On Sunday the 19th July, I was lucky enough to be invited by Mr David Peterson chief Instructor with Crawley Taekwondo club to the defensive tactics with a short baton course with Kevin O'Hagan. For those of you who are not familiar with Kevin's work, he is the chief Instructor with Bristol Goshin Jutsu combat academy. Kevin has also written a number of articles and produced training videos and a book on practical fighting called, "I Thought you would be Bigger". 

In the first part of the course Kevin worked on some basic striking ideas with a short baton. Working off the attack, Kevin would jam and strike the attacking arm at the same time this was stopping the attacker in his tracks. The blow delivered to the attacker's arm was hard. If this was full power the attacker's arm would be useless. The follow up combinations again hard and very fast, every one of the counter strikes had all of Kevin's body weight going into the strike. One of the combinations Kevin went through after striking the attacking arm he moved in and struck with the baton to the side of the neck, keeping his body weight moving he then struck the floating rib and finished with devastating blow to the attackers knee. How fast?  If you read the last 5 words again, "blow to the attacker's knee" you have taken longer to read it than Kevin takes to perform the above combination. 

Kevin went though all the angles of attack in great detail. Any one of the strikes would have dropped the attacker like a lead balloon. Because of the flowing style Kevin was able to strike with the baton at the targets that were open to him with great effect. We can not all be as fast as Kevin, in fact when you finish reading this report sit down with a cup of coffee, and as you tuck into your 2nd chocolate biscuit I will be just finishing the combination. Targeting and making just one or two of the strikes on target would get the job done. But working with the combinations gave us the opportunity to find the position that worked best for us. 

I am sure many of you have seen demonstrations or read books about using the Kubotan. As someone who enjoys training with the Kubotan I found the next part of Kevin's course very enlightening. Kevin gave us a history lesson on the Yawara-bo a small wooden stick which the modern Kubotan comes from. Kevin demonstrated some of the striking areas on the body the Yawara-bo could be used. Some were so painful that you thought Kevin had hidden the small Yawara-bo and was how hitting you with a peace of lead pipe the size of a small family car. 

As Kevin said  "It's like having a fistful of dynamite".  Working on basic release techniques we worked with our partners on the strikes and controlling techniques. All of us in the hall soon found that standing was no longer a choice, we were all on one knee, bent double or flat on the floor looking forward to our turn with the Kubotan. 

The last part of the course was using the short baton to put on locks, holds and chokes. Mr David Peterson had kindly supplied us with rubber batons so we could all work the drills without too much discomfort. Unfortunately for me my training partner on the day was Mad Dog (I Only eat meat) Richardson Chief Instructor Sen-I Ryu ju-jitsu Gosport. 

Who pulled from his bag a wooden Tonfa saying "It's ok Alan, we can work the drills with this to see how effective they are".  I am sure Kevin saw the look of excitement on my partners face and not wanting to disappoint, demonstrated a neck lock with the short baton. "Now pull your hands in keeping the baton on the side of the neck" Kevin said, at this point someone turned the lights out, and I found myself looking up from the floor. This part of the course put all of the drills we had done so far together, using the baton to strike, block, control and release. Everyone was working well trying the combinations Kevin had shown and then adapting them to their style size and shape. 

I am sorry to say that the clock had beaten us and it was time to end the training. Kevin thanked us all for coming and thanked David for inviting him to come and give the course, and thanked his students who had assisted him on the course. We all gave Kevin a round of applause and hoped we would be training again with him soon. 

If you would like any more information about the Yawara-Bo I highly recommend Kevin's video A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE. I would like to thank David and Faye for all the hard work they put into setting up the training course and for making everyone feel so welcome. Many thanks it was a great day.