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Immovable Object, Unstoppable Force
A Video Review by Phil Elmore
Immovable Object, Unstoppable Force (IOUF) is arguably some of
Scott Sonnon’s best work.
By the end of the series, I suspect you will be as impressed as I was with
the valuable principles it contains. The subtitle on the cassette
boxes reads, “Never be thrown. Throw at will.” Those six words
comprise the essence of IOUF and are not mere hyperbole.
Production Notes
RMAX produced this tape in 2000, and
the difference in Scott’s appearance is somewhat startling. Dressed
in a camouflage gi and sporting a beard and ponytail, Scott looks like a
modern-day pirate. His earnest nature and vast knowledge shine
through regardless of wardrobe, but the gis worn by Scott and his training
partners Ben Brackbill and Scott Fabel are a point of contention with me.
All three of them are constantly straightening the gis after
demonstrations — a natural reflex, but one that tends to be distracting
on camera.
The lighting is good, and the tape was recorded in front of a gray
background and a contrasting carpet that are perfect for demonstrations of
this type. The ROSS banner is a bit distracting in its placement,
but its presence is understandable.
There is a persistent audio issue throughout IOUF that deserves
comment. Frequently, the remote microphone attached to Scott’s
clothing produces poor sound when he’s grappling with someone or when the
fabric of his uniform has bunched up over it. The recurring problem
is a minor irritant, not something that cripples the teaching — but it
does illustrate the need for a boom mike in situations like this.
One thing this tape series does contain that is not present on some
other RMAX productions is an explanation of ROSS. To quote the text
block,
ROSS is the training system of Russian Martial Art researched and
formulated by the RETAL (Russian Combat Skill, Consultant Scientific and
Practical Training) Center endorsed and approved by the International
and All Russian Federation of Russian Martial Art, which is sanctioned
and authorized by the National Olympic Committee of Russia as the sole
official representative of Russian Martial Art within Russia and
Worldwide.
Each tape contains footage of a demonstration of ROSS to Vladimir Putin
in 1994. Putin even offers a brief testimonial of his own to ROSS.
TAPE 1: HYPER-FUNCTION
Scott opens the series by explaining that he’s “teaching you how to
fish.” Embrace the principles and training strategies contained in
IOUF, he says, and you can create techniques based on those strategies.
These
comprise fundamentals missing in much martial art training today, he
asserts. He
begins by explaining two important concepts in IOUF:
hyperfunction and the triangle point.
The body has its own survival instincts, righting reflexes that work
against attempts to use dysfunction to flex joints to create pain
or facilitate takedowns. Rather than use dysfunction to work against
this righting reflex, Scott advocates using the joint in the manner it is
designed to function — but causing it to move beyond the opponent’s point
of balance, thus inducing what Scott calls hyperfunction.
Think about it: a typical wrist lock relies on dysfunction, such
as jerking the opponent’s wrist in a direction it is not meant to go.
He will respond automatically to “right” himself and escape that
dysfunction. If, instead, you manipulate his wrist in a direction it
is meant to go — but which was not his idea — he cannot stop you
from taking his balance.
(In
Arthrokinetics, Scott
goes into hyperfunction in more detail, discussing the four anatomical
regions of joint manipulation as they relate specifically to appropriate
tactical strategies.)
In explaining the triangle point, Scott points out that your feet can
be connected by an invisible line. Any line perpendicular to that
first line indicates a breach of stance integrity. (Combatives
expert Carl Cestari describes using this line
perpendicular to the line connecting the enemy’s feet to direct your
attack for maximum efficacy. It is a sound principle. The
centerline is also the most important concept in
Wing Chun and it is easy to see how all these arts and systems tie
together.)
Extend those perpendicular lines to a point either in front of or
behind the line connecting the feet. What you see are two triangle points
— the points to which you can bring your opponent to take him off
balance. By causing his body to “overfunction” and driving him
towards a triangle point, you may throw him at will. Hyperfunction
is thus the way you manipulate the opponent’s joints to bring him to that
triangle point.
Studying the head and neck and the pivot joint they comprise, Scott
goes into more detail about the difference between hyperfunction and
dysfunction. When dysfunction is induced, the body moves defensively
when a joint is moved beyond its range of motion, counteracting the
energies directed against it. Using hyperfunction, by comparison,
“loads” the joints to facilitate motion. There’s no defense against
this because it is simply how the joints are meant to work. You take
advantage of your opponent’s body mechanics and move him without his
consent. In the examples that
follow, we see that the body naturally moves to the triangle point, where
balance fails.
Moving on to the ball and socket joint that is the shoulder, Scott looks
at how to “load” and “unload” the joint. Use this to naturally take
the opponent to his triangle point by moving his body in the way it was
designed to function, Scott urges. In so doing you “disinhibit” his
reflexes and bracing mechanisms — because there is no dysfunction against
which to react.
Continuing his discussion of the shoulder, Scott explains that the
fulcrum of your throw is between the two levers of that throw, not
at the grab point. This idea transitions nicely into his treatment
of force vectors, another key point in IOUF.
Understand the physiology of the human body, Scott says, and you
understand that we are highly articulated, three-dimensional creatures.
The directions in which our joints are designed to move are limited and
specific. When you understand this, you begin to see the opponent’s
joints as traveling along force vectors — directions along which
you can move them, in the manner for which they were designed, to cause
hyperfunction and take the opponent to the triangle point.
Discussing the elbow, Scott’s treatment of force vectors begins in
earnest. Your body naturally loads and unloads in certain
directions, he explains, so apply force along that vector. Don’t
push against those force vectors. Follow them. Look at
the “bony levers” that operate your opponent’s body and you will begin to
see where he is vulnerable. Numerous examples follow. In them, Scott
explains the difference between the spastic reactions induced by
dysfunction and the natural descent to the triangle point facilitated by
hyperfunction.
The entire treatment of force vectors reminded me yet again of the
balance exercise my
Shanliang Li teacher and
I have practiced that he calls “Indian Wrestling.” The drill teaches
the importance of learning to yield when pulled or pushed. If
you offer resistance, your partner has something against which to push to
put you off balance. If instead you learn to give when force
is offered, and to push or pull when tension is presented, you will
win every time. (I referred to this drill earlier in my
Leg Fencing review.)
In order to be able to induce hyperfunction, it is important to expand
your own range of motion. Scott demonstrates performing “infinities”
with the arms in both directions (drills discussed in more detail in the
Fisticuffs series). You’re looking to
“snake in,” Scott explains. You’re not seeking to force the
opponent’s body to move.
In a lengthy segment on the “biomechanics of gripping” (which hints at
the content of Volume 2 in the series), Scott explains how to vastly
improve your ability to grab. A standard “monkey grip,” something
each of us does instinctively, involves grabbing on top with the thumb.
Don’t do this, Scott says. Instead, start with your pinky and grab
in on each joint, curling into the grasp. Wrap underneath and you’ve
created a much more secure grip.
Several examples of techniques that can be improved with this gripping
technique follow. These include the following helpful tips:
-
When performing a standard overhook, grab
with your pinky from the bottom, bringing your elbow in and down.
The opponent can’t bring his arm up to get out when you do that. -
When controlling the shoulder in an
underhook, don’t use muscle. Pull your shoulder toward the
opponent,
forward into your grasp. -
The standard response to a wrist grab is to
move against the thumb. Don’t monkey grip. Instead, grip
with the pinky first, wrap flesh, and anchor with your thumb on top. -
In a two-hand grab from behind, locking
with a finger cup or laced fingers just isn’t strong enough. Place the
meat of your palms against each other with the thumbs to make a
“butterfly” shape. You’ve brought the force vectors together in a
manner that actually gets stronger as the opponent resists. -
Going back to arm infinities, Scott
explains that a “Japanese Strangle” relies on the flexing of muscles.
Screw your muscles together and increase the force vectors for maximum
effect.
Scott goes on to explain just how to grab an arm to facilitate using
force vectors. As long as your focus is hyperfunction, you can
literally grab the opponent anywhere. He explains how to control
various points on the torso, controlling and dominating the opponent’s
centerline. Look at grabbing, Scott repeats, in the context of
force vectors — how to put structure in the way.
Two individuals engaged in single combat are locked in a relationship
of force vectors. “At any point, any throw,” Scott intones.
Your partner depends on you for balance, and you can throw him at will if
you understand those force vectors. (This hints at
Volume 3, Joint Mass Center.)
Throughout Volume 1 (and the entire IOUF series, for that matter),
explanations of techniques are accompanied and followed by demonstrations
and drills performed by Scott and his training partners. The last
segment in Tape 1, however, is comprised of archival footage of live
grappling sessions. This is great to see (even if the public domain
music leaves a little bit to be desired).
To be honest, though, Volume 1 (while its explanation of force vectors
and proper gripping is fundamental to tapes 2 and 3) only scratches the
surface of what makes IOUF truly worthwhile. The first time I viewed
it, I came away with a better understanding of physical gripping and a
vague idea about how to manipulate the opponent’s joints. The
concepts had not yet come together for me, though. For me, true
understanding would come a little later in the series.
IOUF continues with
Volume 2, Quantum
Gripping.