Hi everyone. Welcome to this week’s Technique Review.

Today we are working on stances, starting positions, fighting stances, outlet stances. Original name in Hebrew wars meaning the outlet stance. We do have different stances or different situations that we may be attacked at. The first is passive.

Passive doesn’t mean only completely like this but when we say passive stance that’s the idea. We do have another passive stance where the hands are here. So these are the two main passive stances that we have.

Another situation that you may be attacked at it during some daily routine, daily action. You’ll be talking over the phone, sending a text message, tying up your shoe laces, eating something in the middle of the street at the corner or sitting at the restaurant or lying down on the beach. Then you need to do the technique or the solution. So we do have different types of stances. Some of them are very specific and very revealing and some of them are very deceiving and hiding.

When we talk about the passive stance you’re standing erect, feel comfortable, the feet are shoulder width apart more or less, hands hanging down. It’s passive but usually we are ready mentally in this position. Same goes for this one. Usually from this position we are starting many of the defenses against kicks, some of the strikes we are starting. As if similar to a situation that we are not ready, not prepared. Another one is like this where we are going to do this action and use this starting position to generate the natural response or being very close to the natural response. A natural response is the foundation for the technique. So think like this. Starting position, whatever stances and situation you are at. This is dictating the natural response. For example, if I’m like this something goes toward center of body, I’ll use this type of natural response. If that’s a natural response on this beginning … not the whole natural response … just on the beginning we start our technique. So the natural response is the foundation for the technique.

Now there are some deceiving stances. For example, if I stand like this and talk to a person please stay away from me, practically the fighting more or less. But it’s deceiving. I can say “Stay away from me,” or “I give up,” or “I don’t want you to get close to me,” but overall the stance is exactly, almost, like the fighting stance.

Overtly fighting stance is personal. Some people would like to fight more like this. Some people fight more like this. Some people will fight more like this according to their knowledge, body, inclination, what they’ve been practicing, style that they’ve been doing. You remember the old style of boxing? Something like this? Yes. Usually we see this only in the movies or in the old pictures. This is some sort of fighting stance. The wrestler or the grappler types of stance is like this. There’s a karate stance, some Kung Fu stance. Some of them are quite characteristic and if you know the stance, you identify the stance, you understand the style many times then you start reading the opponent. Reading the aggressor, the enemy. If you know what the enemy knows, obviously you can make him fail. Or you have a better chance to make him fail.

So the different type of stances that we are talking about obviously there are situations if that’s a passive stance, what happens if the attacker is coming from the side? Obviously we’ll need to do the relevant techniques that are outside defenses, inside defense, the body movement. Which leg is going where? We have so much material in the Max Krav Maga about what happens in this situation when the attack comes, straight attack for example, comes behind the arm? That we do something like this for that. When it comes in front of the arm when we do this type of motions.  Differently the stance dictating the natural response. The natural response is the foundation for the technique.

When we look at the fighting stance we need to understand that the fighting stance is definitely specific against, mainly against a person from the front. If I’m in this front fighting stance and somebody comes from the side, it’s not a fighting stance against that person. It’s against somebody else. But from this position I have to react against somebody who comes from the side. Whether I do some attacks or I do some defenses or I do some body movements. So usually we say that the fighting stance or whatever stance it is, is specific but it’s related also to where the attacker is coming from and the relations between the attacking limbs and the defending limbs.

For example, if I’m like this and he’s attacking straight attack forward it’s one reaction. If he’s attacking a circle attack it’s another reaction. So complex? Yes but also very natural, very easy. Remember again, use the natural response from … that is really natural and easy from the stance. That natural response is the foundation for the technique.

All the best guys.