Checking Zones is an effective way to increase your odds of winning a fight
Checking is an essential part of martial arts. To check one of an opponent’s zones is to stop an opponent before he has a chance to act. A check can limit an opponents arsenal, actions he knows how to use, or it can effectively stop him from being able to do anything at all. Checking breaks down into four categories, checking the (opponents) height zone, checking the width zone, and checking the depth zone each category is useful in many circumstances.
Checking the height zone is the most used of all checking. Grandmaster Ed Parker described the height zone being split into three sub-zones. The three sub-zones break down as follows, 1st sub-zone, from the head to the solar plexus, 2nd sub-zone, from the solar plexus to the groin, and the 3rd sub-zone, from the groin to the foot. Checking the height zone changes the opponent’s height and throws off any movements reliant on their height. For example, in the technique Crossing Talon, off a right hand wrist grab from the front, the defender pulls the attacker over and checks their opponent’s height zone, more specifically the 1st and 2nd sub-zones. The 1st sub-zone is checked because the attackers body is bent over causing him o be unable to coordinate his upper body. The 2nd sub-zone is checked because the 1st sub-zone is blocking it. The 3rd sub-zone is also affected because it must compromise for the other two sub-zones, and so is also compromised. Another major affect of this technique is that this technique increases the amount of obscure zones for your opponent. Obscure zones are zones on your body that your opponent cannot see directly, so having your opponents head facing towards the ground you increase these zones and increase your safety. The simple checking of the fist height sub-zone has incapacitated your opponent beyond a simple block. The checking of a single zone can mean the difference between victory and defeat in a self-defense situation. Checking the height zone can make an opponent confused and unable to function in the fight effectively, and stopping your opponent before they can attempt their counter-strike is a sure way to win your fight.
The width zone is described by grandmaster Ed Parker as being split into 4 sub-zones. 1st, the left arm, 2nd the left side of the body, 3rd, the right side of the body and 4th, the right arm. The line down the center of your body, in between the 2nd and 3rd width sub-zones, is your center. This is where all of your attack stem. If an opponent is attacking you the checking of one or all of these sub-zones will increase your odds of incapacitating the opponent. For example, the technique, Oriental Lever, the opponent throws a right roundhouse punch. The defender catches the opponent’s right arm and effectively checks the 4th width sub-zone. This sub-zone is checked because the opponent does not have control of it. The checking of this arm happens because the defender grabs the opponents arm and stops it from being used by the opponent. The checking of the width zone is also very effective when applied to your opponent’s center line. The opponent’s center line is the most important part of their depth zone. Checking that can be a final move that results in victory. When checking the center line it is actually an attack. Attacking the opponent’s center line throws them off and can stop their breathing for long enough so you can finish the fight. In the technique, Double Mace, you push the attacker with a reinforced palm heel. This attack to the center line pushes them off balance so that you can finish them off with a chicken knee and another palm heel. The fact that the center line is attached centrally to the rest of the body makes it so it is an ideal area to hit to off set your opponent.
Checking the depth zone is literally controlling what your attacker’s body is doing in relation to you. The depth zone is split into seven sub-zones; each zone can change its size depending on the relation to the rest of the body. An effective checking of the depth zone will result in your attacker often being off-balance. One good example of checking the technique, Darting Mace, this technique is off an attacker using two hands to grab one of your wrists. The attacker starts of with small depth zones as he is standing parallel to you. In the fourth movement, a vertical punch attacking the solar plexus and center line, you force them to step back, changing their depth zones when they were not expecting it. This change in depth zone sets them up so that you can use a crashing palm heel and finish the technique, and hopefully the fight.
Checking these zones cannot of their nature be individual, what you do to one zone directly affects another. A chop to the neck will not only cause their head to move and their 1st height sub-zone to change, but also they will step back, changing their depth zone, and they will also move their arms, changing their width zone. The key to checking an opponent effectively is to use the connections between the zones to your advantage. A front heel kick to the stomach, although good at effectively lowering their height zone can also set up an opponents width zone to attempt a running tackle. But, if that front heel kick had been followed by a step to the opponent’s side and a chop to the back of the neck the tackle would have been neutralized before it could have began. A good martial artist does not trust his life to one extraordinary “Fatal Blow.” You must always plan ahead. A soldier does not only carry one gun into battle because this one gun is amazing, a soldier will carry a sidearm, grenades, knifes and such along with him because he wants to be prepared for any eventuality. Checking an opponent’s zones is like a soldier carrying extra weapons into battle because in both scenarios they are being prepared. A opponent cannot use a roundhouse kick effectively if you have forced him into a standing position where his feet are right next to each other and his head his bent down. Limiting your opponent’s arsenal through checking their zones is the main goal of checking an opponent.
Checking the zones on your opponent can lead to a quicker and safer path to victory in the fight. The opponent and you are using different weapons from your arsenal and if you can limit what weapons they are able to use then you can have a better chance of winning the fight and escaping unharmed from a self-defense scenario.
Bibliography
Parker, Ed. "Infinite Insights into Kenpo" (Books one through five)