Surrounded on all Sides

Back in the days of my martial arts training I used to attend a class on a Friday night in a style called Tai Chi Chuan Northern Style Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Yes, it was a kung fu class in a style with a weird name. But like all good things in life, it wasn’t the style that was important it was the teacher.

We used to do all sorts of exciting stuff including blind fold work, breathing and balance drills. One of the big things George was a preponent of was body / space awareness. He was big on learning to feel where you were in space and being able to react quickly and efficiently to constantly changing circumstances. George had many clever drills we used to perform but one of the best, that I continued to use for years later, was what I called ‘Surrounded on all Sides’.

For a martial artist or any athlete that has to respond quickly to mutiple sensory input this drill is one of best.

What you’ll need:

• People, lots of them. If you can get 10 together then great. The drill becomes harder the more people there are

• Each person needs a boxing glove, focus pad or weapon such as a bo stick

The drill:

One person is surrounded by the others. The mob is placed 3 to 4 paces away from the centre person. The person in the middle is the one performing the drill. At the word go, the mob begins to move in. It is the objective of the each person on the outside of the circle to touch the middle person with their weapon or mitt. A consistently medium pace of walking in and trying to touch the central person is kept. No changes in pace are allowed but each person will have a different tempo.

The central person must ‘fend off’ the oncomers. As they approach he / she must strike the pad or block the weapon of an ‘attacker’. When an attacker’s glove or weapon is touched he must move back to the outside of the circle and then proceed back in again and try to touch the central protagonist.

What happens is the central person ends up with people coming from all sides at different ranges with different objects trying to touch him before they are struck and have to move back out. The central person is soon in a flurry of strikes, blocks and dodges as he seeks to keep the mob at bay for as long as possible. 360° of awareness is required as there will always be attackers behind you regardless of which way you face. I found Bruce Lee’s tea kettle stance the optimum stance for this drill.

Sensory overload is an understatement here and the drill is extremely exhausting. The better you get at it, the more people you get in the mob and the closer to you they begin. 10 people at 3 paces is a firestorm of chaos for the central warrior. But above all this drill is great fun and enhances a number of valuable physical and mental qualities. Awareness, speed, footwork and dexterity are just a few of the essential attributes on high demand here.

As an attacker keep in the spirit of the drill and don’t start running fakes or changing rhythm. That’s not the objective of the drill. My response many years ago to poor sports was to grab the stick from one guy’s hand and belt another guy’s mitt with it while grabbing a guy’s gloved hand and throwing him forward into the oncoming mob.

Ah memories, I was such a feisty lad.

The drill ends of course when the central person is touched or tapped by an attacker. It’s then time to switch who’s in the middle and go again. Fun, skillful and above all chaotic. The SOAS drill is truly a drill for those who love chaos training.