Scott Sonnon – Leg Fencing 1-3 DVD

Scott Sonnon – Leg Fencing 1-3 DVD

Check it out: Scott Sonnon – Leg Fencing 1-3 DVD

I would get a drink and make yourself comfy if you are going top read this whole description, it’s the only review/details I could find

“When Scott Sonnon sent me a copy his three-tapeLeg Fencing™ set and asked that I do an honest review of it, I was a little intimidated. I’ll admit it: I tend towards a weakness that many in the martial arts have, and that is that I prefer striking with my hands to kicking with my feet. This is a natural bias in human beings, I think. We’re used to using our legs for little else than walking around, whereas we use our hands and arms for just about everything else.

Well, growth can be both painful and unsettling — but it is worth it. If you’re looking to increase your leg flexibility, power, control, and speed, the Leg Fencing series is one you should consider.

TAPE 1

The first tape in the series, T.O.P. Tool Development, focuses on drills that help you build the foundation for Leg Fencing. Scott makes the distinction several times between this and what he calls “foot fighting.” Fighting with the legs as Scott teaches it is a whole-body endeavor that uses your entire physical “architecture.”

Scott explains that the purpose of the tape’s exercises is to improve your T.O.P. — your Threshold of Performance. He refers once again to the definitions of “hard” work and “soft” work defined in his Flow Fighting video. “Hard” work is work that improves your threshold of pain, while “soft” work is work that improves your threshold of what Scott calls “fear reactivity.” Fear reactivity, he explains, expresses itself physically as tension. A relaxed fighter has better focus. “If you can’t stay relaxed in a force on force simulation,” Scott warns, “you won’t be able to stay relaxed in a fight.”

The sound quality of instructional videos is almost universally mediocre. This tape was not much different. I had to increase the volume with each new segment in order to hear Scott, as the recording levels seemed to decrease each time. Apart from that the track was audible and I had no trouble understanding what was being said.

Video quality is okay too, though the cloth backdrop used is lighted with different colored lights in a manner I found distracting and a little dim. I did not notice as many intermittent recording lines as I did in the Flow Fighting tape. Camera angles change as needed without becoming spastic or unsettling, with frequent close-ups on Scott’s feet and legs to illustrate techniques.

The first solo exercise on the tape is a four-corner balance drill. Scott mentions the “visual search engine” and tells the viewer to imagine that an invisible tether connects his or her eyes to a spot on the floor. Looking around a lot will disrupt one’s balance, he explains — and proceeds to run through a series of movements while standing on one leg and moving or extending the other.

I was absolutely amazed at Scott’s balance and control. He moves as if his body is on pulleys — though at the completion of the exercise he admits that it isn’t as easy as he makes it look. “You should feel an enormity of pain in your planted leg,” he says, smiling. “It should feel like your foot’s on fire.”

Solo Exercise 2 is called “Leg Infinities.” It is intended to build foot strength (though it will also enhance knee strength). “If you want to excel at Leg Fencing,” Scott explains, “it has to come from the foundation first.” Once again balancing on his planted leg, he moves his mobile leg in a series of figure-eight patterns. “If there are bumps in the movement,” he continues, seemingly taking no notice of the exertion, “that’s where you have a limitation. That limitation is fear reactivity in your tissues.” That fear reactivity, as previously mentioned, is expressed as tension, which causes the limitation.

If you can do only one of the exercises on this tape, Scott recommends Solo Exercise 3, the “Rock-up Deck Squat with a Kick.” That’s kind of a tongue twister, and I gather from the impish way Scott repeats it that he knows it is. The exercise is designed to improve your leg strength and flexibility while improving your ability to coordinate your respiration with the motions.

The rock-up deck squat with a kick is not a Hindu Squat or a bar squat, but something better seen than described here. Scott talks the viewer through the exercise — but not before stating, “You will do them with me.” Between the carrot and the stick, Scott explains, he prefers the stick. I don’t imagine many of the athletes with whom he works would want to argue with his training suggestions, either. He has a way of being both incredibly friendly and undeniably motivating all at the same time.

Making the transition from tool development to tool application, Scott demonstrates two shock absorption exercises. Shock Absorption 1, the “Battering Ram,” is “hard” work rather than “soft” work. Raising his leg, Scott pulls his knee ba