"BRIDGING THE GAP"

It didn't take too long, after I began teaching at Ed Parker's original Pasadena school, to realize that there existed a "Gap" between what we were learning in the dojo and the reality of the streets. It didn't occur to me as a beginner or early student but by the time I was instructing, I realized something was missing.

In the dojo, we had to do the techniques in the air, we couldn't actually strike our partner, for obvious reasons. In the dojo, we had to know what our partner was going to do in order to know what to practice. In the dojo, it was always a straight frontal attack except for rear grabs locks or holds and even those were known to us, before they were applied. There was nothing spontaneous about what we did. The closest we were able to come to spontaneity was freestyle and fortunately for us, at that time, the freestyle was more open and realistic. A lot more so, than what it developed into, once tournaments entered the scene. Then, unhappily it degenerated into practice, for "slap-point tournament fighting".

My own venture into "bridging the gap" started slowly, around the time Mr. Parker and I opened our dojo on my side of town. It was around 1962 on Crenshaw Blvd. in southwest Los Angeles, that I began experimenting with various methods of "Bridging the Gap". The first thing I did was to change the way we "Ran The Line". In case you're not familiar with the term "Running The Line", all it means is that the class forms a single line for the purposes of practicing a technique so the instructor can observe each person individually and make corrections, which the others in the line could observe and learn from. What typically happened is, the first person up, which was usually the senior student, would turn to face the line, salute the next person, who would throw a predestinated punch, kick or whatever. The senior student would then do the chosen technique. When he finished he would go to the rear of the line. When the man in front of him came to the head of the line it would be the senior students turn to throw the punch at him, after which, the technique was usually changed and the line started over again. A variation of this would be for the student who followed the senior student to chose the next technique and so on.

Running the line in this manner allows the instructor to make corrections and comments, for each student, while the others watch. It's a good training method. The instructor can effectively hold the attention of the other students fairly easily because they are not interacting with each other, as they would if they were paired off. The problem with this, as a drill, is once the students know the technique and are practicing it for accuracy, speed and power, they only get to work with one person per class and do the technique only once per rotation. I have always felt it beneficial to work with as many body types and personalities as possible. You need the speedy ones, the powerful, the short, the tall, the guy who throws in an unorthodox manner. In short, you need all the differences you might meet on the street, not just the same guy who happens to be standing in front of you in the line.

Another problem with running the line the first way, was the fact that you were never physically challenged. You did the technique just once and then went to the rear of the line only to shuffle slowly forward until it was your turn to throw on the man in front of you. Even the act of bowing, before and after the technique, seemed too much a waste of time. It literally destroys your conditioning. So I made a change. As simple as it is, I wonder why it took so long in coming. All we did was to allow each person to do the technique on everyone in the line. That way they'd be forced to react to all sizes, shapes and types of aggressors and do it consecutively, saluting only the first and last attacker. When you finish a line of ten to twenty attackers, you need the time you're going to spend as an attacker, to recuperate.

The next logical step in Running the Line, is to not designate the attack, but leave it up to each attacker. Now you've got spontaneity! Now, you don't know what to expect. Now, it's reaction time. But, it's still all frontal attacks. Or is it? What happens if you turn your back to the line and they put unknown holds on you from the rear? You react! And it's that reaction time that's most critical. I have seen people who have been in the Art for quite some time just freeze-up completely, when grabbed from the rear. The question you have to ask, after seeing a Black Belt go blank is, if he or she did that in a friendly environment, how bad could it have gotten in a hostile one? How long does it take before a student is able to react to being attacked from the rear with decisiveness and within a heartbeat? It depends on the student, some do it quickly, some take quite a while. How long does it take if you never run that kind of drill? The answer is apparent.

Our next priority concerning the "Gap" was to expand it to one hundred and eighty degrees in scope. Thus, the semi circle was born and to make it as realistic as possible we decided to run it without verbal commands so the defender has no idea from what angle the next attack would come. With the defender in the center and attackers spread out in a semi circle, the instructor stands behind and points to the attackers at random. They are free to attack in any manner they choose. The final step of course is to go to the full circle, with those behind applying holds.

In my passion to bridge the gap between the dojo and the street, I must admit, I've probably gone slightly askew a time or two but then again, I don't remember hearing any complaints. One of the things I did was to drag a sofa, an overstuffed chair and coffee table onto the mats, placing them in the corner of the dojo so that, in essence, it created a small room. I then placed two of my more adventuresome students in the area and had them freestyle. It was great! Until one of them got carried away and used the coffee table to pin his opponent against the wall at the shins. This naturally precipitated a reaction, which was to snatch-up the coffee table to bash his adversary. Fortunately, I was able to stop him before it happened and save the table. We didn't do that very often, it was too hard on the furniture.

Another venture that became a favorite, required the use of old clothing and tennis shoes. Toward the end of the class we would change from our gis into extra street clothing and the tennis shoes, we had brought along for this purpose. We would assemble outside the dojo on an asphalt driveway, between the two buildings. Our only light was a street lamp several yards away that threw a slash of light across the first quarter of the driveway. There we would freestyle, in the dim light for a while, and when we rotated the line, mostly in darkness. It was always interesting trying to figure which of the students it was making those Ouch!, Hey, watch your control! Dam, it you hit me again! Owe! Augh! or whatever. It was through that practice that we adopted the use of shoes, even in the dojo. It threw us so badly at first, I decided it was a disservice to the students not to have them practice the way they would be in the reality of a street confrontation, shoes on. It was met with some resistance initially but eventually excepted by all and even welcomed, especially when the broken toes went away.

The quest continues. Another thing I did periodically was to have the advanced class sit on the mats upon arrival. I wouldn't let them warm up. The first time I did it, when I called two students to the center of the mats and told them they were going to freestyle, one of them began doing leg stretches. I stopped him immediately. He said, "Chuck, I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes, I'm stiff". I asked him, "How do you think you'll be when someone spins you around on your barstool and tries to take out your front teeth or opens your car door and yanks you out after you've been driving for an hour?" Do you think you're gonna be warmed up?" I added, "I think now is the time to practice warming up, while the fight is on, so you're not freaked-out when it happens". He agreed and the fight was on. We did that quite a lot. The next part of this discussion is not new but has to be reiterated, none the less. It's another aspect of "Bridging the Gap" that can't be ignored. Even though we've gone over this subject in a Newsletter, not too long ago, we have to cover it again.

It's the reality of hitting. Striking something with all the accuracy, speed and power that you're physically capable of, while maintaining your balance, base and fluidity. It's something that's impossible to develop when you're working with a partner, doing the techniques in the air. It requires realism and the only realism available to us is the use of a "Life Size Dummy." A heavy bag doesn't absorb our energy the same as our steel framed, foam or carpet padded dummy. Our dummies don't hang from their hair and swing away from a blow. They're not meant for spontaneity drills but they can't be beat for what they are designed for. Punching, kicking, chopping, hammer-fisting, raking, poking, scooping, slashing, clawing, heel-palming, elbowing, head-butting, and sweeping. Yes, even sweeping. I have an eleven year old student, who just couldn't seem to get the hang of sweeping at the ankle. He kept planting his foot and trying to muscle his opponent over his leg. I slid the dummy off his mount, kept him erect by placing only one finger on top of his head and had the youngster drop him by holding onto his gi sleeve and doing the take down from "Dropping the Storm." (Black belt technique # 1) At first the dummy spun around in front of him, finally falling. After demonstrating the move, showing him how the dummy will actually land on his head, when done properly, he did it and once he achieved the feeling for himself, has done it properly ever since.

We've said this before and we'll continue saying it until all of our students have either constructed or bought their own dummy. You'll never be a complete Martial Artist until you have experienced all of the advantages of working with a life-size dummy. The final phase in "Bridging the Gap" is freestyle. As stated previously in this article, in the early days our freestyle was open and realistic, as opposed to tournament slap-point fighting. What I meant by that is, when you're practicing for a tournament all you're interested in is getting the points and winning the match. It's not like that on the street. Fights don't get temporarily interrupted when a point gets scored, nor do they end, when three points have been scored. The fighting goes on until one has completely dominated the other and there's no reason left to fight. To continue aggression beyond that point is considered a beating, which is punishable by law, so you've got to know when to say, "That's enough, I'm outta here."

That's about it, for "Bridging the Gap" between the dojo and the street. If you have anything to add please feel free to share it with us and we'll pass it on to the membership. We're always looking for new methods.