Geoff Thompson The Fence Part 1

Way back when I was way watching Royce Gracie win the early UFC's wondering what the hell Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was and how anybody could possibly fight from thier back, I was at the same time introduced to Geoff Thompson from the UK and his ideas on self protection. Some Wing Chun guys who I cross trained with at the time introduced me to both areas and it opened up a whole new world for me. I had to swallow my pride about what I thought fighting was and start again. Evolve or die. One of Geoff's big things is controlling pre-fight diaglogue and distance using the fence which he explains here. As I have said before BJJ/MMA training are not self defence ready arts and if this is one of your goals for training then you need to explore other areas to complete the package. I have talked up Tony Blauer and his SPEAR sysytem on this blog in the past, but Geoff Thompson also has some great stuff out there. As Geoff explains here the last place you need to be in a scrap is on the floor and this "fence" buys you time, distance and options. Watch as much of his stuff on youtube as you can. Geoff has been quoted as saying that the essence of self defence is learning to punch fucking hard. He aims to develop as much power in a short distance as possible from the fence position. Pre-emptive strikes to get the KO. Like Tony Blauer often describes action beats reaction everytime.