Kadochnikov System International Association Stage III. Working against strikes Special methods that are used to develop skills of self-defense against any kinds of kicks and blows www.kadochnikovsystem.com
Stage III. Working against strikes Special methods that are used to develop skills of self-defense against any kinds of kicks and blows An important distinctive feature of the strike technique in the Kadochnikoff System is the use of wave principle for the formation of strike energy. In accordance with this principle, the wave movement is primarily formed by the most massive parts of the body the wave goes from the thighs and pelvis through the shoulders to the arms. The impulse of these massive parts of the body with relatively slow speed and amplitude forms a wave that goes through the body thanks to the loosely relaxed muscles from the initial part of the body to the extremity of a strike. In accordance with the laws of physics, there s a movement of energy, due to the wave movements, from the relatively low-speed movements of massive parts of the body to the high-speed movements of extremities of strikes. In the school course of physics this phenomenon is considered by the example of a whip a relatively soft movement of the handle of the whip results in a supersonic speed at the end of the whip. The same effect is seen when the energy from a strong but slow impulse of thighs passes to the striking surfaces of the arms/hands. Applying little muscle efforts we can perform strong strikes with the arms/hands with high efficiency. The key moment in the technique of the wave strike is the ability to be relaxed while working, not to tense muscles, because if the muscle is tensed, the initial impulse is wasted to overcome the resistance of one s body, it s damped in tensed muscles and
there s no acceleration at the moment of a strike. Here we see the requirement for the relaxed stance that was described in the previous section. If the wave strike is performed properly, the initial impulse of the thighs movement, for example, goes in the form of a wave through the body to the arm. In accordance with the law of conservation of linear momentum, when the wave passes from the body to the extremity, the mass of the extremity that takes part in this wave movement is sharply reduced in comparison with the mass of the torso; the speed of the moving extremity sharply increases. When the wave reaches the hand and gets the required stiffness at the moment of contact, you ll get a sharp lashing strike. The way of forming the stiffness when the energy of the strike is transmitted through the surfaces of a strike is another peculiarity of the striking technique of the Kadochnikoff System. The stiffness in the point of contact is achieved not by the straining or fixing the part of the body that perform a strike (it s a distinctive feature for the striking technique in many eastern martial arts, where the strain in the punch or arm arises immediately before the strike), but by the switching off of the degrees of freedom of joints by twisting in the joint connections. The initial impulse may be formed by the movements of the pelvis, torso, or other parts of the body which are made in case of protecting against the opponent s strikes, of moving away from the plane of the strike or in case of finishing the previous attack. When a strike is finished, the return to the initial state is also made by the wave movements with the use of the recoil momentum. The retroaction after the direct strike here is used as an initial impulse for the next strike or action.
Another important principle in the striking technique of the Kadochnikoff System is the principle of maximum use of energy of the movement in the strike. The result of this principle is the idle movements are brought to minimum in the Kadochnikoff System. These are the movements that don t play an immediate role in the opponent s attack or in the defense against the opponent s strikes. The further realization of this principle is the combination of attacking and defending actions. Other mechanisms of the forming of the striking technique are quite evident for a professional. It s reasonable to perform strikes at the expiration by means of moving the surface of the strike behind the limits of the aim to a half of a figure, by sitting down and making a step with a half step in the moment of contact with the rival, and by turning of the surface at the strike in the point of contact. Strikes with an arm are made with a constant turning along the longitudinal axis of the surface of the strike to the pain zones and points of active damage and to unprotected parts of the body at the angle of 45 to the aim. The accuracy of the strikes depends on the feeling of the distance. The properly chosen distance makes a third part of the victory. It s necessary to remember that it s not very convenient to make strikes with a hand because there s a chance to injury your hand. A hand is made by Nature to grasp, not to strike. The finger joints are usually too delicate to endure strong strikes. If you decide to strike in a fight, you must be absolutely confident in your actions. Don t hurry and do accurate movements. In handto-hand fighting there are no wrong strikes. A strike is considered to be proper when it gives you an advantage over your opponent. There s only one way to reduce the possibility of getting injuried the strikes must be learnt and mastered constantly. The energy and kinematics of the strikes made with the legs is based on the same principles as in the case with the strikes made with the
arms. When a strike is made with the legs, the surfaces of the strike are: the ball of the foot, heel, the upper part of the arch of the foot, the internal and external edge of the foot, the heel area. When you have your shoes on, you must use their properties, first of all heavy welts. For example, a strike made with the roots of the toes (barefoot or in a light shoes) has a slight painful effect. The same kick made with an angle of the welt of the shoes with heavy sole (e.g. army shoes) leads to the sharp pain that confuses the rival and even results in shock. All the strikes must be quick, sharp and unexpected. Their efficiency in all the cases depends on the stable position in the moment of the strike and on the ability to form an impulse and to choose properly the point of the strike. Formation and biomechanics of strikes The element of a movement is a phase, a temporal base unit. A phase is a succession of motor actions solving a specific motional problem. If the motional problem changes, so does the phase. The introduction of this concept permits the complex motor action to be resolved into components. It is important not only for the analysis of it, but also in the process of learning, especially when analyzing high-speed short-term processes, e.g. strikes. In hand to hand combat strikes are one of the most important constituents, so special attention must be paid to this principle and the processes relative to it. A strike as a physical phenomenon is a short-term interaction of two or more bodies, accompanied by the forces of higher quantity.
In biomechanics the following types of strikes are discerned: 1. The swing (repulsion) a movement preceding the percussive movement and leading to the increase of the distance between the percussive link of the body and the object to be hit. This phase is the most variable. 2. Pre-striking movement from the end of a swing to the beginning of the strike. 3. Percussive interaction (strike) the collision of two bodies. 4. Post-striking (percussive) movement is the movement of the striking link of the body after the end of the contact with the aimed object. The main phase is the percussive interaction, characterized by the momentum. Momentum is the product of force and time of action of a force (in translational movement). It is a measure of influence of force on the body during the given time span. In mechanics strikes are divided into: Central (if the bodies before the interaction move along the straight line, passing through their centers of mass); Direct (if the velocity (V) of the center of mass in the initial phase of a strike is directed perpendicularly at the direction of the other body); Slanting (if the velocity vector of the center of mass is not perpendicular); The theory of impact was developed by I. Newton. In the process of percussive interaction a mechanic deformation of the body takes place; the kinetic energy of the movement turns into strain energy, then this energy partly turns back into kinematic and partly disperses (turns into heat).
Depending on the losses of energy in dispersion, strikes are divided into: a) Quite resilient (no losses of dispersion, e.g. striking a billiard ball) b) Not quite resilient (strain energy only partly turns into kinetic energy, e.g. hitting ball in sports) c) Non-resilient (all strain energy turns into heat, e.g. hitting in karate, boxing, landings after jumping etc) In the theory of impact in mechanics the strike is supposed to be so fast and the impact force is so high, that other forces are negligible. However in hand to hand combat there are many actions, impossible to be considered as a pure strike, and such assumptions in those cases are inadmissible. The time span of a strike in hand to hand combat (as well as in such sports as boxing, karate etc) is short, but not negligible. The length of percussive interaction trajectory on which the colliding bodies move together, (e.g. in combat sport, boxing etc) can be up to 20-30 cm. In such cases the percussive interaction externally looks like complex movement, including both translational and rotational motion. Performance during the strike is not only translational, but also a rotational motion of the striking surface, the body receiving the strike receives the mechanical motion in the form of rotational. In this case so-called percussive mass increases. Its quantity is not constant. In case if, for example, the strike is delivered by means of flexing the hand or with a relaxed hand, the body receiving the strike interacts with the mass of the hand only. However, if at the moment of a strike the striking link is fixed by active antagonistic muscles ( hand-forearm pair) as if being a solid single body, in the course of percussive interaction the
whole mass of all rigidly fixed links will take part. In this case, large muscular mass is not necessary for a powerful strike. The higher the input of rotational motion, the more the percussive mass and the stronger is the blow. Thus, in hand to hand combat the main objective of a blow is to increase the force of percussive interaction and by the means of the given trajectory to ensure the hit in the specific aim. It is possible to provide more forceful impact by, first of all, increasing to the maximum the speed of the percussive link at the moment of percussive interaction and, second, by increasing the percussive mass. In theory of shifting actions control a certain pattern of movement transfer between the links of the body was discovered: the links of the body start gathering speed one by one, starting with the more massive ones, meaning that at the maximum of the speed of the preceding link, the increase in speed of the next one with less mass starts. In terms of mechanics it is apparent that the less the mass of the link, the higher the speed it is able to gather, while anatomically more massive links are able to move with more coordination. It is also possible to increase the force of the impact by means of percussive mass at the moment of interaction. In this case the separate links of the percussive part are to be fixed (in boxing, karate etc.) by simultaneous activation of antagonistic muscles and increasing the radius of rotation. The strike is such a short-term process, that it is practically impossible to correct the mistakes. That is why the accuracy of the strike is generally ensured by right repulsion and pre-percussive movement. When analyzing the notion of a strike in hand to hand combat the following is important:
1. In the course of opposing motion of bodies in collision their velocities are added. 2. The less the area of collision, other conditions being equal, the higher is the striking effect. 3. The time span of a strike is in direct relation to the mass of the body, the size of combined shift, and in inverse relation to the force of strike. It is necessary to mention, that a strike is a powerful means of defeating an opponent and frequently, though not always, determines the result of a fight. Strikes have three main drawbacks: they are difficult to measure out; in the course of striking it is possible to harm yourself and lower the fighting efficiency; clothing, especially the one for winter, and equipment (e.g. body armour etc.) is a good defense against most strikes. Test questions and tasks 1. What is the principle that forms the basis for the forming of the energy of a strike in the Kadochnikoff System? 2. How can we overcome the resistance of one s own body for mastering the skill of wave strikes?
3. Give an example of the effect of the supersonic speed which is described in the school course of physics? 4. By what means can we achieve the rigidity at the point of contact when the energy of the strike is transmitted through the surface of the strike? 5. What is the principle of the maximum use of energy of the movements in strikes? 6. To what parts of the body and at what angle is it optimal to strike? 7. What does the accuracy of the strike depend on?
8. What does the efficiency of the strike depend on? 9. Master the practical skills of the basic exercises for the forming of energy of a wave strike. 10. Master the practical skills of maximum use of the energy of the movements in strikes. 11. Master the practical skills with a combination of striking movements with the phase of expiring in sitting down, while using a step with a half step. 12. Master the practical skills of choosing the distance for performing the strikes.
The basic principles of protection against strikes The basic principle of defense in the Kadochnikoff System is the principle of non-using force against force. We almost never apply those types of defense, when the energy of a strike is completely transferred to the part of the body that performs the defense such as blocks or guards. The defense is built so you can move your body away from the plane of the strike; take the minimal part of the energy of the attacker s strike and ricochet or slide that action off. To reach that effect we use the following: Meet the attacking extremity with the smallest possible angle (10-15 ); Moving the attacking extremity off your own body, that is done by turning the part of the body which performs the defense slightly and slowly increasing the angle of meeting between the attacking and defending extremity; Accompany the attacking extremity until it leaves the contour of the figure or until the center of gravity of the rival leaves the limits of his/her supporting surface; Leave the plane of the strike by turning the torso with or without a step back, using vertical movements. Meeting the attacking extremity at a 10-15 angle conducts no more than 15-24% of the strike energy to the protecting surface. This helps avert the strike with a relatively slight side effort formed by the slow turn of a protecting arm and by increasing the angle of the meeting. The turn itself is an important detail of the general movement: it makes easier to slide the attacking extremity along the defense and forms the deviation angle.
To accompany the attacking extremity we use the mechanical properties of the lever system of the human body. In this case we increase the stiffness of the joint at angles close to the one's limits. Leaving the plane of a strike is made by turning the thighs and twisting the torso in the direction of the strike and simultaneously shifting the supporting surface. Other basic principles of defense are: using the inertia of the opponent's movements to the maximum for control over his/her body and to be able to perform counter-attacks. Your extremities work the best in these activity zones. From the very beginning, mastering these principles should be an objective. It should be based on understanding -what they're used for. In the process of mastering the material from the section «reaction to the strikes», it s important to understand the basic principles of strike interactions from a biomechanics standpoint. The trainees must have a clear notion of the difference between basic strikes (directed toward pain zones and points which are intended to defeat the attacker which come to a final resolution in the interaction situation) and the diversionary ones (being stopped, they help take over the initiative and distract the attention of the attacker). Mastering of strike interactions and of how they're used in real life must be started with mastering simple strikes, such as direct and side strikes. For working with the strikes themselves it s reasonable to use sport equipment, which has acquired a good reputation in this sphere: sacks, bags, targets made of different materials, etc.
While training on the apparatuses, a trainee must pay particular attention to the relaxed state of one s arm and leg in the process of striking, to the breathing, to a combination of a strike and movements and to the development of the «wave» feeling. You can use flow or circle methods for working with strikes in movement. It s necessary to work both with your right and left hands or legs here. Mastering a strike is usually a one-sided action. When you've developed good striking skills, you'll start mastering defense techniques against these strikes. When the defense technique is learnt, special attention should be paid to how defense actions should be set up which then are to be performed in a way For this purpose, the following preparation exercise is mastered in a pair: a «rival» makes a direct strike to the chest of the trainee with a hand, or with a leg below the belt, then the trainee must defend himself/herself at the last moment of the attacker s movement, when there s no doubt about the attack being real. For this purpose, it s reasonable to use strike elements from the a step with a half step tactics, and pay attention to the thigh turns in the plane of the strike. This action makes the rival fail. Particular attention should be paid to the development of the feeling of distance, to understanding the attacker abilities, which have different constitutions. Special attention must be paid to developing a habit of the moving constantly both in the moment of the strikes and between them. Moreover, all the movements, including the striking ones, must be soft and smooth. It s advisable to begin mastering of such basic element as meeting the strike by defending against the strike with a stick
(stabbing, side and downward stabs), and not with a hand. This is recommended because a stick has a larger trajectory than a hand. It allows the trainee at the stage of mastering and developing the skill to have a few seconds to think since this is necessary at this stage of training. Moreover, the use of a dangerous object mobilizes the trainee and motivates him to master the skill quickly and effectively. When the defense is made, it s necessary to shorten the distance to the attacker, to make contact with him and apply a complex usage of striking actions, levers and influences to pain zones and points. The strikes and defense in pairs are practiced at first from a static position, i.e. a «rival» gives a previously defined strike from a static position in slow tempo. As the defense is mastered, a «rival» begins to attack at increasing speed; then he/she adds some movements. Both the trainee and the «rival» must land combined and coordinated strikes to different parts of the body as soon as possible. Serious drawbacks in the training are: 1. Division of the technique and tactics in the training process. 2. The static nature of the basic positions (both initial and intermediate). 3. Presence of excessive (needless, nervous) movements. The trainees' attention should be drawn to the relaxed (free) state of one s body and to the unfixed eyes when the attack or defense is performed. The relaxed state helps the body be ready for any actions in any direction, unfixed eyes and control the whole situation. In the process of training it s reasonable to assume the basic elements of the attack and defense movements, as well as how
the actions themselves are performed (the defeating of the attacker) will depend on the individual characteristics, qualities and abilities of the trainee, his/her basic skills and habits
Basic Defensive Hand Positions while Fending off Stick Strikes Defensive hand position against a downward strike with a stick over the head (type 1) I 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 Defensive hand position against a lateral strike with a stick to the head (type 1) II 1 2 3 4
5 6 III Defensive hand position against a lateral strike with a stick to the head (type 2) 1 2 3 4
Defensive hand position against a downward strike with a stick to the head (type 2) IV 1 2 3 4 5
Defensive hand position against a stick thrust to the torso (type 1) V 1 2 3 4 5
VI Defensive hand position against a stick thrust to the torso (type 2) 1 2 3 VII Defensive hand position against a stick thrust to the torso (type 3) 1 2
3 4 Defensive hand position against a stick thrust to the torso followed by a right hand chop at the opponent s left forearm. 1 VIII 2 3 4
5 Defensive hand position against a stick thrust to the torso followed by the immobilization of the opponent s left elbow joint 1 IX 2 3 4
5 6 7
Test questions and tasks. 1. What is the basic principle of defenses against strikes in the Kadochnikoff System? 2. At what angle should meeting an attacking extremity or object be performed? 3. What do we use the turn of the defending arm for? 4. What is the maximal use of the inertia of the rival s movements applied for? 5. Why is it methodically advisable to begin mastering the defense movements and to meet strikes with a stick instead of a hand.
6. What should be done immediately after finishing of defense? 7. Why is it necessary to keep the body relaxed and the eyes unfixed both during the attack and the defense? 8. Master and be able to perform basic movements of defending against a strike from a stick (side, downward stabs, stabs). 9. Master and be able to perform basic movements of defending against a strike from a hand (side, direct). 10. Master and be able to perform basic movements of defending against a strike from a leg (direct, side). 11. Master and be able to perform basic movements of defending against a strike from a knife (upward, downward).