Alan Peasland Masterclass 27th February 2008

By Tony Terranova

Every now and then we come across individuals in the martial arts community that make us stop and look at things from a different perspective. That's what happened to me on February the 27th 2008, when we invited Alan Peasland to do a self protection masterclass at Fighting Fit Martial Arts (FFMA).

Alan was assisted by experienced martial artists Mick Tully and Louis Thompson (Geoff Thompson’s son). Alan and Mick have trained together for many years and provided a steady stream of humorous banter throughout the session. Louis is still a young man but a very capable martial artist; he graciously spent time working with all our students.

For those interested in no-nonsense, practical self protection you will find Alan’s approach unique, as his emphasis is not so much on technique but in understanding the underlying principles of confrontation in a generic sense. It became evident very early on in the session that Alan was looking at confrontation and how to handle the emotions associated with it to encompass both physical and psychological threats.

He is able to call on his experience in the corporate world; martial arts arena and security work to present real life scenarios and how best to handle them. The session focused on the concept of ‘The Fence’ (Geoff Thompson branded the fence in the early 1990s). I started my training with Geoff in the early 1980’s and am subsequently familiar with the fence. However Alan’s positioning in terms of how he presents his principles made me take another look at this well established concept.

The following are only a few of the interesting views that Alan touched on in the masterclass that serve to illustrate his own ‘Brand’ of the fence:

1. It is well established that the underlying principle of the fence is to control your personal space; Alan said this can be achieved either by using your hands to create distance or by visual monitoring and foot movement or both. His underlying recipe on the fence is that it must be subtle and unique to an individual. Therefore we need to drill it in a way that fits our own specific body mechanics and psychology, as we all differ in how we move and handle stress.
   
   
2. Alan’s discussion on the subject of space between you and the assailant centred on the importance of visually being able to subtly calibrate: (i) the distance for the assailant to pre-empt an attack and (ii) the distance you need to pre-empt an attack. Unless you are both the same height and have the same reach, this distance will be different. Calibration is a good descriptive term, as in engineering it is used to make sure things work as they were designed to.
   
   
3. The continual calibration of this space by visual means forms a comfort barrier between you and the attacker that will allow you valuable time to asses whether or not someone is a physical threat and for you to control your adrenalin. Alan emphasised that not only do you focus on your attacker but you work on yourself from the inside out by using deep breathing to stay calm and alert.
   
   
4. Correct distance is the benchmark of a good fence and understanding the various threats at set distances is important. Punching, kicking and clinch/grappling distances differ greatly. He talked about the Tueller drill as a prime example of understanding distance and the dangers associated with not having this knowledge in a street confrontation. Alan said "a gun does not always beat a knife" and then went on to explain the ‘Tueller gun drill’ below.

A common test of handgun skill was to start with your hands at shoulder level with a holstered gun and place two shots on a target 21 feet away in 1.5 seconds. Those trained completed the drill in 1.3 to 1.4 seconds (some even less). Sergeant Tueller wondered how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover 21 feet. So he measured as volunteers raced to stab a target and found it could be done in 1.5 seconds.

This left the defender (with a gun) in a dilemma; shoot too early and risk being charged with murder; wait until the attacker is within striking range so there is no question about motive and risk injury (even death). The Tueller experiments quantified a "danger zone" where an attacker presented a clear threat. The Tueller Drill combined both parts of the original experiments by Sgt. Tueller. They were conducted in several ways with different levels of stress, distance and position.

Alan used the Tueller experiments as a parallel for drilling the fence with different partners to help students grasp what is a simple and universal concept. He closed the session on the fence advising that we move away from a martial arts technique-led mindset and focus on the actual method itself, ‘that is the fence - the safe distance’. He empathized that the Fence is not a static guard position that it is fluid and ever changing based on our continual calibration of safe distance and the actual threat.

Alan then took the time to discuss martial arts in general and stressed the importance of training for ones well-being and longevity. He touched on the importance of "soft skills" and the benefits they can give us in terms of good health and self protection. A nice touch was when he said "sometimes we should just train because its fun and we should not take ourselves too seriously" (I loved that statement).

After the session Alan came back to my place and we talked and drank tea until the early hours of the morning. It was an interesting discussion. Here is a young man who is coming back into mainstream martial arts (after a short break), who recognises the value of a market positioning strategy before embarking on a new martial arts career in a mature market place. Simply put, positioning is how your target market defines you in relation to your competitors.

Good positioning is being aware of what makes you unique and that this uniqueness is a benefit to your target market. I could see from Alan’s masterclass format that he presented unique benefits in the way he taught to ensure he got our attention. He also took the time to get to know our students enabling him to understand what they wanted to gain from his masterclass and giving them what they wanted.

We take this opportunity to express FFMA’s thanks to Alan, Mick and Louis for agreeing to provide a masterclass and look forward to their future sessions at our club.

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