A couple of weeks ago, I had the extreme privilege of attending Kelly's
Three Day sudden violence course. It was held for a group of 19 of
Janich's Martial Blade Concept (MBC) practitioners and one NYFD fireman
who hit like a firetruck.
I've been putting off writing the AAR because quite frankly, how the
%@#!# do you explain the three days. Remembering it makes me both grin,
and wince, and then grin again.
McCann recommends you take 800 mg of Ibuprofen... before you show up for day one. He was not joking
I was lucky, because as my friend Marty explained it the Thursday night
before, it was a closed session and that kept the rift raft out. I
laughed, but I got what he was saying - every single person there was
willing to hit, take a hit, and keep trucking. I couldn't have asked
for a better group to train with.
One pain tolerant individual who wasn't phased by tickling his lungs via
the clavicle notch was treated to Dylan going to his eyes for the next
demonstration. You see, violence isn't pretty, isn't friendly, but is
effective - one way or another.
Kelly and his team covered open hand strikes, knees, elbows, baton work,
gun disarms. He and his instructors would make small tweaks that would
make huge differences. Your spearing elbow went from sucking for the
pad holder to massively sucking. Slashing elbow - you want more than
one pad between you and your upper body when your partner was dialed in.
There was time to get reps in, but you were going to have homework to
perfect it. By the end of the 2nd day, everybody was sore.... and
smiling.
To Kelly, it's important that you put it all out on the mat, and then
still show up for his pub, the Celtic Cudgel. There's this thing called
'vitamin G' (yep, you guessed it, Guinness... as poured by a master).
I believe our group did a keg and a half.
We also got to cover a little bit of boxing on the last day, but my
brain was full. I'd tell you how they wrap up a training session, but I
wouldn't want to ruin the surprise... think 300, minus 100... and keep
guessing.
There was lecture time, basically presenting what Kelly and team know
from first hand experience operating in different environments. Mindset
is as important as skillset. Actually, if you have the skills but
aren't willing to apply them, the skills are kind of a waste. If you
want to know what was covered, attend the CTC. What I will say is what
you saw in any of his videos, is him in person. Kelly doesn't put on a
show, he is what he is, tells you what he feels, and wants you to gain
from your attending. Funny, engaging, a little disturbing. Watching
Kelly role play an encounter with Mike Rigg where Kelly was turning on
the aggression... I was glad I wasn't in Rigg's seat. It wasn't
wolfing... it was straight on I'll break you in half and suck the marrow
from your bones.
Lots and lots (and lots) of hard, physical contact. Nobody died, but
everybody was bruised and sore. If you have a training partner that
loves to bang, bring 'em. There was no trick f***ing... it would not
have been tolerated. Work with your partner and only give as good as
you want to get... but like Marty said, our group was good to go.
If I get the opportunity, I'd attend again. It's worth saving for. Our
group was from Chicago, Ohio, Colorado, Atlanta and New York.
Everybody made the commitment. I told myself it was a once in a
lifetime event. Now I'm hoping I was wrong, because I want to go back
again next year.
Look, Kelly McCann built an entire training center so he could teach civilians, and put a pub in it.
"If you want to be high speed, master the fundamentals" - Kelly
Bring a friend, show up, get banged up, be better for it.
http://www.kembativz.com
Thanks to Pete Oliveri for putting it together, Mike Janich for building
such a crew, and Kelly for being an excellent, aggressive host and
instructor.
<< note... the class was so good, I actually created a blog just to give another post of the AAR... this maybe the only post this blog will ever see >>
