One of my most promising students launches a choke from the side defense this morning, and I cringe a bit. She’s having trouble with her plucking motion. I see the issue, but I allow her to struggle a bit longer – hoping I’ll have her undivided attention when I offer the solution.
Using my own sort of Krav slang I tell her that she’s over-plucking. Well, over-plucking is an understatement. She’s launching a pluck so huge that her plucking arm is nearly straight, her elbow is rolling out away from her body (causing a loss of power and the distortion of a 90 degree plucking angle), and because the majority of her plucking motion happens before she makes contact with the attacker’s choking wrist, her pluck loses steam and essentially fails to effectively remove the danger.
The fix is a three-step process: (1) I need to give her a physical queue that let’s her know she has plucked far enough, (2) I need to confirm she feels the queue in the plucking motion, and (3) I need to provide her significant repetitions to begin to form muscle memory and substantial myelin development (refer to the Required Reading section; check out The Talent Code).
If I can effectively support my student in this process, she will not only destroy a dangerous habit, we’ll work together to form a new and effective habit.
Check out the video to gain a quick visual of the process described above.
…walk in peace
