Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Considerations of Collapsing the Bi-Pod Aggressor



 The human body, is an amazing balancing act. It balances upright, on 2 support shafts (the “Bi-pod”, if you will) that each consist of multiple hinged joints, that are all in a constant state of adjustment. Despite the instability potential, that frame is consistently in a state of locomotion, moving the torso (which additionally has limbs hanging to either side of it) to whatever location the controlling mind wishes it to go to.

 Regardless of these obvious potential weaknesses, Much ado has been made of the ability to place an opponent upon the ground. Or (maybe more accurately) how to do so while gaining, or maintaining control over that opponent while doing so.

 The most common method of doing so, is via brute force. Which, as long as your strong enough, and/or bigger than the subject being moved, isn't usually a problem. But when your not, then alternative methods are required.

 Taking into account the physical construct of the human body, one wouldn't think that would be such a big deal. The difficulty comes from that pesky brain that people have in their head. Despite the (often obviously) limited social and/or reasoning skills that the owner may possess, the brain (working on a subliminal basis) maintains the body's position and state of balance with fairly regular consistency.
 
 Consider the conditions that the body faces when a person experiences a “Tripping” incident. Though (often) completely unexpected, the body attempts to prepare for an impact while simultaneously trying to correct and remain upright. The total number of independent actions that are required to accomplish this feat would fill several typed sheets of paper. To perform these same tasks consciously, could not be accomplished.

 Most often when we are attempting to force an individual to the ground, it is being done to (either or both) prevent any further aggressive behavior and/or to control that individual's ability to perform any further aggressive behavior (for what-ever reason).

 That is commonly accomplished by placing the individual on their stomach (face down) upon the ground/floor. The higher level of difficulty (for the student) is doing so without causing them injury/harm. Though pain is not a relevant factor to being able to accomplish this, it's inclusion/occurrence (when applicable) does make it simpler.

 There are several methods of collapsing the standing individual. This can be done by the manipulation of an upper extremity (meaning the arm's), or by direct impacts made upon the legs. Manipulations/impacts upon the torso tend to require greater amounts of force/effort to effect even equivalent reactions (than when made upon the upper extremities).

 The neck and upper chest regions would (of course, LOL) be the exception to this (as either are very susceptible to impacts). For beginning students, these areas are already being emphasized as primary targets (both being easily accessed and able to be used with multiple striking methods).

 The more difficult method (for the beginning student) is the manipulation of the upper limbs to effect a take-down. New student's mistakenly assume that the purpose of the arm/wrist manipulation is to cause/create damage to that limb (that happens to only be a side-effect). The (main) purpose is to effect a collapse of the aggressor's support system (legs). This allows for further manipulation (of the upper limbs), which is required to apply the control positioning upon the aggressor.

 Even if utilizing strikes upon the aggressor's legs (to effect their collapse), some manner of control needs to be in-place upon the aggressor's upper body/limbs to effect control of that collapse (lest the aggressor be able to escape that control despite being taken down).

 The most difficult part of accomplishing a take-down, is the ability to control the individual once they are there. For that reason we spend an inordinate amount of time teaching students the (many) variables that will be encountered when they have placed someone there (and what's required to maintain control of that individual). 











 

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