Two Man Progressions

As any Broad Ripple Martial Arts student 4th kyu and higher knows, we practice a drill called 'Two Man' as part of our curriculum.  I don't know why we don't use the plural (i.e. 'Two Men') but we never do. Also, we usually pronounce those capital letters because it's a great drill: exciting, difficult, and makes for pretty good entertainment at promotion time when students move from purple to brown belt.

And as those of us holding dan rankings know, it's just the start.  The curriculum also contains 'Two Man with club,' 'Two Man with knife,' and 'Three Man.' 

But there's a pretty large amount of space between Two Man and Two Man with a weapon, and this post is about some options in that space.  And by options, I mean ways to have a good time while practicing karate.
Here's Two Man in a nutshell:

Two attackers face a defender.  The defender's goal is to always keep one of the attackers between himself and the second attacker.  We say that the 'theory of Two Man' is to 'form a line' and that we form a line 'by cutting an angle'; we also say 'Stay Out of the Middle!'  All this means that when either attacker twitches, the defender takes a deep step towards that attacker, angling so that the defender just brushes the attacker's outside shoulder (meaning the shoulder furthest from the second attacker).  The defender strives to step and launch a strong attack at the same time, and the generally attempts to move so that only one attacker can reach the defender at a time while continuously delivering effective strikes until the attackers are unable or unwilling to continue.  For the purposes of the basic drill, the strikes are non-contact and the attackers attempt to react realistically to strikes.

Re-reading that, I can tell it's a description that won't make any sense to someone that hasn't seen the exercise.  But until we can get a video up of it, that's about the best I can do.  In all honesty, if you haven't practiced this drill already, you're not really in the intended audience for this post.

As with any drill, there are several limitations imposed during Two Man both to ensure safety and to keep the drill focused on what is meant to be practiced.  Often these restrictions are assumed -- for example there isn't much benefit to having an attacker run away in the beginning of a Two Man drill because then it becomes another drill entirely.

Once a drill is understood and a reasonable amount of proficiency in it is established, removing some of those limitations is an excellent way to make the drill progressively more difficult.

Here are some of the progressions of Two Man I've enjoyed.  N.B.:The safety of these drills is entirely dependent on the control of the participants.  I always practiced these drills starting off slowly and gradually increasing the pace and intensity.  After you've warmed up and built some confidence in all participants' control is when it's safest to push the intensity envelope.  Long term you will learn more by playing safely than by playing fast and hard because you will have fewer injuries.

1) Two Man with light contact: I prefer headgear with a face shield and boxing gloves.  For safety I never allowed any grappling or low line (below the groin) attacks with this option. With boxing gloves it is very easy to hit hard enough to hurt, so go easy.
2) Two Man with grabby attackers: The attackers try to hold onto the limbs or body of the defender.  This impairs the defender's mobility and can be progressed up to allow take down attempts.
3) Two Man with kicking shields: This variation teaches you when you can generate powerful techniques and when you can't. It's far from perfect, as the defender can only hit the shield and the shield is only on the front of the attackers, but it's very interesting to see how the drill changes when the defender can really drive through the attackers.
4) Two Man with body manipulation: The defender tries to control one of the opponents via clinching, spinning, and joint locks (carefully!), while still striking to end the drill.
5) Two Man with rapid changes of roles: This gets confusing quickly, and so is best done no-contact.  Essentially a fourth person yells 'rotate' and one attacker becomes the defender.  This variation is excellent for foot work.
6) Two Man with sparring rules: My personal favorite, although it is probably least helpful in developing self defense skills.  Put on your pads, use only the targets and strikes allowed in tournament sparring, and have fun. Don't stop for every point, but have the defender try to keep forming a line while scoring on the attackers for an entire 3 minute round.

Several of these occur naturally during class, but some of them you'll have to create the opportunity to practice.  If you already can make your way through the basic drill, give these variations a try and let me know how it goes.

And, one more time, be safe! Start slow, ramp up the intensity, and have fun.