SAMPLE
STUDY OF ANOTHER SYSTEM: BISON
SYSTEM (MILITARY MARTIAL ART FOUNDED IN INDIA)
Krav
Maga is basically a situation based art. It teaches you to get out of various
situations involving an opponent grabbing and immobilizing you from various
positions. It consists of one range only where someone may grab you from front
or behind in a bear hug, with or without the arms pinned by the sides, someone
may try to choke you and so on. You are expected to release the opponent’s hold
over yourself and then attack him using a combination of a kick, a few punches,
knee and elbow, and maybe a throw. It also teaches at a basic level to defend
from a knife or a firearm attack at close range by using some locking and
disarming techniques.
It
is the only Martial Art system of the world which does not teach kicking,
punching, or any specific technique of a range in detail to a practitioner
before he is put in a situation where he must get out of a grab using those
very techniques. Generally a student is given an introduction to a few kicks,
punches, and knee elbow techniques at a basic level for a short duration only.
Using
a kick or a punch in a real scenario where a hostile person is trying to hurt
you takes a certain minimum degree of proficiency. This is necessary as one
must be able to gauze distance to target (measure), be able to make proper
contact with the target, and generate substantial amount of power with the body
to hurt or injure the opponent. In the absence of such training and ability,
one will only try out the techniques successfully in a controlled classroom
environment and fail miserably in a real world scenario.
The
Bison system was devised for the military by researching in the military on
forces personnel. Therefore, certain aspects of training in this system are classified
and taught only to the military.
The
Bison system is a multi range system where the various ranges taught are, the
kicking range, punching range, trapping range, knee elbow range, grappling
range, throwing range. Apart from these, various joint locks are also taught.
Each range has its specific techniques which are taught systematically to a
certain degree of proficiency. It makes sure that a practitioner is able to
kick, punch, and otherwise execute all the techniques to injure the opponent.
At the same time, since it was made for the forces, it advocates and teaches
techniques from each range that are simple, easy to learn and perfect, and will
cause maximum damage to the opponent. Thereafter, one who wants to learn and
master a particular range or technique can progress to do so. If someone has
previous experience in a particular range of fighting such as punching
(boxing), or kicking (Taekwondo), it becomes an added advantage as it saves
some time and becomes a starting point from where to begin. The Bison system
encompasses the various components of the CQB part of ACCS such as H2H- where
both are unarmed, H2W- where the opponent is armed with an edged weapon or a
firearm and you must defend against it, W2H- where you have a weapon in your
hand and the opponent is either unarmed or is not in a position to use his
weapon (This is commonly seen in situations where you must take out a sentry
using stealth), W2W- where both are armed, such as bayonet to bayonet fighting.
The
Bison system takes you through the specifics of each range and then introduces
you to the variables in combat. In a fight, the opponent may attack you from
different angles, whether he is kicking, punching, grabbing, or using a weapon.
He may attack you from different levels depending on your respective heights
and other factors. He may use different ranges of attack depending on the
distance between you and him such as kicking, punching, knee elbow, grappling,
ground fighting, etc. The Bison system teaches you to fight each opponent
differently depending upon his size, aggression, height, level of proficiency
using differing strategies. No two opponents are fought the same way by the
same individual. For example, when faced by a tall opponent, the best strategy
may be to attack his groin, shin, knee, etc. When faced with a strong opponent,
it may be necessary to use stronger weapons such as the knees and elbows.
Depending on what strategy is to be used, you must also vary your angle, level
and range of attack. Apart from the above, the Bison system teaches the
principles of situational fighting which includes Mob fighting, release from
street grabs, and defense to knife and firearm attacks. Mob fighting is where
the mob is made to attack you in various ranges and in various positions. The
mob may be attacking you with weapons such as knives, sticks, etc. They may be
punching or kicking. You may be standing, or you may be down on the ground with
the mob raining down blows upon you from the top. It may be either one of these
situations or a combination thereof. Again, you are not taught specific
techniques but the concepts and principles which you will execute using the
specific techniques of the various ranges that you are already trained in.
Release from street grabs involves an opponent or multiple opponents grabbing
you in different positions and you trying to get out of the situation. This is
explained in greater detail below. Defense to knife attacks is taught by
defining the principle of avoiding the arc of thrust of the weapon and defense
to firearm threat is taught by defining the concept of line of fire. There are
also other classified subjects taught to the forces exclusively such as bare
handed termination, using a firearm to threaten and restrain an opponent and
first aid for the soldier who may need to treat injuries inflicted during
combat to self or comrades on the spot, before professional medical aid can be
made available.
Another
problem with Krav Maga is that it puts the practitioner in an artificial
scenario with no relation to the real world as the opponent who grabs or holds
you is completely static. This gives rise to the following problems. First, an
opponent who grabs you with both hands also compromises on his own tools with
which he can otherwise attack you, i.e. he also ends up immobilizing both his
hands. Secondly, as he is stationary, he gives a false sense of security where
you go about executing all your techniques coolly and without any resistance.
The
Bison system recognizes the fact that a person who grabs you with the intention
of hurting or dominating you will not just stay static and immobile after
grabbing you. He will also try to destabilize you by pulling and pushing you
all around. Secondly, he may also try to rain blows on you with either one hand
or even with both hands as he alternates between grabbing and attacking. This
is a common situation experienced as it does not require the attacker to be
trained in any art. Therefore, training is given realistically where the person
grabbing you will use leverage to pull, push and otherwise destabilize you in
any manner possible and you are then expected to get out of the situation.
Krav
Maga also suffers from the problem of teaching fixed pattern based techniques
from situations to anybody and everybody. For example, if a person grabs you
from behind, you will be taught to do a series of techniques which you are
expected to mug up and execute on the opponent.
In
the Bison system, teaching concept is given prevalence over teaching fixed
technique. It recognizes the fact that combat is made up of variables and the
opponents also differ on the basis of their size, strength, level of training
achieved or lack of it, level of aggression, number of opponents and so on. For
example, if you are grabbed, regardless of what part of you is grabbed, and
from which angle, you will be taught the concept of first securing his grabbing
arm/arms with your own hand and brace your body so that there is minimal chance
of the opponent destabilizing you and maybe taking you down on the ground,
which is not a favorable scenario. Then you are taught to release the hold by
hitting any one of the vital targets available depending on your reach, his
body position, etc. Once the hold is released, you are taught to either entre
or exit. To enter, you may continue attacking him with close range weapons such
as the knee and elbow repeatedly. This is to ensure that he is destabilized and
injured as these are powerful weapons, stronger than a kick or a punch. Now
that he is injured and destabilized, you may throw him using any one of a
variety of throwing techniques taught, again depending on what angle he
presents to you with his body and your own level of proficiency. Once you throw
him down on the ground, you must end with a finishing blow to ensure that he
does not get back up and attack you again. On the other hand, if an exit is
desired, after releasing yourself from the hold, you may continue to increase
the distance by throwing a punching combination and then a kick to further
distance him. The important thing to note here is that you are not taught fixed
techniques in a pattern for each individual grab or hold. This is because every
technique may not work on every opponent. For example, if someone grabs you
from behind, you may suddenly realize that he is too tall for you, and your
hand does not reach his face, so an attack to his eyes becomes redundant. Then
you must try other techniques which may work on that particular opponent and in
that particular situation, such as attacking his groin or shin.
Also,
the Bison system teaches release from street grabs using single or multiple
opponents (maybe one, two, three, or four). In all the differing scenarios, the
principles of combat stay the same and you need not mug up the individual
techniques for each scenario step by step which is impractical.
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