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Friday, October 27, 2017

Inktober Day #27 - Fernan Vargas'/Raven Combatives' Fairbairn Vital Template


Misnamed this Inktober Day #28 LOL

4 more days in October, 4 more drawings for Inktober! I am glad you were along for the ride!

Today's topic is a variation of targeting that I have focused on for the past 2 days known as a Vital Template.

If you missed my previous Inktober pictures on targeting, please check out:


Good luck in your training!


From Way of the Raven:  Blade Combatives Vol. One (2014)
By Fernan Vargas, Master at Arms
Page 143




THE FAIRBAIRN TEMPLATE

W.E. Fairbairn was arguably the most influential man in the history of WWII era combatives. Fairbairn's system of knife work was extremely simple and effective for the context in which it developed. One of my favorite Gems of information from the WWII era can be found in Fairbairn's book "Get Tough". In "Get Tough" Fairbairn includes a very small section on the use of the Smatchet, a large combat knife with a leaf shaped widely used thoughout the British military at the time. In this section Fairbairn demonstrates four techniques in sequence. For our purposes we have adopted the sequence as a vital template, paying special attention to the targets demonstrated by Fairbairn. The Fairbairn Sequence is as follows:


  1. Thrust to the abdomen.
  2. Backhand slash to the carotid artery
  3. Forehand slash to the carotid artery
  4. Pommel smash downwards into the face


From Get Tough by William E. Fairbairn


Close-In Blows

  1. Drive well into the stomach (Fig. 116).
  2. "Sabre Cut" to right-low of neck (Fig. 117).
  3. Cut to left-low of neck (Fig. 118).
  4. Smash up with pommel, under chin (Fig. 119).
  5. Smash down with pommel into the face (Fig. 120).

Fernan Vargas' Fairbairn Vital Template is a little different than the sequence depicted in Get Tough which is very cool! An example of the classic Bruce Lee/Jeet Kune Do quote in action!

"Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own."

I'm guessing that the sequence flowed better by dropping one strike, the smash up with pommel under the chin. Play with it, make it your own! Only you know how your body moves and what flows well and what doesn't. My understanding of Vital Templates in general is to emphasize Flow like water looking for an empty space to fill. Flowing between the targets and if met with obstruction, flow to the next target in the template.

Just Flow!

Source pictures from Get Tough below found off the Internet.





And my edit of the Fairbairn Vital Template as one picture.

I took the liberty to make a picture of the Fairbairn Vital Template from source pictures from Get Tough.


As always, I hope this helps in your Training!



My drawings for Inktober 2017 - drawing at least 1 pic each day in October:


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