As Savate Boxeurs, it is very easy for us to understand the mechanics of hitting something, or someone. When it comes to dealing with people away from the Salle, however, that may not always be appropriate - even when another person is showing aggression towards us.
"How can that be", you may ask. "Surely we're allowed to defend ourselves aren't we?" Well yes of course, but suppose that you are at a wedding and another guest (whose had a little too much Champagne perhaps) starts being a little boisterous, shall we say. Do you think that it would go down very well with the Bride and Groom (and their families) if you were to go over and try to calm things down and end up punching the other guy out? Especially if it was your Uncle Charlie. What would Auntie Mabel say if you were to punch his false teeth down his throat, for example? ;o)
Also, what about if you work in a head trauma unit at a hospital and one of your patients throws a temper tantrum? Not uncommon with head injury people by the way. You'd soon be out of a job if you went in fists and feet first. Even Door Supervisors (as they are now known - 'Bouncers' in the old days) are meant to handle clients with respect and minimum force nowadays.
This is where a knowledge of restraining holds and, in some cases, joint locks can be of great use to you. The trouble is, it really is so much easier to learn how to hit something than it is to learn how to apply such things as restraints and joint-locks.
This is where I come in. I've spent over 30 years practising such things. Does that make me infallible? No of course not. Sod's Law will always dictate that if it is at all possible for something to go wrong, then it sure as hell will do. What I try to do is to only teach techniques that are easy to learn (not too complicated), and that are practical and functional for most people to apply. I also try to teach several back-up techniques, so that should one hold fail (for whatever reason), you can automatically apply another technique to replace the one that failed.
If you think that you would be interested in attending a seminar with me on restraints and holds (including joint-locks and counters to locks and holds) please let me know. Please also click on the poll and say whether you'd prefer to attend on a Saturday or a Sunday. The more people who would be interested in attending will allow me to keep the cost of attending down and, therefore, affordable for all.
