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DMS - Dos Manos System

W. Hock Hochheim

    The Dos Manos System (DMS) is a specialized training program on the use of any kind of two-handed stick, or other two-handed weapon such as a rifle of shotgun.  Striking, locking, disarming, weapon retention, and groundfighting are covered through progressive drills and combat scenarios.  Like all of the Scientific Fighting Congress courses, DMS uses a small body of material but trains to apply it against a large number of attacks.

    The techniques that make up DMS come from a variety of sources, both Eastern and Western.  These sources include: military bayonet and stick fighting (Styers, Applegate, Fairbain), Japanese Jo and Bo staff, Filipino martial arts, and police methods.  The name DMS comes from the Filipino arts and means literally "Two Hands."

    Tape one starts with the basic striking and blocking sets that will be referred to in the following volumes.  The workhorse here is the 15 Angles of Attack drill, followed up by the simpler Four Corner blocking method.  These are done solo to build muscle memory and then with a partner to develop timing and range.  The inclusion of kicking and using the DMS blocks to defend against strikes from a single-handed weapon are also shown in several drills.  The same drills are shown using both sticks and rifles to show the connections and variations, allowing for extended magazines, possible bayonet, etc.

    In tape two, the focus is on a series of 12 combat scenarios using the DMS concept as well as the Pushing, Pulling, and Turning series of releases.  As well as straight Dos Manos applications, these also feature some combat scenarios which combine unarmed vs. stick and going from using the stick in a single-handed method to using it Dos Manos style.  Those of you with a background in the Presas family Arnis will recognize some of the characteristic locks using the stick.

     Tape three is of a live DMS seminar, unlike the first two tapes which were produced in a studio setting.  Here Hock takes all the drills he has shown before and takes them into a groundfighting mode.  Learning how to convert techniques you already know from stand-up fighting for use on the ground is the idea here.  Drills for fighting against a downed opponent, another man on the ground with you, and a standing opponent are covered.  Leg takedowns are shown, along with a Silat ground mobility drill that will make them quite instinctive.  Between each instructional segment we see footage of the class practicing the drill just shown, with an 80's speed metal "screaming guitar" soundtrack.