Our focus is to bring you a variety of fighters and disciplines so you can improve your skillset! If you’ve enjoyed learning about getting out of headlocks, avoiding beatdowns and street defense with Bellator champ and Skillset writer Sullivan Cauley, you’ll love the stuff from our new contributor Shondo Blades! Shondo is a pro fighter, actor, entrepreneur and competitive shooter, making him a very cool addition to our team. Today, he walks us through the “strike and draw” technique during a fight.

The Strike and Draw

Gladiators, in this video we look at the strike and draw technique. When approached by an armed attacker, one of the most important things that you can gain is time. This is exactly what this technique gives you. By throwing a strike, you alter the timing of the attack. Then, by sliding to the side of the attacker, it gives you time to deploy any weapon that you may have.

Trying to deploy them at close range without an initial strike may put you in a struggle over your own weapon; that’s what you want to avoid. The initial strike acts almost like a reset button. Now that you have hit that reset button, you can control more of the outcome of the encounter. In some cases the strike may be enough to halt the attack altogether, but in other cases you’ll have to do whatever is necessary to neutralize the threat. Either way, you disrupt the timing and you take back the control! Watch my full demonstration on the strike and draw in the video above. Practice, practice, practice, and I’ll see you right back here on the battlefield!

To learn even more, pick up a back issue of Skillset at OutdoorGroupStore.com. Also, be sure to listen to the Skillset podcast with Shondo Blades!