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Streetfighting Essentials

A Video Review by Phil Elmore

Alain
Burrese, well-known contemporary of Marc “Animal” MacYoung and
author of Hard-Won
Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, is deceptively soft-spoken.
The nicest fellow with whom you could ever hope to chat, his easy smile and
friendly attitude become a vicious snarl that transforms his entire demeanor
when he demonstrates the hard-hitting techniques he favors.

I will say right away that Alain’s
two-volume Streetfighting Essentials tapes have the best
instructional design I’ve ever seen in a martial-arts or self-defense video.
Techniques are introduced, demonstrated in a step-by-step fashion, and practiced
on focus bags, pads, and shields. There are plenty of graphic text blocks
separating segments, making it easy for the student to keep track of where he or
she is in watching the tape. Most importantly, however, Alain’s tapes
incorporate incredibly helpful review segments after each set of techniques.

The review segments are remarkably
well done, too, in that graphic text listing the techniques just covered is
displayed over repeated footage of the techniques being demonstrated.
This constant reinforcement is the biggest reason why I consider these tapes,
which cover the basic building blocks of fighting from a pragmatic perspective,
among the resources I would first recommend for total beginners to self-defense.

Production values are good.
There are numerous stylized segments (representative of material to be covered)
between instructional sequences. The synthesized music repeated again and again
may get to be a bit much for some viewers, but this is easily ignored. The
picture is fine and the sound is audible, though it does get a bit tinny at
times (which I’ve started to see as the baseline for all videos of this type).
Camera angles change as needed to focus on Alain’s feet or to pan back for the
larger picture.

The training sequences are done in a
well-lighted, padded area without distracting items in the background. As
I’ve already indicated, there is significant use of graphic text over the video
footage, which is very helpful.

VOLUME ONE

As Volume 1 begins, Alain introduces
the tapes by explaining that his primary art is Hapkido. He has
streamlined Hapkido, he explains, to present the bare essentials for street
defense. He believes the tapes will help all martial artists deal with
realistic self-defense scenarios. Those unfamiliar with Hapkido or
untrained in the martial arts should not let this discussion discourage them,
for the material Alain presents is well-ordered and very accessible to novices.

No self-defense techniques are
useful if you are not aware, something Alain understands. He
explains the white-yellow-orange-red color code of awareness levels and tells
viewers they should remain in “yellow” unless they are home asleep.
He does not stop there, however. He explains that the second component of
awareness is to be aware of how one’s own actions affect a given
situation.

In discussing stance, footwork, and
movement, Alain demonstrates the familiar “deescalating stance,” in
which the hands are up and the body is bladed at a 45° angle (Alain explains
this by saying, “Turn a little sideways.”) The elbows are in,
where they belong. The knees are slightly relaxed. The palms are
open and facing forward.

The fighting stance Alain
demonstrates is largely the same, though the hands are “a little more
ready” but not clenched into tight fists. Alain recommends staying a
little flat-footed with a little weight on the balls of your feet. It’s up
to you, he explains, to decide with which side you lead. He suggests a
boxing left-hand lead.

From the fighting stance, Alain
demonstrates moving by stepping forward with the lead foot and dragging the
trailing foot. The spacing of one’s stance is maintained in this movement.
Alain explains that you should not cross your feet because you will lose your
balance. He prefers a step-slide, step-slide motion and demonstrates it in
all directions.

As you get better, Alain encourages
the viewer, you should explode with your movement. “Speed is
critical,” he says.

Perhaps the most important point
made in the movement segment is that of moving off the centerline —
moving at a 45° angle. I am biased to favor any system that stresses
this, as it is one of the most important concepts in the Wing
Chun Kung Fu I study. It’s just one of those universal principles that
every good fighting system should embrace.

Alain demonstrates how to use the
footwork covered to avoid some common attacks. He calmly walks the viewer
through moving “outside” to block with the right, left, and both
hands. He repeats the demonstration moving to the “inside,”
though he doesn’t cover the dangers of moving to the inside at this point.
He also describes using the same footwork against grabs or when in the clinch.

The remainder of the tape includes
quite a few techniques, discussions of targeting and footwork using those
techniques, and various pieces of advice to go with each. All follow the
same basic progression: Alain shows the viewer the technique slowly, then
demonstrates how to practice that technique using a focus bag or pad.
After each grouping of techniques, there is a review segment. The
techniques covered include:

The Jab
The Right Cross (from the rear
hand)
The Left Hook (which is not a
swinging roundhouse but a close, tight blow)
The Uppercut
The Palm Heel
The “Arc Hand” (a
web-of-hand blow, usually to the throat)
The Edge of Hand Blow (or the
“Knife Hand,” as Alain calls it)
The Volleyball Smash (a palm
heel smashed down with wrist action)
The Cupped Hand Blow
The Eye Flick (very similar to
Wing Chun’s Bil Jee, the “thrusting fingers”)
Forearm strikes
Elbow strikes

After covering these upper body
strikes, Alain moves on to the lower body. The same pattern is followed
(which is itself good instructional design). Techniques covered include:

Front kicks (which Alain
performs with a more natural arc than the chambering-pistoning motion I was
originally taught in Karate)
Side kicks
Oblique or Scoop kicks
Roundhouse or Round kicks
Stomps
Forward Knee strikes
Roundhouse Knee strikes
Rising Knee strikes

Finally, Alain discusses the proper
way to perform a head butt, using your forehead with your whole body behind it,
your neck held tightly. Of course, the best way to use your head as a
weapon, Alain comments, is to think with it.

VOLUME 2

In Volume 2 things start to get a
little more complicated. Ideally, you never let anyone get hold of you in
a street fight, Alain explains. As this is almost impossible to avoid in
all situations, however, it is necessary to know defensive techniques for grabs
and chokes. Alain walks the viewer through defenses for simple wrist
grabs, cross arm grabs, double-hand wrist grabs, grabs from behind, arm grabs,
lapel grabs, hair grabs, and chokes (with one or both hands). He
integrates moves like the eye flick and attacks to the throat or groin as
applicable for situations in which the standard defenses (most of them
variations on the simple counters familiar from Judo, Jujutsu, or Aikido — and
therefore Hapkido) don’t work, especially when faced with a much larger
attacker.

The tape continues with defenses
against bear hugs (what self-defense tape would be complete without defenses
against bear hugs?) head locks, proper and improper sleeper holds, guillotine
chokes, and full nelsons. Grappling techniques are always a little harder
to follow and emulate on video than are simple strikes, so I appreciated the
fact that Alain went through each technique a second time after showing it once.
This attention to review and reinforcement is one of the things that really
differentiates this two-volume set from other, similar tapes on the market.

“The most important thing you
can do is be aware and not let someone grab you,” Alain explains at end of
the segment. “[If grabbed] you have to do it 100%.
…Everything has to be violent. You have to explode into him. …He
has no right to grab you. Don’t let him.” This emphasis on the
dangerous nature of grappling echoes the sentiments expressed
by Carl Cestari, whose work I also like very much.

The next portion of the tape deals
with falls and throws. Learning how to hit the ground, Alain says, is
important not just for training but for the street (and for simply falling
down). Making his body a tight ball, Alain demonstrates forward and
backward rolls, arm to shoulder, from both kneeling and standing positions.
He also demonstrates side falls and front falls (for when you are unable to
roll).

Of particular interest here is the
fact that Alain does indeed slap when falling. Whether to use such
slaps (given the danger of slapping hard surfaces like asphalt when doing them
“for real on the street”) is often the subject
of debate. I’ve been told that the technique
is dangerous and I’ve been told that not slapping is equally problematic.
It’s not a question we’ll be able to answer here. Your personal preferences and
biases will override anything I have to say on the topic, as they should.

Next, Alain discusses what he sees
as the most effective takedowns for the street. These include the simple
sweep and Alain’s favorite throw, a variation on the hip throw. Head-twist
takedowns (which are very dangerous) and rear takedowns are also covered.

Again echoing what Carl
Cestari emphasized repeatedly, Alain warns that fighting on the ground is
terribly dangerous. He admits that he doesn’t cover much ground work
because he does not want to be there. You must get up as fast as
possible. Do not, if you can in any way stop him, allow your attacker
to get on you. If that does happen, however, Alain demonstrates techniques
for keeping a standing attacker at bay while you are on the ground and for
dealing with an attacker who is on top of you.

The tape concludes as Alain ties
everything together. He urges the viewer to combine the techniques he’s
demonstrated and apply them with vigor. Viewers should not be afraid to
strike back at an attacker with aggressive force.

“You have to be willing to hurt
someone.” Alain says. “You need that proper mindset. He
doesn’t have the right to attack me.” Alain also admits that his tape
does not cover everything. There is still a great deal out there left to
learn. If, however, all you do is master the concepts contained in his
tapes, he believes you will have a solid foundation for defending yourself.

If I have any real complaints about
the tapes it is that the stylized nature of the graphics and “wipes”
in between segments is a bit overdone — but that’s a very minor gripe compared
to what is easily one of the best beginner’s programs I’ve seen.

Someone with little experience
really could learn the rudiments of self-defense from these videos.
They belong on any serious student’s shelf. I encourage readers to seek
out Alain’s videos (not to mention his excellent book).

Tell him I sent
you.

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