Fast Defence Woofing Drills – Use of the fence/guard
By Dave Stretch
(Editors note, when Dave asked me if he could do an article on the Woofing Drills from fast defence I asked “what the hell are they?” he told me what they are and the penny dropped and I told him to crack on with it as this would be an excellent article and just what we are looking for. This is a great article. Hope you enjoy, it an check out this amazing video of those drills in action- Andrew)
About me: I am a Fast Defence self defence instructor who has trained in a variety of Martial arts and self defence systems since 1995. This is my first in a series of articles that will talk about FAST Defence.
So what is a fence or guard?
A very important and primary self defence tool.
There are many different opinions on using the fence and names variations, training methods, check out you tube and the internet, however today I am going to show you my preferable method of using the fence Fast Defence scenarios and drills, this gets the student adrenalized and used to dealing with a aggressors the predators/attackers in life who will mainly pick on the vulnerable and weak and don’t want people to stand up to them.
The drill starts off with two lines of students having a argument with each other, what is the point of this you may ask for absolute beginners to get the feel of the adrenal dump when being in a very uncomfortable situation.
Then we move on to Fast Defence woofing drills, with me behind coaching the person using the fence with an aggressor (woofing) trying to instigate a fight or get what they want like you handing over money , phone or clothes going into a vehicle or premises (lot of scenarios we make up and play with). I am teaching the students not to get into conversation, which can lead to more aggression and the predator getting their way, comments can be twisted and turned around to empower the aggressor like adding heat to the fire. I have even made a brown belt in Judo panic and have manic shakes during this drill.
The students are new to this and some do not always stand their ground answer back to much fuelling and sometimes moving towards the aggressor. This is a learning aid and a great drill for practising the fence. Check out this great video
As you have probably noticed the student using the fence states the word ‘back off’ and only one level of noise above the person woofing, this is a prime example of bataris box (my attitude affects your attitude, google for further info)
The use of the voice open palms and vocals tells the cctv, public and police (if there) that we are not aggressive and trying to have a fight imagine the above video with the student using the fence with closed fists.
I hope you have enjoyed a link to the global Fast Defence Self Defence website is as below:
Dave Stretch