Opening Heads - Using the Heretic (online class)

[45Smashemflat]

Good deal, let me know and I’ll certainly pay to watch it!!

[Brent Yamamoto]

I believe sharing the recorded video should not be an issue. I'll take enrollments up to an hour prior to class, after that I'll just be sending the link to the recorded video. If for some reason the recording doesn't work, I'll refund the $.

[Air Pirate]

Thanks for another excellent class, Brent!

A little AAR for those who missed out...
While just over an hour, Brent did a great job of comprehensively covering the Heretic’s design/purpose, deployment, and techniques. Some of the points have been touched on both here and in various SI classes, but it was a great opportunity to really focus on the tool, practice slashes, hammer thrusts, and jab/stabs, and get that feedback that you just can’t get trying things on your own.
While not incredibly difficult or mind-blowing, especially for anyone here in the Tribe, it was challenging and I think we all had lightbulb moments. My two big take-aways where the saber grip which I hadn’t really even considered before (and thanks to CaptShack for bringing up the idea of pinky draw), and support hand deployment used in conjunction with pistol ground fighting. I and a few others carry it as a primary weapon in NPE’s so switching hands (yes, I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t really tried the Heretic as much with my left hand as much as pistol) felt awkward, but gave me a whole new perspective. But just as with pistol kata, after starting slow & methodical and picking up the pace, the techniques became smooth and almost second nature. ...then Brent added footwork and it was back to square one. I’m sure my downstairs neighbors are wondering what was going on up here, but hey it’s Saturday night right?
Seriously though, Brent packed a lot into the hour and made it feel complete, but knowing him it would be a great half-day or more class. Maybe like the hand to hand clinic he and Greg did years ago. Maybe tack it on a night before a regular class in the future? Everybody else had some great questions and input as well! One thing that was brought up at the very end was difficulty for some to pocket carry it while jogging/etc. Brent made a great point of just carrying it in the fist. I just wanted to add that for a while I hadn’t thought outside the pocket-carry box at first either. At some point it dawned on me though in the past to just fill in that empty appendix spot on the waistband of my shorts. My hand is already used to drawing from that spot, so in an NPE or sporting environment why not just replace one tool with another? For the record I hate running, but for swimming/surfing that’s been a solid solution.
Thanks again, Brent, for giving up your Saturday night and putting this together, and making us work and think!

[Popshot]

Brent's class on the Heretic last night was well worth my time. While it was a remote video class, it was interactive, and it was clear that all classmates were participating in all of the drills that Brent explained and demonstrated. I knew the purpose of the Heretic, but this class showed me that I had not been utilizing this tool to it's full potential.

[erickson]

Thanks for a great class last night, Brent! The Heretic is an awesome tool, and the class unlocked a lot of potential applications of it that I hadn't previously considered. And, you made it very easy to learn. I feel much more capable now carrying it with me.

[valian]

Brent made the comment near the beginning of the class that despite all his training, at his age, he would rather not have to punch someone. I echo those sentiments at 64 years of age despite 42 years of shotokan karate and some training in some various other, martial arts I feel much the same way. Learning to use everyday tools like the Heritic as impact weapons if necessary gives a degree of protection to your own body while potentially increasing pain or damage to your opponent and also potentially increasing the modes of creating damage to an adversary.
Brent did a great job of providing information on the use, why/when to use and how to use it to get to other weapons under various situations, and though a virtual class we were able to practice and get a good feel for what to work on to really utilize and get the potential possible from this everyday tool for use in emergency situations.

Those of us who have extensively trained with SI easily recognize the congruity of Brent's training with the heretic with the rest of SI training and it's easy to slip this into the overall plan for our fighting abilities.

I have traveled a lot in countries where even a knife is not allowed. In those places one of the safest source of fluids is found in the always present bottled sodas that are still bottled in glass with old style caps. The heretic is a ready tool for those and other tasks and with some practice could also help in a jam of other sorts. Get one. you won't regret it.
Enjoyed the training capsule Brent, even got a pretty fair workout indoors on a rainy evening here. Thanks. Keep up the good work.

[CaptShack]

Air Pirate did an excellent AAR and I will echo all the great descriptions of Brent's class. It was thorough and thought provoking. I have been carrying a Heretic for quite awhile, but came to the class with a very open mind. I carry it support side and pointy finger in the ring grip. Brent opened my eyes to the pinkie ring grip and its uses and advantages. He also discussed not putting your entire finger in the ring and the serious downsides to that. As was discussed by the students, it can be a primary tool for a more NPE environment worldwide.

Excellent class for an excellent tool!

[Jonathon_Spaf]

Excellent class!

As always, Brent packed a lot of good, thought-provoking material into a short span of time. In all we discussed and trained the theory behind the design, grips, carry methods, draw methods, angles of attack, methodology for inflicting damage (slashing, thrusting, pain/compliance techniques), combinations, use with pistol, seated work and ground work.

Some key take-aways for me: With a martial arts background, I found the weapon very intuitive, but it helped to have a framework to wrap around my practice sessions. Also, I found drawing to be a weak link in the chain, especially since this tool tends to float around in/on the pocket. Practicing draws is not very sexy, but a tool is useless if you can't access it when you need it from any position. Brent highlighted some things I had not thought of such as modifying technique to work with body mechanics and angle of attack as well as reasons not to engage the entire finger through the ring when gripping. The best part is that 90% of what we studied can be carried over to a knife, a pair of scissors, a screwdriver, a sharpie, a loaded mag or any other similarly-sized sharp object or impact weapon.

This type of training worked surprisingly well in the virtual format. Most of what we were doing would have been practiced in the air anyway, so I didn't feel we lost much not having this in-person. As always, Brent impressed me with his skills not only in his craft, but as a teacher. Being in a virtual format, Brent moved the camera often as he transitioned from standing up to sitting down to lying down as well as to give us nuanced perspectives on the draw and different heretic/pistol combinations.

As a side note, Brent had nine pages of notes going into this class, so it was not just an off the cuff training session; it was a well thought out class and that really showed! Thank you once again, Brent, for putting the time and work into creating this class and sharing with us your skill and experience.

[Brent Yamamoto]

Thank you guys for all the kind comments. I appreciate it! Teaching this stuff to people who appreciate the material is really rewarding and makes it all worth it.

Now for the bad news...the intent was to record the Zoom session and then send to everyone. But that requires the instructor not to f*** up the Zoom settings. So...the recording didn’t happen.

But for the good news... I am filming the whole damn thing again. I will edit and send to those who paid for the class, and can send to others who didn’t attend the first time around. I filmed about half the material today, I should be able to film the rest tomorrow. It will be broken up into sections so you can review just the parts you need. This will be a private link on YouTube. Stay tuned.

[CZ Man]

Where can a guy get a Heretic these days? I'm not seeing it on the Suarez website.