First Steps

 Welcome to

Evolutionary Martial Arts!

Thank you for joining us!

We’re excited to welcome you into our community of dedicated martial artists as we continue our journey of becoming our best versions of ourselves by adopting martial arts as a fulfilling and empowering way of life.

功夫

Gōng fū

Great skill derived through hard work is only the beginning.

 

This journey will challenge you both physically and mentally.

It is through the greatest challenges that you will find the greatest rewards, and we will be with you every step of the way.

 

Your evolution begins today.

 

Please take the time to read through the information on this page – it will answer most of your questions and give you all of the information you need in order to hit the ground running and take your first steps of your journey confidently as an Evolutionary martial artist.

The following links will take you to pages on this website with further information on different aspects of who we are and what we do:

Policies and Procedures

It is essential that all members read and understand these.

Please ensure you read and understand them, and feel free to get in touch any time with any questions you have.

Our Principles and Code of Conduct

It is essential that all members read, understand and follow these guidelines.

Please ensure you read, understand and agree to follow them, and feel free to get in touch any time with any questions you have.

Membership Tiers and Pricing

Gradings

Sparring

Our Syllabus

 

You can find our social media profiles, Google profile and online shop on Linktree at tr.ee/EMA

 

Please consider supporting us by leaving a review, interacting and sharing our content.

It helps us a great deal and we really appreciate your support – thank you!

 

We also run a Facebook group called “Staffordshire Martial Arts and Self-Protection Group” which all are welcome to join.

Click here to find it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffordshireSPandMAgroup/

 

Keep scrolling for information on British and international law on self-protection,

our 5-Step Protocol for Self-Protection

and information on what you covered in your induction.

 

The Law of the Land

Aside from our own Principles, we must of course abide by British law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in all matters. The use of force against a person is the absolute last resort and is only permissible in the event that it is the only way in which to safeguard ourselves or others against greater and otherwise unavoidable harm. In accordance with our Principles, it is only right to do so if it serves the greater good: in effect, that it is the lesser of two evils. Violence is an abhorrent expression of lack, and should be avoided as much as possible. However, there are some situations which require the use of force to prevent a worsening of said situation. In order to train and act responsibly within the legal framework of our society, we must pay heed to the law and how it pertains to self-protection. Please remember that this is merely a basic reference, and does not constitute professional legal advice.

 

The Criminal Law Act 1967 Section 3 (1)

states that

‘Any person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of a crime,

or in effecting or assisting the arrest of offenders or suspected offenders unlawfully at large’.

 

The use of reasonable levels of force in the event of a crime being committed, for example an assault, can be legally justifiable. Please note that this is current UK law to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication; it may not apply elsewhere. The concept of ‘reasonable force’ is subjective, and a constant matter of debate. If you are not in the UK, you should always check the laws of the places you visit. Do not depend on us or anyone else other than professional legal representatives or the police for legal advice. Seek your own knowledge.

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3

states that

‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.’

 

 

A 5-Step Protocol for Self-Protection

It is imperative that we outline a methodology with which to approach the problem of violence, otherwise our martial arts practice is not adequately set within its context. The following is a brief guide to the proper application of martial arts to violent situations. We must not passively allow others to dictate our situation but rather we must be proactive in managing the situation in order to ensure our safety and wellbeing.

  • By maintaining Threat Awareness, we perceive our situation accurately.
  • Through Threat Evaluation, we can recognise and prioritise potential threats.
  • We can initiate Threat Avoidance strategies in order to prevent a potential threat from becoming an actual threat, and to prevent an actual threat from compromising our safety or wellbeing.
  • Through our use of Communicative Strategies, we can (when prior avoidance is not possible) use verbal methods to prevent the situation from worsening; either by preventing a potential threat from becoming an actual threat or by preventing an actual threat from compromising our safety or wellbeing. This stage may constitute an interview, and as such must be handled with care to avoid escalation. This is the first stage of direct contact with a potential threat.
  • If a simple escape without use of force is not possible, then through Force Deployment we can prevent an assault from being committed or prevent an existing assault from escalating and inflicting greater levels of harm, and in so doing create the opportunity to survive through escape. Force deployment is necessary in the event of a surprise attack, when threat awareness has failed.

 

 

Your Induction

People tend to come to martial arts for three main reasons:

Self-Protection: to protect themselves or others from violent crime effectively, proactively, ethically and legally

Combat Sports: to dominate opponents in kickboxing, BJJ or other competitive arenas as a combat athlete

“Traditional” Martial Arts: to cultivate an intentional and empowered way of life though dedicated training and seeking mastery

 

While each focus is different, our syllabus is formulated in order to provide you with everything you need for any or all of them, whether you are approaching this as a casual practitioner looking for a hobby and a fun way to keep fit or a serious practitioner looking for a way of life to dedicate yourself to. Some of what you will learn as a beginner will be more geared towards self-protection, some will be most applicable to combat sports and athletic development, and some is derived from the deeper traditions of the martial arts as a cultural phenomenon. Whatever your focus, what you learn will be of great benefit to all of the above and so much more. Ours is a holistic practice, giving you the best of all worlds and letting you specialise from there as you see fit, having benefited from everything that martial arts has to offer.

Below is a handy guide to what you will typically have covered in your induction, unless adaptations were made for you individually. It is beneficial to refer back to this so that you can retain your learning from your first session and move on with confidence in your next session.

The Escape Principle is the first and most important concept for beginners. Whenever we’re using the techniques we learn (often called “Deploying Force” or “Use of Force”) in self-protection then this is the last resort. If we can avoid the threat altogether, or de-escalate verbally, then we do so. If we can’t, then we escape. If we can’t escape, it is then that we use force to create the opportunity to escape if we absolutely must. Bear this in mind whenever using force in training: the goal is to get away, not to fight.

The Breath Principle is another key concept, which can be summed up as “Don’t move without breathing, and don’t breathe without moving.” Whenever we exert force, either in striking, or moving someone, defending against a strike, or landing from a fall, we breathe out. This focuses the mind, relaxes the body (it’s surprising how much happens, anatomically, when we exhale) and ensures that we can move efficiently in a number of ways. It also moves the diaphragm out of the way when we want to raise our leg to kick, or twist the torso for a powerful strike, for example.

The Fence is what we call a relaxed, non-aggressive, but assertive posture to use in a potential self-protection situation. Stand with one foot a comfortable step’s distance in front of the other, with the hands up at around chest height and the palms out. We use these to manage distance and present a barrier, keeping them ready to use if needed. From this position, we try to communicate and de-escalate if possible. Keep your back heel up, and your knees slightly bent, with the back knee straighter than the front knee. Keep your weight evenly distributed between both feet, not leaning too far forwards or backwards. Stay light on your feet, and remain calm and assertive, rather than aggressive.

Combat Stance is an efficient and effective way to stand when deploying force, either in self-protection situations or a combat sports fight. Stand with one foot in front of the other as with The Fence, with your front foot turned slightly in. Your back heel should be up, and your hands should be up around your chin height, with your elbows down so as to protect your torso. Tuck your chin down slightly. Keep the front knee bent and the back knee just slightly bent. Stay light and mobile on your feet. When moving, step with the foot closest to the destination first, followed by the other foot, so for example if moving forwards, the front foot steps first, then the back follows it. If you go left, your left foot steps first, then the right follows. Avoid crossing your feet, over-extending your stance to have your feet too far apart or standing with your feet too close together so your balance is affected. Movement should be decisive and disciplined, yet natural and relaxed.

In training as well as in combat, we also learn to keep your teeth together and our tongue on the roof of our mouth, so that if we move in a jarring way or get caught with a strike we cannot accidentally hit our teeth together or bite our tongue.

We also learn that if we want a partner to stop doing something, such as a joint lock, we tap on them repeatedly, which is safer than relaying on them hearing us say stop in a potentially noisy environment. We call this “tapping out”.

 

打击 – Dǎjí – Striking

Hammer Fist is a key beginners’ technique. For this, we hit with the fleshy bottom of the fist rather than the knuckles. This is a “high-percentage” technique: it works well for a high percentage of users, in a high percentage of situations, a high percentage of the time. It has a relatively low risk to the striker, because if you miss your intended target and hit something hard like a cheekbone then you will typically end up with bruising rather than a fracture. Keep your arm relaxed and “whippy”, and breathe out when you hit.

Palm Strike is another high-percentage strike. Keep your fingers together and your thumb tucked out of the way to the side, and concentrate the impact on the palm heel at the bottom of the palm. This can be done with a relaxed, “whippy” arm as a powerful slap, or pushed forwards in a straight line for a more solid impact. This is a lower-force option than the hammer fist, and while it results in much less injury than a punch it can be very effective as it spreads the impact out over lots of nerve endings, and can be very disorientating (causing stinging, a loud sound, streaming eyes and nose, etc).

Jab is the straight punch with your lead hand – the one in front. Send it straight out and bring it straight back to your guard. This is one of the most important and versatile strikes you will learn. Step your lead foot, landing at the moment of impact, to get your mass behind the shot. Keep your wrist straight whenever hitting with the knuckles.

Cross is the straight punch with your rear hand – the one on the other side. Send it straight out and bring it straight back to your guard. Step with your rear foot, landing at the moment of impact, to get maximum power into the strike.

Hook is the punch that turns inwards to hit sideways. Keep your elbow bent at 90 degrees, raised to be in line with your shoulder. Pivot on your front foot when you throw it, and don’t let it swing too wide – it’s a tight, controlled shot. Bring it straight back to your guard.

Rising Kick is when you kick upwards, making contact with your laces (or shin). Try to make it one smooth motion, without “chambering” your knee and flicking your foot out. The groin is a good target, as is the torso or head of an attacker that is bent over. Remember to always breathe out when hitting, especially when kicking.

Side Kick is the kick where you turn to the side and throw out your leg as though you’re stamping on the floor but out, rather than down. Your foot should be perfectly horizontal – your toes pointing to one side and your heel pointed to the other – parallel with the floor. Focus most of your impact on the heel and lean into the kick slightly to get your mass into the movement for maximum efficiency in power generation. It’s not just your quads working here, but your glutes as well. The knee is a great target for this kick.

 

防御 – Fángyù – Damage Limitation (Defence)

拍手 Pak Sao (Slapping Hand) is where we parry using the palm. Keep your fingers together and thumb tucked as if doing a palm strike, then push an incoming straight strike (such as a jab or cross) out of the way to the side. You don’t have to push it far: if the punch misses you, then it worked! Try to turn your torso slightly when doing this, using either the palm or the inside of the forearm to parry the strike depending on how high it is. This helps you develop the habit of getting your head out of the way in case your parry didn’t work. A slight sidestep when parrying helps with this, too.

摊手 Tan Sao (Dispersing Hand) is the other defence we use, where we intercept a strike (such as a big swinging hook punch) using the back of the hand, with the palm facing upwards. Keep a solid structure when doing this, and allow the strike to glance off your hand or forearm like a wave breaking against the prow of a ship. For powerful strikes such as the committed swings of a big hook punch, we recommend backing up the Tan Sao with a Pak Sao using the other hand, hitting the shoulder or bicep of the striking arm, as the Tan Sao on its own may not be enough. We think of this movement as being like windscreen wipers: both arms are moving together. Having both hands working together, for example to parry and counter-strike simultaneously, will be an important part of your early development.

 

擒拿 – Qínná – Biomechanical Manipulation

Breaking grips is the main focus for a beginner in this section, as this is the most essential skill. When you understand how to do this, all future escapes become much easier to understand. The weak part of a grip is the gap between the fingers and the thumb. Fingers are weaker than the thumb in isolation, but there are four of them so going against the fingers is difficult. There is only one thumb, but it’s much stronger than the fingers, so that’s quite difficult too. We can’t go against the palm, as that’s the strongest part of the grip, so the opposite direction is the way to go: into the gap between the fingers and the thumb. Sharp, sudden and twisting movements work well for breaking grips. Common options include twisting and pulling in the direction of the gap while pulling the gripping hand away, twisting the attacker’s arm and then hitting it, hitting the gripping hand in the vulnerable back of the hand, and simply striking the attacker: they are vulnerable to attack on the side of the body they are using to grab you, so strikes to that side tend to land easily as the gripping hand cannot defend well.

 

轻功 – Qīnggōng – Agility and Mobility

You are (we sincerely hope!) much more likely to fall over in life than to be attacked, so for that reason as well as to be able to train takedowns effectively we must learn how to fall. There are many methods for doing this, and the following are two that beginners start with.

Front Fall Absorption is when you fall forwards, place your hands on the floor and kick your feet back behind you, then with soft arms slowly lower your torso to the floor as your feet meet the floor on the balls of your feet.

Back Fall Absorption is where you fall backwards, up one side of your back, then onto your shoulders, covering your head with your arm just in case it goes wrong. Aim to be as relaxed as possible, exhaling and meeting the floor in one smooth motion rather than sitting down hard on the floor and then lying back. This takes practice, but once mastered it allows you to fall over on even a hard surface with minimal risk of injury.

 

As always, if you have any questions then feel free to get in touch any time.

 

What next?

Here are 4 steps to success for beginners to hit the ground running:

✅ Join the WhatsApp group by messaging 07981175878 with your name.

This is great for all the important updates, extra information relevant to what we’ve been working on, asking questions about training and chatting with our wonderful community.

✅ Follow our social media to make sure you don’t miss important updates:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionaryMartialArtsUK @EvolutionaryMartialArtsUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolutionary.martialarts/ @evolutionary.martialarts

Any interactions such as liking, commenting and sharing our content really helps us out, so thank you for doing so – every little helps!

✅ Join our FREE online learning platform which is full of curated resources and exclusive EMA content designed to help you take your training to the next level by clicking the link in your welcome email or heading to classroom.google.com, clicking Join Class and entering the code in your welcome email. All you need is an email address to sign in with.

We recommend that you download the free Google Classroom app as the easiest way to access it.

✅ Read your copy of The Dao of Gongfu – our syllabus. Your copy of The Dao of Gongfu contains information on the syllabus relevant to beginners on the first three gradings: Red, Orange and Yellow Sashes. Further information including an overview of our syllabus as a whole can be found at https://evolutionarymartialarts.co.uk/syllabus/.

Once again, thank you very much for choosing to join our community. In line with our Principles, we dedicate ourselves not just to our own progress and development, but to each other’s, and it is in this path of virtue and service that we find the greatest meaning and joy.

We’re all very excited to be a part of your journey, and to welcome you into being a valued part of ours.

 

Finally, a favour to ask!

Leaving a review can make such a difference to groups like ours, so if you would be so kind as to share your thoughts, you can do so by clicking the links below:

Review us on Google: https://g.page/r/CfHQeZY7NRZTEBM/review 

Review us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvolutionaryMartialArtsUK/reviews