Is it possible to instantly assess the dangerousness of an adversary? In a self-defense scenario, is it possible to recognize the preparation level of a potential aggressor only looking at him / her (his / her stance, way of moving, etc.)? No. We cannot be sure. We can try to read some of the most common […]
Are flexible weapons for attack only? Flexible weapons like the Nunchaku (or erroneously “nunchuks”) are very versatile for the attack but in martial arts, we rarely see them discussed in defensive terms. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study […]
In this discussion, we want to mention some specific tips on how to beat a taller opponent in a street fight (not a heavier one, nor a stronger one, we will see these later). Before starting, it is important to emphasize that we will not repeat the general tips mentioned in the past (for example, […]
The self-defense scenario: a brawl Given that we should never be the ones to start a fight, it can happen that we are (inevitably and involuntarily) involved in a brawl with which we have nothing to do. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how […]
Perceive the fighting scenario When in self-defense we talk about constant attention (read How to develop the constant attention), we refer to the collection, analysis and processing of the information that governs the scenario within which we are. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see […]
Rationality and instinct can and must work together to help us achieve our goals in combat, in training and especially in our everyday lives. To fully understand what it means to subdue emotions to our purposes, however, we need to go more into practice by exposing active / passive examples of emotional development. We start […]
Emotions are not automatically enemies of a martial arts practitioner Differently from many other approaches, in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, we stress at the same time the importance of: Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung […]
The detachment from the struggle Resuming the talk of abstraction in combat (read Concentration: reason and instinct), we now want to define, in relation to the practice of fighting, what does it mean (at its most extreme level). Bearing in mind that these are just general guidelines and examples let’s see, in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, what […]
During any type of combat (real, sporty, etc.) the most important thing is to keep a constant concentration. Our mind must at the same time be cleansed from all thoughts and focused on what is best to do. The keys to the effective management of a clash are: Unpredictability (through reason) Naturalness (through instinct) As […]
Collecting information is fundamental Assuming that accepting to fight for any reason is wrong (read The 6DKF’s diagram about the use of violence) and silly (read Martial art and self-defense: what are the differences?), if there are no alternatives, it is a very serious mistake to accept fighting without thinking: We can not entrust our lives to […]
Self-defense and the first attack The scenario A sample context: We are in the middle of a quarrel (read Self Defense: 10 Things to avoid in a quarrel) We have already tried to apply the first steps of the 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s S.A.F.E. method for self-defense (read Personal defense: the S.A.F.E. method) The situation is […]
How to fight in extreme conditions After seeing how to handle with the mental (read Always be ready to fight: the mind) and physical limitations (read Always be ready to fight: the body) typical of every self-defense situation, we continue with the condition in which we are absolutely less willing to fight: the one in […]
How to hit first without attacking first In self-defense it is fundamental to do not be the first to use violence against some other: Due to legal reasons – In the vast majority of cases the law blames those who attack first (moreover, it is always better to avoid legal risks and costs) Due to ethical […]
Is it possible to be ready to fight at any moment? After dealing with the psychological aspect of mental preparation to combat (read Always be ready to fight: the mind), we move on to the rudiments of the physical aspect. Before proceeding we need to do a small premise, if 0 represents the worst possible […]
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As we have seen in the previous article of this series, the first challenge to be faced in order to be ready to face a combat in any time and in any conditions is to accept mentally the (sudden) idea of having to fight: Why now? Why against this adversary? Why here? How do I […]
Self-defense: the difference of preparation that only a few understand The fact of being always in the right conditions to fight is not automatic at all (read for example Self-defense: aggression in front of a supermarket): this is one of the crucial preparation differences that intercurs between: A martial arts athlete A warrior Read also […]
How to manage one or more persons in the grip of anger A note by Master Kongling – The only warrior able to subdue the opponent without even having to touch him is the one who uses intelligence. Continuing the speech of the first level of personal defense (the most “bland”, read Self Defense: 10 […]
Having a plan means to be ready to act As we have stated (read Self defense: how to behave), to deal with the first level of self-defense situations (the ones that do not involve the use of violence) it is important to prepare ourselves mentally. Note – This article has been asked by one of […]
Reconnecting us to the article “The 6DKF’s diagram about the use of violence”, we want to reopen the discourse about the personal defense to go deeper in real contexts. We have to imagine to be in a common situation, caused for example by: A reaction to a overtaking of a motorcycle / car A look […]
Martial arts: the perfect mental attitude The mistake that causes certain defeat Once a great master said something like: “Never respond to a provocateur with another provocation, even if he deserves it. Do not let his weakness becomes your weakness”. What does this mean? It means that answering instinctively and specularly to a hostile behavior […]
The target that we choose and the target we reach There is a big difference from what a beginner thinks he / she is able to do and what he truly can do. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home […]
Exploit the upper part of the body as a “source” of movement After introducing our main sources of movement (read Mobility, balance and direction change), let’s dive into the details of what we define as “upper mobility”: the one that starts from the upper half of our body (head included). Note – This article has […]
In any combat situation our mobility (active or passive, positive or negative) is critical, more in our movements we are able to be unpredictable, fast and constantly balanced, more chances we have to prevail. In the 6DKF there are several methods of moving: Upper mobility (with upper limbs) Lower mobility (with lower limbs) Stable anchorage […]
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Manage the fighting rhythm in relation to that of our opponents is one of the fundamental keys to prevail in any fight. During each type of combat, the body of the contenders continuously passes from positions favorable to the defense / attack to positions “unfavorable” (in relation to the one of the others): Distance Dislocation […]
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After seeing something about the opponent study, we see now some specific applications and elaborations of the data that we may collect about him. Here is a series of concepts to think about in the configuration of our strategy and tactic preparation: Knowing the pace of our opponent allows us to predict where he will […]
How to exploit the opponent’s errors Continuing the discussion about fighting strategy (read How to study an opponent) we start to talk about how to use our enemy’s errors against him. There are endless ways to use at our advantage the opponent’s: Mistakes – Everything he fails to do, he does wrong, etc. Habits –Â Even […]
After seeing the 10 most common fight mistakes (for a novice) we continue the discussion exposing the relative solutions: A low guard may be a personal choice, a tactic or a preparation to a technique, a guard “lowered” for distraction or superficiality is the worst error we can do; for those who are not very […]
Understanding who we are facing The wrong approach to an unexpected self-defense situation Let’s imagine a street scenario where an unknown aggressor wants to beat us: many (bad) self-defense instructors tell us to do not waste time and to attack in the most rapid / aggressive possible way: is it correct? Note – This article has […]
When the fight is real, everything changes In the street (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons), the difference between a good fighter and a novice, dies in the ability to control natural behaviors like: Panic Adrenaline Instinct … Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners […]
After seeing how to prevail in the ground fighting, we want to go deep with some more advanced tips about the combat tactics (“advanced” because they require some skill, concentration and experience that a novice normally does not have). Here are some ideas / points of view (almost always valid) that can put us in […]
After seeing the correct mental attitude to face a fight to the ground, we review some physical and practical advice in order to have a good chance to prevail over our opponent: Let’s economize the use of our limbs, if we can block multiple opponent’s limbs using less than 2 limbs (eg. only with our […]
In the previous article we saw, in practice, what is wrong to do during a confrontation on the ground, let’s see some tips on how mentally focus ourself for a ground fight. The mental attitude: In a ground fight we have (relatively) more time to process strategies, we have to use the inner calm to […]
After seeing how to prepare our body and our mind, let’s go deep in a real fight; first, we start to list what it is (usually) wrong to do: If we are going down to the ground we must avoid to beat in the wrong way, we must break the fall and distribute fluidly the […]
We saw some methodologies on how to avoid being caught, how do not end to the ground and how to finish on the ground in a beneficial way, now we start to see how to deal with a real fight to the ground. Fighting on the ground is almost always a bad idea, however, we […]
What gives rise to ground fighting? Excluding the obvious (and extremely common) case of loss of balance (read How to improve balance: tricks and exercises), in most cases, what precedes a fight to the ground is: A grasping (by us or our opponent, read also Trapping [MINI-GUIDE]) A throw attempt (by us or our opponent) […]
Is it possible to avoid the ground fighting? As we said (read Ground fighting), to opt for ground fighting is: Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course). Our starting point is […]
Why transfer the battle on the ground could be a hazardous Ground fighting it’s extremely technical / strategical and absolutely fascinating but… Before starting this topic it is important to say that, outside a ruled context (competitions, gym sparring, etc. read Declared techniques, sparring and sport competition), to transfer the fight on the ground is in […]
What is the most useful fighting skill? Not without a bit ‘of irony, we want to ask a question rather absurd: What would be the ability that “potentially” (brought to the highest level conceivable) could be sufficient (eg. for an old man or a child) to win against every kind of opponent? Note – This […]
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In the 6DKF, as we mentioned in the past, the ability to deceive opponents is taught: In terms of combat (eg. feints) In terms of survival (eg. simulate dead) In terms of persuasion (eg. lead a discussion where we want) In terms of intelligence (eg. perform an action without the observer’s consciousness) In this specific […]
At the base of multitasking: mental coordination With “mental coordination” we normally refer to the ability to process information, plan / organize actions and make decisions in a coherent / effective way. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study […]
Each type of fight correspond to a specific context Often those who have never had anything to do with it tend to consider combat as if it were a single great discipline: nothing more false and wrong. Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to […]
We have seen the various types of improper combat tools and what to assess in their choice, let’s see now what are the ideal characteristics for the choice of an “improvised” weapon. Some premises (please read carefully): The 6DKF martial art is committed to peace and that it repudiates violence, the study of warrior skills […]
When we are forced to face one or more attackers, an improper weapon may represent the advantage that will allow us to prevail (maybe even without having to fight). However, improper weapons are different from proper for a single factor, they were not created to fight; they may have some drawbacks that instead of helping […]
Why learn to use improper weapons In 6 Dragons Kung Fu we study the functional use of various kind of weapons (flexible, rigid, etc., read 6DKF: what does it teach?) but in a civil context of self-defense, to have professional weapons at our fingertips: It is absolutely uncommon – Personal defense situations are generally unexpected […]
The secret source: the use of unorthodox methods “Who excels in the use of unorthodox methods is inexhaustible as Heaven and limitless as the Yangtze, the Yellow River” – Sun Tzu. Let’s start with these crucial assumptions: Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how […]
When to use a hidden guard stance As we have already mentioned (read The signals that precede an attack: introduction), in a real situation, our opponents always try to do not let us understand what they really want to do. Until they are in close contact with us (a distance often less than our forearm, […]
In a real combat the use of legs is very useful but for a novice, a simple amateur or even the former practitioner it can be significantly unfavorable/dangerous. In order to get an idea of the current state of our preparation, here (without claim to completeness) we can see a checklist that can help us […]
What are the most important characteristics of an effectively executed fighting technique? How should a fighting technique be performed so that it can achieve its purpose? Is there something that we can do to improve the quality of our moves? Yes, in our school we identify 4 rules that: Note – This article has been […]
The last part of this discussion on combat with multiple opponents concerns small tips / tricks and solutions to common problems. Some of the tips that we are going to face are commonly defined as “misconduct”, it does not matter; if it is really at stake our / someone life and there is no possibility […]
We have seen how to manage the environment in a fight with multiple opponents, let’s now descend deeper to see some tips on how and what to attack / defend. What / how to attack: The targets are always evaluated one at a time but without breaks, we need to focus, hit and move After […]
As well as in the single fight, also in the one with multiple opponents we have to see the environment and the attackers as a single body, as a set of opportunities and risks to manage. Let’s see how with some tips. How to deal with opponents: Let’s use our adversaries as shields to defend […]
As long as we can keep the right distance and impose our rhythm to the opponents we will have at least one chance to prevail. So let’s see some insights on how to manage positions, distance and movement. The distance from opponents and from general dangers: Let’s hold our opponents (ideally) at a distance of […]
Multiple adversaries: when the alternative is to succumb We have already discussed how not to deal with multiple opponents (read Practical advice on how not deal with multiple opponents), it is now time to analyze what could be the options at our disposal but before starting, let’s repeat that: Note – This article has been […]
Reality is different from movies and gym simulations We have seen what does it means to face more than one attacker in a self-defense context (read How to fight with more than one opponent at the same time) and the different types of opponents’ groups (read Fight with multiple opponents: the different types), in this […]
Let’s start from the definition of violence in 6 Dragons Kung Fu: a detrimental action (physical or psychological) practiced by someone against someone who is not consenting or that it is not able to express, in full possession of his faculties, a valid consent. Note – This article has been asked by one of our […]
The difficulty is related to the type of opponents We continue the discussion about how to face multiple opponents (without repeating what we have already said, read How to fight with more than one opponent at the same time) but before starting a few premises: We want to stress again that 6 Dragons Kung Fu […]