**Available via online streaming only.**
Based on Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do approach to sparring-based hand trapping. A “For The Street” empty hand program.
Download the sparring logs and testing requirements here.
You might be wondering, "Why should I invest in this Jeet Kune Do Hand Trapping For Self-Defense and MMA program? Why do I need functional hand trapping?” Very good question.
When I bring up hand trapping to MMA fighters, I usually get responses like, “Hand Trapping? Isn’t that from the Wing Chun style in the Ip Man movies? Or what Bruce Lee used in Enter The Dragon? Or the techniques Brandon Lee (whom I trained at the Inosanto Academy) used in Rapid Fire?” Yes and no.
The hand trapping that most people think of does come from self-defense arts of Wing Chun Kung Fu and Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. But what you see on the big screen is the cinematic version which requires a well-trained, cooperative partner or stunt man to make it work.
But what about trapping in a real fight, especially against a skilled aggressor in a competition or self-defense situation? Can one really apply hand trapping against an MMA fighter? Or is it all just fantasy martial arts that don’t work in the real world? (We’ve all seen the videos of kung fu Masters being easily beaten by an amateur MMA fighter in China.) Let me assure you that trapping, when trained correctly, does not just work, but can give you a big advantage against a trained striker in a self-defense or sport environment. Let me explain.
When I was nine years old I endured a horrible situation where I was abducted by an adult predator. This is where my obsession with self-defense started.
I first began learning hand trapping in 1980 from Sifu Dan Inosanto and Sifu Richard Bustillo, both students of the great Bruce Lee. In fact, Inosanto was the one who Bruce Lee chose to take over the teaching duties at Lee’s Los Angeles Chinatown Jeet Kune Do school when Lee began doing movies. As the years passed, I became an instructor and Inosanto’s demonstration partner in class. (He taught 18 classes a week in Los Angeles and I was at every one of them.) I also accompanied him on US and international seminars and headed up the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts demo team.
I later spent many years training and traveling with Sifu Larry Hartsell, the man known as the most formidable fighter of all of Bruce Lee’s students. Trapping was an integral portion of his self-defense training.
Decades later, after continuous study of many martial arts, movie appearances and choreography, magazine covers, coaching MMA and BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) world champions, and being inducted to the exclusive Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame, I turned my attention back to Bruce Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do. Although I used many JKD principles and techniques when I coached UFC and BJJ fighters, I hadn’t done a deep dive into Bruce Lee’s art in quite a while. Earning my black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu while training and coaching MMA at a very high-level required extreme concentration and focus. When I changed a portion of my focus back to Jeet Kune Do, I did so with new eyes earned through a great deal of fighting and sparring experience with world class athletes. This reexamination gave me an ever higher regard for the genius of Bruce Lee and his JKD. He was so far ahead of his time.
While scrutinizing the trapping portion of JKD, I realized that, previously, I hadn’t fully grasped the importance of this area. I used it often when choreographing Hollywood movies, but I didn’t have much success applying trapping during sparring in my younger days, and I didn’t see anyone else applying hand trapping in fighting either. So I didn’t see it as practical in real fight conditions. That was a mistake.
There is footage of Bruce Lee sparring (with Sifu Inosanto and Sifu Taky Kimura) in 1967 at Ed Parker’s International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California. Not tournament style, but full contact with kicking and striking to all targets, plus throwing. It was Jun Fan JKD sparring. And guess what Lee used successfully in those brief sparring sessions? Yes, hand trapping. And very effectively.
In 2016 I started on a mission to discover how I could apply hand trapping in vigorous sparring against skillful opponents. I applied my science background (I graduated in biology from USC) and methodically tested and retested the various types of hand trapping against a variety of uncooperative opponents in the boxing, kickboxing, and MMA environments. I assumed it was going to be a long, difficult process, but I was surprised at how quickly positive results appeared. The truth is, if you have developed enough striking skill to defend yourself and anticipate punches and kicks coming, adding the fight-specific hand trapping maneuvers is fairly simple. It takes some drilling of the individual elements to ingrain the techniques, then sparring time to get the timing. If you follow the training outlines provided with this course, I’m sure that you will gain this hand trapping advantage in a relatively short period of time. Just like my students have.
During this experimentation process, longtime instructor Sifu Richard Bustillo, a Hawaiian born and raised boxer and student of Bruce Lee, visited Hawaii for a seminar. Chatting outside before the seminar started, I told him (with some surprise in my voice) that I had been applying trapping in the ring at the Palolo Boxing gym. Even compound trapping. He peered at me with a gleam in his eye and said with no surprise, “That’s cause you know how to fight!” Lesson learned.
Hand trapping adds a completely unique facet to kickboxing, MMA, or self-defense. Instead of just blocks and strikes, trapping procedures allow us to remove barriers to our striking or momentarily keep the opponent from striking while we counter. This provides a significant advantage over someone who is not familiar with hand trapping.
It has many practical uses for self-defense as well. Over the years, I’ve had many JKD trained bouncers tell me that they used trapping regularly to deal with unruly patrons.
Trapping is also a great way to get to the clinch for control or takedowns. In a self-defense situation, it provides an excellent way to preemptively stop an attack before the irate aggressor unleashes. And trapping is absolutely essential for stifling a violent aggressor’s attempt at drawing a weapon. If you want to enjoy the benefits of hand trapping for self-defense, in sparring, or for combat sports such as MMA, boxing, or Thai boxing (Muay Thai), you need thorough training in trapping methods that work against truly resisting opponents, and you need to know how to practice those techniques to optimize your skill. This is what this program provides.
The Functional JKD Hand Trapping For Self-Defense and MMA program is an extremely in-depth certification course on how to apply a variety of traps in various situations where hand trapping will give you a distinct advantage. You will use trapping as an additional facet of your kickboxing, MMA, or self-defense strategy. After practicing the various drills included in this program, you too will be able to apply trapping in sparring, self-defense, or combat sports competitions. I even added a short section on how you can use hand trapping in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. (It’s actually easy in BJJ.)
All this may sound good, but we know that talk is cheap. That is why I’ve included over 2 hours of sparring clips where I break down hand trapping as it is applied in real time in live sparring or fighting. And it’s not just me doing the trapping. I have clips of my students here in Hawaii along with clips from students in Ohio, Illinois, Virginia, and Italy all successfully applying hand trapping in sparring. Even my wife Sarah (a JKD Unlimited instructor & BJJ For The Street black belt) makes a few appearances applying trapping in sparring.
I put in a lot of extra time and effort to include sparring breakdowns so that you can see how it actually looks in fighting. Instead of just theoretical demonstration on a cooperative partner, you need to see what it actually looks like in order to better understand how you can apply the moves yourself. I even break down examples of hand trapping applied in boxing, kickboxing, and MMA competitions.
One word of warning. There are a lot of people teaching what they refer to as “functional trapping”, but most teach methods that haven’t been pressure tested. These instructors often show techniques that only work because their trained partner is cooperating. Many of these instructors are sincere in their teaching, but sparring was never part of their training. They are merely passing on what they learned.
In this day and age of constantly having a video camera handy on your phone, ask yourself why an instructor doesn’t show sparring footage of a technique if that technique is actually functional. If the instructor knows how to make the techniques work in sparring conditions, then they should be able to show the techniques in live sparring. (Unless they are older and no longer able to spar.) Unfortunately, much of the trapping that is taught as functional is actually the demonstration or cinematic side of the art.
Then we have some instructors who resort to what I call “fake sparring” (I have a whole section on this in the program.) They move around with a partner to make their audience think they’re sparring, but it’s actually a choreographed routine. If you really know how to apply hand trapping in sparring, you don’t need to choreograph a fight scene in order to demonstrate the techniques. If you know how to do it, you can just get with a partner, turn on the video camera, and start sparring.
None of the clips in this program were set up. They were extracted from actual sparring sessions where hand trapping was applied against a partner who didn’t want that trap to be applied; just like in a real fight. And with training, you will be able to able to apply these as well.
Do you want to take your kickboxing, MMA, Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Karate, Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, boxing, or other self-defense striking art to a higher level? Do you want to be able to play a game that your opponent isn’t even aware of? Then I highly encourage you to get this program and up your level. I don’t hold anything back, and, as always, I simply tell the truth as I have experienced it through applying the scientific method to martial arts. Honest martial arts is what we’re after. Pressure testing is the way.
For those who want to eventually teach my Functional JKD Hand Trapping For Self-Defense and MMA, I’ve also designed this program as an instructor certification course. It’s the same program, but you will log rounds of drilling and moderate intensity, safe sparring and then send in tests to be reviewed. You will eventually become a certified Functional JKD Hand Trapping For Self-Defense and MMA instructor, making you eligible to teach this program in your school, to fighters, or in workshops and seminars. That’s a great way to spread the method while supplementing your income.
Download the sparring logs and testing requirements here.
You may also like our Battlefield Kali Knife, Battlefield Kali Sword, Knife Defense For The Street
$199.00 $249.00
You can buy this series via:
"My Knife Defense For The Street program is the result of two decades of pressure testing. Drawing from my nearly 40-year martial arts background in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, the Filipino martial arts (Original Dog Brother, “Lucky Dog”), MMA, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Indonesian Silat, wrestling, Krav Maga, and other arts...If you are interested in functional knife defense, I highly suggest you invest in this course." Burton Richardson
Download the sparring logs and testing requirements here
Imagine you’re about to board a flight that will take you to a dream destination. Just before you walk down the jetway you glance at the aircraft and are surprised to see a radically different shape. The wings are very short and the cabin is slanted. It looks pleasingly exotic.
The captain greets you as you are about to step onto the plane. You comment about the interesting shape of the vessel and ask how it feels in the air. The captain shakes his head and says, “I don’t know. But all the computer models say that it will fly faster and smoother than normal jets.”
What is your next question? Mine would be, “Haven’t you ever flown it?” The captain says “No one has actually flown it. This is its maiden flight. But I really trust the people that came up with the design. It should work very well.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m not getting on that plane! I wouldn’t have faith in an aircraft until it has been thoroughly tested. But too many people have faith in knife defense techniques, which could mean the difference between life and death in an actual attack, that have not been pressure tested.
Pressure testing is when you put on protective gear, use a relatively safe training knife, and let your partner come at you all-out. 100% resistance, intensity, and intent. That’s what you are going to face in most knife attacks so that is how we pressure test. We just use protection and a padded knife to keep it as safe as possible. Let’s be clear that demonstrating or drilling with a cooperative feeder is not pressure testing. It’s not even testing. Testing means adding non-choreographed resistance. Pressure testing is when that resistance and intensity are at or near 100%.
My Knife Defense For The Street program is the result of two decades of pressure testing. Drawing from my nearly 40-year martial arts background in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, the Filipino martial arts (Original Dog Brother, “Lucky Dog”), MMA, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Indonesian Silat, wrestling, Krav Maga, and other arts, I decided to employ my science education (I majored in Biological Sciences at USC) to methodically pressure test a wide array of knife defense scenarios. I used the same approach that I did when I worked as a scientist in the Harbor UCLA medical center laboratories. I created a hypothesis (a theoretical technique that I thought would yield good results) then took that theory into the laboratory of hard sparring to see how it held up. We regularly geared up and went all out. My instructions to my partner were always the same – “stab me as many times as you can!”
Most techniques crumbled under the pressure of real resistance. Some gave a favorable result. And some of those, after years of sparring, were shown to have holes. So I made adjustments and continued the testing and adjusting process until we got good results. After two decades of testing, we have closed up most of the holes.
Let me be clear, it is never easy to deal with a committed knife attacker. You are at a huge disadvantage. But, these methods give you a real fighting chance so that you may be able to go home without debilitating injuries.
People sometimes ask me why I don’t teach all the spectacular knife defense methods that I have learned over the years. Here's my answer: I bring more of a professional fight coach philosophy to self-defense training. Just as when I train an athlete for a UFC fight, my aim is to prepare folks for combat. We keep the training as fun as possible, but I’m not there to entertain. My job is to help you win a fight.
As far as knife street self-defense goes, I figure that at some time, one of my students will actually have to use his or her skills in a self-defense situation. That means I have a great responsibility to give them the most functional training possible. I want to be sure that I prepare them for an actual life-and-death situation instead of just dazzling them with flashy techniques that only work against a cooperative feeder. Since I teach a large number of people across the globe, the likelihood that a student will face a blade is much higher. I decided on this approach a long time ago, and I’m glad I did.
To date, I have had three students actually use these empty hand methods against real knife attacks. A soldier in Afghanistan, an immigration officer in Australia, and a police officer in New York city were all able to defend themselves while incurring minimal damage. I’m very thankful that it worked out for them. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had prioritized looking cool over being effective.
The program will help you develop functional self-defense. Whether you are in law-enforcement, security, the military, or really want to protect yourself and your loved ones, this course will prove very valuable for your training.
We also offer Battlefiled Kali Knife, Battlefield Kali Single Stick, Battlefield Kali Sword.
Our self defense certification courses are suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced martial artists.
Click on the links below for more info:
The complete series includes 4 parts
63 video clips total. Click on last image thumbnail to read the Table of Contents. Each section corresponds to an instructional video.
Burton Richardson is one of the world's leaders for teaching effective realistic self defense. You can read his full bio here.
This item ships via first class mail with delivery confirmation. No insurance. If you wish to insure your package, please contact us.
Non insured packages lost by the post office will not be resent.
$99.00
You can buy each level of this series individually if you prefer or BUY THE FULL COURSE to save 20%.
You can buy this series via:
The MMA For The Street program is designed to take anyone, regardless of background, and safely develop them, step-by-step, into a highly proficient self defense fighter in the standing, clinch, and ground ranges. It is our most comprehensive self defense program and includes basic weaponry (stick and knife)
Blending the highly practical combat sport of MMA with the street-efficient techniques and tactics of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, this unique approach will develop your functional self defense skills faster than any other.
Every technique, drill, and isolated sparring round is designed for one purpose: to make you the very best fighter that you can possibly be.
Our self defense certification courses are suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced martial artists.
Download the sparring logs and testing requirements here.
Click on the links below for more info:
First complete the check out process, then you will be able to access your online videos here
One set of DVDs can be shared by all training partners as long as no copies are made. Make sure to download the sparring logs using the link in main product description.RANKING
MMA For The Street includes 5 videos, one per student level.
VIDEO TESTING
Instructor level testing fees.
Video testing is easy! Just video tape yourself using any camera even your phone’s camera, then upload it to youtube.Learn about how to video test here.
RECOMMENDED TRAINING GEAR
1 mouth piece/person- We recommend you get a custom mouth piece from a dentist
1 groin protector/person
1 pair of focus mitts/pair
1 pair of MMA Gloves/person
1 pair of shin guards/person
1 Kicking Shield/pair
1 helmet/person (headgear+ cage)- We recommend you get the brand we sell as it is proven to work really well for the training we do.
MMA For The Street is a complete curriculum that follows a logical progression to take students from beginner to advanced level all the way to instructor certification. We have taken all of the guess work out and made it easy for you to teach this cutting edge curriculum.
We are keeping the teaching license fee low, so anyone can afford it.
Fill out the application to get started now!
$249.00
You can buy this series via:
Silat For The Street blends the most brutally efficient Silat techniques with the training methods and tactics of elite-level MMA.
Want to train in person? Find a Silat For The Street teacher near you. (this feature coming later)
You can purchase Silat For The Street Series 1 and Silat For The Street Series 2 individually or buy the Combo right away if you prefer.
Our modules are suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced martial artists.
Download the sparring logs and testing requirements here.
Click the links below for more info:
First complete the check out process, then you will be able to access your online videos here
Make sure to download the sparring logs; link is in the main product description.RANKING
Series 1 includes 4 videos, one per student level 1,2,3,4.You can take your Instructor Level 1 test after you pass Level 4.
Series 2 includes 4 videos, one per student level 5,6,7,8. You can take your Instructor Level 2 test after you pass Level 8.
This unique certification program was developed by world renowned self-defense, silat, and MMA expert Burton Richardson.
VIDEO TESTING
Student Testing Fees listed here.
Instructor Testing Fees listed here.Video testing is easy! Just video tape yourself using any camera even your phone’s camera, then upload it to youtube OR mail us a disc with the footage.
Learn about how to video test here.
RECOMMENDED TRAINING GEAR
1 mouth piece/person- We recommend you get a custom mouth piece from a dentist
1 groin protector/person
1 pair of MMA gloves/person
1 pair of focus mitts/pair
1 helmet- We recommend you get the brand we sell as it is proven to work really well for the training we do
Silat For The Street is a complete curriculum that follows a logical progression to take students from beginner to advanced level all the way to instructor certification. We have taken all of the guess work out and made it easy for you to teach this cutting edge curriculum.
We are keeping the teaching license fee low, so anyone can afford it.With just one student on a one-year contract, paying $100/month, you will make a profit on your investment (even after buying all the DVDs and taking all the tests up to Instructor level)
Fill out the application to get started now!
$199.00 $249.00
You can buy this series as a complete set only via:
Black Belt Magazine hall of famer Burton Richardson has created this groundbreaking video series detailing how to best utilize focus mitts to develop functional fighting skills for both sport and street self defense faster than ever before.
Download the training logs and testing requirements
Here’s what Burton has to say:
Fighting is reading an opponent’s intentions, then responding efficiently to neutralize his attacks. It is not going through a memorized routine.
If you are training for functional fighting skill, your mitt drills should feel similar to sparring or fighting. You should be moving, defending against punches, kicks, tackles, grabs, and, when training for self-defense, weapons. You don’t have time to think in a real situation so you must train your subconscious to deal with anything, WHILE striking at full speed, power, and intensity. This is what high-level mitt work should develop.
What elements should be included? How should they be fed? And how do you modify the functional sport mitt training when focusing on self-defense? This is what Focus Mitts For Sport And Street Self Defense is all about."
If you want to make your focus mitt rounds more fun, more exciting, and much more effective, then utilize this course. Let me know if you have any questions at all.
Aloha!
Burton Richardson
P.S. If you want to become certified instructor in Focus Mitts For Sport And Street so you can teach workshops and receive a beautiful certificate, get this course and log your rounds on the log sheet to prepare for video testing. (You will receive a link to the logs when you purchase the program.) It is a fun and simple process to ensure that you know these mitt elements inside and out.
Our self defense certification courses are suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced martial artists.
Click on the links below for more info:
The complete series includes 2 parts
Click on last image thumbnail to read the Table of Contents. Each section corresponds to an instructional video.
Burton Richardson is one of the world's leaders for teaching effective realistic self defense. You can read his full bio here.
This item ships via first class mail with delivery confirmation. No insurance. If you wish to insure your package, please contact us.
Non insured packages lost by the post office will not be resent.
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