Kali training!

[Keith Foster]

Hey everyone,

Like everyone else reading this my free time like my training time is limited.  This is even more so with my Kali training, which sadly I can only do once  :(a week with my friend Hing for about an hour, hour and a half. Hopefully later this year when I feel a lot more comfortable with my progress I can try and teach my beginner friends that train on Tuesday nights.

Meantime how can I get the most from one session. What sort of drills etc should be focused on every week (and buit upon for future sessions) to get the most from a single session. We spar with padded sticks and helmets each week, which I think you'll agree is a must!

I picked up the sparring hint in Hawaii. I won't ever forget those fast cats (JKDU students) bouncing their sticks off my helmet at will and with lightening quick speed in a hurry!

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Keith

[Bryan Zarnett]

Hey Keith,

I follow the general rule of 60% to 70% attribute/skill development skills and 30% to 40% sparring or sparring-oriented engagements.

If I had one hour a week to train (60 minutes), then I would spend 16 minutes in sparring at 2-minute rounds. This will give you five to six rounds of sparring depending on how frequent your breaks. I would do 2 rounds of hand-sparring and 2 to 3 rounds of full sparring without grappling and 1 round of anything goes. This would be low to moderate intensity with moderate resistence.

I might be additional rounds of sparring with low intensity and low or moderate resistence to work specific skills and attributes.

As far as particular exercises go...

(a) Work defences against attacks to the hand, head and leg where your opponent feeds an attack and you keep largo mono and strike the stick. Do a few rounds with little movement and then move into sparring like movement. Key is keeping distance. Work the 1-to-1 ratio and then try to do a 1-to-2 -- for every shot of his you get off 2 includes including the hand hit. This is a basic abecedario (alphabet) approach with one feeder and one receiver.

(b) Work "defanging the snake" against various angles. Looking at the striking asterisks - 1,2,3,4 and 9 are primary angles. Work these at different heights. For example, most hand hits come at a low angle 3 or 4 so work those. With them as abecedario first (as above) and then do a sumbrada off of them. He feeds a 1 to the head and I counter with a 1 to the hand or wrist. I then feed a 2 and he counters with a smash to my hand or wrist with an angle 2.  You can work in order of progression or mix the order. You can also focus on particular angles and targets.  Distance, precision in strikes, line familiarization - all come into play.  Start off with low intensity and low resistence and slowly build up the ladder.

Every so often I will add an extra energy in this one where you grab the stick (which happens) and start smashing the hand! Lots of fun!

I would spend 20 to 30 minutes just on the above given limited time and then another 10 or 16 minutes on sparring. These still leaves you some time to work on new material. As advice, work on one thing for a week to a month and then move on if you think you have got it.

For example, work the charge with an roof block into the clinch for the "fang choke" or a major outer reap to a "fang choke". Work that as a basic pattern with low resistence and intensity and then build it up. Eventually you start incorporating it into sparring and drills (a) and (b).

These drill work for both stick, knife and sword!

Hope this helps!

I think this week we are going to focus on weapon work after writing the above!  Mmmmm...smash head with stick

Cheers,
Bryan

[Bryan Zarnett]

Hi Keith, I figure you might ask, so....


A Fang Choke is where you take the butt of your stick and insert it into the sternal-costal notch of the throat. Use the edge of the stick rather than try and insert the flat. The look on people's faces when it first happens is charming. Great at parties! Do it slowly - don't smash it.

You can also do a variety of arterial chokes with the stick on one side. My favorate is roughly based on a head-and-arm position.

My outer forearm goes against one side of my opponent's neck and I flex my wrist so that the other part of the stick curves around the back of the neck to the other side.  I turn my wrist so it catches in my elbow. Instant blue face! It's all done with the wrist. I keep it very "street" in that I hammer my forearm into the neck and then whip the stick around hammering him on the back of the neck and opposite side. This allows the catch at the elbow - 1..2...ploop!

Another nice one from the ground, is getting into the mount and placing the stick under your shin and the rest of the stick on your opponent's trachea. You place your palm on the opposite end and drop your weight down.

There are lot more, but I think you get the idea.

You can also just punyo him in a repeated action.

Cheers,
Bryan

Cheers,
Bryan

[Keith Foster]

Hi Bryan,

That's really nice of you Bryan to write such a lenghtly response. I actually did know what a fang choke was for a change.  How well you know me. 

Thanks a lot for your help. More queastions to follow I'm sure.

Thanks bro.

Keith

[Burton]

I suggest that you spend a great deal of time swinging the sticks when you don't have a partner to train with.  Hit the bag, develop non-telegraphic strikes, work your conditioning.  With your partner, spar a lot at first until you get the feeling of being in the water.  Then assess what you need to work on most, and do exercises to build those areas.  Repeat sequence, improve rapidly!  Aloha

[Keith Foster]

Hey Burton,

Welcome back to the forum and thank-you very much for the advice. I really miss my partner who is out through a series of Judo injuries. Though that shouldn't have stopped my solo practice!  It just isn't the same though.

Thank-you kindly,

Keith

[Burton]

Thanks also to Bryan for his detailed input!