Many moons ago I learned what I call the Statue Drill. It’s like a human wing chun dummy. Which to my memory comes from a Wing-Chun-Kung-Fu-Jeet-Kune-Do connection. (No doubt other systems have something similar. ) A trainer stands with two outstretched arms, and a trainee works in, out and around the arms with side-steps across the trainer’s body. The trainee strikes or executes whatever the assignment is.
It is a handy training device for beginners and veteran “forgetters,”- those who need to remember total usage. Anyway, many years ago I showed the standing version to Coach Jeff Burger. Jeff being the oh-so-clever-innovative-bastard that he is, he tipped the standing statue over to the ground. (Jeff routinely amazes me with new stuff. ) This is a suburb foundation idea to develop organized responses just as it was standing, and I show it in seminars when the topic pops up.
I hope the photos here are not too small. The trainer is in what we call from old-school catch “topside saddle.” (The new kids on the block have new names-whatever). You “fishtail your upper torso to work out, in and around the arms, across the arms.
Photo 1: The start. Hands outside. (This potition also helps as a drill-set-up-starting point,)
Photo 2: Move outside the trainer’s right arm.
Photo 3: Move to Split the trainer’s right arm.
Photo 4: Move to double contact inside the trainer’s right arm.
Photo 5: Move to the centered. Splits contact to both arms.
Photo 6: Move to double contact Inside the trainer’s left arm.
Photo 7: Move to split the trainer’s left arm.
Photo 8: Move outside the trainer’s left arm.
Of course my first list of responses are suvival ones, not sport wrestling ones. Eyeball targets, face mauls, hitting in general, use of weapons if legal. My suggestion is you develop at least 3 great tricks in each position, hand, stick, knife and gun, that can work for you. Martialists-survivor-ists have no need for hundreds of pretzel fighting tap-outs to chess-memorize. After all, how do you want this to end? For example, can you punch or elbow from each? Try a weapon quick draw from each? Can it, will it work? Escape from each. Experiment with arms wraps. Make survival lists. Such “connective” formats help organize, retain-maintain training. Hey, I guess by now you know you can flip this and be the topside trainee too!
You know I will never make you a submission, wrestling master-champion. I will however embed savvy-survival, crime and war problem-solving taught with superior, clean, generic, learning structures and methods, void of all distracting sports and arts..
