Hello Current Student, You posted, “…there are secrets in the applications.” I would agree. You posted, “…secrets that each practitioner has to uncover for themselves. Things that either cannot really be demonstrated or some that just have much more meaning when you find them yourself.” Again, I would agree. For example; In order to make my side kick work, I had to go through much research and practice. My side kick is a move that I have a lot of confidence in. But I had to “uncover its secrets" for myself before I could use it well. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, Tonight’s “Secret” might be called; “One pass for the fun of it”. I tend to call it that but it could also be called; “You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man.” Except that W.C. Fields already took that one. The whole idea is that someone wants to place you at a disadvantage. And rather than be straight forward about their challenge to your position, They use deception and trickery to attempt to obtain it. An example might look like this: I once had a person join up for classes. Everything seemed to be on the up and up until sparring class. Then complaints were made that sparring was too rough. When the sparring partners lightened up, the beginner lashed out. This only occurred a couple of times before the entire school got wise to this. When the scam ceased to work, the beginner went elsewhere. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, Tonight, I’m talking about fakes and feints. I’m going to try to introduce you to my good friend, “A Little Miss Direction”. Now some of you have undoubtedly met her already. But for the rest: I learned (and teach) that a fake is an arm or leg gesture. A feint is a torso movement. Both a fake and a feint are designed to make my opponent overreact. The end result is that my opponent out of position and thus defeated. Both a fake and a feint must look like a real attack. My opponent must react to them as though they were the real thing. I, on the other hand, stop that particular attack as soon as my opponent overreacts. For example; Here is Kurt throwing a side kick backhand combination. I defend adequately but there is no counter and the end result is a stalemate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-shGESLHZ_o Here is Kurt reintroducing me to my friend, “A Little Miss Direction”. The results speak for themselves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWVRh48KuLk And here is an example of a feint with the hip. When I “hold” the pad for Kurt, I push my hand forward into his thrust. When he feints me out of position, the result is obvious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnt5mMX0NZk As with any tactic, too much of a good thing can be bad. It should be added to your repertoire with a seamless ease. That is to say, no one should be able to tell real from fake (or feint) :-D Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, Surprise is often able to accomplish what other tactics will not. And sometimes adding surprise will make a tactic work where it might not otherwise. Here is an active draw combination done from both Jason’s perspective and mine. In both cases, the attacker and defender and fully focused and ready. So any surprise will have to be subtle. In both cases, the defender must respond to the attack before they can attack. When Jason attacks; I defend and am ready to counter immediately. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3tq02yAEVo When it is my turn, he defends as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIcWzcd5EbQ But I have changed the timing of my attack slightly and he is a bit late. This could create an opening for me to exploit. The subtle change in timing I all the surprise I need. Regard, MrE2Me2

Mr E2Me2, I like the speed at which you perform this technique http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIcWzcd5EbQ Nice speed and nice timing. He even knows its coming and still missed. Nice control on your part, by the way. Enough to wake him up, with the potential to put him right back to sleep again. shawn

Mr E2 Me 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnt5mMX0NZk That feint worked perfect. I thought the punch was coming all the way. But nope. Very nice. sifu shawn

Hello Sifu Shawn, You posted about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIcWzcd5EbQ “Nice speed and nice timing. He even knows its coming and still missed. Nice control on your part, by the way. Enough to wake him up, with the potential to put him right back to sleep again.” Thank you. I didn’t really think about it and didn’t really notice until I was editing it. This is one of the things I picked up from a Jeff Speakman vid at “youtube”. Perhaps the title says it best, “What We Do”. It is a slice of class vid. When I film, I try not to pay too much attention to the camera. But sometimes I also have a specific agenda too. Like the feint here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnt5mMX0NZk I set out to deliberately film that feint and I was able to do so. I notice that when you make your films, there is that same focus. Like you’re not even aware the camera is there. It makes for a very good vid. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, I was taught that the attacks of Moh operated along 9 geometric angles. For the sake of reference I’m going to refer to them using the clock principle. Just so we are clear here; I got the clock idea from American Kenpo. The angles are: 12:00 to 6:00 1:30 to 7:30 3:00 to 9:00 4:30 to 10:30 There is the centerline And then the reverse 6:00 to 12:00 7:30 to 1:30 9:00 to 3:00 4:30 to 10:30 Many arts go into great detail regarding theses angles (or similar ones). I use them as points of reference during practice and teaching. I also see these angles as both simple and complex. We have a backhand knifehand swing traveling from 3:00 to 9:00 (simple). But we could also have a backhand knifehand thrust along the centerline (complex). Both are powerful strikes and both are backhand knifehand movements. But the swing is to a different target that the thrust. Also the swing generates power differently than the thrust. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, Another way that I use the clock idea that I got from American Kenpo is stepping. By putting the clock face up and always facing 12:00, knowing where to move is easier. Now as I said, I got this idea from Ed Parkers American Kenpo. But I don’t go into the detail that I have read that they do. For me, this concept is a very simple one designed to facilitate awareness and position. When I move I tend towards straight line attacks and circular evasions. But I had an instructor who had a neat little step that angled to the side as he attacked. If he was in a left bow, he’d do a short angled crossover advance to another left bow. He literally moved to his 11:00, and then he’d perform a front kick with the back leg. The whole effect was to open up his attacker and it worked well. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, I was browsing through “Korean Karate Free Fighting Techniques”. Written by Sihak Henry Cho . Published by Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc. Copywrite in Japan 1968, this happens to be an eighteenth printing. Anyway, on page 135 S. Henry Cho describes a “Spot Pushing Front Kick”. For those of you who don’t have this book, here are a couple of things he says. He describes this kick by saying it can be done with either the front or back legs. He goes on to say the support leg pushes the body forward. At the same time the kicking leg cocks and snaps out towards the opponent. Of this kick he says; “This type of kick is very weak, but can be effective as a speedy snap kick.” Also this “The spot-pushing front kick is weaker in power but its smaller and speedier movements often escape detection.” In my opinion, this looks and reads very similar to the concept of “Low Flying Kicks”. Shortest possible takeoff, quickest landing and low targets are all congruent with this. Comments? Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, Committed moves and training in Moh Kempo. I have always marveled at the concept of committed moves. When I first learned of the idea, it made sense but seemed totally ingenious. As in, “Why hadn’t I thought of this before?” I learned that good committed moves had their place. I also learned what a bad committed move was, how to spot it and the biggie. I learned how to take advantage of it. Later, I also learned about blinking and breathing as committed moves. I learned why they were committed, how to read that and what to do. Learning the “secrets” of committed moves was and is a fascinating principle. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, I watched the fight between Matt Hughes and Joe Trigg again tonight. And a few days ago I watched the fight between Matt Hughes and Jacque St Pierre. In both fights, he takes nasty shots to the groin. Against Trigg, he turns it around and wins but against St Pierre, he doesn’t. I have taken note of former champion Matt Hughes. I have done so because he is so well known. I am not disrespectful of the man or his abilities. None the less, he brings home my point for tonight. If I don’t practice protecting a specific target, it is vulnerable. When I was younger, I thought my cup was a safety measure I really didn’t need. I was wrong and it took considerable effort on my part to correct that error. In the practice of Moh, protecting the groin is and should be a constant battle. By the time one has attained yellow belt, they should have at least 3 different defenses. Moving away, kneeling with blocking and putting a leg in front of the incoming kick. These should be the minimum defenses based on an awareness of the danger. A groin kick poses significant risk and should be treated so. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, When I first learned to punch, I learned to make my fist by simply clenching my hand. I’d also squeeze my thumb and little fingers as tight as I could. I later found out that this is a common beginner’s mistake. The problems with no aligning the bones of my hands and wrists were many. I couldn’t hit with the proper part of my fist. When I was unfortunate enough to land a punch, it hurt me more than my opponent. Finally, I found someone who taught me how to make a rudimentary fist. This helped and I was able to land some blows without pain. But I was still not using my fist to its maximum potential. In order to do that, I had to be humble enough to relearn how to make a fist. I was up to that but it still took months to get my fist formed the way it should be. And it took months after that before I really felt I could hit hard with it. Intellectually, I knew my new weapon was powerful. But emotionally, I felt it was weak and vulnerable using my new weapon. Despite the countless hours conditioning it and practicing with it, I was very careful. Regards, MrE2Me2

To all, When I first learned to spar, my gaze went everywhere. I had no clue where to look and so I tried (and failed) to look everwhere. After I started training in Moh, I was taught to look at my opponent’s sternum. By using my peripheral vision, I could effectively allow my reflexes to kick in. If I tried to focus my vision on what I was attacking or defending, I was just too slow. These days, I will have my students focus consciously on a new technique. But once they have it down, I have them apply it while using their peripheral vision. Regards, MrE2Me2

Mr E2Me2. After I started training in Moh, I was taught to look at my opponent’s sternum. This a concept of Moo I always follow. I find that using the sternum as my most common visual "target", is the most effective place to look. By looking at this area I find my peripheral vision allows me to see the shoulder, elbow and hip joints. And it is impossible for someone to launch an attack without one of those three joints moving. Those three joints are all I really need to see move, in order to begin a defensive counter attack. Sifu Shawn