Arbel Consulting & Training

15/08/2021

Self Defense vs Law Enforcement - "Don't come any closer" vs "Don't go any further".

The mantra I repeat so often is well demonstrated in this technique, which starts when the officer is under mount and being pummeled with fists. Whether you're on duty or not, the trap and roll escape is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to turn the tables but once you're back on top, there's a fork in the road.

Self defense doctrine dictates that you disengage, create distance and reassess the situation.
But if your job is to control and arrest the attacker, disengaging and reassessing will only give the aggressor time to regroup, possibly stand up or otherwise continue resisting arrest. You as the officer will need to re-approach and effectively restart the whole arrest process.

Fortunately, proper training enables us to further leverage a successful position reversal into a positional counter-attack. Knowing that the option is there even in the midst of a real fight, and how to execute it correctly, requires repetitive training but the results are a faster, more efficient and safer resolution to physical altercations - even ones where the officer finds themselves at a disadvantage.

11/08/2021

Head & Arm triangle takedowns are a great way to control taller aggressors. Here we've worked on compensating a possible roll-through by transitioning to a scarf hold and controlling a flailing arm, as well as utilising a kimura grip to turn the aggressor on their belly for easy cuffing.

Join us every Wednesday and Sunday at Endangered MMA in Edinburgh 💪

08/08/2021

CONNECTION.

When you are connected to your opponent's very core, it is easy to apply debilitating pressure. As the connection weakens so does the pressure, until a point where you max out your energy on the movements of the technique and none of it transfers over to the outcome.

This is often described as "It doesn't work on ______________"

Grappling disciplines make this concept very easy to feel and understand, but the concept of CONNECTION is not limited to being physically glued to your opponent. The highest level of connection is the cognitive/emotional one, and the physical connection is secondary (just like in relationships.)

In a fight, the professional is acutely aware of what's going on in the attacker's head and heart. The rookie is focused on imagining 100 scenarios at once and trying to come up with an equal number of responses.

The ability to quickly establish a connection with a stranger, both cognitive and physical, is the hallmark of an accomplished fighter.
Some people naturally possess this ability, or else develop it over the course of their life.

Regardless of any pre-existing talents, the best and fastest way to embed this skill is force on force training with full resistance.

21/07/2021

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training for Police,
Emergency Services and Security professionals. Learn
advanced control & restraint techniques to keep
yourself and others safe while on duty.
Now available in Edinburgh. Get in touch for more
details!

21/06/2021

Almost a year since my last post and despite the variants and mutations, we are (hopefully) almost at the end of the pandemic.
So maybe this is a good opportunity to introduce the new & improved control and restraint program, which had started as a small 6 hour course and is today an expansive curriculum that will be taught on a weekly basis at Endangered MMA in Edinburgh.

If you're on Instagram, follow Grappling on Duty. You will see me there ;)

More updates soon! Stay safe and be well!

01/07/2020

Hello friends, instructors and practitioners.
The past month has made clear just how fragile our social order is in times of crisis. Personal protection, law enforcement training and procedures, civilian preparedness and resilience in emergency situations - they are all woven together in the fabric of our society.

It seems that the value of effective control and restraint training has never been more prominent than it is now. Though protocol and procedure do not exist apart from personal values and morals (my opinion is that Police brutality is a moral failure more than it is a training gap), we are now witnessing first hand how far reaching the implications of killing some one you only meant to arrest can be. Even if the underlying issues that fuel the violent public response are pre-existing - the breaking point in the face of systemic racism in the US would have come sooner or later, if not in response to George Floyd then to something else - None of those who serve the law would want to be the ones who light the fuse.

And as one component fails, others must compensate or risk further disaster. When the Police are no longer able to avail, civilians must take care of themselves and the more training they have, the better (case in point - the personal safety of untrained civilians in an autonomous zone like the one in Seattle is as low as Sweden's designated No Go zones at the height of the 2015 refugee crisis, while even minimally trained civilians who are able to come together to protect their communities are faring much better).

The fact that our social order is now directly affecting our chances of weathering a global pandemic is merely a bonus.

Like everyone else my own business has also suffered a critical hit from the lockdown. Though restrictions are gradually being lifted it will be a while yet until full contact training can safely resume. I've chosen not to join the rush into the online training realm at the beginning of the lockdown, but it is something I intend to do when circumstances allow.
In the meantime I have also chosen to leave London and move north, to Edinburgh. My focus moving forward will be on the finalisation and launch of the ambitious Combat Instructors Program at GDI Academy, which has been sidelined for the past 2 years.
Though ACT will cease operating as a company, Eldor Arbel will not and you can expect this page to remain active when the lockdown is fully lifted. However if you wish to contact me, be advised that the company email is no longer online and it would be best to simply PM the page.

Until next time, I hope you all stay safe and make the best of the opportunities you have.

10/04/2020

2 years ago?? Time flies 😁

09/04/2020

A while ago I've dedicated many posts to the subject of stress and pressure in training. It's hard to say what went wrong in this particular case because the person doesn't specify which drills they were practicing, but safe to say that in this instance the lesson plan did not achieve the desired outcome.
What would you say to this person?

22/03/2020

The horrors of violence don't stop, even if other things occupy the headlines. In fact in times of national distress, they increase.
In this case the attacker defies many common profiles that you are often warned to watch out for, acting seemingly with no reason except the one she has conjured in her own deranged mind.

There are no red lines a murderer wouldn't cross, so don't impose red lines on your own training to respond.

Police say the girl died despite the "best efforts of her family and medical responders" to save her.