WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Krav Maga teaches fighters to anticipate and neutralize threats, and the Rams' defensive line has spent the offseason doing just that.

With sore palms and worn out arms, Kobie Turner couldn't stop envisioning the Rams' joint practice with the Cowboys on Aug. 5. Krav Maga expert Al "Poodie" Carson was about to lead his sixth training session in three days with Rams defensive linemen, but their minds were already on the upcoming battle.

One of Dallas' offensive linemen would leave his arm on Turner for a split-second too long, and Turner could see himself breaking it with a hammer fist in his mind's eye. Braden Fiske then said he'd been thinking "the exact same thing." Naturally, partaking in this unique training as a unit means they are often on the same page.

"Say I got a game lined up with Fiske and I have to use something to clear my hands, I might use one of the little moves that we do out here," Turner told theRams.com. "... So in my head, I might sell it and then when I'm getting off of (the block) it's always the perfect timing, because you've repped that and you know how it's going to come loose."

During the week before training camp, Turner brought Carson out to train with the Rams' defensive line for the second-straight year. Aaron Donald's former trainer teaches techniques derived from the Israeli street fighting martial art, giving the Rams tools that no other group in the NFL has. TheRams.com got exclusive access to one of those workouts with Fiske, Turner and Tyler Davis last Wednesday.

Other Rams defensive linemen worked with Carson throughout the week as well.

"It started with Aaron Donald and the Rams. There's no other NFL team that has this with this many people," Carson said. "That's what we do because of his legacy, and these guys are picking up that torch. And I'm telling you right now, these guys, they have something here. And the biggest thing is, they're hungry for it, so they're out here.

"They got camp next week. They should be home relaxing and enjoying their family because they're going to be away from them starting next week. But they're here to get better."

There are three ways offensive linemen can block, Carson explained: High, middle and low. And within those, there are wide and narrow punches. The workout started with players in a fighting stance, countering each type of strike, or a combination, before engaging the blocker. They did the same thing with their hand starting in the turf and then strung movements together to "counter the (blocker's) counter," Carson said.

Using active hands with purposeful placement is paramount for executing moves in tandem. After negating the initial attack, it's time to work toward the quarterback, whether it's a straight-up bull rush or a targeted assault to one side.

There were swipes, shrugs, spins, swims, lifts, pulls, jabs, rips, countless different techniques that could be conjoined to beat an adversary. Every action is derived from Krav Maga and requires full extension to impact (hence the sore palms), as that's how a punch is thrown.

"I give them the toolbox and they pick what they want (based on the situation)," Carson said.

A high block mimics a punch to the face, a middle block is like a grab or hit to the chest and a low block equates to a body shot or takedown. On the other side, a swipe imitates knocking away a knife strike or punch and a spin move mirrors an elbow to the head.

But unlike a street fight, the person in front of them isn't the one they need to take down, the quarterback is. Thus, the most efficient way to do that is to drive the lineman into the quarterback's lap, Carson said, although that's one of countless avenues one can take to achieve their goal.

Now that the Rams' front has a full season of practice and game reps with these maneuvers under their belts, they feel more confident in choosing and executing certain tactics.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe the move until you actually see it done, and then sometimes even harder to believe it until you do it yourself," Fiske said. "It got to the point in (last) season where in practice (I'd say), 'Oh yeah let me just try a swipe out, let me just try a certain thing, let me try to pull through just to get the feel.'

"I felt so much better doing the stuff with Poodie this year than I did last year, just more confident, more fluid with it, more everything. Now going into camp… I feel unstoppable when I do these things."

During the second half of Wednesday's session, Carson had the players tell him what combinations they wanted to work and which blocking tactics they would prevail against because "if you can teach it, you really know it." Even when the challenger knows what to expect, the ferocity of a strike can be enough to win the rep, but that only comes with time and prowess.

A violent swipe followed by a strong arm to the left side by Fiske planted Turner on his back, but he got up laughing and applauding. That supportive tone was consistent throughout the workout, but if anyone did something wrong, Carson or a teammate would let them know it and have them repeat the rep.

"Being on the same page is obviously the most important week in a week out," Fiske said, "and I think these moves, us knowing them, we're able to critique each other in game and in practice… like 'Hey your stab wasn't where it needed to be, I think you got a little bit more on your stab.' You can take the moves out of the equation, if we're not rushing together, if we're not rushing as one, then nothing else matters."

The plan they employ often depends on the tendencies of the blocker in front of them. Carson said that Fiske, Turner and Davis could "tell you every offensive lineman they went against and how they play them, that's how much students of the game they are."

In a typical in-season practice week, the defensive line room does their own film study on opposing linemen before coming together to collaborate on Wednesdays. Once game day rolls around, they know what their opponents like to do on first-down passes versus third-down runs, and everything in between.

The preparation doesn't stop at the set up or the first strike, they study the intricacies of recoveries and counters. And if an offensive lineman goes down during a game, Turner said he immediately approaches defensive line coach Giff Smith on the sideline to get a scouting report on the replacement.

So for fans, blocking triggers might seem too quick to react to in the moment, but meticulous preparation slows it down for the pros, Davis said. They even prepare for future matchups they have circled during the offseason. Last year, it was former Lions center Frank Ragnow.

"I had a perfect plan for Frank Ragnow," Turner said. "If I ever was lined up at the nose, I had the perfect idea of 'this is how I'm going to work it.' And I'd been practicing that the entire offseason."

Sure enough, to end the first half of the Rams and Lions' Week 1 matchup, Turner beat Ragnow and enabled Jared Verse to collect his first career sack. Turner started left, then exploded right, chopping down on Ragnow's left arm and swiping left on his right arm. That created leverage and drew a double-team from the guard, giving Verse a one-on-one matchup, which he won decisively.

This offseason, they prepared for Eagles guard Landon Dickerson, a matchup they are anxiously anticipating after losing to Philadelphia twice last year, just as they did to Detroit in 2023. So, when the Rams take on the Eagles in Week 3, they will be ready for Dickerson.

"As you add different alignments to your list, different guys that you played against, you now have that memory of 'This is how they set and this is exactly what tool I'm going to use to beat them,'" Turner explained.

But if plans A through C fail, Fiske said they can always resort to "the Jared Verse playbook: Run through a (expletive)'s face."

When the whole line is in sync, playing to their strengths and anticipating not only their competition but their teammates, Turner described it as "a flow state with violence."

"Out here, we see how everybody moves, you kind of get the timing of everybody doing their moves," Davis said. "Everybody's got a go-to move, too, so just getting all the timing and seeing how we rush together, it's going to work (on Sundays)."

The plan on every snap is tailored to a down, distance and opponent. It's precise, just like the martial arts they've studied, but each strike must be unwavering so the timing lines up for the entire front.

"We don't want pretty, we want violence," Carson said.