UC Seminar in the Czech Republic

On the 12th and 13th of June 2010 UC was hosted for the first UC event in Olomouc in the Czech Republic by RBSD instructor Martin Mikolasek. There were approximately 34 people from the police, security and civilian sectors in attendance from all over the Czech Republic, all from a variety of backgrounds including Krav-Maga, Jim Wagner’s Self Defence association, Keisi's Fighting Method or KFM as well as more traditional martial arts.


Day one of this two day seminar focused on UC’s fundamental Game Plan taking all basic Soft skills and Hard skills through practical basic drills, incorporating Contact Management, focused impact drills, crossing over into partner work and on into simulation and scenario training.



The work ethic among the Czech students was very strong, everyone was happy to get hands on with some hard training. The attitude here was very much don’t tell me, show me! Attention of the material was good due to Martin's excellent translation, but these guys were definitely here to train which suited me just fine.



We looked at the possible consequences of failed Contact Management; then of course, at how to fix it.


Good basic hard skills; were all worked hard and in combination; including Palms, slaps, spiked elbows, cycling hammer-fists, elbows and knees.





Day One continued with continuous attack sequences culminating into both "beat downs" and head controlling takedowns. Both meet the same objective - continuing my assault until "the man is down!"



We continued with some situational offence drills, taking a counter offence perspective via the UC principle of "cover, crash & counter". Once this was initially understood, we took these drills into the realms on non-compliance by adding continuous non-compliant assault with focus pads after the introduction of stress via fatigue, disorientation, followed by an impactive shove into the wall from an eyes closed position to trigger the startle reflex whilst offering a degree of impact inoculation.


Here's a three on one impact inoculation drill we use to learn to desensitise to getting hit whilst cultivating "grit" and confidence in our Default position as a contingency plan.


From here we added stress via a ten second sprint, ten burpees, ten spins, with eyes closed shoved into the wall followed by your partner wailing at your head... Your response? Cover, Crash & Counter!



Day Two: Now that we had foundational skills down, it was time to ramp up the pace. The focus of the day was tactics against Multiple Assailants and Counter Grappling for the street. What was a nice change for me as an instructor here, was the fact that I could relate ECQ and counter grappling to weapons from a two-sided perspective. First from the use of weapon/s as a counter offensive option; as weapon carry particularly, knife, CS or even concealed firearm was legal in the Czech Republic unlike the UK even for a civilian. Secondly from the perspective of fouling the other guy's access and deployment of a weapon during and ECQ encounter.


We looked at multiples from a few perspectives; from dynamic movement as well as a potentially stifled position.


Two-on-one pad/shield drills cultivating pro-activity, mobility and mindset...


Damage limitation and escape was the priority during a crowd assault drill...



Two-on-one grappling perspective: Start with multi directional foot stomps, spits, head butts and bites as a starter for ten, then see what comes out from there...



Here was the start of my favourite module - stand up counter grappling from a street orientated perspective. Here, adaptable hard-skills, along with biting, ripping and gouging, ballistic manipulation and use of the immediate environment were all valid considerations from a stifled vertical clash.


These pictures capture the non-compliance and intensity of the Czech students - all very hands on and intent on making Combatives work.



From here we continued with in-fight/grapple weapon access and deployment; taking influence from my friend Southnarc and his excellent "timing rule" principle. Here the objective is to create the most advantageous opportunity to access and deploy a weapon, (where legal carry is applicable) for the purpose of self-preservation, without getting your draw fouled. Here we looked at several counter options incorporating the integration of both unarmed skills with weapons.


Various applications of weapon access and deployment from a created uninterrupted position.



The final aspect of this counter weapons module looked at the other side of the coin - that being to foul the other fucker's draw during an in-fight stand up grapple. Here, pre-threat body language cues and tactile awareness are what's going to save your arse. The following example shows clamping the weapon arm as you see that elbow "pop up" from rear waistband access...





From here the option of choice is a fast snap down, followed by multiple knees into the head; but like all drills we stick to the principle concept, and adapt to what comes out from there.



This brought an end to a very enjoyable and productive seminar in the Czech Republic which will hopefully be the first of more to come. My thanks to Martin and to all in attendance...



Peace LM 2010