet, if that statement holds true, why does Muay Thai produce so many champion fighters?

I reached out and contacted an old friend of mine, Mike Martelle, in order to get a better understanding. Mike and I competed against each other and have trained together on numerous occasions. Mike now runs his own gym in Kingston, Ontario and has led the Grizzlies into battle all over North American and beyond. Mike himself has fought around the globe, competing from Russia to Central America making him ideal to ask about the strengths of Muay Thai.

Kru Cody whipping a kick out at his adversary. 

Mike was more than willing to oblige me and, even better, he let me bring a couple of friends of mine. This let us host a whole gathering of Travelling Ronins. Kru Cody and Kru Pete were teaching the Muay Thai class and provided a wicked experience where we worked through some basics and then drove us into some more advanced techniques. It was a great day of Chinese Sanda fighters learning from Muay Thai fighters and a mixing of techniques.

Mike Martelle (left) and Eugene Shewchuk (Right) have both

played a great roll in developing me as a fighter.

Now, Mike was extremely gracious and let me film everything. However, all but the group photo are taken from the Grizzly Gym facebook page. Unfortunately, my camera was lost in a completely preventable fishing accident and the footage I shot was lost as well.

What did I Learn: I am extremely comfortable in fight gyms having trained in so many over the years. So I always like it when a fight gym can take things to the next level and really push me. After warming up with some standard callisthenic exercises we dove straight into working on a series of wicked combo drills. With the rotations it forced us to work with a variety of partners and body types to get our technique down.

Kru Cody (left) ran us through some awesome drills.

I also loved that the Grizzlies work into some incredibly tough and complex combos. I have seen a lot of schools that stop at four strike combos. Kru Cody had us blasting way beyond that in order to help develop the "killer instinct" necessary to win fights. "Killer Instinct" isn't about being violent or brutal, it is about continuing to press the assault when you have momentum. Far too often fighters will throw a couple of punches and than stop to assess the damage they have done allowing their opponent to gain their breath and reset.

What was similar: With my background in Chinese Sanda and MMA there were a lot of techniques that were familiar to me. With a few technical differences on how you throw a kick or a punch Muay Thai was easy to slip into. The Grizzlies were preparing for a fight that was coming in two weeks and you could see the competitive spirit radiating from them.

Grizzly Gym fighter PJ Ste Marie after his May 3rd, 2014 MMA Victory.

Fighters carry themselves with an easy confidence and it is wonderful to be around. Neither Kru Cody or Kru Pete had any ego in working with the fighters I brought down and so we were free to exchange techniques and learn. It was fantastic that Coach Mike Martelle had imposed such a great atmosphere to come train in. All my crew left asking when they could meet with the Grizzlies again.

Conclusion: Friendships like the one I have with Coach Mike Martelle are what make Martial Arts so much fun. I had a question on Muay Thai and he brought me in without hesitation. It is the mark of a true Martial Artist. 

To answer why Muay Thai fighters are so dangerous the answer was clear. Preparation and structure allow the style to turn out fantastic Martial Artists. I often saw Kru Cody refer to a lesson plan throughout the day which implies goals for the lesson and a focus on fighter development. It also means he wasn't just "winging it," rather approaching the training in a results orientated strategy. Muay Thai makes great fighters because they have a goal, measurable objectives to achieve it and structured approach to their training. I certainly will take that lesson with me.

A great day training with some old and new friends!

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham 
If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=h

On Youtube: Travelling Ronin

Go take a look at Grizzly Gym: http://www.grizzlygym.com/

Pekiti-Tirsia Kali: RFA Martial Academy: Addison, IL

Background: I have loved fighting with weapons for as long as I can remember. However, most of my introduction to weapons had come in the form of Medieval Martial Arts and Chinese Martial Arts. I had almost no experience with Filipino Martial Arts. Sure I had heard of Kali but other that knowing they did “stick fighting” I couldn’t have told you much about it.

Paul Ingram charging forward to slash me to ribbons.

Kali has many other names and you will sometimes hear of it referred to as Arnis or Escrima due to the Spanish influence in the Philippines. Like all of the Martial Arts I visit I was surprised by how rich and diverse the culture of fighting goes in Kali. This was anything but mere “stick fighting.” Filipino Martial Arts are as different and incredible as any of the Chinese Martial Arts I have studied. 

What I have always found extremely interesting is how cultures adopt from each other. During the colonial era Spain influenced the Philippines enormously. The sea-faring nations exported their cultures around the globe bringing various ideologies and technologies with them. Today, the situation is reversed. Kali is being exported around the world and has become a part of the Martial Arts of several militaries.

We started warming up with a basic pattern to develop timing. 

Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is one of main systems of Kali and was officially created by the Tortal Family in 1897. The current head of the system is Grand Tuhon Leo Gage Jr. who has been extremely devoted to growing this system of Kali. Beneath him gentlemen like Tuhon Tim Waid have been teaching the Filipino Marines and giving seminars around the world.

Paul Ingram was one of the people that got hooked on Tim Waid’s teachings and has dedicated himself to PTK. Paul is quite short and sought to level the field between him and larger fighters. When confronted with kickboxing or grappling he found they favoured a larger fighter. Indeed, the UFC will never place Demetrious Johnson against Jon Jones. Weapons provided that equalizer he was looking for. Suddenly speed killed and every strike was devastating. PTK turned a smaller fighter into a human weapon.

Tom takes my wrist. 

What I Learned: Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is described as a system not an art which I found very interesting. Paul stressed several times throughout the evening that a system is what you use and an art is what you create. The example that stuck with me the most was that of a painter. A painter / artist will use a system to create the piece they are working on. A baroque painter and a modern painter will both create “art” based on how they approach the canvas yet the result will be radically different.

The same is true with Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. Students are encouraged to learn the system and then create their own expression of the art. Larger fighters, like myself, might hit harder and stronger whereas a smaller fighter becomes fluid and flows faster.  It was this incredible dynamic of structure mixed with self-expression that I really enjoyed from RFA Martial Academy.

Paul and Tom working at full speed. 

The name stands for “Require Further Achievement” and is designed to push you and to not except limits. The limitations we face are largely self-imposed and RFA Martial Academy asks you to always continue learning and growing. There is no end just simply a new challenge to look at and conquer. Paul Ingram lives the philosophy that you should never stop growing and improving.

What was Similar: RFA Martial Academy matches some of the top schools I have been to because of their openness to questions. Paul is a believer that you should challenge and push your teacher. The strength of any system, whether it is Kali or another Martial Art, is its ability to withstand questioning. If your style and primarily your teacher cannot accept being pushed to answer hard questions then perhaps there is a fundamental flaw in what you are learning.

Tom slashes my face. He stopped with perfect precision. 

Teachers need to be open and welcoming with their students’ questions. It is something that my first teacher, Sifu John Hum, strove to install in me. When I took up grappling, Coach Eugene Shewchuk, was always there and answering questions. As an instructor your students should be helping you grow and making you a better teacher. 

Conclusion: A big reason I try to train with new groups and new people all the time is because it helps pull back the veil of ignorance and helps me grow as a Martial Artist. RFA Martial Academy showed me that Kali is way more advanced then I had ever imagined. I can't wait to see more of it. 

Awesome night training with a fantastic crew of people at RFA Martial Academy. 

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham

If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=hl

On Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwXDjTjOSVMm3-

Check out RFA Martial Academy: http://www.rfamartialacademy.com/

Jeet Kune Do: Ballistic Fighting Methods: Bartlett, IL

Background: I first visited Sifu Nik Farooqi in 2013 while travelling through Chicago. It was an awesome experience and got me excited to try more Jeet Kune Do. This translated into a trip to Focus JKD in Nashville where I got a much better idea of what Jeet Kune Do is. The aggressiveness and drive that I saw in both Focus and Ballistic really hooked me into exploring this art more.

When I moved to Chicago I looked up Sifu Nik in order to continue to explore Jeet Kune Do. I really wanted to get a better understanding of how Jeet Kune Do fit within the modern world. Bruce Lee was one of the greatest Martial Arts promoters of the 20^th century. Whole generations of Martial Artists have been inspired by what Bruce Lee did.

Jeet Kune Do bursting carries fighters in and out of combat.

“Actually, the father of mixed martial arts, if you will, was Bruce Lee. If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away.” – Dana White, President of the UFC.

Bruce Lee might be a controversial figure within the world of Martial Arts and there are certainly some that will debate his legacy. However, regardless of what you think about Bruce Lee there is one thing that all Martial Artists can agree on, Bruce Lee has been dead a long time. In the thirty-one years since his death the style he created could have either have grown and flourished or diminished into nothing.

Tossing my partner over me. He recovered instantly with Ballistics ground game. 

It was great to see that Ballistic Martial Arts is certainly the former case. They have taken the philosophies laid down by Bruce Lee and the following generations to grow even further. Ground fighting and submission wrestling are now part of the Ballistic arsenal. Sifu Nik is also certified firearms instructor and teaches a variety of weapons self-defence classes and programs. Although this may seem counter to Bruce Lee’s lightning fast hands it should be noted that Bruce himself was known to carry a .38 revolver and a 1911 automatic. The weapons are simply an extension of the JKD program.

What did I learn: Ballistic Fighting Methods actually conducts their class “backwards” against many contemporary programs. Most classes will do some kind of warm up, basic drills and then move into sparring. Ballistic flips this paradigm on its head by having you jump straight into sparring and grappling. I really enjoyed fighting this way because you enter the fight fresh. Well sometimes…

I drive my opponent back with a kick.

Ballistic Fighting Methods also runs a wicked cardio program. Combining kettlebells with some cardio and strength exercises pushes you to your max. Sweet drenched with muscles burning you get dumped into sparring. Personally I found this to be an excellent way to attack your training. This has you entering your fighting anywhere from perfect fighting shape to bone tired depending on the night. This diversity in the range of how you engage a fighter is excellent for developing a tactical mindset.

Defaulting to my experience of competing in a variety of tournaments I truly see the value in a drill like this. It would be a wonderful world if I always got to engage opponents that I was fresher, stronger and faster than them. Reality is painfully different. I have been in fights where I was fresher than my opponents and others where I was wondering how I was going to make it through the round. By fighting in this manner it forces you to consider a multitude of game plans and options to run through. You learn to be conservative while tired yet still engaging and how to bring the thunder when you are fresher.

Sifu Nik whips a kick into my mid-section. 

What was similar: Sifu Nik drilled us hard on the concept of switching levels and switching angles. We worked on “selling techniques.”  I love to “sell” techniques to people and use my background in Praying Mantis to do it a lot and I am constantly changing levels. In my last visit to my friend Sifu Tom Lugo’s Integrated Kung Fu Academy we worked heavily on fakes and how to bait your adversary in. These techniques mirror across many arts.

Bruce Lee's backfist was infamous and Sifu Nik has adapted it to work in the modern world. 

The reason that changing levels and selling fakes is such a big part of my game is simple. I am a big guy and as a big guy I telegraph many of my techniques. It’s a factor of size that I can’t control. If a small fighter twitches the movement can easily become lost in his motion. When I twitch that same motion covers a larger area and is more visible to my adversaries. Nothing I can do about it and shrinking anything other than my waistline isn't in the cards at the moment.

By “selling” someone a fake I can throw them off their game and bring them into mine. Although I focus on controlling my telegraphing I don’t make it a core focus to eliminate. Instead I use those very same tells against the other fighter. Because they can “see” my techniques I let them read the fake and think that they are going to intercept or block it. Once they commit to the fake I am able to slid into the opening and exploit it. Since this is an article on Jeet Kune Do it is fitting to cap this section with a quote from Bruce Lee. “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

Sifu Nik showing me how to sell the technique. 

Conclusion: Ballistic Martial Arts was a great program. Covering stand up fighting to ground techniques, knives and sticks to firearms, Ballistic is constantly growing and evolving. Sifu Nik holds the “Warriors Weekends” where Martial Artists of all stripes get together to exchange techniques and grow. They aren't a static art lost in the past rather a dynamic art that remembers where it came from. 

A great class with great guys to learn from.

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham

If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=hlOn Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwXDjTjOSVMm3-

Check out Xtreme Training Academy: http://www.xtremetrainingacademy.com/

Civil War: Battle of Atlanta: Keokuk, IA

Background: As a Canadian the American Civil War has fascinated me for years. It is a pivotal event in world history and marks the greatest loss of American life in war. Hundreds of thousands of young men sacrificed their lives in a conflict that pitted the North against the South. The implications were vast and far reaching effecting countries far beyond the United States. The Civil War provided much of the necessary backdrop for Canada’s Confederation and the drive to become a country.

Confederate cannons explode furiously on the field of war. 

Knowing that this event has played such a pivotal role in world history I jump on the opportunity to visit Civil War sites. I have had the chance to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chickamauga, visiting the areas where armies crashed together. I can’t describe the eeriness of a battlefield and the ghosts that haunt the earth. Personally Chickamauga spooked me more than Gettysburg. I was familiar with the latter from the film of the same name and visited it on a bright, crisp fall day. I knew of Chickamauga through the work of Ambrose Bierce. He was a Civil War vet and wrote brilliant works about his experiences. I will put a link to his work below and highly recommend you read a couple when you have a moment. The description of the horror of the battle and the twilight streaked battlefield matched exactly what I saw.

When I heard that there was going to be a historical re-enactment happening close to the Quad Cities where I live, it was beyond doubt that I was going to attend. Keokuk, Iowa was a short two and a half hours away and completely worth the drive in order to see this new adventure.

A cannon in the foggy woods of Chickmauga still fending off ghosts.

What did I learn: I was blown away when I arrived at Rand Park. Battle Lines were drawn up and the armies were beginning to shuffle into position. I quickly decided that I was going to set myself a couple of quick goals. Despite there being an announcer I figured that his voice would quickly become lost over the roar of cannons. Since I wouldn't be able to hear the announcer I didn't know how the battle was to proceed. The only thing I knew was the final outcome. Therefore, I was profoundly curious about how terrain, noise and action effected my perception of the battle. What I saw versus what really happened might be two totally different things. Obviously, as a spectator I was not involved in the re-enactment, rather witnessed it from the sidelines.

Smoke obscures the battlefield blocking our vision. 

My suspicions about the announcer were confirmed the moment the first cannon fired. His voice was gone, lost to the roar of man-made thunder. I was standing slightly to the left of one of the cannons and a little in front. The shockwave from the blast rippled across myself and the spectators standing close. It was fantastic and I was laughing and smiling. Within seconds there was cheering and crying as small kids broke down under the noise. There was a full range of reactions in the second it took for the next gun to go off and blanket us once more in smoke.

Volley fire was amazingly terrifying to witness. 

I imagined trying to relay orders in the chaos and to make out what was going on. While I was pondering this the Union guns cut loose across the field. It was eerie to see the enemy line suddenly vanish behind a cloud of white smoke. A split second later the report echoed across to us which would have heralded a storm of death.

The Union cannon shroud their line in smoke.

Since we were embedded with the Confederates when they chose to advance we moved with them. We dropped down behind small rise and lost the right-hand side of the battlefield. The group we followed flanked a Union unit and proceeded to shoot them to pieces. I was so focused on the action in front of me that I completely missed the cannons being advanced till they announced their presence with a cacophony of sound.

Moreover, the Confederate unit I was shadowing succeeded in capturing the Union group and for all visual purposes “winning”. It wasn't till we change position that we saw a huge number of southern soldiers had been captured as well. I have read in a number of stories where one group would claim victory yet the vast majority of the army would lose. Ernest Yunger details it in his accounts of the first world war in “Storm of Steel.” Xenophon and the March of the 10 000 is another story where a highly successful group of Greek mercenaries win their portion of the battle while their employer is killed and the cause lost.

Confederate forces shelter behind a fence.

What was similar: The similarities called back to my time in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. During my seven year tenure in the cadets I grew to be hugely familiar with the joys of marching and parading. Although the commands were different the units behaved much like the units of my youth. Unit Leaders badgered and cursed their soldiers into a line and got the dressing down proper. Once the troops were in line they marched forwards trying to hold that dressing as best as possible. Over the uneven ground it was nearly impossible yet they did a respectable job.

A plume of smoke heralds death.

I have also seen cannons fired in the past and was reasonably aware of the procedure that is required in order to shoot one off. However, there is something wholly different about seeing the a whole field of cannons roaring at each other. When I was in Halifax there was a whole ceremony that went with the discharge of the weapon. However, on the battlefield the orders where given and carried out in a fraction of the time. There was no ceremony, just simple and swift military precision executed flawlessly over a dozen cannon on both sides.

Conclusion: If you have the opportunity to ever check out a re-enactment of any sort you shouldn’t pass on the opportunity. History is buried in the past yet for a day you can unearth it and get a feel for how our ancestors lived. Nothing helps you appreciate the present like seeing the tools of the past. When you look at the tools of a battlefield surgeon and you compare that to the facilities that we have today it makes our current technology look nothing short of miraculous. Although we no longer fight in the manner of the Civil War you can still grow from the experience. 

A wonderful day filled with wonderful experiences.

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham 

If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=hl
On check the video of my experience with the Civil War: Travelling Ronin
Check out the home of the 9th Virginia Calvary: http://www.9thvirginiacavalry.com/
Read Ambrose Bierce's short story "Chickamauga:" http://www.online-literature.com/bierce/992/

Krav Maga: Krav Montreal: Montreal, QC

Background: I have always heard that Krav Maga was intense. Developed from lessons learned in the Second World War, it was needed to prepare the Jewish people in the newly formed country of Israel for hand to hand combat. Following the genocide of their people at the hands of the Nazis, the Jewish people were preparing to take every contingency against something similar occurring again. It didn't take someone with eagle eyes to realise that the creation of the Jewish state was contentious and that they were standing on hostile territory. Although the Western countries had pledged their support Israel was not foolish enough to depend on them alone.

Before the start of World War II the west had been a hot bed of anti-Jewish sentiment as well. Hitler was named Time Magazine’s man of the year in 1938. After the “night of shattered glass” where Germans broke the windows and smashed shops belonging to Jewish business owners, Canada’s Prime Minister Mackenzie King supported the action. Perhaps one of the most damning examples of Western indifference was the plight of the “S.S. St. Louis.” A Jewish refugee ship bearing people fleeing the gulags was turned away by the United States, Canada and Latin America. No one was prepared to help Jew refugees. Regardless of your views on the creation of Israel, you have to appreciate that the Jews knew that they couldn't count on anyone for aid.

Multiple attackers changed fight so it was no longer like a ring.

Your situational awareness had to be spot on.

Enter Imrich Lichtenfeld who began amalgamating the best techniques that he could find in order to create a highly effective Martial Art. The system had a few requirements. First, it needed to be simple at the early levels for mass adoption. However, it also needed to be complex enough that with more in depth study it could be adapted for a variety of functions. Second, it needed to help simulate the stress and pressure of real combat. Lichtenfeld was a boxer and wrestler by training. Yet, he had learned that real combat was very different from competition. Due to this harsh reality, Krav Maga was born and began to spread becoming one of the most respected self-defense Martial Arts.

Determined to get a better understanding of Krav Maga I contacted Thierry Cimkauskas. He runs a Krav Maga school out of Montreal just north of downtown. Within moments of sending him an email I got a response back that I was more than welcome to come experience the Israeli IMI System. I had watched a couple of Youtube videos and they really seemed to know what they were doing. I was confident that Thierry would put me through the paces of Krav Maga and I wasn't disappointed.

What did I learn: One of the major criticisms levelled at Reality-Based Martial Arts (RBMA) is that they never push students. It is a bunch of people pretending what they would do it in a contrived, virtually improbable scenarios. Israeli IMI blows that out of the water. Chief Instructor Thierry creates an environment of stress from the moment the class starts. An excellent example of this is the running warm up that his school does. Just about every school does some form of running and it is necessary but boring. I must have done thousands of laps around various gyms running forwards and backwards, sideways and crossing over. In a decade of Martial arts it is likely the most common exercise I have done.

People are running everywhere trying to tap your head, knees and feet.

In one night Krav Maga turned this most basic exercise into a challenge loaded with stress and fun. Instead of running in a circle everyone started running in all directions. Coupled with this everyone was trying to tap you on the head meant we were all sprinting and dodging across the training centre. As soon as we got the hang of defending our heads we were sweeping down to attack knees and feet. Then we put it all together to create a room of running, jumping, ducking students. It was awesome. Attacks could come from anywhere and we pushed ourselves much harder than just running in circles. Also, while this worked on our situational awareness it also had us do all the same basic running that that running in circles had us do. To avoid attacks we were crossing over, running backwards, etc… It was a great twist on a mundane exercise that had real application.

The other thing I learned from Israeli IMI is their focus on “Tactics over Technique.” Chief Instructor Thierry told me about this concept as he pointed around the class showing how everyone had a different body type. Having been around Martial Arts forums often enough I could understand where he was coming from. Go on any Martial Arts forum and you with see something like this. “What is your favourite technique to accomplish X” or “what would you do in situation Y.” Quickly the forum degenerates into people disagreeing with each other and saying why the other individual is wrong. However, tactics are reasonably universal regardless of the physique.

Ben immediately clears the weapon from the line of his body.

Consider the drills we did that night for example. We were working on threats from both blunt and edged weapons. Knives will always be contentious because the results of a failed technique can mean serious harm or death. Blunt weapons are slightly more forgiving yet can also lead to massive trauma in the form of broken bones and, of course, loss of life. When viewed from a technique level, small variations in how you perform a maneuver can radically alter the result giving two people different outcomes. Thus, they disagree.

The way Chief Instructor Thierry teaches is to look at the situation tactically. First, assess your situation and opposition. This could take a split-second or minute depending on the scenario. Second, when engaging the threat make sure that the weapon is no longer aligned with your body. If possible take control if not ensure you are cognisant of its location. Third, limit your assailant’s ability to engage you. This can be anything from a submission to a strike but make sure they can’t continue to attack. Finally disengage and retreat. Again , the range of options is enormous. Did I turn the assailant over to the police or did I run for my life? Yet fundamentally the tactic did??not alter.

I whip my leg in between Benoit's legs after seizing his wrist.

This isn't to say Krav Maga doesn't have any techniques. Rather, we worked on a plethora of techniques and it came down to the fighter to choose which techniques they wanted to use. This lesson is invaluable. Too often as Martial Artists we concentrate on “what we know works” drawing on the depths of personal experience to govern what we consider functional. However, along with that, we have consider that everyone we teach will be different and have different experiences. Chief Instructor Thierry does this very well with his “tactics over technique” approach by averaging his experience yet allowing his students to grow along their own path.

What was similar: One of the drills that we did that was similar to what I had done before was to close your eyes and when you open them you will have to deal with whatever your partner is throwing at you. It forces you to really step up your game in terms of reaction time. You have to open your eyes and take stock of the situation immediately. It is a great way to raise the stress of a drill you have been practising.

Knives, sticks, guys, girls, left-hand, right-hand, etc... You could never predict 

what would happen next. 

Israeli IMI never likes to stop at adding just a little bit stress and Chief Instructor Thierry takes this drill to the next level. Normally you have your partner just switching the weapon in their hand making you deal with a left or right-handed attack. Only having to deal with two possibilities really means that although the stress is greater you are really just playing the odds. To prevent his fighters from doing this everyone lines up facing each other. One side of the room closes their eyes and the other side switches randomly ensuring that you never know who your attacker will be. Also, having worked on a variety of weapons the attackers are all armed differently. Now when you open your eyes you have to account for an unknown attacker armed with an unknown weapon in an unknown hand. It really gets your blood flowing.

The attackers normally get the easy job of presenting a weapon and then getting “beaten up” with simulated hits. In Krav Maga they believe that you learn better if you make contact. If you don’t train with contact all your distances are off and when the time comes to use your techniques you will fail to strike properly. Therefore, they train contact on all their techniques including groin strikes. This doesn't mean that you need to punch someone in the face or kick them in the crotch full force. The goal is to train to the point of contact and not to the point of injury. On a side note, if you want stress go to a school and learn they are going to be kicking you in the balls. When your partner and everyone around you mentions it would be a really good idea to wear a cup you know that you are going to be pushed hard.

Seriously, those kicks make you pay attention. 

Conclusion: I had a great introduction to Krav Maga thanks to the Israeli IMI System team and Chief Instructor Thierry. Krav Maga was way harder than I had anticipated and I loved that the pressure kept increasing throughout the evening. I really look forward to the next time that I have the opportunity to try it again. 

Awesome night with a great class. I learned a ton.

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham 

If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=hl
On Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwXDjTjOSVMm3-98e0gHUXLlQecYRkcvN

Check out Israeli IMI System: www.krav.ca