There are three main principles which I feel define the curriculum, methodology and mission of SBGi. The first is Aliveness, and we covered that in depth in the last entry. The second is Adaptability, and I will write in detail about that later. The third is Coaching, and that is the topic we will talk about now.

Coaching at SBGi is broken down into three key parts:

At the top we have material, and that is the curriculum itself — what it is we are coaching. Regardless of what it is we are coaching at the time, I believe we can break it down into three additional areas:

1. The core fundamentals of the skill set we are working.
2. The natural order in which those fundamentals arise.
3. Why those things are the fundamentals, and arise in that order naturally.

The first point of the material itself is the emphasis on “core fundamentals”. That means very simply that no matter what skill set we are attempting to teach, we want to place the emphasis on the core fundamental skills of that particular delivery system.

This is important for a number of reasons.

First, it is the best possible way to enhance the performance of an athlete. But secondly, and just as important, it allows the athlete to develop his or her own “style”.

As an example, if I spend a class teaching how I personally pass the guard, it may be useful for a few athlete who play a game similar to mine, but it won’t affect all athletes in the room, as some may play a very different type of passing game.

However, if I focus on teaching the core principles of all guard passes, as an example the five point passing game and the guard surfing drill, then I pass along the core fundamentals that will affect the games of everybody in that room, while at the same time creating an environment where each athlete is free to express their own personal “style”. This relates back to the difference between “style” and “delivery system” which we discussed in the Aliveness Q&A.

Second is the “natural” order in which these core fundamentals arise, and I place emphasis on the word natural here. I believe that training these fundamentals in the proper order can be just as important as making sure what it is you are training is a fundamental.

As an example, when teaching BJJ we have the fundamental five on top and the fundamental five of escapes. These core skills transcend individual style, in that they are something all of us will need to develop. Therefore they are core fundamentals.

But also, they always arise in a particular order when rolling or sparring.

So if you kill the inside arm or go after the far elbow prior to blocking out the guard, then obviously you create an opening that allows your opponent to escape. So we train this skill set in the same order in which it occurs.

The same is true with guard passing. If I attempt to lock in the upper body before I have controlled the hips, then I leave myself open for submissions. So understanding the order in which these skills occur is critical.

I didn’t create the order because I felt they should be trained that way. Rather, we have observed through training that this is the order in which the skill sets occur, so it is a natural order.

It is what is.

Another example would be the clinch. Yes, you can teach a clinch class by starting right away on the fine points of an underhook or a particular takedown, but if the athletes have not developed the basic skill sets of posture, elbows in and head position, then it will be difficult to pull any of the takedowns off. So the order of priority when I teach clinch is always those key points, posture and head position. Takedowns and strikes follow these skills; they do not precede them. Not because I feel that is the way it should be, but because that is the order it arises in when we actually attempt to apply the material against resisting opponents.

Finally there is the third point of why these skills are considered core fundamentals and why they arise in a certain order.

As a coach I feel it is just as important for me to help the students in my classes to understand both these things as it is for them to be able to perform them.

I am often asked what defines great performers or fast learners. Why do some people get very good, very quickly, while others take years? And I have given that subject a lot of thought.

I have been coaching now for well over ten years, and in that time I have noticed some common points with athletes who excelled and gained a high level of performance very quickly. Most people think that athleticism, being stronger or faster then others, would be the common trait. Others might say work ethic. But in my experience it is neither.

It is true these athletes tend to put in their time on the mat, and it is also true they take care of their bodies. But they do not necessarily work harder than others, and they have not been, in my experience, more “athletic”. In fact, these athletes have often never played sports previously, don’t lift weights, etc.

So what is the common trait?

The fact that they think about the game as a whole. They think about their own game, they think about why things work a certain way, and they think about why things arise in a certain order. And in that process they gain an understanding of the game, BJJ, MMA, whatever, that others just don’t have.

There is absolutely no doubt that this introspective trait is the one thing I have seen as a common factor amongst all the athletes who have rapidly gained a high level of technical skill.

In fact, I would say it is the only common trait I have so far been able to identify.

Having said that you can see why I place an emphasis on asking the students questions in my classes, on encouraging critical thinking and questioning. I don’t just want the athletes in my class to perform the skill sets well; I also want them to understand why these skill sets are the core fundamentals, and why they happen in a certain order when working against resisting opponents.

I know that gaining that understanding will rapidly increase their own level of performance, and it will also help them be better coaches when it comes time for them to pass along what they have learned.

So those are the three key points for Material: making sure we spend our time coaching the core fundamentals of the skill set, making sure we coach them in the natural order they arise, and making sure we help the athlete understand the reasons behind all of the above.

The second point on the coaching triangle is Method.

Method is again broken up into three smaller parts:

1. Aliveness, Alive training methods.
2. Athleticism.
3. Art.

We have discussed the first part, Aliveness, in depth already. This includes an understanding of the I-Method, of Inquiry based Coaching, and all that Alive training can imply. This subject is too vast for this article, but for details review the Aliveness Q&A.

The second area is athleticism. In other words, you are not really learning or really developing skill until you start to sweat. That doesn’t mean that an Alive class has to be “rough” or in any way brutal. What it means is that it is a workout.

The third point is art. I am defining art here as “technical skill”. Although we want all of our classes to be athletic, and to push our limits to some degree when we train, we also want to make equally sure that we are training in an intelligent and highly technical manner.

How do you know if you are training technically?

You have to ask yourself if you are patching up weaknesses in your game, technical holes, areas where you may lack skill, with superior attributes. And if you are, you have to be willing to shelf your own ego long enough to stop doing that.

In other words, if you can rip out of an armbar using explosiveness and speed, or escape a triangle by picking up your opponent, or escape bottom by bench pressing the person on top, should you?

The answer is an obvious no. Within the gym you want your training to be as technical as possible. So if you are getting caught with armbars, find out WHY. Then find a technical solution that will work against larger and stronger opponents. This way, when you find yourself matched against a bigger, stronger, faster opponent, you will still have game.

Although this seems like common sense, it is often very hard for some people to do. Those athletes that have trouble doing this will eventually find themselves falling behind the others in the class. They may dominate at first with superior athleticism, but as time passes and the smaller athletes gain more skill, they will eventually find themselves getting caught. This is where a mature coach needs to speak to the athlete one on one about how and why they train.

Does this mean we don’t want to seek to become stronger and faster?

Absolutely not!

We want to train the body, the vehicle, as well as the skill set. We just want to make sure that the power of the vehicle is not masking a technical hole in the game of the driver.

That way when our athletes enter competition they will have a strong and in-shape body AND a high level of technical proficiency. Not a strong and in shape body in place of a technical proficiency.

Finally we have the third point on the triangle, Mindset.

I break down this section of Coaching into three more parts:

1. PLAY.
2. Passion.
3. Personality.

Let’s start with the bottom left of that triangle, Passion. If the athlete is not passionate about the class, the workout, the training, then they will eventually quit and pursue another thing. That is exactly as it should be.

As the great Joseph Campbell so often said, follow your bliss!

Emphasis there on the word “your”.

So as a coach we want to do two things. One, we want to make sure we create an environment that is fun and encourages the athlete to move forward. Two, we also we want to inspire them to fulfill their own mission, not the one we think they should have.

So we want to make sure we don’t lay our own “trip” on them. Recognize that all individuals are different. Some may want to compete publicly, some may not — perfect. Some may want to train only in gi BJJ, some may want to do only MMA — perfect. Some may prefer stand-up, love boxing, others may prefer clinch, love wrestling — perfect.

One of the beautiful things about having a complete curriculum is that it allows all our members to pursue the area he or she feels most passionate about.

Should one of them say they want to compete in MMA, but to date they have only done stand-up or only done BJJ, then obviously we will advise them to balance their own game. But there is absolutely no reason or excuse for attempting to push an individual into one box or another. And one of the nicer things about having that larger community is that there will always be individuals within that gGym which will excel in one of the games more the others, and they will be able to help those seeking more detail in that area.

It’s all good.

Now let’s talk about the bottom right of this triangle, Personality.

As we have discussed before, we want each of our athletes to express themselves in their own unique way. Again, this gets us back to the distinction between delivery systems and style. If I go to a BJJ Gym and all the athletes roll the same way, then I know the coach is teaching their own “style”, and this is not good for the athletes.

If a coach limits their own teaching to the core fundamentals, as we have discussed above, then each athlete will begin to develop their own unique way of moving, of passing the guard, of playing top, etc. And that is exactly as it should be. No two athletes should move the same way.

The core skills and principles remain the same “delivery system” but the application and timing behind those moves will vary from person to person. So as a coach our job is to create a healthy, fun and happy environment where each athlete can discover that personal “style” for themselves.

Finally at the top of the mindset triangle we have the term PLAY.

I strongly believe that play should be the dominate mental state for all athletes training. Play has shown itself time and time again to be the optimal learning state. All animals use forms of play to learn. Lion cubs don’t line up and execute 30 right paw strikes, followed by 30 left paw strikes. Lion cubs play.

How do we ensure we as coaches maintain an atmosphere of play?

By creating an Alive training environment where each athlete is free to pursue his or her own passion, and in so doing develop their own personal style of movement, one which will be a direct reflection of their own personality.

In other words, when we are doing something we are passionate about and expressing ourselves in the process, then what we are doing will by its very nature be labeled “play”. The two bottom pieces of the triangle, passion and personality, automatically create a mindset at the top which can be labeled “play”. That is the optimum learning state for the skill sets us as coaches are trying to help them learn.

So to summarize the SBGi Coaching method, we want to make sure the material we coach focuses on core fundamentals and offers those fundamentals in the natural order in which the arise.

We want to encourage are athletes to ask why these things are the core fundamentals and why they arise in that order. We want to help them gain a larger understanding of the game itself, and to encourage that critical thinking process at every stage of the game.

We want to make sure that as we do that we keep the classes Alive and athletic, while at the same time making sure we are having the athletes place personal emphasis on technical skill — on the art of it.

And finally, we want to create an environment and community that allows each individual the ability to pursue their own unique passion, which will be a direct reflection of that individuals own personality. In so doing we enhance the vibe, the mindset, of play. And there is no better learning environment than that.

That is a brief breakdown of the SBGi Coaching model.

I have traveled literally all over the world over the last several years, and it has been a great privilege for me to do so. The reason for my travels have been seminars, but regardless of where I am I always start them the same way. I explain that my main message that I am most interested in sharing and communicating effectively with people is the message of Aliveness.

Occasionally I am asked why I bother, why not just teach some functional fighting skills and leave it at that? Why explain the process? Why discuss the differences? In short, why is Aliveness the main message?

And my answer to that can be summed up in four words: It is SO healthy!

When our intentions regarding the activity we are engaging in are clear, honest and open, then that “thing” (activity or event) becomes incredibly healthy.

It is about Authenticity.

In other words, if someone says “I do Tai Chi because I find it a relaxing form of moving meditation,” I say, rock on! In fact, I might even join them.

However, if someone says “No need for doctors — Tai Chi will cure your cancer,” then I may need to question that. And that questioning is also incredibly healthy. Likewise, if they say “Tai Chi will serve as a wonderful form of self defense,” then I will also want to question that. Both those claims, “cures cancer” and “good for self defense”, are verifiable within objective reality. And as such, if we are really interested in Truth with the capitol T, then not only should we question those statements, I believe we have an obligation to do so.

I think that is common sense. When we don’t question such statements within ourselves, and accept them solely at face value, then we find ourselves lost, deceived and often hurt.

Granted, one of those things (cures cancer) may be far more serious then the other. But both are equally irresponsible, and I never claimed to have the most “serious” job, just a blessed one.

So let me be clear about what I mean when I say “question”.

We come to the question of speaking publicly on it. And to be clear, I don’t advocate that for everyone. In fact, the only thing I believe matters is that we are honest within our own self about our own intentions, and that we remain skeptical and question all forms and statements of authority for ourselves.

Whether or not someone then goes out and speaks to others about their findings is an individual thing. I can only say I am really, really grateful that some people do.

I think of the Amazing Randi, who has been debunking charlatans like Uri Geller for well over 30 years. His writings had a great impact on me when I was a teenager. I remember watching Uri Geller on television and feeling like something was just not “right”. And his book helped validate my own critical thinking on the matter.

And Lord knows that if this world could use a little more of something, then “critical thinking” would rank VERY high on that list. Just under Love and Compassion, in my opinion.

I felt much the same about martial arts as I think Randi and many others felt about the scams of Uri Geller. I felt like I had been deceived, whether intentionally or through ignorance. But deceived either way. And that is never a good way to feel. And it can, and does, happen to us all. Uri Geller deceived a large pool of highly educated scientists at the Stanford Research Institute using what amounted to poor magic tricks, just as thousands of people have been deceived by fraudulent martial arts, only to find out later that what they where being taught might in reality get them hurt, especially if they believed it worked! (Witness the first few UFC’s for an example).

Did they want to believe, or were they just naive?

I have a good friend who recently sat in on an interview with a major martial arts figure. This man being interviewed is known as one of the leading authorities in “pressure points” which he claims are hidden within “katas”. When asked why we don’t see this amazing pressure point knockouts in full contact sports, he said “they have been banned”. When pressed as to why that would stop a grappler from striking a point on the body which was legal within most sports, he said “Well, you have to hit three points almost at the same time, and it depends on what time of day it is!” I am paraphrasing from memory, but I promise the exact quotes would be equally absurd. He then explained how these points are different on men and woman, and which order they need to be struck. My friend then asked, “What if the guy you are fighting was gay? Would you use the male points or the female points?” And this person sat very still for a moment, and then he said “Use the female points.”

Sadly, he was deadly serious.

This man then went on to explain how you can knock someone down using just a sound, which he began to make. My friend emulated the sound, and then asked, “If I was in that corner of the room making this sound, and someone else was in the other corner making this sound, would you consider it a mass attack?” After some thought the man answered, “Yes”.

And no, I am not kidding.

So I still see Aliveness as the core message.

When Aliveness is compromised on, the entire structure falls apart. This happens because Authenticity is lost. And the results are not healthy.

But when Aliveness is maintained, then everything else seems to come right in the end. And once the proper methods for drilling and coaching are added in, the sky is really the limit in terms of potential.

So having stated that, I will start with a basic Aliveness Q&A. These answers have been gathered over many years and all these questions have been asked many hundreds of times. This section details the answers we have given time and time again.

What is Aliveness?

Aliveness is timing, energy and motion.

What do you mean by timing, energy and motion?

For something to be truly Alive in what we do then it has have three key elements: movement, timing and energy (resistance). If you are missing any one of these then it is not Alive.

Movement means real footwork, not contrived, not in a pattern; on the ground it means exactly that also, movement. If the person is just laying there, not moving as you apply your lock or move, that is not Alive. In the clinch it’s the same: pushing, pulling, moving.

Timing is of course just that. If it’s in a predictable rhythm, a pattern, a repeatable series of sets, then you are not acquiring or developing timing, just motion speed.

And of course energy. Swing the stick like someone would really swing it. Don’t stop at centerline. Punch with the energy of someone who wants to hit you, not locking your arm out so your partner can look good doing the destruction, trap, silat sweep, etc.

You must move, have a sense of timing and use progressive resistance

Why do you place so much emphasis on this point as opposed to others?

Aliveness is everything. If a person grasps the principle and truly understands what is mean by it then they can never be bullshitted again. That’s why I emphasize it so much. I am also constantly being asked “What’s better? This or that? This style or that style? Why don’t you do this drill anymore? Why do you say this doesn’t work?” The answer to all those questions is Aliveness. Once they grasp what that means then about one thousand and one of their questions are answered for them. It’s everything.

However, if someone wants to collect a certificate from a well known sifu or look cool doing two person forms, then they will not care or pay attention to the concept of Aliveness.

Why do people then find the Aliveness concept so difficult to accept?

I think that is because when some people start to train Alive and expose their students to Alive training, they often have to throw out a major portion of the curriculum they learned before. This is because it is shown to not work when applied against a resisting opponent. And Aliveness gauges that very quickly.

All of the sudden the premium is placed on performance, and arts that perform well (boxing, wrestling, Judo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and others) become the base.

What is the distinction between “delivery systems” and personal “style”?

“Style” is always very individual. Each fighter has their own “style”. And it’s acquired only through sparring and Alive training. In that action against a resisting opponent the athlete discovers how to make the delivery system work for them. That is their “style”.

However, delivery systems always remain fairly constant, regardless of the individual body.

In other words, there is a proper way to put on a rear naked choke. And as long as humans have the same design to their bodies, that “technique” will remain the same. That choke is an example of a “delivery system”.

That is why the typical Jeet Kune Do Concepts method of a buffet approach, picking and choosing from many arts regardless of the delivery system, is such a poor idea. Without solid skill in the basics of the delivery systems of stand up, clinch and ground, you will not be able to fight or apply any of the information. Sticking to the simple basics, drilling Alive and sparring is the only way we have found to acquire real functional skill.

Delivery systems can be tested, and it’s obvious what works and what does not. Mixed martial arts has shown the boxing, wrestling and BJJ delivery systems to be of great value. So the delivery systems fighters choose tend to all be the same. Someone trained in say Silat, without that background in the functional delivery systems mentioned above, would be unable to compete in MMA. They cannot defend themselves against such opponents.

However, each fighter naturally develops their own style as they practice, drill, spar and fight. No two BJJ fighters are the same, yet they all use the same delivery system. No two boxers are the same, yet they all use the same delivery systems.

It’s all very simple and clear.

But isn’t ALL just up to the individual. There are no superior delivery systems are there?

There is a proper way to perform a rear naked choke that will allow you to achieve the desired results as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is simply a reality. Likewise, we there is a proper way to throw a right cross. There may be many variations of “how” it is thrown; this is “style” and every boxer will have his own. But the fundamental body mechanics, such as rotation of the hips, are based on the laws of gravity and motion, and this is the delivery system.

Whether people choose to acknowledge that reality does not change the truism.

As an example, everyone who teaches functional ground fighting these days is incorporating the guard, mount, etc. They may call it submission wrestling, but it’s the same delivery system.

Since the Brazilians brought that delivery system to prominence I feel it’s important for me to give them credit. But ultimately, the name of the style is not important. The reality that the delivery system is backed by principles of leverage and timing and works against resisting opponents is what is important.

Can you give me a better example of what you mean when you say “delivery system”?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu could be called a “style”. Shooto could be called a “style”. But, if you took a close look at two of the top players, then you would see that they are using the same delivery system. As an example I will say Rumino Sato of Shooto and Renzo Gracie of BJJ. They both train the same positions (guard, mount, cross sides, head and arm, etc.), the same submissions (armbars, leg locks, chokes, etc.), and the same types of drills (passing the guard, drilling leg locks, etc.) So they essentially train in the same delivery system. So the Shooto/BJJ name becomes moot at that point.

Without that delivery system neither one would be as good of a fighter on the ground. That is just a fact. Imagine if Sato didn’t know what the guard was or could never hold that position, or if Renzo didn’t train his escapes from mount.

So a delivery system is just that: a system of body mechanics or movements.

Here is another example. Both Jean-Jacques Machado and Rigan Machado teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you asked them to teach you a shoulder lock from mount position I am sure they would both teach you the same method of delivery, i.e. how to set your weight, hold position, crank the joint, etc. That is because there is a best known way to do this. That may not be the politically correct thing to say, but it is the truth.

Now as far as “style” goes, both have a totally different style. Rigan is slow and crushing, and works an amazing top game that makes you feel like a crushed bug. Jean-Jacques has a fast, machine gun-like, attacking game from the guard. Jean-Jacques puts the word “active” into his guard game in a whole new way. So they both have very different styles, but the same delivery system.

Then to clarify, by your definition what is a “style”?

Good question. A style is an individual’s personal method of application of a delivery system.

It is worth knowing that you cannot develop a personal style unless you train Alive, or at the very least spar.

So how do you develop your own “style”?

It is not a matter of taking different pieces from different arts (the JKD Concepts method) or learning and imitating someone else’s style (the original method).

Rather, it is a matter of learning the basic delivery systems and then training Alive. That process is JKD. And not everyone gets that.

Can there be real JKD without Aliveness?

No, without Alive training you cannot really develop your own game, your own “style”. And not reaching a level where you have your own style equals not doing JKD.

JKD is not a matter of tracing your lineage back to a certain person. And it’s not a matter of having some ink printed on a piece of paper from Kinkos. Nor is it a matter of accumulating a mass of dead pattern drills or chi sau skill. Doing JKD is a matter of reaching a point in fighting where you begin to develop your own personal “style” in all ranges of combat. That can ONLY be done through Aliveness. That is just the reality of things, and it’s a lack of understanding about this point that has lead to all the confusion.

Why do you think there are a lot of instructors that are still not teaching with Aliveness?

Two reasons. One is they don’t know how yet. They honestly just don’t know exactly what Aliveness is. Two is fear. They are smart enough to know what Aliveness is, but the curriculum that such a principle would demand is something they are scared to get into 100% of the time. They have too much they would need to throw away or stop teaching. They have a position or reputation that they have spent years developing, and they feel like they have come too far to step back and admit that perhaps they where wrong in the past and that there is a better way. That’s too bad, because that attitude prevents growth and produces fear. Fear leads to anger, and that anger comes out as a defensive reaction. You have to be willing to let go.

So there is such a thing as superior delivery systems?

Let me give you another example, let’s use a hip throw. You can find the hip throw in Freestyle wrestling, Greco Wrestling, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, Mongolian Wrestling, Icelandic wrestling, Swedish wrestling, and Chinese wrestling, just to name a few. But the delivery system for the hip throw or “hip toss” always remains the same. The mechanics of the move are essentially always the same: a back step, level change, hip bump, and toss. Why? Because there is a proper way to do it. And every art that trains Alive in throwing has found it.

I could go on and on with examples, but hopefully you see the point. Without the delivery system you cannot become familiar with the range, and thus you cannot effectively realize the goal of JKD which is to become effective at all ranges.

Whether you choose to call that delivery system Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Shooto or Wolverine Style is redundant, not because it’s been posted before, but because it is a semantic and not a real difference.

Yes, but not everyone can be a good fighter? What about those that say you can be a good technician without necessarily being a good fighter.

Think about it. How can you be a good technician if you can’t fight? It doesn’t make any sense. You don’t say, “Hey, that guy is a good boxing technician, but when he spars he just gets mauled every time.” Or “That wrestler is a good technician, but his takedowns suck.” Or “That Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guy is a good technician, but he can’t fight on the ground at all.” If you said that you would sound insane. But people say that in JKD all the time. It’s another in a long line of myths.

You can be a tough fighter without being technical due to aggression, size, explosiveness, strength, etc. But you cannot be a good technician without being able to fight — it’s impossible.

It’s similar to when people tell me they think I have taken the art out of martial arts, that it’s all about fighting only with us. I reply, art of what?

The art is in the performance, the doing. Art is in the performance, sharing, and experience of the training itself.

Also, anyone can be a fighter. A good coach can show anyone of even moderate to low athletic ability and intelligence what it takes to become a good fighter. Now, not everyone may then want, or need, to make the sacrifices necessary to get to that level of performance.

If all you train are basics, then won’t you be training only for the short term objective of “performance”?

There is no such thing as “advanced” techniques in fighting.

The same armbar Rickson Gracie uses is the same armbar a white belt with one month in uses. The same triangle choke, the same elbow escape, etc. The difference between the “advanced” technique and the “beginner” technique is simply the timing, tightness and efficiency of the movement.

The same holds true for wrestling. The same double leg six-years-olds are taught in pee-wee wrestling class is the same double leg the Olympic level “experts” use.

In Judo, experts of the art spend lifetimes perfecting two or three of the “basic” throws. Yes, the exact same throws taught to all beginners.

Lennox Lewis doesn’t throw an “advanced” left hook.

Same basics, same basics, same basics. Fundamentals, that is what ALL functional fighting arts offer.

Fundamentals done really well, those are advanced techniques.

If all you have are basics, what can you offer others?

The answer is “everything”.

But I don’t believe in throwing a new person in over their head and having them spar in the first few months of training.

Yes, we don’t usually suggest throwing a new person into sparring. There are far better methods.

Is such and such art functional?

My message and that of the Gym is Aliveness.

If you understand that message and what Aliveness means then you can look at any art and see right away if the training methods they use will be at all functional. As such, there is no need for any of us to single out specific arts or instructors, nor is that the point.

First things first.

My instructor says kata training is useful. Do you see use in kata, forms or djurus?

None. In fact it’s most likely to be counter-productive.

Well, since boxers hit bags, and football players run tires, don’t you believe you need a mixture of both Alive and dead training?

What you are describing is not what we would call a “dead” drill, but rather a set of conditioning exercises.

Yes, you can lift weights and then train with Aliveness and be highly skilled. You can also run tires, jump rope, do wind sprints, practice Yoga (I am a big believer in that) and a host of assorted other conditioning drills, and if combined with a combat sport, yes, you can be highly skilled.

But if you are going to train an activity specific movement designed for “fighting”, then you need to train movements that are functional and will work against aggressive, resisting attackers. And when training those movements with another human being, you need to make that training Alive (see I Method). Otherwise your training will not translate under pressure.

But people lift weights, run tires, etc., to develop attributes, so why not do sombradra, hubud, kata or two person forms for that reason?

Lifting weights is a conditioning drill. It will enhance you fighting skill because it makes you stronger and in better shape. It will not teach you how to do an armbar better. That requires an Alive opponent. That is what “isolation dilling” is for. In order to develop functional fighting skill you have to invest in thousands of hours Alive drilling against a resisting opponent. That is why it is important to separate conditioning drills from sports specific training. Athletes don’t become confused since they know the distinction, but martial artists often do. There in exists the problem.

Sombrada as an example is not taught as a “conditioning drill”, but as a sports specific drill. It has been alleged by those that teach it that it is the first stage used to teach people to fight with a stick. It is not sports-specific because it does not apply directly when you spar the way an armbar does in BJJ. You don’t teach an “armbar flow drill” to enhance attributes, and then when it comes time to spar the armbar say, “Okay, now we have to make these changes to make the armbar work.” Again, that would be counter-productive. That is one of the many reasons why sombrada, as it is often taught, is not and Alive or sport specific drill.

You could attempt to make the argument that it can be used to “enhance other attributes” which many people attempt to do, but why learn something the wrong way in order to enhance attributes? It is not rational.

How would you teach someone with zero experience how to stick fight then? As an example, how to enter and counter off a forehand or backhand swing?

1. Demonstrate a move that I feel will get them there. As an example, a cover and crash.
2. Have both people gear up in as little gear as possible. Have one party swing a forehand at the other, starting slowly, but pulling through with the strike. Again, progressive resistance.

As this is done the other person attempts to perform the skill you are trying to coach, in this case, cover and crash without eating the blow. As they get better we increase the resistance and add a back hand. Within 5-10 minutes this should lead to one side feeding a random forehand or backhand while the other side attempts to cover and crash.

After about 15-20 minutes we would probably just finish with some sparring if this is where the participants want to go with it. The level of intensity and type of equipment used there would depend on the level the Athlete was comfortable with.

This is how we coach armbars, jabs, kicks, double leg takedowns, sprawls and stick fighting.

It’s the first stage of drilling, and we refer to it as the:

I Method

• Introduce (Should only take a few minutes, if not it is probably too complicated for the participants)
• Isolate (Isolation sparring in an Alive way)
• Incorporate (Add into your total game)

Nobody needs to gets hurt, there are no memorized patterns, no contrived footwork and it’s all random and real. When they move to the sparring “stage”, nothing needs to be “tweaked” or modified because they where trained correctly from day one. There is nothing to fix. There is no box pattern. It’s fun, and students like it.

As an experiment, or just for a change of pace, try this:

Teach one group of students using sombrada/hubud progressions, and then work them through all the different “stages” you have to sparring. And, at the same time have another group that just drills completely Alive, as I described above. No patterns, no hubud, no BS, just sparring drills against progressive resistance. Then have them spar each other. The results should interest you, and more than anything else make my point.

But not everyone will respond to I method drilling right away, will they? Don’t some people need to be walked through dead patterns first?

If you are making the assumption that “drills” must be done in a pattern, please look at that assumption. They do not. Furthermore, you gain little value from the drill in terms of any attributes, beyond introducing a movement, when you are operating within a pattern. To actually “drill” correctly there must not be a contrived pattern, and there is no reason to start with one beyond ignorance born out of “tradition”.

(Note: By contrived pattern, I am speaking specifically of a two person form. I do this, you respond with that, etc. Sometimes good combinations are linked, but when we “drill” we want to work those combos against a resisting opponent. Otherwise there is no timing, and we are still at the Introduction stage of the game.)

You are not developing sensitivity until you throw away the pattern. In other words, you cannot get and increased sense of “timing” from hitting a wooden dummy or a stuffed bag. You can get “sports-specific” repetitions in on the stuffed bag. And that will help you build the heart and muscles which propel the tool, and help you remember combinations. But it will never give you any type of “timing” because it is not Alive.

Sensitivity is nothing but “timing” applied to “tactile sense”. Again, you need another human for this. You cannot get sensitivity from a wooden dummy or heavy bag anymore than you can can get “timing” from a wooden dummy and heavy bag.

There are a hundred thousand ways to gain true sensitivity from day one, without getting hurt, with sports specific moves that do not involve patterns, that can be taught to anyone and that are Alive.

All you have to do is let go and create some.

But people like the goofy stuff.

I disagree.

Let me give you a concrete example. Often I hear from instructors that state that some students “want” that “stuff”. I have taught seminars before where the host begged me to show some “trapping” because the students would love it, and I was told that the group that I was teaching to (as non-athletic a group as you could find) would not respond to my approach. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t compromise on this, ever. So I showed no hand trapping or one and two step sparring. I taught as I always teach, and the students loved it. They said to the instructor “Why didn’t you show us this approach before?”

That has been my experience all over the world.

But would I have had the muscle memory or coordination with/without the drill?

What would you say if I threw a right cross in sparring after being taught reverse punches and karate blocks? And then when it was pointed out to me that my cross didn’t look anything like my reverse punches and karate blocks I stated:

“True, but would I have had the muscle memory or coordination without the drill? Personally, I don’t think so.”

It just makes no sense.

Why do so many JKD/kali instructors still teach drills like sombrada and hubud then?

My gods honest guess is that most instructors simply don’t know how else to do it. Since they don’t understand how to drill they fear they will lose students by teaching Alive. They believe that students “want” or need these drills. Or that to stay in business they have to do it this way.

Again, that is a fallacy. There are much better ways to teach. Just as safe, just as easy to learn, just as fun, and far more functional.

What is the de-chau analogy?

It was an analogy that explained why it is important to always teach “principles” for fighting with activity specific drills.

So for example, I would talk about the mysterious “dropping” energy. I could then invent a two person form to “demonstrate” that principle. Perhaps a little dance where we stomp our feet a few times, like the chicken steps in kali. Or perhaps a two person patty cake form where we can play a game and try and slap each others hip before we perform the “drop”.

There would quickly be de-chau experts, who were undefeatable at the game of de-chau, and who could show you lots of cool switches and variations of the de-chau drill.

When questioned as to why the de-chau drill looked nothing like a real fight, they would explain that de-chau is just meant to teach you principles of “dropping energy” and impart a few techniques. That’s why!

Or I could just teach an athlete to sprawl.

The sprawl teaches the “dropping energy”, but if you where to ask a wrestler what they where doing they would tell you they where learning to stop a takedown. Not learning “dropping energy”. And the concept of learning the sprawling energy, without a sprawl, would seem absurd. That is just a common sense approach.

When you begin teaching forms and two person drills which are not activity-specific and simply meant to demonstrate a “principle”, and athletes begin practicing as such, things get goofy and the functional art is lost rather quickly.

Isn’t it ignorant to claim as some have that chi ciao is ineffective?

No, that is inside out. Ignorance comes from the root words which imply something you “ignore”. In this case it would be the lack of any measured evidence for functional use.

Unfortunately the martial arts school I attend does not always use Aliveness as it’s guiding principal. People will often defend training methods were Aliveness is not a factor. During a discussion about training methods someone said to me “What about boxers hitting the heavy bag and speed bag? There is no Aliveness there, so hitting the bags is a waste of time, huh? Hitting the speed bag doesn’t look anything like fighting so that must be a waste of time too, huh?” I replied that the heavy bag was good for things like body mechanics and could be a great work out in itself. The only response was “Well, if there’s no Aliveness, how can it be any good, huh?” Anyway, just wondering if you had ever fielded a comment like this.

You are correct. People will defend their beliefs because they are feeling defensive. This usually has to do with personal identification with the method. And so the best thing you can do there is simply speak your truth (never be afraid to do that!), smile and walk on.

In regards a heavy bag, you can make heavy bag training more realistic by moving around and not using repeated patterns like a robot. However, there are many things we may do that improve are bodies that are not “Alive”. It’s just that all of those things fall under the category of conditioning and exercise. Lifting weights is not Alive, but it will have a direct impact on your body.

Aliveness comes in when you include a partner. BJJ is a great example. You could roll around with a stuffed dummy on the mat and practice knee ride, punches, etc. This would be very similar to a boxer hitting the heavy bag. However, if you never or rarely wrestle “live” against a resisting opponent, you will never be able to compete or reach the performance level of even a beginner blue belt.

You must have Aliveness. It’s as simple as that. That’s where timing and ability come from. As it is in BJJ, it is in stand up and clinch.

But you can’t teach beginners that way. How can you teach a whole seminar full of people that way? It would look chaotic!

Simply not true. I teach seminars all over the world without the aid of dead patterns. I teach stick, ground, clinch, stand up, whatever, without ever busting into a pattern. All the while people learn quickly, have fun, laugh and stay injury free.

What about the idea that these dead pattern drills are for self perfection?

That is usually the last excuse for poor training methods that gets put out there. The thing to ask here is what is meant by the term “self perfection”? If that term is left undescribed, then the idea itself is absolutely meaningless. So it is important to ask for a description on this.

Once a description is given, ask yourself if an Alive training method would serve that description just as well, or in reality, much better. You will find this is always the case.

Remember, for something to be used for “self improvement” it must first be true, real and authentic.

If you are looking for real methods of “self perfection” then you will find them in Alive training and in athletics. As the late, great Joseph Campbell stated, “The only peak experiences I have realized have come as a result of athletics.”

But don’t they thrown all the “self perfection” or “spiritual side” away when they train only Alive?

This is backwards and in reality the opposite is true. And there is much writing regarding how functional athletic training can have serve as a deep and meaningful vehicle for self actualization and realization.

How do you train Alive as you age?

Great question, three things:

1. Stay in shape. You should do this anyway, as I assume you care about your body.
2. Train smart. That is, do not over-train.
3. Use progressive resistance. There is no need to go balls out very often. In fact, there is a false idea out there that effective training needs to be rough and brutal, and like so many ideas that too is backwards.

That is also why I love Jits. It can be done slow and gentle and still be highly effective. What a beautiful art.

Remember, if you can’t pull off Tai Chi, Silat, Aikido, etc, now, as a younger, strong man, what good will it do you when you are older and less athletic? (This is why it amazes me when I hear people talking about saving those arts for when they are old. What sense does that make?) You need to use the same moves, you just have to be wiser and smarter about how you apply them and how you train.

Aliveness is for everybody!

Isn’t there are as many ways as there are faces on the planet?

So true, when left that vague. Add the words “to execute a rear naked choke” and we begin to see that all people share similar bodies, and as such the body mechanics and laws of physics applied to that motion will be similar in nature.

Here is a favorite Krishnamurti joke regarding that exact topic:

The devil and a friend were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend asked the devil, “What did that man pick up?” “He picked up a piece of the truth,” said the devil. “That is very bad business for you, then” said his friend. “Oh, not at all,” the devil replied, “I am going to help him organize it!.”

Truth of the truth:

Aliveness is about the freedom to use whatever works in the moment. Right action at right time, which is another name for true compassion. A freedom that is only fully felt when one is completely immersed in the present moment of now, and free of the burden of beliefs, which manifest as thoughts. A clear mind fully aware of reality as it is now and operating with absolute synchronicity within time and space, that is the real beginning of Aliveness.

It is about Love.

Below is an article by Indrek Reiland of Aliveness Gym Estonia (SBG) on the 5+1 stages of resistance he uses to coach his students. He had originally developed these and written about them before learning about the SBG training methods, but he found that his methods matched up nicely with their curriculum and the I-method in particular.

This articles has been very useful for helping me think of new games and drills when I am coaching, and as a student it has made me think about how to best help my training partner learn.

How to act as a training partner to help your partner learn

Stage 1 (Introduction 1)

This is the stage when you as a training partner help the one learning to learn the technique by not giving any resistance at all. You are as dead as a dummy. Even when he leaves out some details that make the technique work, you do not resist. Using the scissors sweep as an example, despite not pulling your weight on top of himself to do the sweep, you still let yourself be swept.

This is the first part of the Introduction stage. It´s only needed with complete beginners, and even then only a couple of times with each technique. It´s needed just to get them to understand where the grips should be and where their limbs should be.

Continuing our scissors sweep example, the left knee goes in across the stomach and the right foot touches the ground. The right hand grabs his left hand and the left hand grabs his collar or back of the head. If a beginner does that for 2-3 times and gets a little feel and understanding of his limbs and the grips, he doesn´t need that stage anymore.

This stage is not needed for guys who have a basic understanding of the game, but the stage is still helpful for teaching slower people or complete beginners to understand just where the limbs go, the grips and the body mechanics.

My own experience shows that it´s sometimes useful to let them do the technique a couple of times like this, so they get an understanding how it works. Otherwise some guys tend to for example switch the grips for the sweep or do it to the wrong side or etc.)

Stage 2 (Introduction 2)

This is the Stage 2 of Introduction phase. Now you as a partner still do not give any resistance, but you do not help the other guy do the technique. By this I mean that when he doesn’t do it completely right, you do not let it happen. For instance, when he doesn’t pull your weight on top of him and do a good scissor movement then you will not let him sweep you—instead you correct him by saying “Pull my weight on top of you and then do the movement… Very good… Correct. Now let´s do it again.”

This should be the way everyone with basic understanding should start learning (or in this case helping your partner to learn) the technique.

This is the technical repetition stage where the most important thing is to understand the mechanics of the technique and how it works and from what situation to use it, as well getting the body mechanics right.

Stage 3 (Isolation 1)

This stage correlates with beginning of the Isolation stage. You as a training partner start to get some Aliveness into the training, such as in the form of a drill.

In this stage you as a partner do not have your own goals yet, but you are in an alive drill, not letting him just exercise the sweep in a dead manner. You do not let him just pull your weight on top of him, you try to break the grips, get him moving and so on—but you do not have your own goals, e.g. passing the guard.

This could be called one-sided isolation. The most important thing to understand about this stage as a training partner is that you have to act in accordance to your partners size, technique and experience. You are supposed to help him learn in an alive manner, but not fight back at all cost.

A better example might be top or bottom game drills. For top drills, the top guy has a goal to dominate and move; the bottom guy (the training partner for this article) is only trying to get his partner to move—not to escape but to get the correct posture and make his partner fight for the top control. In a bottom drill, the bottom guy has the goal to escape, while the other one is just moving and giving alive resistance but not with the goal to dominate or hold the other one down.

Let´s take double leg takedown drills from some punching or focus mitt drills as another example. In this stage, the one guy has to finish the takedown according to his partners resistance, but the other guys goal is not to sprawl or defend. The only goal is to make his partners life harder with moving and presenting different energy (pressure forward/falling back) for finishing the double leg.

At this stage drills are tremendously effective for getting the techniques learned in Introduction to work in an alive manner, yet in a way that allows the one doing the techniques to practice it without being afraid of the partner ruining his training. The partner is not killing the learner’s objectives to learn. This helps everyone and creates better training partners overall.

Stage 4 (Isolation 2)

This is an advanced Isolation or two-sided isolation stage. You begin from a position, such as the scissor sweep position with neutral grips, and both have a special goal. In this case, it is to get the scissor sweep and to pass the guard. Both partners go at a selected ratio of technical resistance they choose together from 10-100%. After one side manages to complete his goal they restart again from the specific position. You as a training partner have your own goal and also learn as you’re helping the other to learn to defend your goal and achieve his own by alive training.

For instance, one can work the double leg (or both can shoot depending on the drill) and the receiving end will give his effort to defend/sprawl and get to a better position. Or one has the goal to dominate from the top (side control, modified scarf hold or mount) and the other tries to escape.

This is the phase where most of the real training occurs.

By the way, I believe that differentiating—Isolation 1 and Isolation 2—has tremendously helped my ability to create drills and get the point across.

Stage 5 (Integration)

This is basically technical sparring. You can start from an isolated position (making it a sort of Isolation stage step) or on the knees or standing up.

Partners (or coach) choose the intensity from 10-100%. You can give or have different goals, like passing the guard or getting a submission, but it´s basically sparring with a technical emphasis. The difference between isolated positional training in this stage and the previous Stage 4 isolation training is that partners do not have a single specific goal but rather an overall goal (like tapping the other guy out) or personal goals they set themselves (like working on their escapes) or to integrate newly learned techniques into ones game. In my opinion, this is how most sparring should be done. You as a partner help the other guy learn by technically sparring him; help him learn to defend and attack and so on. This is technical sparring at a choosen intensity level—it´s not a competition or a deathmatch.

The integration at this stage comes more from a personal mindset like “Today in sparring, I am gonna drill only guard passing and top game.”

These are the five stages of resistance that you can give to your partner while learning techniques and fighting.

And the + 1 Stage

This is the stage when you stop being a training partner. This is all-out sparring, fighting and competing where you use whatever means you can (if in a competition or in the gym then according to the rules; if on the street then by any means and so on). You use strength at this stage also and are probably just trying to get the other guy tap by any reasonable means, which makes this different from the technical sparring phase. You stop being a training partner in the sense that you are supposed to be there to help your partner and yourself learn. Instead you have your own goal that you have to get using any agreed upon means available.

This type of training is good on some occasions but problems occur when people switch from any previous stage (especially Stage 5) to this stage during training when they should not. There is a higher risk of injury and other problems.

But of course this type of training must be done too to prepare for competitions or to create an environment similar to self defense situations (in MMA or self defense drills).

I hope that the article has helped you to assess your training and understand it a little bit better.