| During my career as a high-school teacher I had | | | | make some headway without any obstruction. As |
| to break up a fight or two . | | | | soon as I see that my way is blocked, I put my |
| Often, during a school fight, the students would | | | | hand on the shoulder of a student. I feel the |
| crowd around the two brawlers. The students | | | | centerline, so I know where to give just a little |
| formed a circle, trying to see the fight better, and | | | | push so cause the student to take one step. |
| trying to keep teachers from reaching the | | | | As I pass this student, I am already turning my |
| fighters. The students wanted the fight to | | | | hand thumb down (in a "bong sao"), to push past |
| continue. | | | | another student's arm. |
| Teachers didn't. | | | | One student sees me out of the corner of his |
| I have a great method of ploughing right through | | | | eye, and he steps in my way to block my |
| a crowd of people. It involves tweaking elbows -- | | | | forward movement. With my hand on his back, I |
| I have force on different parts of the arm, as I | | | | allow him to push backwards, but I use a little |
| wade through. The force causes pain on the | | | | centerline pressure with redirection of force, to |
| elbow. | | | | guide his push to my side. I also take a small step |
| Unfortunately, as a teacher, you can't go around | | | | to avoid being clipped by his shoulder. |
| busting students arms, while trying to stop a fight. | | | | In about a second, I have broken through the |
| So, what did I do? | | | | circle at its thinnest spot. I start making my way |
| Call it a combination of Wing-Chun principles, with | | | | in without encountering any resistance. As soon |
| Aikido principles, and a good dose of common | | | | as I encounter the first body, I use little |
| sense and experimentation mixed in: | | | | pressures and redirections to guide past three |
| When standing behind someone and walking | | | | students in very rapid succession. |
| forward to one side, there are a few spots | | | | And suddenly, I am in the center, able to stop the |
| where you could push or press to easily unbalance | | | | fight. |
| the person you were passing. | | | | All subtly executed. |
| If you combine 'pressure knowledge' with finding | | | | Is there a practical lesson to be learned from this |
| little pockets of space in the crowd for easy | | | | article? |
| passage, then you can "move mountains." | | | | Is there? |
| Here's what I mean: | | | | What if you had the ability to redirect a body with |
| I see the crowd of students. My teacher radar | | | | just the right pressure during a fight? |
| goes up -- I "feel" the fight. | | | | What if you could instantly pick out the right spot |
| I am already moving toward the circle, to break it | | | | to topple (or at least unbalance) an attacker? |
| up, even though I can't see what "it" is, or more | | | | What if you could apply the above tactic in a |
| specifically who is involved. Within a second or | | | | self-defense situation against multiple attackers? |
| two, I reach the back of the circle. | | | | What if? |
| At first, I look for any break in the students, to | | | | |