OCFM (Open Circle Fighting Method)
Describing the OCFM is a difficult task as it means so many things to so many people. In
some ways it is easier to say what it is not!
Martial Artists tend to have a background in a traditional art such as, Shotokan Karate, TKD
etc. These Arts and indeed many others are all considered to be a “style”.
There are of course many styles of Karate, Shotokan, Shito-Ryu, Shukokai, Goju etc and then
branches and off shoots within each of those.
Still, they are all considered a “style” and practitioners of these arts are referred to as
“stylists” of those same arts.
Therefore these practitioners are easily distinguished from others due to those “stylistic”
differences and ways to accomplish the same goals, e.g a punch or a kick.
These slight differences in application and technique encourage much debate about which is
better, sometimes rather heated debate. Stylists from one area may argue over the correct
way to be in a certain stance etc.
All of this is of course a complete waste of time. To argue those semantics is a waste of your
training time.
To worry about the aesthetics of a technique, with no deep understanding of that same
technique, is worthless training.
These styles or rather stylists, fall into the trap of learning and performing in a “monkey see,
monkey do” manner. To them, the effectiveness takes 2nd place to how it looks. Plus, they
must all look the same, regardless of body type, build, body structure and ability level.
This is rather like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole!
The OCFM completely differs from this in so many ways.
We learn and teach from a principle based method as oppose to the monkey method. It
matters not, the aesthetics of the technique, just the effectiveness at that given moment in
time.
The key to gaining that effectiveness is by applying “known and proven” principles to each
and every technique.
This is why practitioners of numerous and diverse “styles” have been able to incorporate the
OCFM principles and thus free themselves of the shackles of their system, whilst still
remaining true to the original concepts and ideas of a system they may have dedicated
much of their life to.
What Is Principle Based Training?
It is quite literally what it says. For example, in a typical Karate School, a front kick will be
taught in a specific way and that is how it MUST be performed… no matter what!
In OCFM, we would say that the objective is to get your weapon (e.g the foot) to the target
(e.g groin) in the fastest, most powerful, most impactive and most destructive manner
possible, whilst at the same time, maximising your own safety and ability to carry on with
further strikes and / or defend yourself.
That general statement could be applied to any strike to any part of the body and that same
principle of effectiveness then applied to all locks, throw, takedowns, strangles etc.. in fact
to EACH AND EVERY TECHNIQUE!
To do this properly, means that we MUST have a thorough understanding of the body and
how it works. It is this understanding that can enable us to “break down” each technique
into its constituent parts and then re-build it, adding in as many of our principles as possible,
to increase the effectiveness still further.
So, to do this and to teach this to others, we MUST know and understand as many of these
principles as possible. We must be able to articulate, demonstrate and impart this
knowledge in an easy to understand, easy to replicate fashion.
Sounds a daunting task! To be able to break down EVERY technique and rebuild it!
Well, the good news is that the VAST majority of the hard work has been done for you. The
principles (often referred to as Players) upon which techniques are based, have been
documented and laid out in a structured learning plan.
In this way, the Coach, can more easily pass this information on to his students.
To make this easier to understand, think of it like this. If you have a Boxing background, then
you have a completely different training background to a Judoka. However, many of the
principles that make up a technique, will be the same. How could they be? One is punching
and the other is throwing and locking etc.
Well, look at it this way, what do you need to have in place before you can punch or throw
your opponent? Distance, your own stability and balance, loss of balance / stability in your
opponent, alignment of your own body, mis-alignment of your opponent, footwork and the
list goes on.
These are all PRINCIPLES that make up a technique. From the above example, you can now
see that these principles can be picked up from one area (say striking) and utilised inanother (say throwing).
taught in a specific way and that is how it MUST be performed… no matter what!
In OCFM, we would say that the objective is to get your weapon (e.g the foot) to the target
(e.g groin) in the fastest, most powerful, most impactive and most destructive manner
possible, whilst at the same time, maximising your own safety and ability to carry on with
further strikes and / or defend yourself.
That general statement could be applied to any strike to any part of the body and that same
principle of effectiveness then applied to all locks, throw, takedowns, strangles etc.. in fact
to EACH AND EVERY TECHNIQUE!
To do this properly, means that we MUST have a thorough understanding of the body and
how it works. It is this understanding that can enable us to “break down” each technique
into its constituent parts and then re-build it, adding in as many of our principles as possible,
to increase the effectiveness still further.
So, to do this and to teach this to others, we MUST know and understand as many of these
principles as possible. We must be able to articulate, demonstrate and impart this
knowledge in an easy to understand, easy to replicate fashion.
Sounds a daunting task! To be able to break down EVERY technique and rebuild it!
Well, the good news is that the VAST majority of the hard work has been done for you. The
principles (often referred to as Players) upon which techniques are based, have been
documented and laid out in a structured learning plan.
In this way, the Coach, can more easily pass this information on to his students.
To make this easier to understand, think of it like this. If you have a Boxing background, then
you have a completely different training background to a Judoka. However, many of the
principles that make up a technique, will be the same. How could they be? One is punching
and the other is throwing and locking etc.
Well, look at it this way, what do you need to have in place before you can punch or throw
your opponent? Distance, your own stability and balance, loss of balance / stability in your
opponent, alignment of your own body, mis-alignment of your opponent, footwork and the
list goes on.
These are all PRINCIPLES that make up a technique. From the above example, you can now
see that these principles can be picked up from one area (say striking) and utilised inanother (say throwing).
What is Takeyarisenjutsu?
Not every student who walks through our doors has a background in the martial arts. Takeyarisenjutsu is the foundation art of self defense taught at our dojo. It is a hybrid art of Budo Taijutsu and OCFM. Simply put it's the best of both worlds. In Takeyarisenjutsu you will learn a combination of stand up fighting, grappling, throws, pressure point and joint manipulations as well as traditional and non-traditional weapons while adding in the innovating principles of the Open Circle Fighting Method, for a self defense method unlike any other taught today.
