Just wanted to get some thoughts down on some observations about training based on what a fellow krav instructor wrote about the Brother factor. I wont go into what that means here other than to say it has to do with testing ones assumptions. In training that means testing what we think we know, are we teaching how to be a compliant partner or are we training for real. I say for the most part schools teach compliant partners because otherwise students wouldnt stick around for long.
Every instructor should have someone they trust to test the assumption of their techniques. If training partner comes at me with a training knife do they always attack the same was with the same rhythm, slow speed, plenty of distance and one slash or thrust at a time?
I enjoy training with this one chinese friend of mine, he's young, a bit tall and lanky. His movements are choppy and erratic, including his footwork. It's throws my timing off. I can usually tell what someone is going to do with the knife by the way they position their body but not with him, it forces me to have to wait until his fully commits to the attack before I react. Good training for me! I also prefer training with bigger and stronger opponents, it allows me to ramp up and go close to all out without hurting my training partner. Women I have a tendency to go easy on, I find they dont allow themselves to let go, they hold themselves back. Maybe this is early conditioning, i dont know, but for the most part they dont give themselves permission to slip the lease so to speak. The women that work in law enforcement and similar professions are a little better but not much.
My other chinese friend, the brother of the first one, is good at wing chun and has a wicked chain punch. He seems to sometimes have a problem with controlling his power and speed and rhythm but for the most part gives me problems with his straight blast but his weakness is he doesnt see the hook punch. Something we discover we both need to work on.
