Lets put the non-lethal fantasy to rest. 1. Never trust your assailant. No matter what they say, no matter how believable they may sound. If they need a ride some place or need you to go into a hallway or a room. No matter what- dont move. The real reason your assailant wants you to move is because he cant do what he needs to do in your present location. Since he cant do what he wants to you in your current location he needs to move you. A more recent example is the BTK killer Dennis Rader, the serial killer who terrorized Wichita for 31 years, naming himself BTK for "bind, torture, kill". Rader would convince his victims that he was only going to rob them and steal their car, but he needed to tie them up so they wouldnt call the police right away. Once the victim was tied up, he was able to do as he wished. 2. Your assailant will have a distinct advantage. You will most like be alone and out numbered. Your assailant already has a plan. So you better have one too. They pick the time and place. Whether its a weapon, accomplices or sheer size; youre picked as a likely target because your attacker feels he has a great chance of imposing his will on you. Youre not to blame: youre just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thats it. 3. Simply running away solves a lot of problems. FBI studies show that would be victims who simply ran from a potentially violent encounter survived; even when the assailant used a fire arm. Rarely were the victims even fired upon. An in the small percentage of victims that were hit, all of the wounds were superficial. Have an evacuation plan. 4. Empty hand combat is the lowest rung of personal protection. The idea of dispatching all comers with a flick of a finger is a romantic fantasy. People that know better, prepare. Even if you look at how jujutsu practitioners of the 1800s armed themselves. In Serge Mols book Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryu Jujutsu you will see that these men carried a variety of knives, horse stirrups (used as brass knuckles) medal fans (see black jack), spiked rings and throwing shuriken or spikes. Even these men knew that hand to hand is and always will be a last resort or the situation was not life threatening. So you should take advantage of personal protection devices that will allow you to escape and survive a situation. It should be noted that the less lethal your intentions the greater the risk of your failure. Pepper foam, personal alarms, edged weapons are the next step up from empty hand methods. As Yonezuka sensei says If youre really serious about self defense, buy a gun. 5. The myth that weapons can be taken away and used against you. A lot of so called experts subscribe to this myth. The idea of opting not to use a weapon and going to hand to hand technique is insane. People who promote this type of behavior should stick to movie choreography and romance novels. The use of a knife is the prime target of this comment. I suppose if you were to spar with the knife or even threaten with the knife (See West side Story, the Musical) maybe it could be used against you. But if you are angry, and down right pissed off, you grip that thing like you were strangling it to death and proceed to plunge it into your target over and over again. I dont think theres a Grand Master out there that will take it away from you. And in a grappling situation, as we say in jersey, Fageddaboudit, a knife is your best buddy. By the time the skel realizes hes being carved up like sushi, its too late. 6. You will be in the fight of your life. It will not be clean, look pretty, poetic or feel good. You will have to scrape, bite, gouge, kick and claw your way to safety. You will be injured. And you will be exhausted. Keep in mind, an adrenalin burst lasts about 30 seconds and then you need about 3 minutes to recharge. So make that 30 seconds count. Check out Lt. Col. Dave Grossmans On Combat. 7. Specific Defenses dont work. The idea that you will be able to recall a specific response to each individual situation is not going to happen. The idea that if he does this, I do that or when he grabs my wrist I do one thing, when he grabs my arm, I do another is another fantasy propagated by my fellow martial artists. You will be lucky to recall only a handful of behaviors at best, so you better make them count. And when youre stressed you never really know what will come out so you better make sure its the most effective ones. Any technique must be applicable to a wide variety of situations and positions and require a minimum amount of skill and effort. The best advice anyone can give you is to fight like hell. And just try to destroy whats in front of you by any means necessary. 8. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Last night I was discussing the merits of pepper spray with one of the guys I train with who is a Port Authority police officer. He was recalling times were he sprayed targets and the pepper spray had little or no effect. The common misconception about pepper spray is that it will end the assault. As you may or may not know, a lot of emotionally disturbed persons (EDP) will just walk off the pepper spray. Most times, it only serves to enrage them further. Now what? Should you throw out your pepper spray? Of course not! Dont expect the pepper spray to end the fight. DO expect the pepper spray to afford you an opening to inflict greater damage or escape. Even if the spray simply causes your target to blink, its done its job. All it has to do is create an opening, a little hesitation in your assailants plan of attack; just enough to let you seize the opportunity, gain the advantage or escape. When you train in close quarters combat/ self defense, always train with multiple, lethal strikes and have a variety of weapons in your arsenal. The same goes for empty hand technique. Dont depend on every technique you throw to hit its intended target or end the fight. You will miss a lot more than you hit. Thats why you train with OVER KILL. You should go about two or three steps past what you would normally perceive as the end of the fight. Remember, its better to be pleasantly surprised that gravely disappointed. Realistically, hand to hand or empty hand techniques are best served when working in conjunction with weapons. The strike, kick or hold will allow you an opening to secure or use a weapon to end the fight as quickly as possible against any assailant. PS. Check out these books as well: Strong on Defense by Sanford Strong The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker Tough Target by J.J. Bittenbinder On Combat by Lt.Col. David Grossman 2003 www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com |
