Self-Defense Partner Drill

Date: Weds, 2 Feb 2005

One of the things that sets Chinese martial arts apart is its extreme economy of movement.  This is evident in the concept of “Point of Origin.”

Point of Origin refers to the practice of hitting from wherever you are – instead of “chambering” or cocking the strike.

I had my students working on a drill in class last night that develops Point of Origin striking.  If you have a partner you two can work on this to build self-defense skills.

Here’s the drill:

Do this in slow motion for safety and also to refine details.

Have one person (A) throw a slow punch, do a choke, or some other attack.  Now the defender (B) gets 3 moves – they can be strikes, escapes, counters, whatever. Person A should react more or less normally.  If he’s kneed, he should bend over, etc.

When B has done 3 moves it’s A’s turn.  The key is to always move from where you are so you’re setting up strikes as you go.

For example:  A vertical upward elbow to the chin with the right arm could be followed with a downward heel palm strike to the nose/tiger claw rake to the eyes.

As you practice this you’ll not only get good at moving from where you are, you’ll find that your close range fighting skills improve because chambering a strike is especially difficult and wasteful when you’re being crowded.

I go over this drill in some detail in my Automatic Self-Defense DVD, along with a ton of other great stuff for explosive, street smart fighting skills.  The DVD set isn’t offered on my web site yet (it will be soon), but if you want a copy, feel free to call me up at 800-920-9746.

Take care, train safe,

Rob LaPointe