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The Cut Smash
My Favorite Finishing Stroke with the Stick Shimmy and Countermarch Escape
© 2016 James LaFond
JAN/31/16
The cut smash is an oblique smash, except, you step back another step and lunge obliquely onto your lead heel, launching your body with the rear foot. If your Achilles is blown this cannot be done. I can only do this right-handed because my right Achilles tendon is blown. I finish most of my knife wins with this stroke, going to the face of neck.
The best way to launch this is to feint a forehand to the head. If he goes up for a roof block, launch in with a tight chopping stroke that will score under his roof block, hitting him between the temple and the collarbone and driving that stick in as your heel hits the floor and you begin the heel pivot.
You want your lead hand high over his stick shoulder, to drive his counter into your body, so you can snake the stick away.
Yes, it will hurt, get used to it, it’s not an axe or a sword or a chainsaw.
If he has a blade, you pivot out past him and away, not digging for power but just stroking with the arm, elbow tight to the body.
Against a stationary fighter who loops forehands from the roof block this is ideal. Step just to the outside of his body so that you can barely put the checking hand on him and maybe get the disarm, perhaps even go into the U-combination, which is up next in the progression.
Against a guy who is charging under a roof block you can get a good pass stroke into his neck or head and pivot away as he goes past. More angle is desired here, and you want the rear hand ready for stiff-arming in case he can turn on a dime and still try and clinch you.
The Stick Shimmy
If you get clinched doing the cut smash do not hit him again with this stick and do not pull it back along the line it travelled because his hand is coming up to intercept that hand [probably late for his sacrifice hand check but good for a disarm]. Pull the stick straight back as if you are drawing back from a thrust, bringing the point of the stick all the way back by your hip, as you stiff-arm him with your checking hand, and you shift your lead foot to the back position.
If he continues to press for a clinch stab him in the gut with the stick, as you shift the foot under the checking hand to the rear position and brush off his clinch or ward off his active stick.
If he still presses, he may be dropping is hand to grab that stick that gutted him, so whack him in the head with it as the hand drops and you shift out again with the stick leg foot to the rear position.
Practice this as a countermarch drill where you strike with the stick hand and shift back the leg under it, then stiff-arm with the checking hand and shift that leg back, then stab and shift, then check and shift, then strike and shift.
You have to realize that if you strike two head shots in a row he probably grabs that stick, if you stab him twice he probably grabs that stick and if you smash the body he gets it, probably on the first stroke, with a snake disarm.
If you are going to use the cut smash you must be able to countermarch.
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Uncle Kenny     Jan 31, 2016

I really enjoy reading these descriptions, but really long for even a stick figure diagram. Even better, a quick video would convey the concept better than all these words.

Perhaps I am not the target audience for these descriptions, but I cannot believe that others are not equally struggling to picture the movements you describe.
James     Feb 1, 2016

I have no video capacity-an old flip phone. This is why most instructional books are essentially photo sequences, which I have no idea how to do. But will see what I can do. In the meant time I will post the one video we do have and caption the strokes on the bag. I do have a lady willing to video me hitting the bag, but with my hernias cannot set up the bag on my own.

I will try and work something out.
Sam J.     Feb 1, 2016

I too, while greatly appreciative, can in no way make heads or tails of what you're talking about. This might help. It's a guy's post on how to make knots clear and stand out for clarity.

jimknowsknots.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-electronically-draw-knot.html

Just for giggles here's a fantastic video on the absolute basic knots you need. If you remember these it will vastly improve your life when you need to tie something.

Six_Knots_You_Need_To_Know

youtube.com/watch?v=ZZZPYPuonvQ

Here's another way of illustrating things and a another knot that I believe everyone should know.

Blake's Hitch

animatedknots.com/blakes

The point of this knot is to clamp down on the vertical red rope. To tighten you pull on the lower blue rope. It is extremely strong. Climbers use it to go up the red rope. You tighten the blue and maybe put your foot in a loop in the lower blue rope. To move it you just push up on the loops of the blue rope and it slides. Then lock down by pulling the lower blue rope.

For climbing use two hitches. Place a foot in a loop made into the bottom of the blue rope that is Blake hitched to the red rope your climbing. Lock by pulling the blue rope. Step up. Move the second Blake's hitch up (the one you're not standing on). Then put your other foot in the just moved up loop and stand up again, then of course move the other hitch up. Repeat.

I've used two of these on one rope to tighten a big 1-3/4" rope I was stringing up. One behind the other. I suspended the rope on a tree with a chain. The chain just held the rope in the air. Kind of like a pulley chained in place on the tree. I then tied to one of the blake's hitch's with my truck and pulled. I mean hard. When I went as far as I could I tied off the second Blake's hitch to the tree (holding the tension on the rope). Then I would back off the first Blake's hitch to get another pull. The convenience of a knot that you can pull with the force of a truck then easily slide back by hand when the tension is taken off can easily be seen to be a great thing. With, say a pole (for a lever), and a couple of Blake's hitch's with loops on the end) you could easily move some really seriously heavy stuff.

They don't show a stopper knot in the short blue rope that sticks out of the loops in the illustration. You should put one so it doesn't slide out.
James     Feb 3, 2016

Can I post this as an article?
Sam J.     Feb 8, 2016

"Can I post this as an article?"

Sure. Sorry took so long to get back. I forget what I replied to sometimes.
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