WRITTEN BY: GRANDMASTER BRAM FRANK

WWW.CSSD-SC.COM

How to teach Modular MBC2: “ Learn in 6 ; Teach in 12” Teaching Modular has to be simple. It cannot be rocket science or something so complex that it takes years to understand the principles and concepts behind it. It has to be simple so that it can be transferred from one person to the next in a small amount of real time. Not training time or martial arts time but real classroom time. Real classroom time is referring to the time a normal educational class would take. In this case we set the bar @ 6 hours to learn,(one full day) and 12 hours, (two full days) to learn to teach the concepts. This makes Modular the perfect way to get ideas of usage transferred from one person to the next person, even if the transference is in large numbers. How is this possible? It’s possible because Modular is based on bio-mechanical user skills. What one does naturally and instinctively is used as the principle of motion and translated into basic user skills… By utilizing those basic skills, one can learn the applications very, very quickly… Principle of action: Bio Mechanical action A person’s arms close across one’s body from high shoulder to low waist. The same arm opens back to the same side at waist height. The recovery is a circular, vertical motion of said arm on the open or outside of one’s body. This describes motions that in fencing or sword work are commonly named Downward Diagonal strike #1, Horizontal Closed strike #4 and Downward Vertical strike #12 or in MODULAR as 1-4-12. These same actions are also basic instinctive safety actions: #4 is get away, push away, #1 is get way push away, #12 is cover one’s head, push away. By utilizing actions that are based on Bio mechanical action, no thought is necessary to make these actions happen. This is important in combative situations where fine motor thought and fine motor skills disengage quickly. Sometimes under duress due to training one retains and one has complex thought but that doesn’t mean one has fine motor skills…Motor skills skip that level. One is either fine motor skill or gross motor skill at a physical level. One might have fine or complex thought but only gross actions to back it up. As the heart rate increases a little, fine thought becomes complex thought which almost immediately drops to gross thought and now both thought and physical actions are on the lowest level. If one’s defensive actions are not based on the lowest denominator they cannot be accomplished within the context of use.

4

5

Spontaneity wins over a prerecorded response almost all of the time. Yes, there are a few ex-ceptions to the rule and it’s these exceptions that are used to establish the pre-recorded response rule for the masses. Certain martial artists can actually pull off what seems to be prerecorded responses to actual attacks. What is really happening is that these highly trained people are ac-tually responding a ½ beat to a full beat ahead in thought and action over the attacker. To the casual observer the martial artist is reacting with the known answer to a supposedly random at-tack but in reality the martial artist is acting to a stimulus not reacting. This is what Bruce Lee wanted people to do; to instinctively feel the attack starting and intercept the attack BEFORE it became an attack. “When you get down to it, real combat is not fixed and is very much alive. The fancy mess solidifies and conditions what was once fluid and when you look at it realistically, it is nothing but a blind devotion to systematic uselessness of practicing routines or stunts that lead to nowhere!" Bruce Lee As the JKD clan and other self defense groups have discovered this is easier to say than to do. It takes constant practice, reality of training, perseverance and a good amount of luck. Due to this fact, practitioners of any style of JKD stress that combat, especially street combat must be simple. Steve Grody a self-defense expert and a full instructor of JKD from the Inosanto clan has stated, “self defense must be essential, self-evident and contain good basic percussive skills”. Dan Inosanto, the foremost practitioner and instructor of JKD in the world, is constantly learn-ing new skills and researching other martial arts. At any seminar or in his classroom he ex-plains the insights he has made while studying these new arts. Inosanto is the epitome of Colo-nel Applegates’ feeling that combat must be simple. He is the best example of an instructor who learns more to know less. Inosanto doesn’t add to his skills by how many techniques he knows, he is constantly honing truths in martial arts into basic principles and conceptual usage of those principles. As Bruce Lee stated and Dan Inosanto does by example, ones’ martial skill in com-bative reality is based on paring down to the base essentials not padding on endless techniques. Dan Inosanto has found the connecting thread in the different martial arts which leads to reality in combat. Simplicity. Martial Arts instructors and combative arts instructors could take a page from Dan Inosantos’ teachings. It is a conceptual understanding of the principles of combat. Dan Inosanto calls it JKD Concepts. Is it teachable? Yes, one only has to look at the number of instructors that have come from the Inosanto clan. Are there other instructors from other arts that teach conceptually and strive for combative reality? Yes there are. Professor Remy Presas, the founder of Modern Arnis teaches conceptually.. There are others as well who teach self de-fense this way. Professor Presas, the founder of MODERN ARNIS says after all these years of teaching and training that he is just beginning to understand the art and always asks his students “Do you see? It is all the same. Do not make it too hard!” As teachers of conceptual ways get older a new generation MUST be taught to see and to teach conceptually, to stress simplicity in combat. Future generations that understand reality of combat must be taught. Combat must be simple or it will fail.

6

Yes, there are others who also teach combative reality without the martial art mentality. One must seek out these types of instructors for combative reality. If one cannot be found locally then it is time to travel to an intensive seminar taught by one of these reality based instructors. Why go? Because the active principles of combat don’t change as time goes on. Society and technology may change with time but the concepts that they and Colonel Applegate stressed will always be true. Combative reality doesn’t change. Combat is spontaneous. To engage in combative reality the combative way must be simple: It’s NOT rocket science!” A simplicity that can be understood, learned, taught and passed on.

7

Many times trained martial artists get beat on the street: it’s not that the street fighter is tougher, it’s that the trained martial artist attempts fine motor application of his/her skills while the street fighter splits the common denominator and keeps it simple. A punch is a punch and a kick is a kick. No attempting of almost impossible movie stunts: just raw fighting done as the street fighter knows works. To compensate for this tendency MODULAR is designed as a GMS- Gross Motor Skill fighting skill set. This is NOT about making a great fighter out of someone with little or no skill. It’s not about taking someone of good skill and making a great fighter out of them. It’s not about the great difficulty of teaching, understanding and comprehending such intangible as distance, timing and footwork: things that do take years of training and dedicated practice and application to ingrain in one’s repertoire. What it IS about is teaching some basic correct responses to attacks within a limited range of complexity and the ability to use these responses under duress. Accomplish that simple task and the good guy goes home to his family and the bad guy has a very rotten day…or no future days at all. Teaching Modular is about perspectives: and the perspectives are on many levels. Presentation is the key to understanding Modular: Right to left orientation, Forward to reverse grip, Single or double weapons (matched or unmatched), Tall to Short, and Close or Closer. These presentations of perspectives can exist by themselves or be mixed with each other. Pre-sent this in a complex fashion with lots of set rules and it’s going to be rocket science: present this in a conceptual way and it borders on natural response. We want Natural response! We want to learn and teach simplicity. We want to be able to use our skill sets successfully as we need them. MODULAR actually has a set progression: it is based on what we might encounter most and biased towards the reality of that encounter. Reality and its parameters are mutable and in com-bat what people teach as the gospel truth can be mutable. Truth mutable? Yes, truth can be mu-table if the truth that is taught works ONLY with young strong males and not with someone eight years old or eighty years old. Truth is mutable if it only works with people wearing sum-mer clothing not winter. Truth is mutable if what is taught only works in specific circumstances and not in generalized situations. What is also paramount in learning Modular is that the core of learning is based on teaching. Teaching allows for a reality check of what one knows or doesn’t know, the ability to link ideas and concepts and to be honest with ones self and others as to the actual quality of what one is attempting to teach. The only thing worse than the Telephone game, where unknown details are replaced with assumed details and over time and repetition the red cart white horse becomes the gilded chariot with a purple dragon; is when an instructor teaches what he or she doesn’t really know; yet it is presented as gospel. Modular is set up to allow a continuous flow of information between one’s students and one’s self all at a GMSS level no matter the number of repetitions or seeming complexity level and allow both student and instructor to grow in use and under-standing. Modular as stated is a Train the trainer methodology… Modular asks that one use Common Sense, as uncommon as that is in use and thinking. Simplicity wins, sometimes the obvious seems to simplistic so more complex ways are sought.

8

The 10 Commandments of Steel 1)Steel cuts flesh: always

Knives always cut flesh. That’s what they are designed to do. For over a million years the principle has stayed the same. A knife is an edge designed to cur flesh.

2)One cannot change rule #1 Since you didn’t write the rules, and the rules follow the law of physical science, you can’t rewrite the rules or change them.

3)Unless one has a blue suit with a big red “S” on it, rules #1 & #2 ALWAYS apply! If your skin is stronger than steel, and your name is SUPERMAN, and you are able to with-stand a “speeding bullet” then you can ignore rules #1 & #2. Otherwise rules #1 & #2 apply directly to you!

4)The principal of a knife: an edge that cuts flesh has NEVER changed Knives, cutting edges, have been used for over a million years. They were designed to cut flesh. They still cut flesh as effectively today as back then. It is mankind’s oldest friend and the principle is as good now as then! Early proto humans used cutting tools.

5)Always lead with the edge, thrust with the point The edge is what cuts, so use it! The tip or point is used to pierce flesh so thrust it out there towards the target!

6)Grip is determined by range, not arbitrary decisions or reasons: range is determined by length of the weapon. How one grips a knife depends on where one’s hand is in relationship to one’s opponent at best. Sometimes due to accessibility grip is whatever immediately comes to hand! The longer the weapon the greater the range: the shorter the weapon the closer the range.

7)Disarming an opponent who has a knife is unrealistic! Try sticking your hands into a whirling blender. The only thing disarmed is your fingers, which literally get dis-fingered! Or your fingers become finge’s with R & S on the floor!

8)Weapon accessibility is paramount: no access no usage This is a no-brainer. If you can’t get to your knife its useless!

9)Using steel is very serious: “I was in fear for my life.” One doesn’t play or threaten with a knife. You only use it because you fear for your life! It can be a deadly tool! Use of a knife is self defense is a lethal force situation.

10)One person drips, the other gushes, quickly becomes one person gushes, the other sports a “toe tag”.

The confrontation that you’ve scripted in your own head, can quickly get out of hand. A confrontation using knives can and will turn deadly very quickly! Everybody can LOSE!

One cannot totally control the amount of damage within a knife encounter because of Mur-phy’s Law. One CAN attempt to control mitigating factors or contributing factors within the confrontation.

9

10

Modern Arnis-Presas blade Abecidario teaches Conceptual cutting motions: Figure 8 Upwards -Downwards: (Cuts #1-2-9-10) Redonda:(Cut #8) Rompida: Open & Closed (Cut #11) Band y Banda:(Cuts #3-4) Vertikal: (Cuts#11-12) Sungkitti– Thrusting Triangle: (Thrusts # 5-6-7)

11

Modern Arnis Blade Abecidario: Modular Blade numbering system Open is from right to left –arms open Closed is left to right– arms closed 1) Cut #1 Diagonal Downward Open, 2) Cut #2 Diagonal Downward Closed, 3) Cut #3 Horizontal Open 4) Cut #4 Horizontal Closed 5) Thrust #5 Middle line 6) Thrust #6 Palm Down Open 7) Thrust #7 Palm Up Closed 8) Cut #8 Redonda –Circular cut Closed 9) Cut #9 Diagonal Upward Open 10) Cut #10 Diagonal Upward Closed 11)Cut #11 Rompida-Upward Vertical 12) Cut #12 Downward Vertical

12

13

14

15

Neutral stances are either central or both feet face forward, or by pivoting on the right ball of one’s feet or the left ball of one’s feet, one actually moves the core of one’s body off line from the incoming attack. Whichever side is facing the opponent is now actually closer to the oppo-nent allowing for easier counter striking! The important thing is that one has not moved further from the opponent, nor stepped closer but one has woven space so that bio mechanically one shoulder or the other has rotated towards the opponent allowing for focused counter attack.

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Biomechanical Cutting: de-animation of the opponent Professor Remy Presas: Modern Arnis- Philippine Stickfighting Manila, Philippines 1974 In learning these techniques, the learner is taught HOW and WHERE to deliver a strike in order to achieve the maximum power and efficacy!…the learner should know the different parts of the body that are considered vulnerable and which are excellent target for strikes…some of these parts are so vulnerable that a strike or a blow to them may incapacitate, if not kill, a person. Bio -mechanical cutting is the “newest” way to describe percussive and cutting motions. I teach these concepts in my seminars and in my newest video tape series from JADED EDGE PRO-DUCTIONS, BUDO, VIDEO QUEST and PALADIN PRESS. No, I didn’t invent the hits and the cuts but I have applied them in a new conceptual way and incorporated them into a progres-sive training program. In Modern Arnis this is an important concept as well as other Filipino arts! It is commonly called “De-Fanging the Snake” in traditional Filipino martial arts! Biomechanical cutting means to stop all mechanical function of the body. It does not mean to end or cease the functioning of the body or terminate its life. Street combat needs biomechani-cal cutting to achieve its ends while military combat needs to stop not only biomechanical func-tion but in most cases termination of the unit in general. The goal of Biomechanical cutting in street combat is to stop a body’s mechanical function. If one stops the mechanical function of one’s opponent several things become clear in combative reality: The threat of attack is re-moved. If one’s opponent cannot make a physical action happen then the opponent’s desire or intent doesn’t matter The opponent’s mobility is gone. One’s escape can be implemented. The opponent cannot

follow. The opponent’s condition is a deterrent to others wanting to take similar action Drugs, alcohol, lack of pain, great strength or other mitigating factors, which might help an

opponent in aggressive street combat, are negated and become moot. Legal ramifications are kept to a minimum: Death is hard to reconcile

Using steel, the actual act of cutting, one seeks flesh not bone. The human body is basically a complex mechanical unit. There is a frame work, an interior structure that maintains form, and function with tissue that connects the pieces and connective tissues the extend or contract the pieces. There are fuel lines, lubricants, a mechanical pulley system and a complex electrical system with on board computer hook up. By interfering with any of these systems, the mechanical unit shuts down. Cutting any of these connections, joints or electrical pathways damages the unit till it can be surgically repaired. Cutting is the impera-tive word here for percussive striking may or may not do damage. One can suppose or speculate on percussive damage by theory or by inferred results but cutting is different. Every one cuts and bleeds. Steel cuts flesh. Severing living flesh and the working human mechanical system brings obvious results. Humans are very easy to injure, maim, and destroy parts of rather than terminate. The human body and spirit are very resilient and that resiliency keeps people who should have died from their wounds alive and fighting. Emergency rooms are full of should have died patients. War heroes are given posthumous citations for somehow surviving an attack and then saving others and killing the enemy before expiring themselves.

23

137

This makes combat very complex! One could deliver a “death” blow and as one waits for one’s opponent to die, the opponent somehow manages to counterstrike and deliver his own death blow back at one. Tie score. Both die. This is an unacceptable combative solution. In combat therefore, instead of looking to terminate the opponent with no biomechanical cessa-tion of function, one should “destroy” the opponent’s operating system then terminate the oppo-nent as the progression builds. In street combat that option does not exist. If one terminates an opponent one can end up in jail or in court or both. Therefore biomechanical cutting is of ut-most importance in street combat. Without terminating one’s opponent, one stops all possibility of threat or aggression by stopping the opponent from functioning. Just like the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail. The Black Knight has both arms and legs cut off by King Arthur and the hopping torso keeps yelling, “Come on! It’s only a flesh wound. Come closer so I can bite you!” King Arthur rides off into the sunset. Note: humans have certain autonomic responses to injuries that cannot be over ridden. Some-times these reactions coupled with biomechanical impairment gives one total control of one’s situation and one’s opponent. For example, we have an overwhelming need to look at our inju-ries and THEN decide how serious it is. When we get struck on the head one’s natural response is to reach for the injury and close one’s eyes to visualize the injury. A poke to one eye causes both eyes to close protectively and to tear up. Getting severely injured causes a person to contract or go fetal to protect our self in a human ball. Simple bangs and cuts can cause one to grab one’s hand or injured part, contract the limb, and look at it while voicing some sound of pain releasing sounds...screams, moans and the like. What we do not do is get expansive, injury causes us to contract, compact and get

24

protective. Burning a hand, cutting it, banging it causes us to retract the limb QUICLY from wherever we sense the danger is located. We do the same with any part of our body. Our bodies even have an off switch so that in event of a major injury we shut down to survive...its called shock! IMPORTANT: Many people will gladly tell you that lethal force is allowed to be met with lethal force and “Don’t worry, In a court of law JUSTICE will prevail!” Only on paper, in certain circumstances, with certain people involved, is lethal force the accepted response to lethal force. Worse yet, those that would judge one for using lethal force, a jury of one’s peers, is NEVER of one’s peers and they are truly the common people with nothing in common with the one they judge. If one’s opponent or opponent’s family doesn’t file criminal charges, the state may file criminal charges for one’s ethical self-defense actions that aren’t socially or le-gally acceptable. If one beats the criminal charges the same groups may file civil charges. I have heard the moans from some of you! “I’d rather be tried by twelve than carried by six! This is a misguided, misspoken, mistaken statement of gross ignorance! It goes to the “Black or White” of a situation not to the reality of the situation. One cannot take the attitude of “I’ll just kill the bastard and let a jury sort it out. All I need do is go all out to defend myself conse-quences be damned!” This is WHY we have bio-mechanical cutting. In a court of law INTENT is everything! :Justifiable measured force I know you’re starting to get the idea. Biomechanical stoppage is about the only way to com-promise between action and legal reaction. We’ll look at some of the actual targeting zones and what happens when one cuts or hits these zones. We looked at the conceptual “Why and Why not” as to using biomechanical stoppage. Again, for those that missed the core point of the introduction: Bio-mechanical stoppage means just that, stopping the bio- mechanical functioning, and the ability to actually move or use one’s parts. This is a utilization of the concept of “form follows function” Now we’ll actually look at the cuts and the hits and WHY target zones are so important! This part will be looking at upper body. Of course the upper body is the first thing one will encounter and it is the easiest target! Biomechanical target zones: pulling the plug! NOTE: Humans have a reflex of looking at our injuries. Humans go into some form of fetal position upon shock or injury: contraction rather than expansion. Intent does not count with biomechanical cutting. The opponent may have intent or the most will power in the world but function is function: if the parts don’t work all the prayer, wishing or swearing will not make them work again until surgically repaired. This IS NOT AN ANATOMY LESSON. There are many more muscles involved than those mentioned. There are many nerves and circulatory vessels involved. This is to show WHY biomechanical cutting works at the SIMPLEST LEVEL to understand. Use of a cutting implement or a percussive implement, sometimes in-duces immediate shock to the body. In a small zone that means that the body actually feels “no pain” at the point of targeting, but that does not stop the reality of function being stopped! Cutting: the ultimate bio-mechanical stoppage! Remember humans are only hydraulic units with a very simple bionic pulley system. Interfere with either system or both and the function fails!

25

The fingers, hand and forearm: The Filipino’s call it defanging the snake, or breaking the snake’s teeth, Sword-fighters of old called it “disarming” (literally!) and there are many cultures that used the concept of attack the attacking weapon. This is the first strike that one can apply to one’s opponent for the opponent willingly brings the weapon toward one’s defensive zone. Cutting the fingers of one’s opponent usually stops an attack. Fingers house lots of nerves,

ligaments and tendons and if damaged, fingers cannot be used till they are surgically re-paired. Fingers are no bigger than chicken legs and can easily be broken or cut off.

Cutting the hand back or front can stop function. Cutting the back extensors can cause se-vere damage and bleeding and stops the fingers from opening. Cutting the front or palm of the hand will cut flexors causing severe damage and forces the hand to open. There is a lot of meat that can be cut including the opposing digit, the thumb.

Note: cutting the thumb can end the use of the hand immediately until the thumb is surgically repaired. Fingers don’t work well without an opposing digit to hold them in place. The Forearm has many target areas unto itself and is an easy zone to reach. Cutting the muscles on the outside of the forearm cuts the extensors, which uncurl or extend

the fingers. The nerve functions that control grasping are located on the outside as well. Catching a cut up by the elbow and pulling down toward the thumb can send a fillet over the opponent’s hand. The fillet may go down to the bone.

Cutting the inside forearm contains the ateries and main nerves that control the wrist and the fist. Severing the nerves and /or the muscles will cause the flexors, which keep the hand closed not to work, or will destroy the needed nerve impulses to accomplish the same func-tion. Fillets can be cut from the inside of the forearm as well as the outside forearm.

The middle arm: biceps and triceps are only big in the gym. The function of the biceps other than to look great is to pull the lower arm to the upper arm.

Cutting either of the heads of the muscle, the belly of the muscle or picking pieces out of the biceps impairs the function. When the biceps don’t work, the arm will not contract or the lower forearm cannot be raised to an upright position. With the biceps cut or impaired it is easy to get an opponent to give the classic straight arm as used in arm bars or elbow breaks.

The Triceps extend or straighten the arm. Cutting, picking pieces out of or impairing the triceps gives one an opponent with the lower arm contracted against the upper arm. This is the classic position for enacting the classic gooseneck locking.

The upper arm: shoulder; trapezium, deltoids and the chest As one works one’s way up the arm it is easy to access the shoulders. Cutting the anterior Del-toid (the one that faces front) and the lateral deltoid (the one that makes shoulders look so good) stops the function of rotation of the arm as well as horizontal adduction of the arm. Cutting the back deltoid stops extension of the arm. The junction of the arm and torso has the connection of the chest or pectoral muscles. The insertion point is the upper arm. Cutting these muscles at the junction stops adduction, horizontal adduction and rotation of that arm. Cutting the Trapeziums (the muscles that give one that powerful look from neck to shoulder) stops upward rotation of the arm as well as lifting of the arm.

26

NOTE: Working one’s way up the arm one could cut the deltoid or the external pectorals or even higher, one could cut the trapezium muscle to impair function. There is no need to cut the torso of the opponent. One might need to justify one’s cutting actions in a Court of Law be-fore a Judge and Jury. Everyone has cut a finger or a toe, most have gotten cut hands, and some have even gotten cut arms…people can relate to that. No one can relate to being stabbed, organs pierced, bellies cut open, throats slit, or testicles cut off. For biomechanical cutting one cuts limbs only and the cutting is to IMPAIR function not to inflict lethal injuries or de-animation of one’s opponent. We’ve stopped the bad guy’s upper torso from working. That’s great! And we’ve seen that in an ethical and moral sense we did as little damage as possible to the bad guy yet saved ourselves. This time we will go over mobility. How does stopping an opponent’s mobility give to us the stoppage/ or cessation of attacking motion we want. OK… are we getting the POINT? Well we’ve bio-mechanically stopped the bad guy with up-per torso cutting. What happens to the legs and lower torso? If the bad guy can still move, if the bad guy still has mobility, he or she can still harm us. In this part I’ll show you targeting zones that leave the opponent with a base. No mobility, no attack! Perfect! The legs and hips present another type but equally as good a target as the upper torso. Cut or impair the legs and /or the hips and mobility and balance are functionally stopped. This includes the Gluteus Maximus or as commonly known as the butt. Professor Presas once asked me to kick at him. He told me kick VERY FAST. I hesitated but complied. He immediately struck my leg with a stick and laughed. I fell to the floor in great pain. “Oh Bram” he said “you kick a man with a weapon and you are now a gimp!” As I struggled to get up he told me to kick him again with the other leg. I was in pain, but I complied. The strike on my other leg dropped me upon impact. “ You do not learn fast! Do you know what you are now!?” Before I could an-swer he shook his head and said, “ You are dead…NEVER kick at a man with a weapon. He will cut off your legs and then you cannot move or run away!” I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THAT LESSON! While I was teaching an Edged weapon seminar in Europe, a master of Tae Kwon Do once told me he could kick a knife out of my hand BEFORE I cut him. I had him kick my hand, which I let go limp and my hand flew away and rebounded with the knife into his leg. He tried again only this time I moved my hand at the last minute and the kick missed and I drove the knife into his leg and up into his femoral region. On his third attempt as his hip shifted slightly, I intercepted his motion. I drove the knife into the belly of his quadriceps and up into his flexor dropping him immediately in pain onto the floor. I told him and the other partici-pants at my seminar that he was VERY lucky that I was only using a training knife otherwise he would be in serious trouble. No one tried kicking a knife out of anyone’s hands the rest of the seminar.

27

Before I start this section I need to state the obvious. Mobility is paramount in self-defense and in most physical situations. The quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, Dan Marino stepped back and popped his Achilles tendon. End of Marino’s mobility, BOOM onto the turf. Pick any Foot-ball, Soccer, Basketball or Baseball player that pops a leg muscle and see how well they move; actually they don’t move at all and get carried off the field. These are tough, conditioned, PRO-FESSIONAL athletes and they drop like sacks of potatoes. Kick boxers routinely target the legs. Benny the Jet stopped many opponents with leg kicks and in the early days of the PKA-WKA many American fighters who ventured to fight overseas found out the hard way. Dead legs mean no mobility: End of fight. Ever get a shot in one’s butt from lets say a nurse “Ratchet” and one cannot move one’s leg ex-cept in great pain with limited mobility? I have. On board ship, I was given a shot in my butt with a normal needle that felt like six inches long and I couldn’t walk for several days… Actu-ally there were several of us on the ship in that condition. All from a tiny needle stuck INTO the Gluteus Maximus. Legs: no legs no mobility Cutting the legs of an opponent works. Most people do not expect to be cut or hurt in their legs. Cutting legs stops one’s mobility and ability to balance. The perfect attacker / opponent is one lying on the ground still screaming “ I’ll get you, come closer so I can grab you and I’ll get you” Ah, the infamous scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. King Arthur tries to go across a bridge and is challenged by the ultimate bad guy, the Black Knight. The Black Knight will not let King Arthur go by him to cross the bridge. They battle intensely. Arthur cuts off the Black Knight’s arms and legs and this torso keeps screaming at King Arthur to come closer so that he can bite him. King Arthur shrugs his shoulders and “rides” away across the bridge. It works like that in real life as well except the torso will not be screaming for one to come closer so that it can bite one. Upper Leg Cutting, piercing, cutting pieces out of the opponent’s quadriceps (front) or hamstrings (back) immediately stop the action. Transitional cuts from arm to leg usually end up cutting the Sarto-rius. Cut the Sartorius and there is no pick up of the leg, no flexion, no abduction, and no lateral rotation. Ever pull an old style shade and let it go? It rolls up very quickly. That’s what the Sar-torius will do around the knee. Aim for the Sartorius and miss and one hits the flexors and ab-ductors of the hips. Cut these muscles and the legs pivot outward just like de-boning a chicken. An opponent with no legs is in no better position to advance on one and attack or counter at-tack, than someone in a wheel chair. Ok, that’s wrong! A person in a wheelchair can have mo-bility and an opponent with non- functioning legs has NONE! The Butt: great Glutes! OK…it sounds very funny except when it’s your butt that got hurt. One of the largest muscle groups in the body is the Glutes. When the Glutes are incapacitated the body cannot move. Ask a football player who has torn a Glute. A hurt butt keeps him on the bench and off the field for many weeks. One needs the Glutes to be able to stand, move, walk, run and pivot. Poking the opponents butt with the tip of one’s knife can cause immediate stoppage of the opponent’s movement. Tip ripping with the knife and popping a snow cone divot out of an opponent’s butt will end the confrontation. The opponent can still grab but the opponent cannot chase, run or stand. If that doesn’t finish the confrontation, then it can be a great opener to any other

28

biomechanical cutting motion. In a court of law, when it is pointed out by the attacker, that while in the act of attacking one, to mug, rape or rob, the attacker was hurt in his butt by the defender, (yes, see you’re smiling already!) the jury will be smiling because the situation seems funny. Again this is perception not reality but people in general have a hard time taking butt injuries seriously. Especially if it happens to the bad guy! The Knee: a fragile hinged joint The knee can take moderate amount of percussive abuse. Straight on the knee can absorb some impact, from the side the knee cannot take any substantial blunt trauma. Cutting the “knee” causes severe damage and bio-mechanically if the knee doesn’t work, the body stays in one place. The Quadriceps Femoris Group actually inserts below the knee and act to extend the knee joint. If any of them are cut the knee cannot bend nor can the hip flex. The Rectus Femoris is a quad muscle that actually crosses both hip and knee. It is readily accessible to a direct cut-ting motion. The thick cords felt behind the knee are actually the end of the hamstrings and they control extension of the hip, flexion of the knee and rotation of the knee. Cutting through these muscles takes little effort and is as simple as removing a chicken leg from the thigh. Cut the connecting tissue and nothing is there. This is what old time “hamstringing’ was; the cutting of the hamstrings at the bend of the knee. The calf: Gastrocnemius looks great, cuts easily The Gastrocnemius or Gastro is Greek for “belly”. This muscle can act on the knee or the ankle separately but not simultaneously. A cutting of this muscle will totally immobilize an opponent till the muscle is surgically repaired. Ask Dan Marino. He stepped back to pass and the tendon ripped. No Achilles tendon, no movement. BOOM. All fall down! The Foot: protected by the shoes OK. So the opponent has shoes on, sneakers on (high tops no less), or boots. Stab right through the top of the shoe pinning the foot to the ground. Stab directly into the toes, injuring them or cutting them off. Ignore the foot and use the top edge of the sneaker or boot as a cutting guide and cut across the leg. What happens then? Go back and read the above section on calves. No feet, no movement, no mobility. NOTE: I broke my big toe when I kicked someone in a combative situation. It was a “picture perfect” round kick to the opponent’s head. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. I dropped to my knees almost as fast. The pain was intense and I couldn’t move. I had broken off part of the joint of the big toe upon impact. I once saw Professor Presas quick strip a stick from a student. It flew straight up in the air and came straight down, butt first directly onto Professor Presas’ big toe. He dropped to his knees in pain. Toe pain can bio-mechanically stop someone! Even someone as experienced as the Professor because he NEVER expected it. Bio mechanical shut down is real. One cannot walk with a dead, missing or broken big toe without rehab and guidance!

29

Let’s get right to bio mechanical hitting! We saw how to bio-mechanically cut someone to stop them from attacking us. It almost works the same with hitting but we actually have less target zones and less effectiveness to those strikes. The body is designed to absorb impact. As you have seen the body is not designed to deal with cutting! With that in mind let’s move into the act of percussive hitting and using those hits to stop our opponent! Yes, HITTING! Edged tools as well as blunt objects can be used for hitting or percussive hits. We need to see percus-sion because sometimes one might only have a stick or similar implement and the targeting is different from cutting! Bio-mechanical Hitting: the Beat goes on! Bio-mechanical hitting is the act of percussive blows to stop the functioning of one’s oppo-nent. Due to the nature of percussive action there are several mitigating circumstances that enter into it’s usage. How strong is the striker: mass, weight, strength itself How strong is the defender: mass, weight, strength. And especially how tough are the de-

fender’s musculature. How fast was the strike. Speed makes up for mass. How high a pain threshold does the defender have. How prominent is the defender’s bone structure Can one access the skeletal structure of the opponent. How strong is the actual skeletal structure of the opponent. Percussion, the act of striking with a blunt object, must seek bone. Striking with a stick or blunt object to bio-mechanically stop an opponent needs specific, fixed targets. In a classroom situation with no combative reality, striking fleshy areas and muscula-ture can cause pain and cessation of action. In a combative situation where adrenaline is flow-ing and one’s sense of pain is dulled due to loss of fine motor skill interpretation, strikes must actually damage the supporting structure, the skeleton to be effective. This does not mean that striking a muscle or muscle groups with percussive blows will not work, BUT to bio-mechanically cease function one needs to break bones. Head: The skull has several areas that one can strike to stop function, but the most common, the forehead is the least effective. Yes, it can cause pain but it’s also very strong. Striking the crown of the head within the seam works better. A blow to the base of the skull by the occipital lobe / atlas area works. Striking the temple region or the eye orbit area will break the skull and possibly knock out the function of the opponent.

30

The jaw points are useful and shattering the teeth might get a momentary pause for anotherstrike. The same goes for breaking the nose, it’s a temporary stun while re-chambering for a temple strike. The side of the head is better than the front or the top! The problem with a head strike is that all function may cease. Death is a possibility. The outside possibility, with a me- dium probability is that the blow is a glancing one, the skull does what it’s designed to do, de- flect the blow and the opponent rips one’s limbs off in retaliation!

Shoulders: The shoulders are good targets if one remembers to not target the muscle such as the deltoid and instead targets the Clavicle / collar bone. Breaking a collarbone is great bio-mechanically. If there is no functioning collarbone, then there isn’t any arm motion, especially in trying to raise one’s arms. Note: I once ripped the end of my collarbone out of the breastbone while wrestling. I couldn’t understand WHY my arms wouldn’t work correctly. I couldn’t feel the pain, I was too excited about the match, but I could not make my arms work properly to hold my opponent. My oppo-nent was able to twist out of my arms and I could not complete a pinning hold. I lost the match. Afterwards when I went to take my wrestling jersey off, I couldn’t move my arms and it hurt like hell. Bio-mechanical function has little correlation to amount of pain! Elbows: Elbows are not joints, as everyone in the general population seems to think. People talk of breaking someone’s elbow as if there is a special unit known as an elbow joint. A human elbow is the meeting of three bones held in place by muscles. The upper arm-bone, the Hume-rus meets the two lower bones the Radius and the Ulna. The junction of these bones, with all its woven and interconnected muscles is what is known as the Elbow. What we all know as “The Elbow” and which protrudes when the arm is bent, is actually the end of these bones. This pro-trusion is the twin base of the Humerus and the top process of the Ulna. This protruding lip is a great target for hitting with a blunt weapon such as a stick or other percussive tool. The break-ing of this bone allows for the joint to slip bio-mechanically stopping the arm from bending. Due to the nerves that run through the channel of these connecting bones, the percussive strik-ing of the joint can impair the function of the elbow. The same damage to the nerves can impair or cease all function in the hands as well. Hitting the muscles that surround the joint may impair function but in all probability will only cause pain without cessation of function. The fingers, hand and forearm: The Filipino’s call it defanging the snake, or breaking the snake’s teeth, Sword-fighters of old called it “disarming” (literally!) and there are many cultures that used the concept of attack the attacking weapon. This is the first strike that one can apply to one’s opponent for the opponent willingly brings the weapon toward one’s defensive zone. Hitting the fingers of one’s opponent usually stops an attack. Fingers house lots of nerves,

ligaments and tendons and if damaged, fingers cannot be used till they are surgically re-paired. Fingers are no bigger than chicken legs and can easily be broken or cut off. Hitting them with sticks can break, shatter or crack the bones.

Hitting the hand back or front can stop function. Hitting the back extensors can cause severe damage, to muscles and the bone underneath, and stops the fingers from opening. Hitting the front or palm of the hand will damage the flexors causing the hand to open. There is a chance that the broken bones actually cut the muscles or allow the muscles to detach.

Note: Hitting the thumb can end the use of the hand immediately until the thumb is surgically repaired. Fingers don’t work well without an opposing digit to hold them in place. Hitting the thumb or fingers can cause breakage, dislocation or impairment from swelling.

31

The Forearm has many target areas unto itself and is an easy zone to reach: Hitting the muscles on the outside of the forearm damages the extensors, which uncurl or ex-tend the fingers. The nerve functions that control grasping are located on the inside as well. Hitting these muscles can cause the hand to open and stop function. The best targets of the fore-arms are the Ulna and Radius bones. They lie close to the surface and can easily be broken, chipped cracked or damaged causing the arms and hands to cease functioning. Ribs and Chest: The ribs and chest area seem to be a great target. This target however might be covered with muscles, breasts or protective clothing. Take a good look at any body builder, male or female and tell me how one is supposed to do bio-mechanical damage to anyone with all that natural armor made up of dense muscle tissue. The best rib target is the floating ribs be-cause it is very difficult to build any protective musculature over these skeletal parts. Not only that, the floating ribs are just that, “Floating” non-connected ribs that terminates in end pieces rather than joins into the whole rib cage. This makes them much easier to break and when bro-ken stop functionality including breathing! Thrusting into the ribs works almost as well as strik-ing for one can concentrate the strike into a small area such as the ribs, the sternum, or even the soft solar plexus. Legs and Hips: Striking the hips with a percussive blow sounds and looks better than its actual effect. The hips are too powerful, and too protected to land a blow within the actual flow of combat to stop an opponent. Hitting the connective tissue or the biggest muscle group a human has, our butts, with a percussive strike doesn’t do much as well. Can it? Yes, it is POSSIBLE but the probability of actually stopping someone is virtually nil. Hitting someone’s legs looks good but the legs are capable of taking numerous strikes before stoppage is achieved. Yes I know that one can demonstrate a stopping blow in a set or classroom situation but in combat with adrenaline flowing, it’s not going to happen. And we are looking for biomechanical im-pairment that actually causes STOPPAGE of function. So what do we aim for? The knees. The bony protrusion of the knees or a blow into the side of the knees where the tendons and liga-ments are easily accessible! Stop the bending of the knees or the ability to use the leg as a ful-crum and mobility stops. The ligaments and tendons of the knees are not made for impact. Ask any football player… Breaking the knee cap, the Patella or the joining site of the upper leg, the Femur with the lower legs two bones, the Fibula and the Tibia will stop an opponent. The inside of the lower leg, where the anterior surface of the Tibia is an exposed edge, (your shin-bone!) is a great place to strike. The bone itself and the accompanying nerve are very ac-cessible for striking! a hit here usually stops an opponent in their tracks. Sometimes a blow there, to the shin-bone, doubles an opponent up into a ball. All of these are good reactions for they bio-mechanically stop the incoming attack of one’s opponent. Percussive striking to an opponents feet or toes is very dependant on what kind of foot wear or lack of foot wear an opponent has on. Because of this mitigating factor, and the distance of the foot from one’s defensive tools, I would leave this target, the foot, to a personal decision at any given attack. I hope this has given you some actual thought as to how to stop an opponent! We must try to stop an opponent effectively and immediately to survive an attack. We study martial arts and

32

self defense to do so. Now we have actual targeting zones to aid in these studies! Filipino mar-tial arts especially Modern Arnis depend on the effective use of targeting zones! Remember a knife or edged tool can be use as a percussive tool at certain times while a percussive tool can NEVER be use as a cutting tool.

33

The Black Knight vs King Arthur scene is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This is a prefect example of real Bio Mechanical cutting and almost bio mechanical stoppage. My thanks to the Pythons!!

34

Modular Learning: it’s a left side –right brain thing Modular learning is set up from the perspective of a normal learning situation; that is how does a right-handed- left brain person see, understand and comprehend information. Most of us see things and use our dominant hand or side. It’s like using a toothbrush to brush one’s teeth; it is normally a simple task done with our right hand but a terrible experience with our left hand. Brushing our teeth with our opposite hand should simply be left handed, nothing complex, just a simple mirror image conversion: but what happens is we visualize brushing with our right hand while we do it with our left. We make it a right handed procedure but using our left hand. If this sounds backwards, well it is BACKWARDS. It’s an unnatural reaction in mechanics but a natural response in logic or within a dominant sided logic train. Professor Presas used to say “Bram, this is left to right, it doesn’t work the same, its sort of backwards” What it is, this use of one’s left hand or backwards motion is a small glimpse into being left handed. And not left handed in a sense of I’m a natural leftie and I live my life normally: but I’m left handed in a right handed world and I must do things NOT from a normal left handed perspective but form a right handed perspective. Left handers quickly learn no one cares about lefties. Hell, left handers are overall throughout the years only 10%-19% of the world. Cur-rently they are only 6% of the worlds population. Certainly not enough to effect how things are made to function. Door knobs turn the wrong way. Bottle caps turn the wrong way. Water fau-cets turn the wrong way. Everything and anything that turns, calibrates, moves, slides or func-tions is of course designed to make it easier for right handed people. What’s a lefty to do? The easiest and most common thing to do is as Professor Remy Presas used to say.”Go with the flow” which is by using one’s left hand to do right handed oriented jobs. That’s the cause for the MODULAR learning perspective. The ability to be left handed in a right handed world without losing one’s identity or uniqueness and without trying to become something one is not: right-handed. This is a different perspective from normal teaching... One regularly hears of the Instructor telling all to use their right hands or just to emulate the right handed instructor. Then the left handed people on their own try to reverse learn or reapply right hand left brain logic onto their left hand right brain logic centers and then chaos reigns supreme. Why? It’s very simple. Instead of how does it fit in a right handed world, lefties try to make the motion or learning set into a natural left handed response. In most situations a bit of chaos is OK, in self-defense or life altering situations chaos without understanding it an be a truly disastrous event… . There’s another reason we need to understand the relationship of left to right: we might need to use either of our hands at any time or both hands or to use our non dominant hand to accom-plish a certain task and the task appointed might be one of life or death. Most people never think of their other hand nor if forced to make any reasonable use of that other – off hand. And when the need comes up they find it impossible to do. Not so much left handers, they have been forced to understand and exist in a backwards environment, but a right hander under duress and made to use the other hand, the left hand, usually can’t do it and they then collapses under the stress. We need to be able to use our left hands to deal with right handed people and the structural alignment that occurs.

35

So that brings me to the use of BACKWARDS motion. It’s a way for left hander’s to compete and exist within the normal framework of a right handed situations and specific tasks but it allows a right hander to do what we logically would expect: use our left hand exactly as our right hand. Note: as stated before motion wise, in some cases bio-mechanically, Backwards is not the optimum solution. The optimum solution would be working in a mirror image or left to left, but intuitively and because of the framework of positioning and our orientating perspective of the world standard: right handedness we are forced to use backwards, left to right or the left hand doing right handed motions. Working in a backwards perspective makes Bio-Mechanical shut down usable in a left to right format. A normal left hander reacting to an incoming Right handed attack will be outside the attacking motion. That situation in a strict martial arts sense is an advanced, trained response that needs, depth perception, timing, distance and confidence: one is blending or phasing with one’s attacker and the motion. To damage or hurt the right handed attack one would be striking at the outside radials, bone and the extensors. None of these targets will get the response of many famed knife instructors claim of cut this and the opponent will immediately drop his weapon. Actually they will hold the weapon tighter because they now cannot open their hand: extensors are damaged or cut making it impossible for one to open or extend one’s fingers. Ex-tensors extend or open one’s fingers, flexors close one’s fingers. Cutting the radials and exten-sors ensures that the knife or weapon is not going to drop!

36

37

38

39

40

41

Decision points and Switch points Within the structure of Modular and it’s drills exist certain reference or identification points that allow the practitioner / user to move from high to low, low to high or to skip a beat, albeit “steal the beat” from the other or simply have an interweaving thread. (1-2-2 is a connecting thread, a unit of Modular that connects two completely different modules whereas an inter-weaving thread is one that skips a beat and becomes a new module.) Interweaving is impresario, sensitivity and non rational response. It’s not a set in stone or stationary reference point like a connecting thread but a moving reference point: it weaves into the action. It’s a reaction point: one’s personal reaction or your perspective on that reaction to a particular situation or interac-tion with an opponent. These reference points are called Decision points and Switch points. A decision point is where one has a choice of options and one consciously decides to follow a certain action, either within the stated flow or to move to another different flow. One “Decides to just do it”. It’s the Yang part of Modular. A Switch point is where one has picked a course of action and then encounters a barrier to that action and one “switches” to another course of action. This switching action might entail passing, grabbing, checking or redirecting to accomplish this barrier removal and switching. It’s the Yin part, the sensitivity part of Modular. An example of a Decision point might be from a Number #1 strike. As the Number #1 strike is thrown, or attack initiated, one has the choice of responding with either a high line 1-2-2 action or a low line 1-4-12 action. This is a conscious decision: which line of counter attack does one want to follow. A Switch is a response to an action not a conscious decision. An example of a Switch point would be one chooses to counter a number #1 strike with a low line counter num-ber #4, upon striking the #4 the opponent counters the #4 with a full pressure block: basically throwing a barrier into the path of the countering #4. Upon the contact of the barrier / block one clockwise opens one’s knife arm upwards clearing the path to a high line attack. (This motion is a basic Sinawali or Hubud motion as used in FMA.) As the opponent’s arm enters the central column of one’s defense one insert’s one’s checking hand: With a passing check of one’s empty hand one controls the opponent’s attacking arm, cuts the arm from a closed to open position ( this reference point is identical to the position of the “closed 2 Position within the drill of 1-2-2) and re-counters with a high line attack of a number #1. A Switch has occurred: from a low line counter to a high line attack on the opposite side. Of course within the same scenario could be the #1 attack is thrown and the block check counter #4 takes place and the barrier comes as the opponent steps AWAY from the #4 as idf going to follow 1-4-12..by cutting the #4 and countering the #12… so sensitivity says “follow it in”..so as the opponent steps back blocking the #4 and cutting the #4..You follow the #4 in.stepping with your left, the arm rises as in Hubud or Sinawalui and instead of checking to a trap behind your knife, you reach in front of your knife, trapping the opponents' arm from the outside and feed a #2 counter to the opponent….

42

Both motions / scenarios follow the axiom of : 1) Check to the out side 2) Trap to the inside 3) Pass everything in the middle: pass to a trap or pass to a check Other but not all of the basic Decision points within Modular are: Decide #2 open: High line feed counter #2 (1-2-2) Decide#2 open: Low line feed counter #4 (1-2-2) Decide #2 open: Low line feed counter #12 (1-2-2) Decide #4: Low line feed counter #12 (1-4-12) Decide#4: High line feed Counter #2 (1-4-12) Decide #4(within passing) High /Low line feed counter #1 (1-4-12-where #1 is passed not checked) Decide #1: Low line feed counter #5 (1-4-12) (5-2-4 switch 4) Decide #2 closed: Low line feed counter #3 (2-3-12) Decide #2 closed: High / Low line feed #1 (2-3-12) Decide #3: Low line feed counter #12 (2-3-12) Decide #3: Low line feed counter #5 (2-3-12) Decide #3: High Low feed counter #1 (2-3-12) Decide #3: Low line feed counter #3 (2-3-12) Switches can occur after Decisions: Switch #1: low: 1-4-12 Switch #1: high: 1-2-2 Switch #4: 5-2-4, 1-4-12 Switch #3: Three #3 is actually stopped and it’s the counter cut that is “switched” 5-2-4 makes a great switching point on the #4. It becomes a regular #4 switch...on the switch and subsequent wedging and feed of a #2, the opponent catches the #2 and feeds a #1 instead of a #3. The defender catches the one as a normal incoming #1 attack, but the counter is a thrust-ing # 5 rather than a sweeping # 4. This leads to a response to the #5 low slant ( wing) and a counter #2. Counter #2 is blocked and a low Slant feeds into a #4...Here comes the switch so instead of a cut and cover into a #5, one “switches” and the and the #1, #4 wedge #2 all over again… of course it’s the partners turn! These options, switch and decision add a secondary dimension to the basic structure of Modu-lar. Modular is pretty straight forward, opposing forward triangles with a connecting horizontal bridge: Simple straight line geometry. Decision effects high – low and positional response, while Switching adds something new, basic circular rotation is injected into the mix. Circular and linear actions become companions. Circular motion is used to redirect the straight line bar-rier and move high to low or low to high. Within each circle is a straight line known as radiuses, straight lines originating from the circumference known as tangents, and triangular legs from inside circumference to inside circumference.

43

There is no limit to the numbers or frequency of the Switching as “switching” can be one switch followed directly by another: each stealing back the beat or one person “switching” beats as multiple barriers are encountered.

44

45

46

Teaching Modular train the Trainer: standard nomenclature aka Bram speak. A universal way of stating the obvious: “a Rose is a Rose” The point of Standard Nomenclature or as I affectionately call it “Bram Speak” is to enable immediate and easily recognizable terminology in a teaching / learning situation. With multiple names and symbols everything becomes chaos: an untenable situation. It also eliminates the poor habit of saying or repeating “do this, or use this, or when that happens..” To preserve continuity of thought and action one must have a simple and effective labeling system. Human beings tend to label things so that we own them intellectually. Labeling something also allows one to avoid the telephone game where each time something is repeated or acted out it subtly changes so that after several generations the original idea, concept or action has transformed itself into something completely different from the original intent. With Standard Nomencla-ture -SN –Bram Speak one’s base language means nothing for it is substituted with a new sim-plified base language or dialect which has been specifically designed for the situation. With SN Bram Speak People from all cultures and languages can easily communicate and teach each other without misunderstanding because of this simplified commonality of communication. Modular: Tactical or Gunting /LLC/CRMIPT: motion made into easily learned sets of three moves, A use of modules of motion, set of moves made into a Module of learning

Perspectives: A way of looking at something: understanding that point of view effects understanding, use and perception; the alternate dimensions of combat Standard: Right to right Backwards: left to Right Mirror: left to left Backward Backwards: Right to Left Equal Forward: both parties in Forward grip (tip up) Unequal: one party in Forward the other in Reverse Unequal: one party in Reverse the other in Forward Equal Reverse: both parties in Reverse grip (tip down) ICC: Intercept Check /Control, Counter SDR: Self Defense Response TRT: Tactical Response Tool ROC: Reactive Opponent Control SDA: Single Direct Attack PCAT: Principle, Concept, Application, Technique Stepping: the act of taking a simple step, linear single steps Body shifting: Body rotation with one’s stance: moving off center line: pivoting on the

balls of one’s feet. Decision point: time in space where one acts in set way after decision Switch Point: time in space where one acts to change direction and action to go around a

barrier The Black Knight Syndrome / BKS: Bio mechanical shut down of opponent. Arms and

limbs are targeted and shut down or impaired, leaving torso and head. Bio Mech: Bio-Mechanical stoppage: the shutting down of organic structural function.

Form follows function: shut down form and function fails.

47

Measured Force: The proper use of the force continuum: force used as needed not wanted or desired by emotion

Checking: the touch or Braille method of simple control of motion usually of the limbs 1-4-12: Module #no1: the base gross motor function module of motion: the motion of

Low line from the Open side Low Line: motions below one’s arms. The natural swing of one’s arms / the most natural

response motion of anyone’s arms. Actually a High to low motion determined by the actual hinging of human arms:

1-2-2: Module #no 2: the base “trained” gross motor function module of motion: the mo-tion of High line from the Open side. AKA The Connecting Thread

Connecting Thread: A module based on gross motor action / motion that allow one to move from one Module to another because of similar starting points or reference points.

High Line: motions over one’s arms. The trained swing of one’s arms 2-3-12: Module #no 3: the base gross motor function module of motion: the motion of

Low line from the Closed side Patchwork Quilt: description of how Modules are put together and shows that each piece

is identical yet can be arranged to express personal preferences. Like pieces of cloth) techniques or methodology) sown together to make a Quilt (Combat) each piece is not unique but its pattern is totally unique.

Red Cart /White Horse: to describe the non-changing of the elements of teaching and the Modular methodology. Like the Telephone game played by children. Red cart with a white horse becomes a gilded chariot drawn by a purple dragon as the story is told over and over, person to person around a room.

5 Entries: 5 Basic motions or Modules to deal with split entry situations based on Horizontal / Vertical Response: HVR 00 Base motion:: Horizontal /Vertical: opponent does nothing: HIT HV 1: Horizontal / Vertical, opponent checks, Slap, HIT HVCH 2: Horizontal / Vertical, opponent pushes, grab, HIT HVGH 3: Horizontal / Vertical, opponent grabs, Elbow wave HIT HVGEWH 4: Horizontal / Vertical, opponent clears, follow, HIT HVCLFH 5: Horizontal Vertical, opponent bails, follow, takedown HVBFTD Horizontal / Vertical: HVR: base motion to intercept and remove opponent’s barrier

while stepping in; occupying opponent’s space. Stirring: using one’s tool or hands to counter Murphy by redirecting the attacking limb /

taking a straight attack into a countering circle 5-2-4: : Module #no 4: the sub set gross motor function module of motion for thrusting:

the motion of Low line from the Open side: Comparison of high and low thrusting Indexing: a set point on all tools allowing for rotation from forward grip to reverse grip: a

point made into an actual functional device on Bram designed tools. Patented as a function in fixed blades and folders.

Simple Single Sinawali: SSS: the basic bio mechanical motion of one’s arms. Filipino Arnis’ motion of High, Low, High. Same motion as Wing Chun’s Wu Sao, Pak Sao, Fuk Sao module. Or Kung Fu’s Chuen Sao motion.

Flow: the ability to exist between action and reaction. To be able to find the connecting bridges between motions.

48

KinOP: Kinetic Opening: the use of energy in motion to open a folding tool such as a Folding knife on all Bram designed tools. Like a turnstile @ the ball park or Subway (underground) Patented

Flexor: Tendons and muscles used to contract or flex the fingers or limbs. Primary target zone. Inside of forearm, back of leg, Achilles tendon

Extensor: Tendons and Muscles used to extend the fingers or limbs, secondary target @ best. Outside of forearm, front of leg.

Gunting: Scissoring action, limb destruction, escalation in force: the name of Bram Frank design folder

EDC: Every Day Carry SHO: Single Handed Opener CRMIPT: Close Range Medium ImPact Tool, the CRMIPT tool is medium impact, empty

hand is low and Baton is high impact. CHAOS: true combat, unorganized, chaotic, random, without order rhyme or reason Organized CHAOS: Structured methodology of training to approximate Chaos situations

and recognize Chaos. The ability to use Decision, switch points and connecting threads

Structured Chaos: actual drills and use within training methodology to give simulated chaotic situations within structure of learning and safety

Principle: Basic law of motion, function or form: unchanging, immutable. Principles such as: form follows function: OPEN-CLOSE Mankind has fought thousands of wars, millions of personal conflicts and never have two in-stances been the same. Therefore that variable IS the constant and it is the first principle of combat: Combat itself is mutable and cannot be contained or structured. With this first principle of combat established, the way one teaches or learns takes on new meaning. Since the principle is one of constant change then one cannot learn set responses to a combative situation. The response most likely will not match the situation, which in combat could lead to serious problems such as death. This gives rise to the second principle of combat: One cannot learn a pre-recorded response to a spontaneous situation. Human combat involves actual human bodies. A direct confrontation between people on a physical level Human bodies are built that form follows function. A human body is a wonder of construction able to do many tasks as long as it conforms to our actual structure and form. Humans are bound by this structural restriction. For example we cannot look directly behind us, our arms cross over our bodies in front, not behind, our legs hinge and bend one way. The list of what we cannot do is long but what is amazing is what we are capable of. This gives us the third principle of combat: Human combative actions and reactions must be within the bounds of actual - natural physical response. Combat is very stressful, as is any confrontation. The human mind and body prepare for this by shutting down unessential parts and honing in on self- preservation skills. These skills are at the instinct level. They are referred to as gross motor skills while the higher functions the body shuts down are called fine motor skills. This gives the fourth principle of combat: Combat must be simple

49

With these principles to guide one, learning combative arts takes on new meaning. To learn about combat yet to violate these principles gives rise to unnatural conflict. The conflict is that naturally we want to respond in one mode but are taught to or forced to respond in another, a pre-conceived mode. Humans have an inborn natural response that can be honed for combative response or can be shaped into an artificial copy of those that teach them. Learning must echo the natural response and ignore the ego of creating another in ones image. This is where by teaching, the teacher gains understanding of these principles, which then can be taught to the students. Awareness must come to first to those that are teaching. It is part of the learning curve. Again to state the obvious: learning must be simple. It must be based on simple principles: Easy to learn, easy to use, easy to teach. “Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it…Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being changed in it, and obey the principle without being bound by it.” Bruce Lee, 1967

Concepts Conceptual motions or ways to use principles Labels such as Sinawali, Hubud, Redonda, Lubud et al are all ways of labeling concepts of motion to show specific weaving concepts of the principle of OPEN-CLOSE. How to use the striking motions Is the motion full stemmed, shortened arc, in and out, curving, glancing: following the idea of “how to deliver a blow” the conceptual motion of a specific type of striking.

Conceptual Use Within each conceptual motion is actual usage: Such as the tools themselves. Each tool may use the same motion but within that motion is the actual “How the tool is used” which refers to the Conceptual usage. There are three types of usage: Empty hand, Percussive and Edged. The three are NOT interchangeable. How to strike, hit or cut Use of the actual Striking: straight punch or thrust, Cross, hook, jab, in and back (wetik), full swing (labtik), snapping or fanning (abaniko), slicing, hacking, tip rip, thrusting, chopping etc. The tool changes the actual usage, Percussive tools hit, (matter compactors) edged tools slice and thrust, (matter separators), Hands grab, hit, or deflect – touch.

Application: Applied Use Application is the act of actually using the Conceptual motion and Use within the context of reality or actual combat or physical interaction between people. Applied use is the specific ways to apply the Concepts to an actual event or happening. It is the actual use with the reality of combat and it being applied within each person’s perspective: Modular under duress.

50

A patchwork quilt is a quilt in which the top layer consists of pieces of fabric sewn together to form a design. The quilting design does not necessarily follow the patchwork design.

Originally, this was to make full use of left-over scraps of fabric, but now fabric is often bought specially for a specific design. Quilting was a very popular early American pastime, particularly in the Midwest, where quilting circles were a com-mon social pastime for women. Annual town fairs generally included a quilting bee, to award excellence in quilting. Handmade quilts were a very common wed-ding gift for young couples, and were often mentioned specifically in wills due to their sentimental significance. It was not uncommon, in early American culture, for quilts to reflect a mosaic of a woman's life or family, often including swatches of material from memorable events such as pieces of a wedding gown or a child's baptismal garment. The Amish people are famous for their geometric patchwork designs with independent / unique patterns and quilting; typical motifs include floral designs and heart shapes. The Amish and Mennonite women of the Pennsyl-vania Dutch country have been creating exquisite quilted masterpieces since the mid-1800s (and some believe even earlier). The Amish quilts are an expression of frugality. They not only serve a practical, functional purpose, but serve as a form of entertainment as well. Many quilts in today's society are not used as actual quilts but pieces of fabric art to be hung on walls for display.

Martial arts can be taught or expressed as patchwork quilts: many times each piece, such as a technique or set of techniques all unique unto itself are put into one place by an instructor as he or she collects this martial knowledge. All that holds this groups of individual techniques or sets of techniques together in con-junction with the other disparate parts are the wishes and desires of the instructor and the over all parameters of that style. Modular has been designed to be a type of patchwork quilt of motion that allows for individual freedoms of expression and yet each Module or piece of quilt is built on common elements that are accessible to all who use the methodology. The base Modules are always formed the same way with the same basic pieces. When sewn together by connecting threads of motion an overall quilt is constructed that covers many of the techniques, applications and concepts of modular, each quilt reflecting the individual practitioners personal preferences in use and perspectives on direct application. Modular has quilts built on motion of 1-4-12. 2-3-12, 5-2-4 with the connecting thread of 1-2-2 and colored by Standard, Backwards, Mirror and Backward Backwards and accents of Equal Forward , Unequal Forward & Reverse and Equal Reverse.

51

Red, Yellow, Blue , Black , and White Separate colors: the 5 basic blocks of color from which all colors can be made: the rainbow in essence.

Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White: the building blocks of color. Separate colors: basic blocks of color put into patterns of repeating color. Like pieces of patchwork, be it single color or many colors, all these patterns are unique and maintain one’s personality.

52

Single blocks of color or combined colors into one block. When sewn together in an order a pattern will appear, repeating as of-ten as one wants it to: but it still is a pattern of the basic color blocks, no complimentary colors, no tints, no shades. It allows for personality preferences, individual input and an infinite va-riety while preserving the core primary concepts: red, yellow, blue, black and white.

53

Analyze Patchwork Quilt Blocks We can categorize patchwork quilt blocks by the gridded arrangement of their patches, such s four-patch, nine-patch and five-patch. Those terms reveal how a block is arranged, and once you understand how to analyze their bone structures, designing a quilt is a breeze. Imagine a grid of squares as your starting point -- like a piece of graph paper. Each grid can be sub-divided to create more grids, but the basic framework of the initial grid remains the same. Patchwork quilt blocks are exactly the same, and with a little practice you'll instantly recognize their structure.

Four Patch Quilt Blocks Four-patch quilt blocks are one of the most commonly used designs. They initially contain four equal squares arranged in a grid of two across and two down. You can see that basic grid in the left and middle illustra-tions above. Four patch grids in the block on the right have been subdivided, but the block's original four-patch structure is still recognizable. Most four-patch quilt blocks have subdivided units. Take a look at some of the patterns below to see if you recognize their original grid.

Martial Art blocks within Modular are built the same way with a never ending progression. Each block or piece of quilt such as 1-4-12, Standard, Equal forward can be repeated several times or placed next to a similar block such as 1-4-12 Backwards, Equal forward or placed next to a completely different quilt piece such as 2-3-12 Standard Equal forward. The connecting thread of these pieces or blocks of motion would be 1-2-2 in either Backwards or Standard Equal forward.

54

55

The basic colors Red Yellow Blue Black White are the same for everyone but the varieties and complexities of patterns made is infinite: each personality is allowed to be expressed even though the color pallet is restricted. This is why the training methodology works: it’s a form of organized Chaos...but it is unique to each person while following the rule of Red cart /White horse. Everyone has a chance to express their personality while maintain-ing the basic principle of actions / motions. Because of this it is repeatable over many generations of teaching without degradation.

56

57

58

59

60

HORIZONTAL – VERTICAL: teaches using tools as they appear in no set order. Teaches distance, zoning and hit with clearing. Teaches response to common counters. Teaches to grab, control and restrain within the flow of usage Teaches gross motor skill usage & tools Conceptual motion: Open-Close: scissoring with GUNTING. Basic motion: Horizontal to Vertical, 1) Horizontal to vertical, check-horizontal disengagement Pak-sao- (slap hand)

- with hit 2) Horizontal to vertical, check-Lop-sao-(grabbing hand )disengagement to out-

side hit & left arm arm-bar 3) Horizontal to vertical, check- left hand grab checking hand. circling elbow

center-lock takedown, butt strike to head. 4) Horizontal to vertical, check with downward pressure, Jao-sao - ( circling

hand) strike to left side of head. 5) Horizontal to vertical, hard check-zoning to outside, and circling to arm bar

vertical tendon strike ( right arm) Horizontal to vertical, check hand removed & replaced by Right check, thumb

lock-hand trap too arm bar (right arm) Horizontal to vertical, check- lower butt grab on hand, upward arm bar, switch

hands left arm arm-bar takedown

61

Basic Classroom Training with Gunting System Tools 5 Ways of Entry of the Gunting There are only 5 basic ways for a person to respond to entering on a person. We learn to deal with those 5 ways from the hardest starting point to understand. A Split entry: Bad guy comes between our arms; this is a usual position in the real life encounter. CRMIPT : Close Range Medium ImPact Tool Control Response Medium ImPact Tool These are the 5 Ways of Entry of the Gunting Basic: Horizontal –Vertical HV #1 Horizontal Vertical- check- Slap & hit HVCSH #2 Horizontal Vertical – Push – Grab under& hit HVPGH #3 Horizontal Vertical – Grab- wave elbow & hit HVGWH #4 Horizontal Vertical – Clear – Travel & hit HVCTH #5 Horizontal Vertical – Bail Out – Travel & hit HVBTH We Step up with #1,#2,#4,#5- we step up left We Step with #3- we step up right Stepping is kept simple and supporting role and is done without regard to environment and to enhance usage of the tool. Stepping includes body shifting and zoning. Reflex Drill: to understand the 5 entries and its changing of modular perspectives we use the Reflex drill. This reflex drill helps us under-stand different orientation between good guy –bad guy: Outside entry: we are outside the bad guy’s arms Inside entry: we are inside the bad guy’s arms Bad guy keeps putting up a barrier to our defense. How do we get rid of the barrier and restrain, control or trap the bad guy? We either slap or grab it away...and enter with a counter. The counter entry and deflection is a thrusting motion: Bil Sao.

62

63

64

45

Common Sense Self-Defense Street Combat

Knife Sales • Wholesale • Seminar SchedulingOnline Training • Instructor Resource

www.CSSD-SC.com

Bram Frank CSSD Founding Director / Knife Designer

727.458.8892bram@cssd-sc.comarnisman@aol.com

Mish Handwerker CSSD Chief Director mish@cssd-sc.com

66