The Tony Blauer Glossary

The Tony Blauer Glossary ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

Martin Gladu 3-step Bear hug drill : drill designed to experience a) the off-balance to on-balance principle, and b) the primal, protective, and tactical stages in progressive steps. 3-step Tackle drill : drill designed to experience a) the off-balance to on-balance principle, and b) the primal, protective, and tactical stages in progressive steps, but from a different angle of attack - the waist tackle. 97/3 rule : “97% of the public can be dealt with through avoidance and de-escalation tactics. The other 3% are our most dangerous opponents; those that are willing to harm and/or kill to achieve their goals.” A-SAP Time Model : Awareness of the attack’s Suddenness, Aggression and Proximity. Be Your Own Bodyguard™ : “What do you see yourself doing to protect someone else that you do not see yourself doing to protect yourself?” Bear hug drill : a drill used to demonstrate the extensor vs flexor, splayed hands and outside 90 principles. Choice speech : one part of the three Ds, it is a Defuse tactic. Classical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning) : a specific response to a predetermined stimulus can be acquired/triggered by repeating that same stimulus. Close quarter combat stance : full extension of flinch conversion.

Close quarter form : a sequence of moves that drills a set of biomechanically efficient and effective close-quarter combat tactics. 1. Assume the Negotiation NVP: *Visualize bad guy encroaches 2. Index Palm 3. Palm Strike

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

CQCS (Verbal Command, Assess) - *Visualize bad guy attacks w/ Haymaker Micro flinch converts to Full S.P.E.A.R. Vertical Elbow to Index Palm - *Visualize bad guy in violent clinch Horizontal Elbow>>Index Palm 1/2 S.P.E.A.R. >>Diagonal Elbow>>Index Opponent>>2 hand grab to bad guy’s head - *Visualize bad guy trying to waist tackle 9. Knee (punching)>>Index Opponent 10. Disengage (CQCS), Threat Assess Complex motor skill : for Blauer, a complex motor skill is any skill that is not a natural reflex. “Complex motor skills are behind the curve…they violate the laws of response time.” Courage, dis-courage : “the opposite of courage is not cowardice, the opposite of courage is ‘dis-courage’ – a mental/visual negative self image that can and usually does lead to tactical impotence.” CWCT : Closest Weapon, Closest Target. An important principle of the SPEAR System, it conditions the trainee to first attack the “weapon” that is closest to his body. Cycle of behavior© : a learning tool that describes processes that the body/mind undergoes creating a deeper understanding of how you think, make decisions, absorb information and manipulate yourself towards a set goal. Duck under linear drill : designed to experience a) the off-balance to on-balance principle, and b) the primal, protective, and tactical stages in a fluid motion and stopping the tackle in a linear motion. Duck under lateral drill : designed to experience a) the off-balance to on-balance principle, and b) the primal, protective, and tactical stages in a fluid motion while stopping an attacker from getting behind you, and changing direction of his attack. Emotional motion : a drill (and study) where the trainee does bag work while replicating fear, intimidation, cockiness, etc. To goal is to have the trainee really get into the emotional state and then move on the bag. “Each emotion really produced different behaviors for the same skills: footwork, jabs, combos were all affected by the emotional mindset that was fuelling body language. It was obvious how much the emotional system interfaced with the psychological; the two definitely afflicted the pure bio-mechanic skill. In other words, when I had the fighter really angry, the attack was more telegraphic, more ragged. It really affected the technique of the punch. Replicating fear produced different tactics and so on. A jab was no longer a jab. The core element was that the Emotional Motion allowed me to show fighters how to better keep their emotions in check and to notice during sparring and fighting when and where emotions were interfering with athletic performance. This created an internal barometer that the fighters were then able to monitor during actual sparring. They were able to better self-regulate if they were experiencing one of the emotions they had worked on during the drill.”

Encroachment drill : a timing drill designed to sharpen the relationship between “pushing away danger” and the Close quarter combat stance. Extensor vs flexor : extensor muscles like triceps, which extend or straighten a joint or limb, are stronger than flexor muscles like biceps, which bend a joint or limb inwards. This is showed by having trainees perform the Bear hug drill. F.E.A.R. Management : F.E.A.R. management skills are very important because something is convincing us to feel a particular way about something. Blauer uses three acronyms : 1- False Expectations Appearing Real (internal stimuli that distracts us) 2- False Evidence Appearing Real (external stimuli that distracts us) 3- Failure Expected Action Required (trigger to do something!) Forcing the angle : when one takes the Negotiating position, one “forces the angle” because “no one will punch you in the mitts.” Hicks’ Law : the more choices or stimuli, the slower will be your reaction time and decision-making. High Gear® : an impact-reduction suit which allows trainees to perform fight drills at near-maximum intensity. Hold, hold, hold, Braveheart : waiting until the bad guy is close enough for you to punch him. Horizontal elbow : this move is similar to putting on a seatbelt in a car. Hyperflexion drill : a malfunction drill (Murphy’s Law), this immediate action is designed to create space when the opponent’s suddenness, his strength, or position pin your arm tightly against your body, preventing appropriate muscle recruitment. Indignation : “How dare you (bad guy), come into my life and disrupt it.” Jack-in-the-box moment : the bad guy will always be on the offense. He will perhaps try and sucker punch you. Always remember that action is faster than reaction. Live action response drills (L.A.R.D.) : designed to teach appropriate responses to the same attack in different scenarios. Also enables practicing transitions from the SPEAR to other tools. Mind-set : skill and performance are always affected by mind-set and fear. Mirror drill : mirroring our training partner’s brisk hands movements.

Negotiating position : both hands up at shoulder level, fingers splayed, no tension in the hands Non-violent posture™ : there are four NVPs : Negotiating position, Jack Benny, Arms crossed, and Hands on hips. Outside 90 : extending your leading arm beyond 90˚. The position leads into the natural reaction that is “pushing away danger.”

Palm strike : striking with the palm (open hand) rather than with the fist not only prevents injuries, but is more damaging to the bad guy. PDR : Personal Defense Readiness program. Personal Directive : “When faced with the threat of an attack I will do what I can to avoid the confrontation with as little violence as possible occurring to both myself and my attacker(s).” Pre-contact cues : ex. : sharp intake of breath, very light movement of the shoulders or arms, facial changes, target glance, flex of the pectoral muscle. The perception of precontact cues is trained through diffused vision drills. Primal : one of the three main stances in the SPEAR system, it is recoiling from danger. Primal flinch : bringing your hands up to protect your head. Protective : one of the three main stances in the SPEAR system. Protective flinch : orienting toward the threat, lowering your center of gravity and bringing your hands up to a position between the threat and your head. Push away danger : the most natural thing you can do. Situational awareness : “It’s your head on a swivel.” Constantly being aware of your surroundings may help you to prevent/foresee bad situations.

Slapping SPEAR : drill designed to practice defending against the leg tackle. Splayed hands : splaying your fingers recruits extensor muscles and activates all three heads of the triceps, making your protective flinch stronger. SPEAR™ : Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response system. “SPEAR is a bridge to your next move, meaning your reactive brain will bypass your cognitive brain in a time of stress.” It is not a style, nor is it a martial art : it is a “Behaviorally Inspired & Genetically Wired™” personal defense system. Spontaneous Protection = Flinch Response-Spinal Reflex-Withdrawal Reflex. Enabling Accelerated Response = How the system converts the flinch into a protective or tactical response. Spear (noun) : it is a conversion of the flinch that is conditioned classically.

Startle-flinch reflex/mechanism : instinctive, primal and universal reflex where one protects one’s head. Put simply, it is your body’s natural air bag. The flinch is a physical response to an emotional startle where we intuit a physical threat. It is designed to protect the body’s command center : the eyes, ears, throat, and brain. Note : The flinch is triggered by tactile, auditory and visual cues. Stress inoculation : realistic, scenario-based conditioning. Sucker-punch drill : trainee A launches a sudden haymaker attack from close range with little or no warning, and trainee B counters with a spear. Tactical : one of the three main stances in the SPEAR system, it is moving toward the threat. Tactical flinch : aka Micro-flinch. Target glance : the first thing the bad guy will do is look at you intently. Once that happens, you should be on the lookout (it is a pre-contact cue that is part of the detect phase) and be ready to defuse or defend.

Three Ds : Detect (discover the existence of danger – bring into awareness), Defuse (make a situation less tense or less dangerous), and Defend (to keep something safe). Three Ps : Personal, Passionate, Present. The Three Ps support the Personal Directive. Vertical elbow : one of the many different moves one can do right after the spear, or as your second move against the front choke. MAXIMS “The mind navigates the body.” “80% of your motivations are derived from your expectations.” Howard Gardner “The first place you are attacked is emotionally.” “Body language is 60% of communication.” “Force must parallel danger.” “A missing element to all training, especially the 'ambush' attack is in underestimating the ruthlessness and suddenness of the initial assault that creates paralyzing fear.... Understanding how to move & use your body is not about learning an art form, so if your goal is self-defense, make sure your definitions support your directives. Fear management and creating mental blueprints through replication training should be the focus of your training.” “You can't do anything wrong except give up!” “Real fights happen in the space of a phone booth.” “Those who talk can be persuaded to walk” “The way you feel affects the way you think, the way you think affects the way you feel, they both affect the way you move!” “If you face just one opponent and doubt yourself, you are out numbered.” Dan Millman “Speed is more important than power in a fight.”

Prepared by Martin Gladu in 2016