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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 3: JOINT MASS CENTER
“He who controls the middle,” Scott announces, “controls the fight.”
Just what is the middle is the topic of Volume 3.
Scott starts with an analysis of the pelvis. Comparable to the
shoulder in its function, the pelvis and an understanding of its rotation
and tilt are key to a three-dimensional understanding of throws.
Conventional throws are, by contrast, two-dimensional.
To explain the difference between hyperfunction and dysfunction in the
lower body, Scott demonstrates how the muscles of the body engage to
counteract attempts to force the body’s joints against their ranges of
motion. He then describes how to use hyperfunction to, for example,
screw the opponent’s leg outward in its natural range of motion.
This throws him. He literally cannot stop you. This discussion
links to the previous description of the triangle point: you either
move the opponent’s body to that point or its opposite (there are two
triangle points to every stance). Remove a joint and you collapse
the opponent to that point. Use your whole body and you can
manipulate him to make the throw happen.
Discussing the ankle (which is remarkably
vulnerable),
Scott shows the viewer how to rotate the ankle to take down the rest of
the body. (Yet again we see the importance of the “screwing” motion
that is so common in Scott’s teaching.) He goes on to explain how
the legs are attached to the pelvic girdle. Manipulating one leg
affects the other leg.
Reviewing arm and spine “infinities,” the figure-eight motion that is
integral to so much of Scott’s work, Scott demonstrates infinities with
the legs. This material predates the Leg Fencing series, but
it is simply a condensed presentation of the expanded
Leg Fencing curriculum.
Leg fencing tactics, Scott says, don’t exist. Do not
compartmentalize the tactics, he explains — they are tools, not
techniques. He breaks them down arbitrarily in order to present them
to the viewer, but he urges that they not be taken dogmatically. Using
the basic figure-eight motion, the leg-fencer improvises techniques
relevant to the situation.
Key to all the leg fencing drills and demonstrations are the infinities
and that screwing motion I’ve mentioned frequently. Scott explains
that your goal is to screw your opponent’s limbs (and thus his body) to the
ground using hyperfunction to drive him to either of his triangle points.
Be mindful of your own position. The less contact you have with the
ground, the less control you have.
All of the leg fencing tactics are accompanied by numerous
demonstrations. They include the following:
-
The trip. Don’t lead with your
legs, Scott cautions. The trip is not leg-driven. Use your
whole body. -
The post. The post involves
joining with the opponent’s supporting leg. It requires the
articulation of your leg, because it is a movement of your whole
appendage. The post can be launched with the knee. -
The sweep. The sweep requires
rhythm and timing. To sweep, you must move with your opponent’s
motion to capture him at the end of that motion. You are not
chopping — you are rotating in the middle of the leg to take away his
balance before he transfers to his supporting leg. -
The reap. The reap takes the
opponent’s balance by moving yours. -
The hook. The hook involves
lacing one of the opponent’s legs. -
The elevator. The elevator has
characteristics of the hook, reap, post, and even the sweep. It is
inserted (obviously) to elevate the opponent.
So where does leg fencing fit in the context of IOUF? Combine it
with a means of generating power — your pelvis — and you use your
lower body to throw at will while keeping your own balance. Pelvic
mobility, Scott explains, determines inertia while two opponents are in
the clinch (typically grasping each other’s jackets). Scott walks
through a drill with his training partners, Ben Brackbill and Scott Fabel,
in which the pelvis is used as the generator to release leg fencing
tactics. Locate the joint mass center, Scott says, referring to the
volume title, and you find the perfect throw. (Don’t do less than
optimal work, he reminds us. The best you can hope to do in reality is the worst
you’ve achieved in training.)
Before going into footwork, Scott explains that there is no such thing
as being on balance while standing. Standing is a balancing act in
itself. Using the leg infinity motion, Scott demonstrates placing
the feet at 45° angles, leading from the pelvis, which alters the triangle
point to conceal it from an attacker as one walks.
Footwork, Scott says, forms the relationship of balance between two
people. Footwork is biomotor, not tactical. It’s a chess game
of hiding our triangle points from the opponent, a system of maneuvers with
the lower body.
-
One of the ways this is done
is through the box step, covered thoroughly in the
Leg Fencing series. To be honest, I don’t
think I processed the actual application of the box step the first time
I viewed Leg Fencing. This is a great example of how
Scott’s tapes reinforce one another. IOUF helped me to understand
properly just why the box step is useful. -
The linear/lateral
shuffle is a means of side stepping. It is not truly
“shuffling.” The pelvis is used as the generator for the movement
(and if you play this sequence on fast-forward, Scott moves eerily like
Elvis). -
The slingshot is a
renovation of the traditional shoot. It draws back, establishes
rooting (an important concept in both the martial arts
I study), and fires forward. -
Screwing knees
are a
means of stepping forward and changing direction without taking
consciously defined steps. Use the knee as a generator to turn
around in a fluid motion. Once again, the pelvis generates the
power for the motion.
For me, Volume 3 was the tape during which I finally “got it.” I
finally understood the full implications of the IOUF series as I watched
the discussion and demonstrations on the joint mass center.
A fight, Scott explains, is a “biomotor relationship” with
another person. The joint mass center is the point between those two
people that is their single center of balance. Control that center
of balance, that joint mass center, and you control the fight.
Defensiveness, Scott points out, limits your training potential.
Two people in the clinch who are defensive each have two supporting
legs. (Such a stance is hard to break.) At some point, one of
the two will become aggressive and move from two supporting legs to one or
two driving legs. That individual becomes vulnerable as a result.
The most important concept in IOUF, I believe, is what Scott describes
as redefining this biomotor relationship. By taking the joint
mass center, sinking into your opponent and using him as support for your
mass, you control the middle. Leg fencing, jacket fencing, and
pelvic inertia come together (and came together for me in my understanding
of them) here. When you use your opponent in this fashion and take
control of the joint mass center, he has two supporting legs, while you
have a third supporting leg — and, most importantly, a left over mobile
leg. That mobile leg gives you the advantage.
Another important idea discussed here is that of coming in
perpendicular to the line connecting the opponent’s two supporting
legs. When you do this, swinging your pelvis in, your
“third” supporting leg (for in the clinch the two of you form a
creature with four arms, four legs, and one center of balance) is in
the triangle point. This is what makes you an immovable
object. Scott explains and demonstrates how to move and keep
your supporting leg in the triangle point, which makes it virtually
impossible for you to be thrown.
“You’re not throwing him,” Scott asserts.
“You’re throwing ‘us.'” While you are off your individual
balance in the clinch like this, the two of you are not, because you have
a single point of balance (the joint mass center). Use your mobile
leg to remove one of the opponent’s supporting legs and you throw him at
will. Don’t try to keep your own balance. Use the opponent and
take the joint mass center.
Lengthy demonstrations follow, in which Scott and his training partners
work through fluid drills concerning taking or reclaiming (through such
techniques as leg threading and the “sprawl”) the joint mass
center, throwing the opponent, and keeping the supporting leg in the
triangle point to prevent being thrown. Of particular interest in
these segments is the notion of using your structure, sinking in
under the joint mass center, to facilitate lifting. A much smaller
individual can lift a larger opponent with ease when using structure and positioning
rather than muscle power. We see this in action several times.
There are a series of demonstrations involving grasping the opponent,
or being grasped, around the waist. The importance of using the
spine as a lever is discussed, too. I mention this specifically
because… and I am not making this up… this is the first instructional
martial arts tape I have viewed that includes a demonstration of the atomic
wedgie.
Grabbing Scott Fabel’s belt, Coach Sonnon tells us that we should shove
along the vector of the opponent’s spine. He manages to comment on
ripping the opponent’s pants clean off with a mostly straight face, even
as he appears to be ripping the waistband of Fabel’s pants clear off the
man’s body. I think I saw a piece of the fabric on the floor during
the following demonstrations.
Taking or reclaiming the joint mass center is the difficult part of
this, Scott tells us. Everything that happens after that is easy by
comparison. Put these principles into practice — hyperfunction,
quantum gripping, an understanding of force vectors, and a focus on the
joint mass center — and you will throw your opponent easily while
stopping him from throwing you. As I’ve said a few times now, the
explanations may seem complex, but the scientific principles used are
actually very simple in their applications.
“I intend to make you all a wonderful blend of neurogeek and
knuckledragger,” Scott explains. “Expand your training
vision. That is the key to performance enhancement.”