We have been placed completely in a full nelson and folded forward like a pretzel.  If he arches us backwards instead then time for "Plan B" because this technique would be exactly the wrong response.

Lesson 1:  Don't let a guy fold you forward like a pretzel.  Once you are familiar with what a full nelson feels like in its approach, far better to react by pulling your elbows in close to your body and he will not be able to set the hold.  Meanwhile a few head butts and heel clips to the groin should offer deterrence.

If you do get folded forward, you are screwed so this technique teaches that if you are going down don't fight it but at least go to the ground on your terms as much as possible.  We accentuate the circle of the fold and with our right arm pinning (I hug that my right arm tight to my own body trapping his right arm) we roll and become the inside of the circle while our opponent becomes our crash pad.  Everything after that is just to mop things up and go home safely.

Thus the principle of nonresistance is applied, demonstrated, and drilled in this technique.  To go with their momentum, to not fight against their energy but to add to their directional momentum and thus take ownership over their energy by adding to it!  It would be like somebody gave you a check for $250 that would not clear because their account was $5 short.  Deposit $6 in their account and now that $250 is yours.  Better to have walked away with $244 than a just a bad check.

Controlling Animal Theory:  The full nelson is a snake attack (all grabs are)  the defense is a crane action (folding our arm into the crane wing for the initial counter throw and the elbow, hammerfist, elbow action once on the ground is more of our wing folding, unfurling, and refolding.

Methods of Drill:  
1. Definitely practice different ways to stop your opponent before having to resort to being folded and flipping down to the ground with him.  
2. Practice a stand up version where you use a spin instead of a flip to redirect their folding energy and thus drive them into a wall, a nearby opponent, the bank atm machine, etc.
3. Lay a bag (kicking shield, heavy bag, few extra layers of mats) on the ground and practice generating striking power and follow through from this prone position.  Leveraging is a little different when horizontal and not vertical!
4. Take the principle of non-resistance and freestyle drill being pushed, pulled, etc. and how you can move their energy and by adding to their momentum and vary the directional vectors of their force slightly you can take control over their position.
5. The "elbow, hammerfist, obscure elbow" combo can be applied in a variety of different contexts in both stand up and ground points of reference.  Drill a variety of attacks and see when you might be able to make practical use of this combination.

Safety note:  If the attacker (dummy) is considerably smaller than the one applying the technique than the attacker (dummy) will get crushed!  Don't do it.  Besides, how often do little guys try to put huge guys in a full nelson? 

What's in a name?  Their arms are folded in our arms which are like wings that are entangled.  Just like two birds whose wings get all tangled up we too end up spiraling down to the ground (but with them on the bottom as our crash pad.)

Before going into the details of each technique I want to ask a fundamental question:  Why even used prearranged sequences, "self-defense techniques", as a curriculum approach to teaching Five Animal Kenpo? (...or any other Kenpo or Martial Arts system for that matter.)  

Techniques are convenient methods of encapsulating a variety of theories and strategies into a case study example.  It makes it easier to maintain a consistency of approach in communicating the principles of the fighting system.  However, by no means are you going to learn everything about Five Animal Kenpo from its sequence of moves (techniques, sets, katas, etc.) but they certainly become a significant and convenient starting point to frame the discussion.  Techniques are not meant to be a one step solution to your self-defense needs, but rather think of it as an old, experienced friend sharing his life's war stories with you so you can learn from his experience.  I could have created more, I could have created fewer, I could have created better, I could have created worse.  Regardless of what I created, the real question is whether they introduce ideas that allow you to grow and experiment; or rather, do you focus so much on the one sequence that it takes ona significance greater than it should.  The guy who dwells on exactly how it should always be done regardless is missing the point just as much as the guy who dwells on how he can improve it or fix it with this move or that move.  

So as we move into this blog, remember we are listening to each techniques war stories.  You may think the old guy telling the story has a funny looking nose, smells a little funny, or seems to laugh at his own jokes, but nonetheless the question is whether you decide to listen to his story and then apply what you can to learn from his experience.

My initial goal in this blog is to address the theory of each of the empty hand self-defense techniques in the Five Animal Kenpo System.  This will not happen overnight (but hopefully within a year's span!) and as with most of my blogging attempts I suspect that this will occur is spurts.  The student on the mat that day gets priority over my blog objectives.  The reality is that I spend far more time training and teaching then writing or filming (just ask Richard Fox... who I am well aware is still waiting for Nunchaku Form and Knife Form DVDs).  

I am going to lay some ground rules for myself.  I am going treat these more as journal entries than works of literary art.  I want the theory out there instead of just bouncing around in my head and if I over edit demand too much exactness in this process than I will throw in the towel and about three techniques will get described.  So here we go.  I welcome comments but will display only the ones I feel offer additional insight or raise questions I want to further explore.  So "you suck" or "wow, you are cool" is never going to be displayed so don't bother with either.