4th International combatives seminar, 2006

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL COMBATIVES SEMINAR
Review by Nick Engelen

The seminar was held in the Prescot Leisure Centre in Liverpool on 2, 3 and 4 September. Some of us were already in town because of the Neuro-based Instructor course which was held the past two days before the seminar.



[Group photo courtesy of Ola]

There were about 60 attendees that came from all over the world, however, most were from England, some from Wales others were from Sweden, Norway, Italy, South Africa, Holland, Scotland, Ireland and I came from Belgium.



[Si, Nick, Lee]
We were honoured to have the author and training consultant Marcus Wynne as a guest instructor.



Marcus came over to teach at the NBI course where we learned how to learn and how to teach a variety of skills which are useful not only for fighting but for all aspects of daily life. This international was great to apply our new learned skills.

Amongst us were the top guys in the field, to name a few: John Brawn from Ireland who has massive experience in the field of security and in life in general, Lee Morrison a former doorman, teacher and author of several books, Mick Coup from Core Combatives, security consultants and police officers from South Africa, Sweden, etc…

The day started with an air of excitement. Dennis began to explain the origin of what we know today as ‘Combatives’. The syllabus of what we were going to be taught, originated from people like, Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate and Styers. It was taught to Commandos, SOE, Home Guard and other allied forces during WW2. ‘It’s not a martial art, but it’s the most effective way to end a violent confrontation’ Dennis explained.


[imghttps://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/DenCQB/International%202006/Den-3.jpg[/img]
After the short intro every instructor introduced himself to the group. As said before they were the crème de la crème.

The first module was a presentation by researcher Phil ‘the Bristolbloke’ Matthews about Hector Grant Taylor and his methods of the use of the handgun. The material was well researched and very informative.

Next came visualisation for combatives by Mr ‘Let your opponent see the stars’ K. Visualisation is something which is very often used by golf players who ‘see’ the ball going in the hole. The mind doesn’t know difference between imagination and reality so everything we think about the mind thinks we are doing. This has as a result that after visualisation we can have a feeling of having it done before. The ancient samurai used visualisation as well, they saw the outcome of the battle in their mind’s eye where after the let go… In Chinese this is called Wu Wei or ‘do nothing’. The Samurai had a saying ‘win first, and then fight’. Former world champion Chuck Norris used this technique before his fights and referred to it as ‘sweat less practise’. Mr K had us lying down on the floor and try it out ourselves, first simple like visualising a lemon, then with a technique called ‘the corkscrew’. I couldn’t help seeing images of one of the waitresses the night before. With a bit more effort I could see the technique where after we had life practise which went as expected very well.

An interesting story goes that a Vietnam War veteran that had been a POW for many years took up a golf stick after his return to the States and had a hole in one. His friends asked him how he did it and he replied ‘I have practised that shot for many years’.

This led us into the hands on phase. After a short warm-up Den handed us over to the instructors for the Fundamentals.

These strikes were: the wheeling elbow by Lee Morisson based upon the work of John Styers. Next the Kneestrike as lowline/offensive and midline/defensive applications by Den, Then Mr K showed how the Thai-kick can be used at both long and closer ranges. Finally Si Squires took the group through several Hammerfist drills.
After these basic blows we were in for a break and had some snacks and water during the next presentations. The module was called: ‘The Strong will Survive’.
First John Brawn showed us how to work out with the kettlebell for strength. The kettlebell is an old weightlifting device which is regaining popularity. John has become a big fan of this type of training, and includes kettlebell routines on his DVDs.
Next came Larry to show us how to work out with the medicine ball. Last came Mick Coup who showed us how to use bricks instead of dumbbells. All this was about developing core strength, the module was very interesting. The thing I got out of this was that the important training is the training you do daily not the three times a week you spend pumping iron.
Now we all had a rest, some food and some hydration, we went back to the physical side of the course.
Under the guidance of James Farthing we did a variety of drills to install the fighting attitude. Thing is that when it kicks of you have to do what a man has to do and keep doing it until you are out of danger.
After this we had the chance to play around with ‘weapons’ under the guidance of Mick Coup. First Mick explained the definition of a weapon and how to use it under stress. The module was called ‘one mind, any weapon’ as the weapons we used were common items like hammers, crowbars, broomsticks, chisels and knives. To adapt a quote by Fred Perrin: ‘there are no tactical weapons, only tactical minds’. Everyone had good fun; I even managed to cut myself.
After applying first aid to my finger Mika did a short module about death locks or chokes.
This ended the first training session of the international.
Most of the attendees drove to Chinatown for an après combatives scoff. I enjoyed listening to the stories of everyone and had a good laugh with their jokes.

[The two tables at the Course Scoff]



DAY TWO:
Training started again at 10.00.
First we had a warm up by Tony one of the Liverpool Gutterfighters group. This led us straight into impact training where we had to go from station to station to practise a variety of blows.



[David and Steve during the Gutterfighters Impact Training module]

Next Marcus did a talk on vision skills. As seeing a threat as early as possible is very important it’s also important to have a wide arc of view. Under stress we often experience what’s called tunnel vision but it’s important to break out of this as the opponents tactics are playing upon this with tactics like the pincer movement. Also when you focus you loose the overview. This is in described in many old manuals like go rin no sho as soft focus.
This led into a drill where one guy starts woofing in an aggressive way to have the ‘victim’ experience a degree of tunnel vision while a couple of guys circled around him posing different kinds of threats. It was up to the victim to see this treats in an early stage and call out.

Next was a module on team-tactics by Mick Coup.
Now we knew about group tactics Den taught us the opposite; what to do against a group. Last year Den introduced the SOE Crowd Drill.



This time he added another phase, to add to the ability to handle very close, multiple attack situations.

Clint Oosthuizen, who represents Den’s Combatives in South Africa, did a module on knife fighting.

It was great fun although I had bruises for over a week. This started with a very sneaky attack, which gave everyone an insight into the knife fighter mentality.
Hereafter Lee Morrison taught us about groin attacks. For many martial artists it seems to be a bit taboo to attack the genitals except the ‘kick to the nuts’. It’s a good tool in your toolbox as you get at least a flinch response even if you miss your target. It was all about grabbing, twisting and tearing…. Si who was Lee’s uke for the demonstrations must have had great fun.
After this we had a group photo where after we had the cherry on the cake… the stress scenario.




[Si Porter of the Liverpool Gutterfighters, during the Stress Scenario]

It involved disorientation, a fight and a physical demanding set of exercises. I was knackered from the four days of training and planned to make short work of it, which I did with speed, aggression and surprise.




This ended our second day.
This time we had a meal in the hotel which was very good.


[Den with the Vikings]

DAY THREE:

On Monday there was a short session planned for the remaining few which were still about 30 people.
First Den showed us some of his kit including the hide away knife, and flashlight accessories.

Marcus had brought over the latest Hideaway accessory, a wallet with integral sheath. The class were the first people to see this kit..
Then we went through a warm up which included all the strikes.
Clint taught us his version of the powerslap and how to do it with artifice, from a static position and on the move. One drill involved an axekick to the downed opponent holding a pad on his chest. One of my training partners pulled his technique while I was lying down holding the pad... just when Clint passed by. He said ‘No, no, use your heel more’ Bam! I almost went trough the floor I guess, that guy can kick.
Finally we had an opportunity to see and do ‘The rapid eye-attack’. The technique was developed by Marcus Wynne and is used to fight your self from a defensive position/state back to the fighting position. This technique is usually reserved for the Women defence course and this was an unique opportunity to play with it.



Then Marcus did a speech about cloaking the intent. While sometimes it can be useful to show bad guys that we aren’t a victim and that they are going to get hurt when they think they can take us it is also useful to hide this intent to lure bad guys in to thinking they are safe. In some jobs it’s a necessity for example a shop detective or low profile security where you don’t want unwanted attention.
A cat good at catching mice doesn’t show its claws. There is a saying that says that the wise man should be like the moron and the saint like a normal person.
Also do you want that the people you like are afraid of you?

Finally John Brawn also did a nice module on the On/Off switch; it was good but very tiring

This concluded the last day of the seminar. I had a picture taken with Den and Marcus, unfortunately Master Marcus ‘Yoda’ Wynne didn’t bring his lightsaber.


After this we all said our goodbye. Ground transport to the airport was arranged thanks to Larry, Si, Tony and John. Without these guys I would probably still be in Prescot Liverpool.

At the hotel in Manchester airport I had the pleasure to have a drink with Den, Marcus, John and the South Africans. After saying goodbye when they went home and to their rooms, I went back to the bar to practise my rapport building skills before going to the terminals for my flight home.

It was a great experience, a fantastic course with good organisers, teachers, models and fellow participants.

A big ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’ to the organisers.
Nick Engelen
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Den
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www.CqbServices.com

The kitlist and joining instructions for the Fifth International are now online here
You are all welcome to come along and pay on the day
Cheers,

Marcus needs input for a study he is engaged in.

Those who trained with him here in the UK in 2006, or in Scandanavia, please contact him ASAP.

However, he also needs those guys with backgrounds in CQB/Law enforcement/CP/Military/doorwork etc who have never trained with him, to also contact him.

Marcus is at accentus.ludus.llc@gmail.com