class was awesome tonight. We got some new focus mits and muay thai pads so I put them to good use.

Ran through breakfalls 1-6, and 8.

We then shifted to boxing. 4x2min rounds, jabs, crosses, hooks, upper cuts.

Using the thai pads, we did front kick both legs and knee kicks.

We then worked bear hugs from the front, over and under arms, and lifting.

I then got Colby and Trevor doing hip throws. Once the hip throws were flowing relatively smoothly, we started with uke throwing a hook, tori defends with a high forarm block, steps in for the hip throw, knee drop, stamping kick, and then into the supine arm bar.

I broke class into two parts tonight:

Part one was when the juniors were still present. After breakfalls, we worked on bear hugs from the front and rear, over and under the arms, lifting and not lifting and finishing with either an ankle-knee takedown, step on foot push shoulder, or a takedown to the rear.

After the juniors and their parents left, I lead a class on basic knife defense. This class was prompted due to the number of recent stabbings. I lead off with a small display of common knives and other types of knives that wouldn't normally be considered 0 box cutters, xacto knives, scissors, scalpel/craft knives, and some pictures of belt buckle knives. I emphasized that everyone knows how to use a knife and made the analogy of people cutting their food. I also emphasized that there is NO defense against a knife and that you will get cut. I then did a demo with Sensei Mariedke and emphasized that I have no formal training with a knife while Sensei Mariedke does have formal Arnis training. I then proceeded to stab her about 6 or 7 times. I also emphasized that if someone pulls a knife and demands your money, give it to them. your life is not worth the $20 in your wallet.

I then showed the windshield wiper blocks and the concept of turning your palms towards you to not expose the soft tissue int he forarms. We worked the windshield wiper blocks from a low stab and a high stab, with each block, stepping forward at a 45 degree angle and running through with NO hesitation.

After about 10-15 minutes of this, I went on to some light "reality" drills and emphasized that this is the last ditch thing to try only when you're cornered and all other options have run out. Performing forearm blocks and when the opportunity is right to grab control of the knife wielding hand, step in and bring the arm in close as if you were going to do an inner winding throw, give a few elbows to the BPO, and then step through with an outter reap takedown and escape.

At the end of class i reviewed and re-emphasized that there is no defense for a knife. All of the fancy demo techniques are just that: demo techniques, and will not work.

On Wednesday's class we'll probably review some of the basics and then Sensei Mariedke is going to teach some of the Arnis technqiues for knife defense and disarms.

First class back after the holidays.

I worked about 10-15 minutes on the defensive stance: getting into the defensive stance, foot/hand/body positioning, and walking. Illustrated the stability of the defensive stance vs a horse stance and the arm bending demo of a punch with the fist sideways vs at a 45 degree angle.

Tied two skipping ropes together end-to-end and had the students work on walking and ducking under the rope while keeping posture and looking forward and keeping the hands up. After we worked on the jab and cross. some shadow boxing to work coordination with the hands and feet and then some punches to the focus mitts.

Techniques: Thumb lock from a lapel grab, thumb lock from a lapel grab turning it into an inner wrist-lock takedown and a control (student's choice).

I then reviewed bear hugs lifting off the ground from the front & rear, over & under arms and full nelson before fully applied, fully applied, and fully applied while pushing head down. We did a few basic escapes from each and then started working on variations.