Caveman Combatives
We are not learning moves - we're learning how to move.
Focus. Focus deeply.
In the distance is a group of first responders exploring human movement as it relates to violence and fear.
They aren't learning moves - they're learning how to move.
There were two key realizations that really catapulted us forward in the development of our program:
After studying violent encounters, I noticed that the good guys were mostly off-balance emotionally, psychologically, and physically for most of the fight. They were scrambling to catch up to the violence. Composure was reached after they began to dominate and control.
While all fights were dangerous, it was the sudden ambush that presented the greatest threat as that type of attack triggered the startle flinch.
It was observations like these that inspired the research into neuroscience, neurobiology, and the development of an evidence-based approach to personal defense and scenario training.
Another turning point in our training was this insight:
“What if we practiced off-balance on purpose? We’d then be “on-balance” during a real fight, right?”
And that inspired our extreme close-quarter BMF scenarios.
Here are some of the tips we use in our scenario training.
Replicate an actual confrontation. Preferably something you have a video of to analyze the entire scenario.
Imagine the fear and psychological state of the intended victim and discuss and integrate that into the movement.
Work from compromised angles and stances - we call these ‘positions of adversity’ and training to escape and maneuver from them builds tactical character and resilience. (If the scenarios are easy to dominate, then you're likely practicing a choreographed demo and that could create overconfidence when faced with real danger and fear.)
Remember:
There's a big difference in our ‘tactical movement’ when the reptilian brain is asked to help with the fight. And this is why we don't see cool, finessed movement during truly violent encounters.
Blauer Tactical’s MISSION VISION GOAL
We have always strived to offer a relevant, realistic, and rigorous self-defense program. This dates back to 1980 when I first began experimenting with force-on-force training.
Our mission is to continue to develop the most realistic and relevant self-defense program on the planet. And our core skillset is creating trainers interested in bringing our research to their martial art school, community, company, organization, departments, etc.
Our brain-based methodology is about enhancing human performance specifically related to surviving violence.
And the SPEAR System® is truly based on an 80,000-year-old genetic survival response that helped keep our ancestors alive.
That's why the t-shirt: Caveman Combatives.
Our reptilian brain wants us to survive.
The startle-flinch response is designed to push away danger, its default program is to protect the head and then move away from danger.
“Danger” is detected via the limbic system and triggers this survival response, this is why we integrate instinctive and intuitive movement into the training.
All this is happening at a non-conscious level - it's literally bypassing cognition.
No one thinks to flinch!! “Hey this fist is traveling very quickly to me and I'm not ready, I should flinch super fast now,” said no one ever.
The SPEAR System® harnesses this energy, exploits the movement, and converts this instinctive response into a focused countermeasure.
Your startle flinch is protective by nature and tactical by design.
In our SPEAR clinics, classes, and certifications, we train participants to combine the fastest human response (startle-flinch) with the strongest human position (Fingers Spayed/Outside 90), and in doing this, we help you deploy a biological airbag.
Watch this!
Join us in this exploration.
Coach Blauer
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NEUROSCIENCE MEETS SELF-DEFENSE. A MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ANALYSIS.
As physicians, we have years of experience treating injuries that are the result of humans fighting other humans. We are also students of the martial arts and we have studied how humans fight for an equal number of years.
After participating in several of Tony’s courses, it is our opinion that the SPEAR system is the most anatomically and physiologically sound system of fighting available to the professional combatant. Tony Blauer's SPEAR system is usable, effective, and reliable because it is based on the intrinsic pathways of human survival physiology.
What makes the SPEAR System fundamentally superior to other combat systems is its utilization of instinctive human response to focus the fight back onto the initial aggressor of that fight. Thus, Blauer’s system trains the fastest possible reaction of the “fight or flight response” to become the fight response.
SPEAR supports the transition of “startle/flinch”, at the beginning of Blauer’s courses, into “startle/flinch/fight” at the end of the course. Thus, it works with thousands of years of human neurological development, rather than against it. Anatomically, SPEAR is sound because it uses areas of the body that are least susceptible to injury to strike areas of the body that are the most susceptible to influence.
Compliance of the opponent, therefore, is obtained with the safest use of combative force that is anatomically possible. The SPEAR, when executed properly, is a safe and effective mechanism to defend self, influence opponents, and overcome an aggressor, rapidly with a measured response.
The SPEAR system is the most pragmatically safe way of responding to an attack. It makes sense from the medical standpoint because it intelligently utilizes intrinsic neurological pathways to effectively respond to unexpected attacks in a smoothly rapid way that dominates the opponent from point of first contact. It is used in the real world because it is grounded in fundamental anatomy and physiology of the human weapon system.”
Robert C Smith, MD
Medical Director
Direct Action Medical Network
Alexandria Louisiana