The Heart of PFS: the RAT
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Wandering Warrior Martial Arts™, Cain Morano, pfsslc.com, [email protected] The Heart of PFS: The RAT By Cain Morano PFS, Progressive Fighting Systems, is the second generation evolution of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee’s personal expression of martial arts research was called JKD, theoretically nobody except for Bruce Lee can be said to perform JKD. However, the material that Bruce Lee discovered and refined according to the Taoist philosophy was given to Dan Inosanto, who then further researched and expanded it. This first generation of JKD, Dan Inosanto’s personal expression of JKD, is typically referred to as JKD Concepts and Inosanto Kali. Dan Inosanto has many great students, but one stands out from the rest. This student is Paul Vunak, who left the Inosanto Academy as an instructor with Guro Dan Inosanto’s blessing and encouragement. When Paul Vunak struck out on his own to form Progressive Fighting Systems, it was for the benefit of Jeet Kune Do. PFS is the next evolution of JKD concepts, a streamlining of ‘the blend’ down to the principles of training for violence and not art. While Vunak maintains some of the more artful aspects of JKD to preserve the original teachings, he has fleshed out a collection of techniques more compatible with the aggressiveness and simplicity of what he feels JKD is meant to express. PFS is based on the blend and theory of JKD but is taken a step further, a step out onto the street. His system is so effective in high pressure tactical situations that the Navy hired Paul Vunak and partner Tom Cruse to train their special warfare operators, the SEALs, for three years. This provides the perfect example of a martial art in its original use. Martial means military, and in this case the art was being taught to a military unit that is the best at their game, unconventional warfare. The analogy is that PFS is designed for the little guy to take out multiple big guys through the use of dirty, brutal techniques applied with a strategy and a killer instinct. This is the same thing as a small unit being highly trained, highly motivated and highly equipped, applying very precise and heavy firepower using a doctrine of warfare that is not conventional. In PFS, there are no rules of engagement; you do whatever you have to do to win. If you want to win, you need the mentality and the tools. Biting, head butting, groin shots, grappling, eye gouging, and weapons are all in the toolbox of a PFS practitioner. The unconventionality of PFS lies not only in the aggression and well roundedness, but also in the preference of fighting in trapping range where we can do the most damage the fastest. In other words, we like to close with the opponent. The definition of a warrior is one who is intent on closing with the enemy. The core of PFS training methods revolves around this. PFS has proven itself through trial by fire. It is not that ‘the blend’ itself is superior to other arts, after all there are no superior styles, only superior fighters. PFS is a success story because as an integral part of its philosophy it says that there are no superior styles, and seeks to develop superior training methods. The basis of PFS is Jeet Kune Do, which stresses simplicity and functionalized movement, or in the words of Bruce Lee, “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, research your own experience, and add what is specifically your own”. The training method in general is based on the continuum from self perfection to self preservation. This means that all drills fall somewhere between attribute training and fighting, usually a percentage of both. In its most simple form, PFS lacks artfulness and tribute, being most brutal and practical. There are certain aspects of JKD that require far more motor skills and thus are far less practical and have been removed. JKD utilizes some practices and techniques that aren’t strictly for brutal effectiveness, but are there as a part of the philosophical and technical foundation. For example, most of the Wing Chun and Kali have been stripped down to the most simple and effective techniques and principles. Wandering Warrior Martial Arts™, Cain Morano, pfsslc.com, [email protected] 1 Wandering Warrior Martial Arts™, Cain Morano, pfsslc.com, [email protected] Therefore, the PFS training goal is about self preservation, while using the artful or indirect as training methods to self perfection. What makes the PFS practitioner so effective is embodied in a set of tools called the RAT, Rapid Assault Tactics. It is the archetypal application of the JKD blend and philosophy of fighting. The RAT is also the central strategy of PFS. While most arts present an arsenal of techniques and give the order to do whatever it is you need to do however you can with that array of weapons, PFS has at its core the aim of closing the gap, getting in the clinch, and applying the sledgehammers. The RAT is a great name for this sequence of techniques for two reasons. First, rats adapt, and adaptation is a tenet of JKD; to be able to flow within and between ranges, arts, and opponents. This is how the process, the philosophy, of JKD generates the creative and formless fighter. Familiarity with lines of attack and different ranges is an incredibly powerful element of being a good fighter, as well as having attributes physically superior to your opponents’. The second reason the name is appropriate is because of the speed and aggression of the execution of the attack. The RAT is part Bando/Lethwei (head butts), part Wing Chun (straight blast), part Muay Thai (clinch, elbows, and knees), and part Kina Mutai (eye gouges). The stereotypical incarnation of the RAT occurs first with a straight blast with aggressive footwork up the centerline, a head butt into a clinch, and then knees, elbows, and eye gouges to finish. The whole sequence will be broken down and some training methods explained. Also, the training method as the process of JKD will be elucidated. The RAT begins with an entry upon hostile encroachment, or as we call it in the arts, “Someone getting in your face”. Actually if someone were to get close enough to be in your face, the head butt comes first, then the blast or clinch or whatever. The straight blast is a series of rolling vertical punches along the centerline. The strength of this technique is that it is so fast that the opponent goes on the defensive as you immediately apply pressure. This technique forces the opponent to move, either out of the way or backwards. There isn’t much you can do to ‘block’ a straight blast, however closing the gap to jam or grappling to seize the arms will end a blast. The straight blast is used to clear the centerline. If hands come up during your entry, trapping and grappling techniques can be applied. If you are a PFS practitioner you will have a response to the hands coming up, since you have been practicing all of the appropriate energy drills, such as higot hubud-lubud (mix, tie, untie), chi sao (sticking hands), and bong-lop. A very effective response to defensive pressure is to apply Dumog techniques, since you have a perfect reference point for that. Once you gain control, the head butts can commence. During the roll of the Jik Chung Choy (straight blast), there are techniques that can be applied when the hands are going in and when the hands come back out again. For example, arm immobilizations, jip sao, and arm bars. This is not a single-use tool. Every motion has a weapon attached; using every opportunity is economy of motion, a tenet of JKD. Again, the straight blast may not come into play due to close quarters. Once the opponent is on the defensive, you should charge while applying the straight blast. If the opponent falls down then you were more effective than you hoped, but now you have to do something other than a head butt. After forcing the enemy to relent their floor space, grab their head and head butt their face. There are different types of body mechanics to execute a head butt, but getting a result is not difficult. You are hitting someone in the face with a bowling bowl attached to a torso. One example of a head butt with simple mechanics is given here. The head butt begins when your hands can reach behind the opponent’s neck. The grab should be around the back of the neck, which is useful since you are about to go into the clinch. Give a little room between your hands and the Wandering Warrior Martial Arts™, Cain Morano, pfsslc.com, [email protected] 2 Wandering Warrior Martial Arts™, Cain Morano, pfsslc.com, [email protected] neck, then pull with a slap and make the head jerk forward as you bring your head down so that contact is made on their face above your hairline. Watch out for teeth! You might have to turn the target head a little so you can head butt without walking away with buck teeth sticking out of your head. Some targets for the head butt are the side of the jaw, the nose, the cheek, the eye, or the temple. The proper striking surface is above your hairline, the top or side of the head. A head butt could make a bloody mess, so watch your eyes and mouth if your opponent’s face erupts.