Page 35 - Martial Science Magazine Oct/2014 #5
P. 35

their class, the pace slows down and the class is    As a fighter it is great to get pushed outside your
generally disorganized. Whether or not you are       comfort zone. Having to switch sides and compen-
even cognisant of it when you get tired and sloppy   sate for that discomfort is something that every
as a teacher your class sees it and soon they go     fighter should go through. When I was competing
somewhere else.                                      I can tell you that I was constantly trying to stay
The way Northshore Academy is structured pre-        in my comfort zone while pushing my opponent
vents this. Whether it was intentional or not, it    from his. Largely, I was very successful. However,
provides a great environment that is full of energy  despite this there were times that I was pushed
to learn from.                                       well outside where I wanted. Being able to adapt
WHAT DID I LEARN: Between the three classes          is critical in these situations and I really felt doing
I learned a ton of new tips to bring up my tech-     the Jun Fan helps develop those skills.
niques. Certainly the class that I learned “most”    WHAT WAS AWESOME: I really enjoyed the
from was the Jeet Kune Do/ Jun Fan stick fighting.   approach to the Muay Thai and Krav Maga.
We hopped straight into double sticks and I had to   During the Muay Thai class we worked on range
get my coordination down. I have always favoured     drills. As a tall guy I love fighting at a distance
certain sides when fighting or sparring. While fi-   and making use of my long limbs, however, this
ghting with my hands I almost always fight left leg  in itself wasn’t special. What made the drill ama-
in front switching when I did Historical European    zing was the instructor teaching it was a ‘swarm
Martial Arts I brought right leg forward. Suddenly,  fighter” meaning he likes to get in close and
I had to contend with ambidextrous drills and was    overwhelm opponents with close range techni-
pushed to get my body into alignment to intercept    ques. Regardless, he realised that every fighter is
strikes using either leg.                            different and needs to develop their own skills.

I am reminded that in a real fight my hand would be  Working in a round kick as part of a multi-strike
gone.                                                combo.

                                                     I have met many instructors that don’t teach to
                                                     the student and rather teach to themselves. They
                                                     understand what made them good and that is all
                                                     they teach. The problem with teaching this way

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