Sunday 29/9/08 by Chris Herbert
There's a first time for everything. This is my first ever published review, coupled with my first training seminar with Urban Combatives lead man, Lee Morrison. Bear with me while give you my thoughts and feelings of the days training. I've been hearing things about Lee Morrison for the past twelve months. After reading a review in this magazine of a seminar he conducted in Ireland a while back, I was very interested in his approach to self defence and did a bit of research on him. The last article published in Irish Fighters magazine referred to him as a bit of a thug, which I found a bit off putting. Never the less, I had to go and experience this combative stuff for myself.
Jon Mackey was the host again this year for the Urban Combative seminar, which attracted over 30 people from across Ireland. I was surprised to find people at the seminar from as far away as Galway and Kerry. I arrived at the venue at 10am for registering; we all gathered and got mingling and chatting amongst ourselves. Then the Jon and Lee arrived to set up. The first thing that struck me about Morrison was his presence; the man has presence in abundance. He's a bit shorter than I expected, but has a frame that looks built for power and speed. He carries himself with huge confidence and that rubs off on you as realise your in the presence of a uniquely gifted individual. When everyone arrived and got signed in, the group was pulled together and Lee got down to the business of introducing himself and laying out the plan for the day. In a very recognizable Southampton twang Morrison gave a brief back ground on himself and his Urban Combatives group, which was formed after many years of researching different methods of combat both western and eastern. Throw into the mix a rough child hood and a penchant for street fighting and you've got the man who stands in front of us teaching counter knife strategies for the real world. While Lee Morrison may at first glance look intimidating, he moves fast to keep everyone at ease with his quick wit and hilarious one liners. With all the introductions out of the way we got down to business and started work on his 'On the sharp edge' counter knife program.
I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest, probably plenty of options on how to disarm a knife carrying yob. That's what usually happens at self defence seminars, hundreds of options to choose from. Not this one however. Lee is very honest in his opening line - no one system has the answer to dealing with knife crime. How true. What he offers are his opinions, based on real experience and the teaching of his influences before hand. He holds Pete Robbins and Geoff Thompson in huge regard, this is easy to see. Lee Morrison has had the unlucky opportunity of being stabbed himself with a nasty scar to prove and has been in many, too many, real encounters with yobs that have crossed him in is 14 years as a night club door man. This man has been in the trenches, and now wears the T shirt. Scarred hands and out of place knuckles dotted with Indian ink are his souvenirs and trade marks.
Before any physical training starts, Lee outlined the statistics and law regarding carry offensive weapons. Here in Ireland, the statistics are only too clear that stabbings are on the rise. It wasn't long ago in Dublin that two Polish visitors were brutally murdered by a teenager armed with a screw driver. Moving on from statistics we were taught about the different types of cutting and stabbing implements and all the different styles which were easily accessible to any one intended on stabbing or slashing you. It was at this point, it struck me.
Lee Morrison is a highly educated individual. He has an acute knowledge of biology and the working of internal organs and arterial features - I should know I'm a nurse. His understanding of statistics the law and the very real change in society in the 21st century was amazing. This man is no thug. Now I realise Morrison is one of the few people who has endured a tough existence, has prevailed and is now coaching people to lead better lives, admirable.
To use an already coined phrase, 'light bulb moment', I had a huge one when Lee spoke about a very important term - intent,
No amnesty, no school searches or campaigns to tackle the carrying of stabbing implements will serve to remove the main problem in knife crime; the person’s intent. It's not the weapon, it's the mindset of the person carrying it, and the fact that the mindset is the main reason the weapon is driven into some unfortunate person’s body. So for any campaign to be successful from a law enforcing angle, yob culture and everything from that that breeds contempt and intent to murder must be tackled.
After the very educational section of the seminar relating to reasons and methods of stabbing, as well as statistics and yob culture we broke for lunch. I got the chance to chat to Lee for a few minutes and found him to be a very humble person with a great sense of humor. He's the type of guy you'd like to have a few pints with and chat about life in general. That is until he demonstrated the physical aspect of the course. After lunch we got down to brass tacks. Working with our partners we worked through different methods of drawing a concealed weapon. Working at 50% speed Lee asked us to be visually aware of body language and small details that pre empt the drawing of a concealed weapon. I could see where this was going, Lee set out the seminar in a fashion that broke the entire subject down into chunks, which would fit together as one piece at the end, starting with concealment and deployment. He knows how to teach. Following on from concealment and deployment we worked through a concept he termed as 'fouling the draw' which were the drills focusing on attempting to stifle the draw of any concealed weapon. We worked from different options of concealment and different methods of fouling.
After covering this section, the next task was to work with a training blade, once already out and in play. First off and very importantly, Lee stated that best option to deal with any blade hold up was to comply - money can be replaced, your life cannot. This was common sense and everyone agreed. However, while complying, by handing over money or a phone, Lee outlined the difference between that and being forced to a secondary location. Secondary locations are where bodies are found. In this case, you must fight tooth and nail in order not to be another statistic. From here we worked on different aspects of slashing and stabbing.
Lee used his instructor Jon Mackey for most of the demos; it was great to see the two lads working together as nothing was held back. It was obvious Mackey had a complete trust in Lee's ability. At one point Mackey was trying his utmost to hit Lee with the training knife (not plastic, but steel!) in a very realistic show of how a knifer would deploy the weapon, sudden and aggressive plunging and stabbing movements, compliancy had no place here. Mackey carries Lee's traits, explosive and aggressive; he is his teacher’s student.
Destroying intent; Ballistic impact is king. And Lee can deliver ballistically, no doubt. After spending a few hours on deployment and using a protective shell cover to minimalise cuts to vital parts we came to the part where counter offending was to the fore. I love Lee's terminology; counter offending is now part of my vocabulary. Once inside the attacking weapon ballistic impact was to the fore. After Lee's introduction and explaining the real cause behind massive knife crime statistics - intent- we worked on the possibility of dealing with this intent - inflicting pain and plenty of it. Using the most destructive weapons on the human body elbows and knees we drilled relentlessly on their own, developing massive power though understanding the correct delivery system at close quarters. Then as per the norm they were drilled under pressure and then against someone intent on getting close with the training knife. The progression in training I found an excellent way of learning. During the physical training Lee touched on some very important points. One's for me which were at first hard to comprehend, coming from a Kenpo back ground, but after Lee demonstrated and very cleverly explained why, these points made great sense.
1. Traditional blocking doesn't work because…
2. Action always beats reaction
3. Hope is not a reliable strategy and…
3. Defending is the art of losing slowly
This was the proverbial slap in the face for me, a huge wake up call. Hours of drilling blocks and defensive movements up and down the dojo are now well and truly a part of my past. At this point of the seminar everyone was well and truly hooked. The atmosphere in the gym was engulfing. It was warm, it was sweaty and Lee was bringing out the best in everybody. During the drills we got a pep talk on mindset and need the be relentless in counter offending, Lee had a natural ability to bring everyone to where he wanted them, the training intensified and although forearms were sore and tender from thrusting and parrying everyone rose to the next level and we continued with gusto.
Lee demonstrated more of the different options we had with is instructor Jon Mackey. Mackey's ability to withstand such forward pressure was amazing. At times I thought he was going to give up. Obviously a guy from the school of hard knocks, Mackey withstood the demos in real time. Although Lee pulled every shot - he is the most explosive individual I have ever seen and not a martial arts belt in sight. All the same I could only feel sorry for Mackey as he tried his best to cause Lee problems, every time Mackey ended up face down. The attendees were grateful however, they weren't seeing anything that resembled the usual nonsense of "you grab me here and then I'll do this to escape" as I said earlier these guys train without regard for compliancy - there is no room for 'what ifs' - it's all very clear.
Moving towards the end of the training Lee worked on static hold ups and presented the most viable options available to deal with these horrible situations. There was no wrist grabs and no throws. It was basic, full on ballistic blunt force trauma with heaps of attitude as a valuable ingredient.
To top off a fantastic time of training, Lee concluded the seminar with medical management advice in the unfortunate circumstances that you sustain a cut in attack which included first aid for those that have received stab wounds.
What a way to conclude such a seminar. I never heard of the like of it. Medical management section! This was a complete complementary subject to the whole course. This was professionalism taken to the next level.
To finish up my ramblings and I hope I've given a good picture of my experiences of this seminar I'll give my conclusions, honest and true.
Lee Morrison is top class. I had no clue the seminar would be so comprehensive. Not only that, the way it was presented was outstanding, Lee's method of teaching is to be applauded. I've never came away from a seminar remembering so much. In fact I remember the entire course due to the method of step by step progression. If you haven't experienced training with this man, you have to, you must!
The host Jon Mackey added;
"This was our third seminar with Lee since he arrived in Ireland in 2006. Every year the course fills faster and gets bigger. This is inevitable, Lee is top of the food chain in regard to reality based self protection. His influence on the Irish martial arts community is plain to see, anyone who teaches self defence knows they have to move in this direction. Everyone who's anyone these days is marketing realistic training methods; they know they couldn't be further from the truth. They're fooling themselves and taking the money of unsuspecting students. If you haven't a grasp of what Lee teaches you're falling behind!
I would like to thank Lee for another great weekend of training. Keep an eye out for his future seminar dates in Ireland on www.ucireland.com"
Some Pictures from the “On the Sharp Edge” Irish Seminar:
