Gear for Weapon Sparring

 I am sometimes asked what gear should a group use for weapon sparring. For helmets you basically have two options, karate helmets with plastic face shields or fencing helmets. Maybe there's a better brand (like perhaps for Kudo,) but the one I have used is Tiger Claw:

But fencing masks are the standard if you want to train to participate in gatherings, fencing masks do not have breathing holes that sparring knives might slip through, and fencing masks have built in neck protection. Blue Gauntlet seems to have the best value and appropriate protection for martial arts weapon sparring:

For knives the best value for safety and some level of realism has been the Cold Steel Hard Rubber Tanto for over a decade now:

There are many new stick brands and some of them may be better than Action Flex, but historically Action Flex has been the highest quality sparring sticks... look for the ones specifically branded as "Escrima," which I believe were endorsed by Dog Brothers in the past:

For sparring swords and machetes, there is only one brand I know of that makes sparring weapons about the real weight of a sword that are safe to spar with. The best sparring machete I know of is the Nihonzashi brand Padded Wakizashi, and they have three other swords as well (Katana, Odachi and Longsword): 

Now as for other weapons such as staffs, pole arms, axes, hammers, tomahawks, etc. unfortunately I have no recommendations, weapon sparring gear manufacturing isn't really there yet. For example the two sparring spears I have used the most are the Action Flex staff which is too floppy and light to be considered anywhere near like fighting with a real spear, and the Naginata from Calimacil, that has a latex skin that is incompatible with fencing masks, and is shockingly expensive. Right now it seems like our best hope is that Nihonzashi will start making a sparring Naginata, but that hasn't happened yet. 

A final note is that we need hand protection while weapon sparring. The issue is blood borne pathogens; at Tres Espadas every sparring weapon we have used could cause an abrasion of some kind on the hand, especially around the fingernails. Tough guys who want to feel hand pain when sparring should at least use work gloves. We have been using cheap street hockey gloves lately:

Self Defense Evolution

I and some like minded individuals have started a new Martial Arts facebook group called "Self Defense Evolution." As a martial arts consumer advocate I am very concerned about big picture trends in the martial arts community, and take very seriously issues a lot of martial arts instructors want to ignore:

1. Are beginners getting enough free sparring time to develop physical self defense skills?
2. Are the free sparing practices both safe and realistic enough?
3. Are the full ranges of techniques being advocated for actually being taught? (For example if your grappling instructor says to "just run" against a knife, is he teaching you dive rolling over fences so you don't get stabbed the first time you run into an obstacle?)
4. Are the range of techniques being taught appropriate for the two key self defense scenarios people are worried about? (These would be being attacked my multiple opponents or by a knife.)

All Martial Arts are in a constant state of evolution even if they don't admit it. I hope you will join us in Self Defense Evolution if your are interested in this change and what we need martial arts to be going forward.

Do Not Stretch Like Me

A few people have asked me about my stretching routine since I posted about stretching. So I will cover that in this post, but first...

Stretch as I say, not as I stretch

First, I don't have formal education in athletics or coaching sports or as a personal fitness trainer or anything like that. You would be wise to listen to anyone who is a more qualified expert than me. As with any exercise program you should check with your doctor before you start doing it.

Second, and I can't emphasize this enough, the stretching I do is:

1. NOT the stretching I did to become as flexible as I am.
2. NOT safe or smart for anyone do to do... I have pulled hip flexor muscles doing this numerous times.

Third, my general recommendation for building flexibility - and what I should be doing and mostly am not doing - is using dynamic high kick stretches like Ax Kick stretch or Cheer Leader Front Kick stretches for warm ups, and using front splits and straddle/side splits as cool down stretches:

1. Dynamic kicking stretches engage your cardio and thus fit in well as part of a warm up routine. Splits don't get you high kicks so much as the dynamic kicking stretches do. I recently had to start doing dynamic kicking stretches again because my left leg couldn't kick above groin level even though I was bringing my head to my left knee in the front splits on a regular basis! Not only are these dynamic kick stretches easier to do than the splits, for martial artists they are much more important.
2. Static stretching like the splits over time help you maintain mobility and build over all flexibility, BUT they can REDUCE your muscular output for hours after doing them! So they are VERY good for you to do, but NOT immediately before you work out! Static stretches like Yoga at the end of a work out can do a lot to reduce muscle soreness, and that is where the splits belong in your workout, at the end!

My Hypocrisy

Now the gory details of my actual stretching routine (see also 2nd video in my last blog post.) I usually do this cold (you should always warm up first) after standing mediation or sitting in a chair for hours working on a computer:

1. I start in the side/straddle splits, feet flat on the floor with my hands on the foor, with my my arms straight and my hips at my shoulder level or higher, like the beginning of a diver bomber.
2. At this point the biggest challenge is to try to keep my lower back straight with by rear sticking out a little, this sets up the angle in my hips to do the splits right.
3. Breathing is obviously important.
4. What I have to do here is focus on relaxing the muscles being stretched. If I had to describe this, it's like using breath to hollow out the inner thigh and groin muscles, and as they feel empty they relax and stretch further.
5. From here my rear is going down and backwards.
6.  In this phase I may do some tricks to get unstuck if my muscles start to freeze up, which I will get into later below*... about 90% of the time I don't need to.
7. The next step is that I can feel my calf muscles touching the floor even though I am not in a full side split yet.
8. At this point my posture changes significantly. First my toes now point more up towards the sky (than in front of me when I first started the split.) Second I try to get my shoulders and head up above my hips as much as I can, getting more body weight on the muscles I am stretching.
9. At this point I might do unstuck tricks*.
10. Once I can feel my groin is flat on the ground, I know my side/straddle split isn't quite done, because I am still in too much of a v-shape, so now I work on getting my hips forward, until I am in a full side split.
11. Now I rotate my upper body and hips to go into a front split on which ever side of my body feels stiffest that day while doing the side/straddle splits. Usually this involves my hips coming more off the ground, so that when I get to my front split there's some more stretching that happens as I get my groin back in touch with the floor. At this point my upper body is held up by my arms.
12. Once I am in the full front split, I use my arms to make my back 90 degrees to the floor as much as possible, and then take my arms off the floor and try to lean backwards a little.
13. Then I lean forward and grab my forward foot with both hands and slowly pull my head to my knee or shin.
14. Then I lean back into the front split.
15. Now I use my arms to pick my group up off of the ground a few inches, and then repeat steps 12-14 again on that same side.
16. On the third repetition I have one hand grab the other wrist behind my back, and pull by wrists towards the ceiling and I lower my head towards my knee or shin.
17. I then use my arms to elevate my groin off the ground and rotate back into the middle/straddle splits, and repeat steps 7-10 above so that I am in a full straddle/middle split again.
18. Now I repeat steps 11-17 for the other side that I haven't stretched yet. 
19. So far you will see I have done the side/straddle splits three times, and the front splits 6 times (3 times on each side.)
20. From the third side split I lean back into a sitting position and end with a butterfly/tailor seat stretch, which I do 2 or three repetitions of (this is because I was losing mobility to cut my toe nails even though I was doing my spits regularly, and this cured that problem.)

*There are three tricks I use to get unstuck. If I have been stretching every single day like I should, then I rarely have to use these, but sometimes my slug-like commitment to fitness means the only conditioning I did that day was standing mediation, shame on me. Here's the tricks to get unstuck:

• Transition to front splits early on whatever side of my body is giving me the most resistance in the side/straddle spilt. This is ONLY step 11 and 17 above (NOT 12-16,) and it does not replace any of the front splits further in the routine.
• Quit and start over. It's too painful, I am too lazy, so I just give up, relax for 60 seconds and try again. I am always surprised by what a Ninja I am on the second try.
• This is the dark magick secret you are looking for with the splits: While in the split, you flex all of your muscles being stretched as hard as you possibly can without changing what position your body is in. As you are finishing your flex, breath out relaxing your muscles you were just flexing. By flexing, we get an opportunity to INTENTIONALLY RELAX afterwords. The flex should happen for at least several seconds. This can be repeated a few times. This method has a high risk of injury, so it is only for people who have been stretching daily for a while to make bigger flexibility gains, and has to be done VERY cautiously... even then it is risky.

That's my routine, and I have warned and forewarn you not to do it (any ax kick stretching I do is when I am practicing martial arts.) I have been crystal clear on what you should do instead of this routine. If you don't listen to my warning, I suggest you have them play this song for you to think of me on your way to the hospital as you pray that you might be able to do martial arts again one day:

Stretching

 I have been doing full splits almost every time I work out since 1990. Here's a picture of me warming up for the 2018 Pacific North West Warrior Tipon Tipon gathering:

If you want to be able to do this when you are almost 50 like me, pay attention: 

1. Clean living ages well - smoking, drinking, drugs etc. do nothing for you that you can't get from fruit, while wasting your money. 
2. Stretch every day for 10 minutes. 
3. There are two very specific stretches that I have found the most useful, which are Axe Kick Stretches (a dynamic stretch) and the splits (a static stretch.) Of the two, the Axe Kick Stretch is easier and more important, and it is a decent warm-up exercise:

But the more coveted stretch is the splits, which is probably a better cool down exercise for you than a warm up exercise. I have just about much experience doing the splits as anyone else alive on Earth, but I recently found a YouTube video that even helped ME do splits with less pain and effort:

How to Fix BJJ

A combat sport is a competitive game that teaches skills that could come in handy if you have to fight to defend yourself, like boxing for example. As a combat sport IBJJF grappling is fine, but BJJ promises to be a more comprehensive self defense system: 

Here is a clear path on how BJJ can fulfill that promise of being more than just a combat sport:

1. White belts should complete the basic self defense instruction you offer ( Pink Belt, Gracie Combatives, etc.) so that all higher belts understand your basic self defense strategies. When white belts are rolling (free sparring,) to prevent injury and provide the most important skills for beginners, the white belts and anyone they are rolling with should going for positions only (not working on submissions outside of completing the self defense instruction.) 
2. Blue belts should focus on learning submissions and take downs. Anyone not rolling with a white belt should start standing up with the goal of submissions on the ground.
3. Purple belts should develop a working knowledge of striking, through safe free sparring. This does not have to cover everything seen in MMA, but it should include strikes seen as key to making BJJ work in MMA, including curriculum on how to fight while standing up.
4. Brown belts should practice knife grappling. A knife grappling round should start standing up, with one sparring partner being an attacker with a safety knife and the other sparring partner being a defender trying to take that knife away from the attacker, while the attacker is trying to land as many slashes and stabs on the defender as possible. Once the defender is able to take the knife away from the attacker, the two sparring partners should switch roles and continue. This both develops real knife disarming skills, and prepares them to use a knife, which is another option for dealing with multiple attackers besides running away. 

This guarantees that each black belt has more comprehensive training for self defense, and may improve student retention as new material is introduced at each belt level. As I have said from the beginning All Martial Arts Change, and if BJJ does not continue to evolve than it will soon be surpassed by what are now considered lesser martial arts:

Whykido

 Why try to functionalize Aikido instead of do a more "practical" martial art (the most common suggestion being BJJ and/or kumite point fighting)? Because your alternative you have suggested isn't going to get the Aikidoka what they are striving for. There are two issues here: first is technique, and second is ideology.

There are three ranges of Aikido technique. 

1. First there is stand-up grappling, what they would call "clinch" in MMA or Muay Thai. In the case of Aikido it is paramount that they stay on their feet, because it is a self defense oriented system (rather than a pit fighting system) so that they must take the possibility of multiple attackers - who may not yet even be identified - seriously. The only traditional unarmed Budo with this exact objective is Sumo, and Sumo influence on Aikido is no coincidence. This type of grappling is common in other internal martial arts in the form of Push Hands and San Shou.
2. Second there is knife-range techniques. These include both disarm techniques AND attacking techniques. On one hand being attacked with a knife is one of the most important self defense scenarios to train for, while on the other hand pulling a knife is one of the most practical ways to fight off multiple attackers.
3. Third there is a walking stick self defense system deeply encoded into Aikido, for the obvious reason that a walking stick is one of the most practical non-lethal ways to defend yourself known to humanity.

More practical martial arts might teach the physical skills needed to do type 1 technique, but only Muay Thai, Sumo and Push Hands fighting actually tries to implement it - so the BJJ, Kumite Point Fighting or whatever else you have probably suggested most likely will not suffice. Sure everyone needs to cross train in grappling if for no other reason than to learn how to escape from the ground, but the only systems that even score grappling escapes are Collegiate Wrestling and Combat Glima, and ground escapes just so happen to be beyond the scope of what most Aikidoka are training for:

And virtually no other martial arts are concerned about ranges 2 and 3 while encouraging free sparring with this kind of technique. A lack of free sparring is the whole problem with Aikido in the first place, so adding your non-sparring dogwater won't do them any good. Alternatives-to-Aikido generally do not combine all three ranges of Aikido technique together in one place as Aikido does.

Beyond technique, Aikido has a specific pacifist-lite ideology of trying to bring humanity together in peace and harmony - and even has it's on form of spirituality as it is rife with supernatural theories on Qi. Like BJJ or almost any other belt-ranked martial art, if the practitioner does not have some other religious system they use to morally reflect and improve their behavior, Aikido often fills that void. Asking an Aikidoka to instead become a Judoka isn't ideologically any more practical than asking a Christian to become a Muslim, and it will likewise have a low frequency of success.

While I have incorporated a small fraction of the Aikido I learned into my training, I have no intention of studying more Aikido. However if you want to understand why people are trying to functionalize Aikido, it is because Aikido's ideals represented in both range of technique and ideology are both worthy - and with further training through free sparring - practical:

Martial Truth

The most useful rating system from my POV is a 4 star scale, because people's opinions have limited precision for other people. It's hard to be more useful than "horrible = one star, mediocre = two stars, good = three, and amazing =four stars." Here I am going to extrapolate that to the level of truth of claims about martial arts:

One Star = Mythical. These are ideas that are generally unrelated to reality. An example of such an idea is "if I practice Tai Chi forms long enough, I can develop useful fighting skills without any other type of practice."

Two Stars = Hypothetical. These are ideas that some find helpful in their training, but which do not yet have consistent repeatable results through peer reviewed research. An example of such a claim is "I can feel my Qi when I am practicing my Tai Chi forms."

Three Stars = Theoretical. These are ideas that appear to be rooted in reality, and typically have peer reviewed research backing them up. An example of such a claim is "Tai Chi helps old people develop better balance and avoid injury."

Four Stars = Factual. These are ideas that are unavoidable hard facts of life, proven universally true over time. An example of such as statement is "like any other martial art, to develop practical fighting skills Tai Chi must include regular free sparring."

Note: You can get a 4 star rating from a 5 star (Likert Scale) survey. In fact 4 star ratings and Likert scales are two sides of the same coin. When you average Likert results they naturally come out on a scale between 1.0 and 5.0, so that virtually all scores come out to be 1.x to 4.x. The Likert scale then for the martial scale of truth would then be: 1 star = criminal: intentional misinformation. 2 stars = mythical: most credible evidence is against, 3 stars = Hypothetical: helpful for some but lacks evidence, 4 stars = Theoretical: most evidences suggests this is true, 5 stars = Factual: obviously true.