ironchef

hi burton,

i know you were waiting for the question of the week.
why did you stop going to the dog brothers gatherings?
and how do you think you will do now if you were to go?
how is your style stickfighting different or changed in the last few years?

thanks,
ironchef

Burton

Good question. I stopped going to the Dog Brother events after fighting many times. I started fighting with Eric before it was called Dog Brothers, and I had improved greatly from the experience. I had been doing a lot of movie work, and decided that I didn't want to risk missing work due to an injury. We know that we can always learm more, but at that time I was nearing the top of the learning curve.

My stickfighting has changed now with the addition of more jabs and re-emphasizing hand hits. When wearing the helmet and glove in DB, the jab and hand hit are less effective, and people almost always resort to power. This is natural, because if I hit my opponent in the hand then he smashes me in my unprotected ribs, I am hurting and he isn't. DB is very important training so that you can learn to deal with sheer power and aggressiveness. I like to add the jabs and more hand strikes to prepare for an unprotected event. Just a note, the hand strikes can hurt even with the glove on. Eric broke my hand with a two-handed backhand one night, even though I was wearing a lacrosse glove.

I don't want to diminish the DB fighting, as it is a great way to test yourself and is very effective in ferreting out the truth about combat. First you must be able to deal with that sort of situation, then you can try for more precision. Thanks for the question!

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"If you want to learn how to fight, you must practice fighting against someone who is fighting back!" Burton Richardson