After Action Report: Edged Weapons Overview (EWO)
Location: Off the X Training - Glenview, Illinois
Date: March 4-5, 2017
Instructor: Craig “Southnarc” Douglas (HMFIC ShivWorks)
Assistant Instructors: Paul Sharp, Larry Lindenman
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Brief introduction: I registered for EWO last June when I heard Craig would be coming to the Chicagoland-area. I was pretty stoked to finally take my first Shivworks class, having long been a member of TPI and a believer in the Shivworks/TPI Paradigm. My background is not extensive, it consists of: about two years of Tae-kwon-do as a kid (~20 years ago), 18-months of competitive fencing (foil) at the collegiate level (~7 years ago), three handgun/concealed carry tactics oriented shooting classes (the last now ~3 years ago), and one low-light shooting course (~5 years ago).
To prepare for this course I did the following three things:
Purchased NOK Trainers that mimic my carry knives (P’kal and Clinch Pick).
Started going to the gym regularly (more on that in a minute)
Practiced not getting stabbed in the ass (more on that a minute)
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AAR on coursework: EWO is described by Craig as the most physically intense of the open enrollment courses. Not having a comparison (such as ECQC), I’m not sure about that, but I have no reason to doubt Craig. The instruction is broken into carefully managed, curated, and developed blocks, each building on the next.
Note: Because you owe it to yourself to take this course, if you haven’t, and because I respect Craig immensely as an instructor, I won’t reveal the specifics of each block of instruction (which is not suggesting that it’s some Super Secret Ninja Squirrel-type stuff. It isn’t, but it is extremely well-developed and I respect the work that Craig & Co. have put into developing it). I will instead describe the general outline of how instruction occurs.
Each block starts with a demonstration by Craig and a willing victim…err volunteer, or most often an AI. This is followed by paced practice against a resisting partner, with the intention of each partner feeding the other the various movements/basics, necessary to see how each technique is meant to work. After repeated drilling with different training partners, the pace and resistance is raised. This continues until a relatively high, but sustainable* pace is achieved, working the techniques against a resisting opponent. This eventually culminates in various full-contact, full speed, full resistance drills. Finally, we move to Evolutions which are full contact, maximum effort, intense, drills designed to 1) Show you that things can be locked together and used. 2) Show you the holes and issues in your technique. 3) Serve as a stress inoculater, particularly for the uninitiated.
*Sustainability of drills varies person-to-person. Gassing out is common and drilling at the pace Craig runs is almost relentless. Trust me, there are times where you want to sit in the corner and cry rather than work another baseball-bat wrist tie. BUT overall, even ME, as a dude who is still pretty much “woefully out of shape”, the pace was sustainable. Even our most fit guys were running out of steam. Fitness helps you here - for sure. But Craig keeps the pace just about right so that you’re completely aware you’re tired as hell, but you’re not puking into the trashcan between reps.
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Rob’s thoughts (because everyone cares, right? Right.)
First, and absolutely foremost, I want to thank Craig, the AIs, Paul Sharp, and Larry Lindenman, for taking the time to teach us this curriculum and most importantly, develop it over the last nearly two-decades. The curation of the techniques and applications taught in EWO are the culmination of years of hard work attempting to distill attached and unattached knifework, applied in a criminal assault setting. The delivery and instruction of these techniques and applications is phenomenal. - And that is because of the hard work that Craig and his AIs do.
Second, and positively important, I want to thank Off the X Training for a welcoming facility and giving those of us on tight budgets and minimal time, a chance to take this course.
My experience in this course was amazing. As I reflect on it now, icepack on my swollen ankle, another on the goose egg on the top of my head. I think, I could have gone to the “Windy City Brew-Ha-Ha”, a craft beer festival, and drank beer all weekend and stuffed my face with garbage. Instead, I spent it in a windowless, basement, gym, getting stabbed, punched, thrown around, and otherwise having a blast. What made it a blast? The instructors AND the classmates. As a first-timer with a pretty limited base and skillset, I, at times, felt like a fish out of water. But I was fortunate to have great classmates, who drilled repeatedly with me, including a number of folks with more advanced skillsets than mine, who gave me really positive, critical, and improving feedback. That was in addition to the constant instruction and watchful eyes of Craig, Paul, and Larry. The comradery in class was amazing and the energy was intense, but in an extremely positive way. The best way to describe it was as a collective experience. I am unlikely to forget my classmates anytime soon, where as the last six people I was in a shooting class with, I don’t remember at all.
What was eye-opening for me: Stress inoculation exercises and working against a resisting opponent. Very different and very tough at first. But even as Saturday and Sunday progressed, I found more confidence, I had better posture (at times), better positioning (at times), and better pressure (at times). I also learned that there are somethings I can do better and others worse than I thought I could. There is that addage, “Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face.” - I got punched in the face and realized, “Yea, the initial plan didn’t go so well, time to change tactics.” And what I gained from EWO was a short, but effective, list of tactics AND the ability to recognize it was time to change tactics AND how to do that. That’s a powerful, truly powerful, toolset that I learned how to apply*, while someone is trying to stab me in the face or knock my head off.
*Apply in the broad sense of the term. As Craig will tell you in class - the toolkit here is powerful, concise, and basic - but is exceptionally difficult to master. You learn the fundamentals and practical application of them in EWO.
What are my take aways: The amazing toolkit that EWO and Craig gives is one of the biggest. But equal and maybe in some ways more important than those. I learned alot about my conditioning. Last year, I started making a real effort to go to the gym 2-3 times a week for cardio and lifting. Even still, I gassed out frequently during reps. I was dog assed tired in the final Evolution of the class…it felt like an absolutely eternity with two guys bearing down on me doing their best to ruin my world, especially once I tripped and fell and went to the ground. Every single major muscle group in my body aches, right now. From here, I realize I absolutely have to work on higher-intensity, interval training, to maximize stamina and cardio. The fight might only last for 90 seconds, but I was toast 30 seconds in. I also, feeling my weaknesses in strength, need to add in some specific lifts to maximize some underused muscle groups. I also, feeling the weakness in technique when I tried to “muscle out” a technique, realize my need for a solid base in some type of grappling martial art.
Final thoughts: Don’t get stabbed in the ass. It isn’t fun. I didn’t realize this initially, but if you sit in an office chair all day, you think you’re practicing not getting stabbed in the ass. Afterall, (presumably) your chair has a solid seat and no one is trying to drive their knife into your chocolate starfish. But once you’re entangled with a guy who has a knife, who has nearly a foot of height and a 100 pounds on you…you realize you haven’t been practicing not getting stabbed in the ass. You’ve been sitting on your ass…and it’s soft, cushy, and perfect for jamming a knife into. So - get out of your chair, and go to the gym and work on your cardio, stamina, and do squats so your glutes are rockhard, that way when that guy tries to put his knife betwixt your cheeks, he bounces off your buns of steel. But on the way to buns of steel, go see Craig and the Shivworks Crew to gain a skillset and an understanding of your limitations and abilities. If you don’t want to get stabbed in the ass, you have to practice not getting stabbed in the ass. Best way to do that is with a brutally honest audit of your skills, conditioning, and ability - while simulatneously learning an efficient, but extremely comprehensive and effective, curriculum. That audit and curriculum is precisely what you get from Edged Weapons Overview.
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Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
