Indigenous Ability

A thoughtful question from Affiliate Rough ‘n’ Tumble Coach Mitch Mitchell prompted me to offer the following advice regarding these two common items of frontier weaponry. First, the part of Coach Mitchell’s Question/Observation that prompted what follows. “ Am I on the right track or holding my danged knife wrong?  Bowie designs are manifold. My personal preference falls toward a flat spine knife with a half-guard because a spine-side guard or broken spine jams up my thumb on a sincere stab in sabre grip.  For me anyway, a nice, straight, full-power stab with a hammer grip on the high line is impossible and anyway it's is a wrist killer.” His observation/complaint is common and one that leads to wisdom. I will also point out that to discover that certain tactics and grips are wrist killers can only be garnered via experience, that is, hard post training. If we stick with mirror play, shadow play, or tit for tat [ zumbrada] flow drills with a partner u...

[All based on RAWs 210 & 209.] All are 3-Minute Rounds w/ 30-seconds Rest Round One -Cross. Keep it live, move. Put some stink on it, test that bag’s warranty. Round Two -With partner or without, toss that cross and envision a counter liver-hook or head-hunt on the high-line, so cross and roll with a bread-basket cover, keep those shoulders high—no sure things in the world. Round Three- Cross, Roll, toss another Cross out of the Roll Round Four -Add a rear bark as the cherry on top. Play this one on the drag bag as the true bark is unforgiving to tibias the world over. Rest 1 Minute Round One -On your feet slap and catch and drag to an outside two-on-one. Work both sides like a good wrassler. Head in the pocket, Crew, or I will tsk-tsk you to kingdom come. Round Two -Off of a resisted two-on-one slide as smooth as a viper into an Underhook ride. Again, where is that head supposed to be? That’s right. Round Three -Once you’ve got that ...

This following is an interview with a damn fine martial artist and, more importantly, a man I call a friend. Chances are you know the man, but for the uninitiated. Michael Janich has been an avid student and instructor of self-defense for more than 40 years. He has an extensive background in the martial arts and military combatives and was inducted into Black Belt magazine’s prestigious Hall of Fame as Weapons Instructor of the Year in 2010. Janich is also one of the foremost modern authorities on handgun point shooting and is one of the few contemporary instructors to have been personally trained by the late close-combat legend Colonel Rex Applegate. Janich served nine years in the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, including a three-year tour at the National Security Agency (NSA). He is a two-time graduate with honors of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California (Vietnamese and Chinese-Mandarin) and a recipient of the Commandant’s Award for o...