Groundwork In Real World Close Combat

THE idea that “all fights inevitably go to the ground” or/and that the competitive arena is where the litmus test of combatively worthy skills is administered are both equally fallacious. All fights do not inevitably go to the ground, and the competitive arena — regardless of how spirited and aggressive the particular form of competitive “fighting” may be — is completely unrelated to honest-to-goodness close-in hand-to-hand combat.

Still, it is true that one of three situations might arise in which COMBATIVE (not competitive) groundwork may be called for:

• You have downed your adversary

• Your adversary has downed you

• Both you and your adversary go to the ground together

This last, please note, occurs in actual combat almost entirely due to ERROR and miscalculation when — rarely — it occurs. That is, only a fool (assuming he is the attacker) will actually strive to take his opponent to the ground. A skilled combatant will endeavor to speedily down his enemy – not join him on concrete,  asphalt, or rock, twig, and broken glass strewn ground in order to struggle for a submission hold. Besides, a violent offender (or offenders) seeks to GET AWAY FAST after beating, robbing, raping, stabbing, shooting, or killing you in some other in-vogue manner. He is not trying to  ”win the match”. He is trying to cripple or to kill you and escape the consequences for having done so!

My Monograph on “The Myth of Groundgrappling” goes into great detail about the absurdity of regarding groundfighting as hand-to-hand combat and self-defense, and interested readers can obtain that Monograph on CD and study it if they are interested. For now, just understand this: When two combatants end up on the ground it is unintended (unless, STUPIDLY, one of the individuals is a groundgrappling aficionado and actually tries to bring his opponent to the ground with him — a ridculous and often fatal error in the real world). And, incidentally, one of the very dangerous things about training in the current fad style of “martial art” is that by so doing it is quite probable that your tactic will be to go to the ground with an adversary deliberately, when the wise and proven course is to drop him with effective blows.

If you ever find yourself on the ground with an adversary, then immediately:

SINK YOUR TEETH INTO THE CLOSEST BODY PART. BITE DOWN HARD, AND DO NOT LET GO. TRY TO BITE OFF A PIECE OF HIS BODY.

WHILE BITING, CLAW OR GOUGE AT HIS EYES, OR TRY TO SEIZE AND CRUSH OR TWIST HIS TESTICLES, OR TRY TO CLAW AND CRUSH HIS THROAT.

USE ANY OBJECT AT HAND TO ASSIST YOUR EFFORTS HERE, AND THEN . . .

Get the hell to your feet as soon as possible, and finish your adversary off with your feet!

Obviously, in a self-defense situation, if you are able to do so, get away as soon as your attacker has been neutralized. Put the boots to him only if escape is not possible, and if you honestly believe that your very life is in danger. If you are a soldier or marine then your life IS in danger (even if they didn’t emphasize that point during basic training), so finish the enemy before he has the chance to finish you.

Using your feet (and this includes knee drops to the face, to the sternum, kidneys, groin, spine, etc.) and also downward handaxe chops, heelpalm thrusts, and simply bashing the enemy’s head repeatedly into the ground, is the way to go when — in a life or death situation — you have brought your adversary to the ground. We LOVE Fairbairn’s “Bronco Kick”, but have taken Applegate’s caution about the possibility of the adversary rolling out of the way to heart, and so we teach it only after immobilizing the adversary with crippling preliminary blows so that he cannot roll out of the way. CLEARLY, THE BRONCO KICK IS FOR MILITARY COMBAT AND DESPERATE, LIFE-OR-DEATH SELF-DEFENSE SITUATIONS, ONLY.

Should you ever find yourself on the ground you will need to keep your feet toward your enemy, and lash out with repeated, rapid kicks. One of the best sources for learning how to handle this situation (aside from training in our System, where we teach it as part of our curriculum) is the excellent Manual Hand-to-Hand Combat (the V-5 Naval Aviation text, reprinted by Paladin Press and reviewed by us in our Book Review Section of this Site). The techniques are described and illustrated, and while there is great benefit to receiving personal instruction in this rather delicate aspect of close combat, the techniques described and illustrated there are battle proven and can be learned through careful study and application in practice. We incorporate all of them — and more — in American Combato, and while no emphasis whatever must be given to groundfighting in any real world program of close combat and self-defense training, the knowledge of what to do and how to do it IF it ever happens, is valuable and indispensable to a comprehensive course and study.

We remember a conversation that we had with Col. Applegate quite some years ago, regarding this very subject. “The grappling on the ground and throwing the guy so you can put a hold on him is bullshit!” the good Colonel said. “When Fairbairn and I were teaching the people during WWII all we told them about ground fighting was: ‘Don’t do it!’”

We’d respectfully suggest that those who are training for combat and defense consider the wisdom of Applegate’s — if not our — admonition.

There’s nothing wrong with competitive match fighting, and it is certainly true that in contests where and when the key techniques of hand-to-hand combat are banned by the rules, grappling tends to prevail. The reasons for this are outside the scope of this presentation; but we refer anyone who wants to delve more deeply into this matter to order our Monograph on CD about groundgrappling.

We do not say what we do in order to attack or to put down anyone’s preferred method of training, and we certainly respect the capabilities of those formidable men who distinguish themselves in the magnificent arts of judo and wrestling. More power to them!

We simply wish to clarify something that is of vital importance to anyone concerned, not about grappling and winning contests, but about defending himself against one or more dangerous, determined, violent physical attackers in actual close combat. STAY ON YOUR FEET. If you have been properly trained you will almost certainly be able to do this. But, for heaven’s sake if you cannot stay on your feet, resort to COMBAT TECHNIQUES and the vicious, war-proven, gutter skills, along with the fierce and animalistic mindset that genuinely works in real hand-to-hand combat.

—————-                     ——————                 —————–            ——————

How Quality Counterattacks Should Be Developed

IN the martial arts systems that are popularly taught, the term used for the type  of techniques that we are now discussing is “self-defense techniques”. Systems  such as  hapkido, kenpo-karate, ju-jutsu, kuk sool won, and aikijutsu, etc. offer as many as 3,000 to 4,000 specific and different such techniques within their curriculum. Suffice it to say that in our opinion this is ridiculous, and no one needs (or could possibly apply under combat conditions) anywhere near such an extensive, situationally-specific array of self-defense reactions to attack.

If techniques intended to serve an individual under extreme stress, and when he is so surprised that he was unable to preempt that which is coming at him that he had to react to it are to be practical, then they must be generally adaptable and to types of attacking predicaments (as the late Bruce Tegnér so brilliantly noted) and not so limited that every single individual technique is designed to handle a specific, individual attacking position or variation.

Okay . . . we seriously doubt that anyone who follows our material and/or who has been in the field of serious close combat and self-defense for any length of time will argue the foregoing points. In order to provide some guidance to those who are in training, then, so that they may achieve the highest possible level of practical preparedness, we wish to provide the following seven rules for building practical, workable, effective, and reliable techniques of self-defense for use when preempting was not possible:

1. WHENEVER YOU ARE CAUGHT OFF GUARD AND FIND YOURSELF UNABLE TO PREEMPT THE AGGRESSOR’S ONSLAUGHT, FULLY EXPLOIT THE MOMENTUM OF HIS ATTACK, AND RUTHLESSLY EXPLOIT ANY OPENINGS PRESENTED BY THE ATTACKER’S POSITION.

EXAMPLE: An attacker seizes you suddenly by your lapel and jerks you forward, toward himself. Go with the force and use it to drive the extended fingers of your hands into his eyes, chinjab him, knee him in the testicles, head butt him, etc.

2. IF STRUCK (PUNCHED, KICKED, SHOVED HARD) DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RECOVER TO A “FIGHTING STANCE” OR OTHER POSITION, AND NEVER WASTE TIME PREPARING TO BLOCK OR TO DODGE THE SECOND BLOW.   ATTACK AT ONCE, LIKE A WILD ANIMAL, AND GO AFTER WHATEVER VULNERABLE TARGETS ARE AVAILABLE.

Once you’ve been hit, you’ve been hit. Don’t play “catch up” trying to ready yourself for the assailant’s next move. Just go get him! If you are not disabled or unconscious then you can attack. Do it!

3. ATTACK YOUR ATTACKER WITH WHATEVER HAS NOT BEEN DISABLED, AND GO AFTER HIM AS VICIOUSLY AND FURIOUSLY AS YOU CAN.

If your wrists have been grabbed, kick him. If he reaches under your arms from the front, gouge his eyes. If your body is seized from behind, kick back and slam head butts back into his face. Etcetera.

4, ALWAYS MAKE USE OF ANYTHING AT HAND TO ASSIST YOURSELF. USE YOUR SURROUNDINGS, AS WELL.

Open windows and staircases permit throws to be executed with devastating results. In a foodstore, grab a can off a shelf and bash the attacker in the face with it. Etcetera. An unarmed counterattack should be bolstered and augmented by whatever can be employed at the moment to help you! Use your bare hands only when your bare hands are all that you are physically able to use.

5. YELL, GROWL, GRIMACE, AND SHOUT THE VERY SECOND YOU REALIZE THAT YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK.

By exploding into a “killing frenzy” the very second that you realize that you are under attack, you will not only startle your assailant, but you will most effectively mobilize your own attacking weapons, and turn the tables speedily on your enemy.

6. LAUNCH INTO YOUR COUNTERATTACKING ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, HESITATION AND DELAY USUALLY WILL MEAN YOU LOSE.

The attacker who catches you off-guard already has an enormous advantage. Don’t make his life easier by waiting even a fraction of a second before going after him. The sooner you act, the better.

7. HAVE NO COMPUNCTIONS WHATEVER ABOUT DOING ANYTHING TO YOUR ATTACKING ENEMY. HAVE NO RESTRAINT, FORBEARANCE, MERCY, COMPASSION, OR HESITATION REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MOST SAVAGE AND DESTRUCTIVE ACTIONS.

You have no idea what the intentions or the capabilities of an attacker may be. You must, if you are to be realistic and practical, assume the worst. He might maim you or kill you; and that very well could be his exact purpose in attacking you.

Self-defense should follow a three-step protocol:

First — do everything reasonable to avoid trouble. Try to get away from the individual and the situation before there is any violence.

Second — preempt with e every ounce of force you can muster when and if you are in unavoidable danger, and it is clear that avoidance simply is impossible.

Third — counterattack. If you have been unable to avoid a situation, and if preempting was not possible, then counterattack, and do so in the most ferocious, vicious, destructively aggressive manner possible to you.

In your training do not try to amass an infinite number of “self-defense techniques”. You could not possibly use an infinite number even if — somehow — you were able to learn and remember them. Learn 5,000 self-defense techniques, and what happens if you are attacked in the 5001st way?

The effective combatant concentrates upon offense, not defense. Defense is the motive; but offense must be the means. Dangerous, violent attackers must be stopped by the application of great force and determination. Many are not easily discouraged.

Remember that the purpose of all good counterattacking (”self-defense”) techniques is to turn the tables on the assailant and make you the attacker.

While some who read this may be students in arts that require the learning of an exorbitant number of self-defense techniques, we suggest that you concentrate on the few that suit you best. Add as much destructive followup to these techniques as possible, and strive to apply them to as many situations as you can. Drop the majority of those techniques from your practice that aren’t critical. Use your common sense to discover how — in all given predicaments — you can mobilize your natural weapons, attacking actions and relentless followup, rather than striving, unrealistically, to “defeat” an aggressor’s specific, particular, exact movement or action against you.

This WORKS. We have had so many successes with it that this approach has become axiomatically the “right one” to employ, as far as we are concerned.

When you are attacked, attack the attacker — even if he has gotten a full blown attack in on you before you knew he was going to do anything.

Note: Check the “Publications” section of this site for instructional material that will prepare you mentally and physically to use these life-saving principles and war-proven methods.

———          ————-              ————–           ————-         ————-

A Tongue-Tip Taste Of What An Exciting New Manual Offers You

WE just completed our new Manual, MENTAL CONDITIONING FOR CLOSE COMBAT AND SELF-DEFENSE, which is available on a quality CD, along with two rare, long out-of-print close combat classics (Carlin’s COMBAT JUDO, and Grover’s DEFEND YOURSELF!). Cost, which includes shipping, is $30. The Manual is a full 214 PAGES, and it is all relevant material! We cannot say when or — at this time — even if this new Manual will be printed in a standard book edition; however, purchasers of the CD can easily read the entire Manual clearly on their computer screens or print out a hard copy. It is copyrighted fully and so reproduction beyond private purchasers’ personal copies is forbidden — but that applies to all new books.

The information and instruction contained in that Manual is valuable, important, and the result of a lifetime of training, teaching, studying, researching, and doing. One former member of the Army Special Forces with whom we shared the manuscript observed: “This is like that timeless classic ‘Think And Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill — but exclusively oriented to the fighting man and close combat student and teacher!”

Sorry to make this sound like a sales pitch, but we are frankly proud of the work we did.

Okay — what we’d like to do now is provide you with a small snippet taken from our new Manual. We hope you like it!

Extract from “MENTAL CONDITIONING FOR CLOSE COMBAT AND SELF-DEFENSE”:—

© Copyright 2010 by Bradley J. Steiner – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

“So often that we can almost anticipate it as a statistically likely reaction, soldiers and police officers, as well as private citizens, react to that “first real encounter” — assuming they have survived it — by reporting, almost word for word, ‘I couldn’t believe it! It just didn’t seem real. Everything happened so fast, and I had a sense of non reality.’  Some reported this from a hospital bed, after miraculously surviving what could have been a lethal attack. But even in cases where, albeit a moment later than would have been ideally desirable, these individuals finally did act correctly, and succeed in overpowering or otherwise neutralizing their attacker, they report that first shock of non reality.  In other instances, when these individuals froze or ‘couldn’t think fast enough’ but were, fortunately, saved by some  outside intervention that — lucky for them! — was there at the time, they reflected out loud that they  ‘Just didn’t believe that it was really happening!’ And they stood there, in amazement, while their attacker moved on them. Had a fellow soldier, officer, or quick-thinking bystander not been there and not have acted swiftly, the individual would have likely been maimed or killed.

“To the private citizen who is training in close combat and self-defense we say  this: Remember that soldiers and police officers, no less than private citizen martial arts devotees like himself, experience this sense of an attack ‘not being real’; and these uniformed professionals are active in an occupation in which — at least theoretically — they all ‘know that violence can come to them. Despite this, and despite whatever training their basic course may have provided, they still are baffled when the moment arrives.

“Such individuals are not cowards. Nor, in most instances, do they lack the technical skills that would have made their taking effective action possible at the time they were attacked. The plain truth is that they simply didn’t really believe — in their ‘gut’ — that deadly violence would really ever come to them. Their training and conditioning — their technical preparation — was purely theoretical. And that’s what must be eliminated and overcome at the outset. Understand that this is not theoretical. The fact is that DEATH really CAN come to you, in the form of homo sapien aggressors. And unless you accept, believe, and feel the truth of this, you have no solid foundation upon which to build a proper degree of mental readiness for close combat and self-defense.

“Violence can come to YOU. It really can. And it can come at any time, anywhere.”

A N D . . .

“Years ago I read about those marvelous warriors in American military history whose acts of incredible heroism caused them to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Regrettably, many of those who so distinguished themselves forfeited their lives in the process. However, among those who were not awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously were men who, in speaking about the events surrounding the occasion of whatever severe trial they had met for which our Nation conveyed upon them that award, stated clearly: They were scared. If it had not been for the fear that they had felt, and for their immediate acting on and with the power and focus that the fear they had felt provided, they could never have done what they ‘found themselves’ being almost driven to do.

“Fear is natural, normal, and virtually inevitable whenever there is time to appreciate that a given situation is or is likely to be dangerous.

“Learn this and learn it well. You WANT to be afraid in any dangerous encounter! When that jolt of fear grips you, consider it like an injection of superpower; feel it charge you up and know that you are now capable of doing ten times that which you normally would have been able to do before fear took hold of you!

“Far from wishing that your training would make you fearless, meditate upon the fact — whenever you train — that one of the primary reasons you are doing so is in order to insure that when you feel fear in a given emergency, that which you have acquired in the way of technical ability will be available for you to employ with maximum effectiveness — with speed, power, tenacious follow up, and ferocity that would never be possible unless you felt fear!”

_____________________

In fact it is my sincere hope, whether you purchase my Manual or not, that the above has started you thinking seriously about some of the realities and truths pertaining to this very difficult and important subject.

NOTE: You may also be interested in our new text Manual “THE MOST EFFECTIVE BLOWS IN UNARMED COMBAT”. THIS 46 page Manual is — LIKE OUR NEW MENTAL CONDITIONING MANUAL — AVAILABLE ON A QUALITY CD (PDF FORMAT). It may be read easily on your computer, or you may print out as many hard copies as you desire. Cost is $13. which includes postage. Please check our “Publications” section for more information.

Mental conditioning is 90% of the problem, when it comes to preparing for the realities of individual combat — with and without weapons.

**************                   ****************            ***************

TRAINING SUGGESTIONS, TIPS, AND MISCELLANY

THE individual who follows a course of training in a classical/traditional martial art has no need of any training counsel save that of “Do what your instructor requires. Master the established moves in the established manner, and constantly strive to master the established doctrine as is required.”

The competitor requires a bit more flexibility, but that flexibility is expressed in adopting and applying skills that enable him to win in the sporting arena in which he competes. The techniques, tactics, and mindset demanded by pursuit of his activity are best garnered from the study of match winners, champions, and serious competitive fighters.

The student of close combat and self-defense has requirements unique to his undertaking. And for our visitors who train either under the direction of a teacher, or who self-teach, with the sole objective of obtaining and maintaining combative abilities, we offer the following “Suggestions For Training”. We hope  that some if not all of these suggestions help to enable you to train with increasing effectiveness.

These tips and suggestions are presented informally, and are in no particular order. They are simply ideas that our half-century-plus immersion in the arts of close combat, self-defense, and physical training have taught us make excellent sense. We have seen these ideas bring success to ourself and to others.

1. Specialize on a monthly basis

No one needs encyclopedic knowledge or mastery of an endless number of techniques and skills in order to be effective in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat. However, a sufficiently extensive repertoire is required so that, for those with limited time, not too many of the core skills can be drilled and practiced in a single training session. Therefore, we suggest breaking up your repertoire of techniques and cycling through them over the course of a year, by specializing on certain techniques each month. One month focus on a specific set of five blows, five attacks, and perhaps a dozen or fifteen counterattacking (”self-defense”) actions. Drill them hard, long, and intensively, and concentrate for the duration of that month on absolutely perfecting those specific skills. Next month, take a similar number of other techniques and work them.

Remember we are emphasizing hard work on you best techniques; we are not suggesting that this schedule ought to be followed in order to enable you to acquire more and more additional techniques, per se. Concentrate on that which fits you, and upon that which you do best and take to most readily.

Complete beginners will have too few techniques to make this practice necessary. But after a student has been seriously at this study for eight to twelve months, it is probable that he will have acquired a repertoire that is sufficiently extensive to prohibit giving adequate focus and work to all of that which he has acquired in any one training or practice session.

2. Practice in street clothes and — whenever possible — in a “real world” environment

Attacks do not take place on cleared,  polished wooden floors, or on mats. Lighting is not always good, and the surrounding area may be such that it hinders (or possibly helps) the application of certain skills and tactics. And no one goes about daily in a training uniform.

Obviously, formal classes and extensive, regular drill sessions will be conducted wearing comfortably suitable practice attire. Most of the time training and practice will be in a training setting — safely cleared of hazardous debris, well lit, and so on. The caution that we stress is this: NEVER PRACTICE TECHNIQUES THAT REQUIRE SPECIFIC APPAREL OR A SPECIAL TRAINING ENVIRONMENT IN ORDER TO BE EFFECTIVELY EXECUTED. However, once that is understood, we suggest that occasional training and practice be conducted in a real world environment. You need to be careful about this, certainly. But there are quite likely times and places when and where you can take advantage of indoor offices, residences, and outdoor urban and suburban areas for training. Wear normal clothing when you practice in these environments, and get a real, solid feel for what it may be like when — God forbid — an emergency makes it necessary for you to “do it for real”!

3. Train in the dark

Poor lighting — never complete darkness — is often the reality in an actual street attack. Lowering the lights in the training hall can accomplish the necessary setting to enable this reality to be experienced. Or, practice may be done outside, at night or in the evening.

Note that pitch blackness is not a problem, since street lights, vehicle headlights, and moonlight will always provide some degree of visibility. And — if it is so completely dark that you cannot see your hand in front of you, no one will have the requisite ability to attack you, anyway. Be sensible.

4. Train when it is raining or snowing

Attacks do occur in such inclement weather, and you would be surprised how being clad in a heavy outer coat or raincoat and boots can affect that which you are able to do efficiently in a hand-to-hand encounter!

5. Train by permitting yourself only the use of one arm

Any combatives student must train to be ambidextrous, so we will not allude to your “strong” arm; but we do urge that you experience what it may be like if you must do battle with one arm disabled. A situation could easily arise where your awareness that you are under attack comes as a result of one arm being injured or otherwise rendered useless for the time being.

6. Train on occasion allowing yourself to only utilize kicking, or only utilize hand strikes and actions

Anything from injuries to physical disabilities to terrain situations could force a person to rely upon only “hand techniques” or only “leg techniques”. By forcing yourself into a training situation where you get to experience how this feels and what it compels you to do, you increase your readiness to deal with such a predicament.

7. Work the “Which one will attack?” drill

Stand relaxed with three or four training partners lined up with their backs to you. Without your knowing which, one of the three or four will suddenly turn to attack you and you will need to react. Warning: This is an advanced drill, and great caution must be taken not to cause injuries!

An alternate to this is to have a group surround you, and then have one attack you without knowing ahead of time which one it will be. Same warning and caution as above.

8. If you are in the military train in battle dress. The most ridiculous nonsense today is the so-called “hand-to-hand combat” instruction that is given to soldiers (and police officers) in which they don comfortable training attire and get on a mat and grapple. Duty gear does not permit this — so don’t do it in training!

One of the many reasons why striking and kicking — and limited throwing — is what real combat in the military and in law enforcement requires, is the nature of the encumbrances that every soldier, marine, patrol officer, security person, protection specialist, etc. must wear when on the job.

If you’re a soldier, marine, SWAT officer, or other professional in the military or police occupations, put your full duty dress and gear on, and then see what physical skills make the most sense!

9. Get to know the human body

Do some serious studying of anatomy. This will give you confidence in your knowledge of even the most powerful man’s weaknesses. Don’t merely look at charts of “vital points”. Get hold of some real texts on anatomy and explore the human organism’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Among the many things this will teach you, for example, is how even the largest and strongest man’s neck can be easily broken, once his neck muscles have been relaxed, and their focus diverted — because of the extreme weakness, fragility, and susceptibility to breakage of the vertebra in the neck. This is the kind of knowledge that leads to the cultivation not only of workable techniques, but of the confidence to use them if you ever must, in a life or death emergency.

10. Train with weights

The idiotic idea that “strength isn’t necessary” must be forever abandoned. More: The realization that you want and need all of the strength that you can develop must come to you.

Nothing beats regular, systematic, sensible weight training. Forget about extreme stretching (it is actually more likely to be harmful than beneficial). Strength throughout the body and physical hardihood — all cultivated via sensible weight training — is the key to combat fitness. An another excellent conditioner is . . .

11. Breakfalling, to “harden” the body

Classical/traditional ukemi (breakfalling) is not adaptable to hand-to-hand combat, except perhaps to enable throws to be practiced with some realism. One does not employ breakfalls in hand-to-hand battle. However, repeated and regular practice of the breakfalls taught in judo or ju-jutsu will definitely condition and harden the body to a large degree. We therefore recommend not that combatives students train for judo or ju-jutsu per se, but that they consider the use of breakfall drill as a supplementary toughening exercise in their physical training endeavors.

12. Study accounts of actual warfare and hand-to-hand combat, and make it a habit to scrutinize every news report of any violent crime

Go to the real world for real knowledge. You are wasting your time reading “martial arts magazines” — especially today. The emphasis on competitive skills and the match fighting environment is fine for those for whom this holds an appeal. However, those concerned about real world violence, self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, modern weapons encounters, etc. must look to combat encounters (in peacetime and in war, in urban and in suburban settings) in order to gain a realistic perspective on what this is all about.

We sincerely hope that the preceding has given you some helpful leads regarding how you can train — and, if you are a teacher, train others — for realistic, effective, all-round self-defense and close combat readiness.

************              *************              *************          **************

Evaluating A Combat Technique

WHILE many people are attracted to systems of self-defense that boast of having literally hundreds (and in the case of some systems, thousands) of self-defense techniques, and that offer dozens upon dozens of other skills (kicks, punches, strikes, kata, traditional weaponry, meditation, exercise, self-improvement, etc.), the serious student of self-defense and close combat requires relatively few techniques.  A few dozen generally applicable and destructive “self-defense” techniques are plenty. And there is little need for more than perhaps a dozen well mastered blows, and the ability to blend and combine these in combinations that allow followup, and that lace viciously destructive moves together. Aside from skill with individual weapons, the unarmed combat aspect of close combat and personal defense can be readily and most adequately handled with less than 10% of the number of techniques that are popularly taught.

The difficult problem, of course, is selecting the right techniques. In many cases we see techniques being taught and practiced that are more of a detriment to self-defense than they could possibly be an aid! They are too complex and intricate; they are not destructive enough; and they are way too situationally specific. That is, for all the trouble one must go to in order to acquire the technique, one will — at best — be able to utilize it, if one is really skilled and lucky, in but a single, very narrow and specific context or predicament.

We have always found Col Rex Applegate’s standard for judging the value and practicality of a technique to be spot on. Although written in 1943 and first published in Kill Or Get Killed, that year, the following is as valid today as it was when the good Colonel (then Captain) first penned it:

“WILL THIS WORK SO THAT I CAN USE IT INSTINCTIVELY IN VITAL COMBAT AGAINST AN OPPONENT WHO IS DETERMINED TO PREVENT ME FROM DOING SO, AND WHO IS STRIVING TO ELIMINATE ME BY FAIR MEANS OR FOUL?”

Before you place your confidence in whatever skills you are striving to learn, test them — objectively and ruthlessly — against this simple standard.

For our visitors who train in other systems or/and who self-teach, trying to build and retain practical, life-saving abilities without the aid of a good teacher, we offer some further assistance in selecting that which you should pour your effort and time into studying. Consider te following four simple requirements, which we maintain must be satisfied before a technique can or ought to be included in a combat and self-defense training program:

1. MAKE CERTAIN THAT THE TECHNIQUE IS SIMPLE.

There are quite enough problems and dangers attendant a hand-to-hand encounter with a lethal enemy without bringing to such an event skills that are so complicated, elaborate, and acrobatic that you have all you can do remember the steps when you practice them. Simplicity and directness matter tremendously, and when any technique smacks of complexity it must go.

2. A GOOD COMBAT TECHNIQUE IS DESTRUCTIVE.

There’s no “nice” way to stop a vicious criminal predator or an enemy on the battlefield. Either you cripple, maim, or kill him, or he will do that to you. And it will not be pleasant.

“Pain compliance” is — we can tell you as a licensed hypnotherapist with more than a quarter century experience — is nonsense. It works against mildly resisting, non-dangerous pests and lukewarm “attackers”, but it doesn’t even faze a serious, determined killer (who is the type of opponent you ought to be concerned with defeating). INJURY not pain is what brings a serious enemy to a halt under combat conditions. STOP HIS BREATHING and/or INDUCE MASSIVE SHOCK TO HIS CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. Unpleasant? Certainly. But nevertheless exactly what the real world requires.

To stop a dangerous attacker you must damage and destroy him.

3.  A GOOD COMBAT TECHNIQUE IS READILY RETAINABLE.

Only enthusiasts train regularly and continue to train in combat skills. Most people learn whatever the “course” contains, and then quit Anyone who has been in the martial arts knows that the dropout rate is astronomical.

Real world combatives and defense actions must be retainable even with little or no continued training. Obviously, it is desirable for anyone to maintain an active training schedule, but successful action using close combat techniques should not depend entirely for success upon the student’s always being in shape and in training.

When people commence training in martial arts they normally give no thought whatever to the fact that, one day, they will likely discontinue training. They do not concern themselves with the important matter of retaining and being able to employ basic defense and combat actions years from the day when they leave the program. And then, of course, there are ridiculous techniques (speaking from the standpoint of close combat and self-defense, with no intention of attacking the art, per se). Elaborate and high kicks. Fancy throwing movements. Intricate holds, and fancy methods of defending against numerous physical attacks, etc. If you must remain in hard training and be “stretched out” for whatever you are depending upon to save you to work, forget it! You are just kidding yourself.

If it won’t work reasonably well for you years after you have learned it, when you are ill, if you are in an unfavorable environment, are elderly, are out of shape, then toss it, mister! You are spending time on questionable techniques, and if you are in this for self-defense, you cannot afford to train in questionable techniques. The skills you learn must be there when you need them; whenever and wherever that may be.

Techniques must be retainable.

4. A GOOD COMBAT TECHNIQUE IS ADAPTABLE.

Instead of thinking in the “commercialized martial artsy” way (i.e. “I want to learn thousands of techniques — so that O have a perfect reaction to every specific attack that might occur!”) start to think like the combat masters of WWII thought — and taught. You want a handful of techniques that will be adaptable to thousands of varying situations and circumstances.

We have a total of approximately 125 counterattacking techniques (”self-defense” techniques) in our entire System! And we emphasize but 16 key blows and 30 attacks. We lace strangulation skills, throwing methods, takedowns, and all sorts of miscellaneous skills into our core curriculum. Contrast this with certain kenpo-karate systems that boast nearly 600 “self-defense” techniques (just for 1st degree black belt!), or with hapkido, kuk sool won, or aiki-jutsu — each of which teaches thousands of techniques. And we continue to strive to reduce, rather than add to, our core curriculum.

By the time one of our students is promoted to Yellow Belt (first promotion) he has acquired but 8 basic blows, 4 attack combinations, and 12 counterattacks. Yet, the versatility, adaptability, and practical functionality of the skills taught better prepare him to handle real world violence than most black belts enjoy in classical/traditional systems. We say this neither as a boast nor as a criticism of classical/traditional methods. We merely wish to point out that, while we respect all martial arts and schools, we must insist that the unique demands of actual, real world close combat and self-defense demand something truly suitable, and geared to the specific needs of that venue.

We do hope that what we have presented is accepted in the spirit it is intended: i.e. That of sincerely wishing to help those who wish to do so, to prepare themselves for actual emergency situations — preferably by enrolling in a school where professional instruction geared to that purpose is offered, but if not, then by supplementing their classical/traditional training with combatively functional skills, carefully selected according to realistic standards. Or, as a last but not necessarily poor resort, by utilizing our common sense guidelines for obtaining maximum benefits from self-instructional efforts via quality books on the subject (see our book review section for help in finding good books).

Good combat techniques are a great thing. If you ever need them, you will need them very badly, indeed. So take great pains to select the best. Those are the only ones you want or need.

————————————————————————————————–

Check This And All Sections Of Our Site Regularly! We post new articles here, and/or in another section, each month!

Guidelines For Training To Defend

Against Multiple Attackers

THE atrocities that we read about in the daily newspapers and hear about on the evening news in which innocent persons are victimized by street filth have been clearly indicative for a number of years now of  TWO conspicuous characteristics that generally typify the violent crimes committed:

1. The criminal(s) employs weapons, and

2. There is most often more than a single violent offender participating in the attack.

Both of these facts underscore major differences (among many) that distinguish actual physical combat from sporting forms of physical contest.

We wish to address the matter of multiple assailants this month, and hopefully provide some practical assistance for anyone training in the martial arts who wishes to prepare himself for this awful possibility.

We appreciate that many who visit this site and who integrate our instruction into their training are students of systems other than our own, and in many instances are students of essentially sport-oriented methods. Karate and judo competitors, boxers, and wrestlers, etc. may all wish, upon occasion, to focus on how that which they are learning may be employed in a genuine emergency. For these people, with all due respect and the highest personal regard, we wish to make this observation: Unless you are training in skills (or at least supplementing that which you are training in with skills) that are COMBAT-oriented, there is very little actual and practical use that you will be able to make of the material in this month’s presentation. Check some of the books that we review and recommend for a good familiarization with that which constitutes “skills that are combat oriented”. We do not wish to mislead anyone here, and we refuse to pander to anyone’s wishful thinking. It is simply a fact that most of that which is a part of classical/traditional or sporting/competitive doctrine, is not the best material to rely upon in an honest-to-goodness lethal battle.

If you are a competitor or a classicist then please pay attention to that which we are saying. You can adopt some of what you’re doing to the problem of defending against multiple assailants; but such skills as you have become adept with, having a purpose other than close combat, need to be bolstered and supplemented with harsher, tougher, more ruthlessly savage actions, if you hope to stand up to two or more dangerous, violent offenders.

Psychological Factors

Although it is by no means always true, it is often true that two or more individuals who gang up on a single victim are cowards. Being cowards these punks neither wish to be confronted individually nor do they want to fight one-on-one with the person whom they are attacking with the help of their fellows. lest they suffer injury.

Whenever two or more troublemakers confront a victim they are themselves well aware of their physical, numeric advantage — whether they are cowards or not. They feel no danger of their being overwhelmed or effectively resisted. And each member of this attacking force expects the victim to either submit in terror, or to offer only the weakest, most futile defensive effort.

The “mob mentality”, by which an individual feels himself no longer acting alone and therefore feels himself to be “anonymous” in whatever outrages he and the mob perpetrate, is not only present in each “tough” who bands together and attacks a victim, but such actually escalates into a kind of “shark feeding frenzy” once the group attacks and is physically participating in beating the victim

The kind of scum that participates in gang-style atrocities actually enjoys whatever terror and anguish he and the group inflict upon their victim. They revel in any “begging” or “pleading” their victim may attempt, as this only fuels their drive to injure an torment the victim further. It increases their own certainty that they are invulnerable and can do as they please with no chance of personal risk or effective resistance from their victim.

Effective countermeasures against multiple attackers must take into account that which we know about the mentality of such types, and more: It must USE THAT KNOWLEDGE TO GREATEST EFFECT AGAINST THESE PREDATORS.

Good physical countermeasures and good tactics and mental conditioning will give the person who trains properly a very excellent chance of successfully defending himself against multiple assailants.

Guidelines For Gang Defense

Take the following to heart, and factor ALL of it in! This material is the result of more than half a century’s immersion in the arts of close combat and self-defense. It derives from the experiences of many individuals, in the military, law enforcement, intelligence, and private sectors — in peacetime and in war — who have “been and done”.

1. Never lose sight of the fact that ANY attack by two or more individuals is a deadly attack. Such a predicament not merely justifies but necessitates the immediate application of the most ferocious and deadly techniques that the defender possesses. Do not hesitate for a second about the degree or extent of force that you apply in such a situation. It only takes a fraction of a second for one of the hands you not see to drive a knife into you. Or, a sudden blow from outside your field of vision could easily render you helpless —at least long enough for the remaining savage(s) to finish you off.

2. Keep reminding yourself that defense against two or more attackers IS DEFINITELY POSSIBLE. In fact it has been accomplished many times, and you can accomplish it, too. There are no guarantees; but the odds favor the defender whose mindset, training, and unhesitant effective action takes the attackers off their guard.

3. A key tactic is to maneuver outside the pair or group if you see them coming. Try not to allow yourself to be outflanked.

4. If you are ever surrounded the key action is to BREAK OUT OF THE ENCIRCLEMENT. If you are not grabbed, simply chop on of the attackers in the throat — HARD! — and sweep him aside so that you escape the encirclement. Look at one attacker, then SPIN suddenly, and chop another. This shocks each assailant who is there. If you are seized by one or more, then begin stamping and stomping your feet into the attackers’ shinbones and feet. When a hand becomes free and available, CHOP AT THE THROATS of the attackers and get out of the encirclement. Sometimes head butting is effective when seized close-in, either using the side, back or even the front of your head when the attackers hold you in close.

5. If seized by two or more attackers AVOID kicking out. STOMP THE SHINS AND FEET, no extended kicks. The reason is that kicking in this situation could enable them to easily jerk you off-balance. STOMPING is actually facilitated by the pulling or yanking of two or more attackers who are holding you, and it helps you to remain balanced and stable.

6, Keep attacking no matter what! Beat yourself into a killing rage and — literally — go wild, like an animal. Growl, yell, grimace, shout, and never stop attacking. You can’t “block” the blows of two or more assailants, and you are not going to “evade” them with clever, deft moves. They must each become aware of one, single thing: I.E. YOU ARE BERSERK, AND YOU ARE DETERMINED TO DESTROY ALL OF THEM!

7. CONSTANT MOVEMENT will save you. Do not stand still, attempt to “better position yourself”, or otherwise pause in your continual, endless movement. Bob and weave and lash out. Turn violently. Shove and strike one attacker into the other. Seize one enemy’s ear and rip it off while turning to chop another across the face. Etcetera. Remember that every time to move and change position, however slightly, your attackers must alter their position in order to hit or to seize you effectively. NEVER STOP MOVING.

8. Initiating tactic: “Reduce the odds by one”                                           Once you realize that the lethal danger of a multiple assailant attack is imminent, attack first and try to eliminate one of the assailants by crushing his throat with a powerful open hand chop. Growl a nd shout like an insane beast as you do this. This will instantly and dramatically affect the remaining attacker(s), and of course reduce the odds against you. ATTACK THE OTHERS IMMEDIATELY! It will often be possible to drop a second man with a similarly executed handaxe chop, or possibly with a powerful side kick that breaks his knee. Once you start winning, they begin losing!

9. If you are fortunate enough to have any object in hand as the attack comes, use it — either as a weapon, or — if that is not feasible — as a distraction aid by throwing it into the face of one offender. If, during the act of fighting back you can grab some object (stick, rock, bottle, anything) use it with every ounce of strength you possess in the most destructive manner possible against the most conveniently positioned attacker.

10. Do not attempt to draw a firearm that you may be wearing in a concealed position UNTIL and UNLESS you have the distance, time, and space to access it securely and safely. Otherwise, your attackers may well wrest the weapon from you. If you do possess a firearm and are able to bring it into play against a lethal, multiple attacker onslaught, SHOOT THE ATTACKERS!

11. Adopt this mindset: “I WILL DIE KILLING THEM, BUT THESE ANIMALS WILL NOT LEAVE ME ON THE GROUND, AND ESCAPE!”

12. IF YOU HAVE TIME TO INTERACT WITH TWO OR MORE ATTACKERS BEFORE THEY POUNCE, DELIBERATELY ACT TERRIFIED, COMPLIANT, OR HELPLESS. Then, emit the fiercest blood-curdling yell you are capable of generating, and go after them with killing intent.

13. YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO ESCAPE — AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. It is sheer folly to remain and attempt to continue battling multiple antagonists.

Blows of the hands, feet, arms, elbows, knees, and head must form the bulwark of your strategic reaction. Occasionally — if you are a real expert — a simple throw may be useful to toss one of the scum into another (or, perhaps, down a flight of stairs, out a window, etc.); but make no mistake about it, blows must be 99% or more of your retaliatory action when handling a multiple assailant predicament.

Practice against dummies placed around you, while you turn, move, lash out, kick, and relentlessly go on the offensive, is one way to practice the countering actions required. This is how Fairbairn and Applegate trained their charges during WWII. Dummies were hung around in a circle inside a boxing ring. The student entered the ring and for a “mad minute” commenced and continued “fighting” the dummies with all sorts of blows, as he had learned earlier in the course.

If or when practice is conducted with live training partners, great and constant caution is required. It is very easy for someone to get injured working like this.

The most important thing for success is to be master of the basics and of the attacking attitude and sequential combinations that instill that attitude. Then, by utilizing the guidelines enumerated in this article, GO FOR IT!

ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT YOU HAVE NOTHING WHATEVER TO LOSE BY GOING 100% ALL-OUT IN A GANG ATTACK SITUATION. If you do so you still might be permanently injured or killed. If you do not, the you will be permanently injured or killed.

Doesn’t seem like much of a choice, does it?

Yelling

Just about everyone who has ever studied any martial art for any length of time has heard of “kiai”. Many assume that kiai is synonymous with “yelling”, but that is not true. Yelling is sometimes an expression of kiai, and warriors who have never heard of or been taught anything about kiai have used loud shouts and screaming when engaging in close combat. The Marine Corps has always emphasized fierce shouting and growling whenever training with or using the rifle and bayonet in hand-to-hand combat.

For practical self-defense every student should understand that certain tactics automatically enhance the application of techniques. Yelling is one of those tactics.

Every effort should always be made by every student of close combat and self-defense to take the enemy by surprise. The more that is done — at one time — to achieve this objective, the better. When a preemptive attack is accompanied by a fierce, piercing shout (accentuated by a grimace) the effectiveness of the preemptive onslaught is greatly enhanced.

Prove The effectiveness For Yourself

Try the following experiment:

Take some well-practiced counterattack (”self-defense technique”) that you have been working at for a long time. Do not tell your practice partner anything about what you intend to do.

Tell your partner that you’d like to review the technique, and you’d appreciate his being the attacker for a few repetitions. (Note: An excellent technique with which to try this experiment is either a one or a two-hand frontal clothing grab. Be extremely careful if the  technique involves, as American Combato techniques do, eye attacks, ear boxing, throat attacks, or/and knees and kicks to the testicles. Use strict control at all times!)

Have your partner attack you. Go through your sequential practice of the reaction to his attack, using whatever strength and speed you normally use when rehearsing this move. Repeat this a second time.

The THIRD time your partner undertakes to apply the clothing grab attack, react by employing the same technique you utilized the first two times, but when you go into action this time shout out with the most aggressive, piercing scream that you are  capable of rendering, and bolster it with the most fearsome and maniacal scowl of rage and murderous fury you can generate.

The effect of your unexpected shout will be evident. In fact, it may cause your “opponent” to freeze completely in momentary shock, or to pull away in complete surprise.

NOTICE the effect that a surprise shout has on your opponent. Remember: This is merely practice. Your opponent is a friend, and your opponent expects you to apply a counterattack. Imagine what amount of increased effect an actual use of such fierce yelling would have on a real attacker. A real attacker, after all, advances on you because he expects nothing of any consequence whatever to be done by you (or he wouldn’t attack). The combined physical injury and the jarring, jolting psychological shock of your sudden ferocious scream will shift the odds at least 98 to 2 — in YOUR favor! And while your “war face” (i.e. your vicious scowl) might surprise your practice partner — it will often completely unnerve your attacker, when his attack is for real.

NOTICE the effect that your screaming has on you.

In point of fact what you are doing when you shout out aggressively is shifting your entire mental and physical focus on going after  your enemy. Courage, aggressiveness, and the will to win, all combine and intensify, and make you as formidable a foe to your enemy as you could be!

Different Ways To Yell

Ironically, the way in which most karate, taekwon-do, and other “martial arts” people utilize yelling when they spar, compete or practice, is NOT the best way to do it for real self-defense and close combat emergencies. Lots of intermittent shouts and “barks” during freestyle become so “normal” that there is no shock value to them, at all. This is not the way to use yelling in close combat — either for defense or for attack.

Loud barking shouts are often heard in karate matches. This is not really the best way to train for yelling in combat. A real close combat encounter more closely approximates an assassination, than any kind of "match" or "sparring" event.

The proper way to yell in combat, when on the offense (ie when preempting) is as one, sudden, piercing, shocking BLAST.  At the very moment when you launch your preemptive action, explode with a shriek that is as loud and as fierce and as unexpectedly sudden as you are capable of making it. Continuing to yell (or growl) following that initial scream is okay — but it is not what you will want to focus on. Rather, remember this: WHEN LAUNCHING YOUR ATTACK AGAINST A FOE, PREEMPTIVELY, LET YOUR PIERCING SCREAM ACCOMPANY YOUR INITIAL BLAST OF PHYSICAL ACTION. Thereafter, if it is to your liking, continuous growling and yelling is fine, but not necessary.

When on the defensive (i.e. when for example, reacting to a sudden seizure from behind, or to an upraised fist, etc.) SCREAM OUT FEROCIOUSLY, and try to continue a maniacal, growling, snarling yell, as you turn the tables on your opponent and continue to counter his aggression. (Note: We did not suggest this particular “style” of yelling when we described the experimental use of the shout, earlier; but that was for simplicity’s sake. As you train and practice, and as you proceed to cultivate shouting and yelling as an ancillary, bolstering tactic, you can “refine your style” so to speak, and actually train yourself to yell in the manner most likely to be optimally effective in a real encounter).

Yelling fiercely induces COURAGE and AGGRESSIVENESS. Use it!

Use With Weapons

Photo from the great Classic on close combat, KILL OR GET KILLED, by one of our mentors, the late Col. Rex Applegate. When attacking with a knife few things are as helpful in startling the enemy as yelling ferociously. It also helps to take your mind off what you in fact are doing (if that happens to bother you).

We briefly alluded to the Marine Corps’ method of training recruits to employ their bayoneted rifles in close combat. We are not really certain about how the Army does things today, but during WWII we know that thee Army’s  method was similar. They always instructed the recruit to YELL FEROCIOUSLY when attacking and killing an enemy with the bayonet. We urge that students of modern weaponry, when learning to employ knofework and stick fighting, train themselves to shout and scream aggressively as they attack. There are two reasons for this, when employing weapons — especially when employing the knife:

1. The same reason one employs shouting in unarmed combat,

—and—

2. To take your mind off the (rather gruesome) action that you are performing against your foe.

Simply and honestly put: It is easier for a man to plunge a knife into an enemy and cut up his insides while he is yelling fiercely and screaming his head off, than it is for him to do so without yelling. This fact was invariably explained to troops during the second world war, although it is doubtful that today’s “politically correct” atmosphere of conditioning the men in our armed services allows for such candor.

We, personally, have no problem stating facts. Or teaching them.

The “Kiai” Connection

“Kiai” (pronounced key’ eye) is the Asian term used to refer to what in reality may not include any vocalizing of sound, at all. In truth it means “spirit meeting” OR “coming together of one’s total powers” — FOCUSING, in other words; focusing body, mind, spirit, and purpose 100%, for the executing of a single objective.

Lest any reader begin to think that this is now getting into the insane realm of “mystery” and “secrets” (where too many in the martial arts field enjoy leading people) let us emphasize at once that WEIGHT LIFTERS, BOXERS, WRESTLERS, and just about every other variety of serious, dedicated, and accomplished athlete in any field of physical endeavor, has utilized (albeit without likely even knowing what the term meant) “kiai“. Just watch an Olympic weight lifter going for a record lift. You’ll understand.

Because “grunting” and exhalation of breath is just about inevitably automatic whenever making any supreme effort, it is true that one often hears individuals “shout” when they apply full force and concentration to an effort of great physical exertion. It is also true that when instructing warriors in the concept of kiai, the Asian fighter was always taught to regard capitalizing on the “grunt” impulse by VOCALIZING A SHOUT as being effective and desirable in combat. However, on some occasions (sentry stalking and killing, for instance; or when abducting a sensitive individual from an enemy camp, etc.) kiai must be SILENT, and — for obvious reasons — include no audible noise.

The same may be true in some self-defense contexts. The personal discretion and judgment of the individual will determine when and where “silent kiai” (i.e. focus of one’s full power to achieve and render a successful technique) may be called for.

Our purpose in this article is to make our readers aware of the tremendous aid that loud, sharp, explosive yelling can provide whenever dealing with a violent assailant. Comprehension of the kiai phenomenon is always a bonus — but remember to YELL LIKE A WILD, INSANE BEAST whenever you defend or attack in an emergency self-defense encounter.

Let your vicious, fierce, piercing scream come “out of nowhere” as you launch your most destructive and merciless preemptive barrage!

It’s one more very useful tactic in your bag of hand-to-hand combat “tricks”.

Effective Stickwork In A Nutshell

John Styers demonstrates a lethal stick attack. From his Classic, COLD STEEL. Styers was a USMC instructor and the protégé of Anthony J. Drexel Biddle.

It takes about twelve to twenty hours total teaching and practice time to gain a working knowledge of,  and practical ability with good, basic modern combative stick technique. And while it can take 50 to 60 hours of regular, hard training to make an expert, one does not need to become an expert to be able to use a stick reliably as a weapon of self-defense or offense.

What we are speaking of when we discuss “modern combative stick technique” is not the sort of stick fighting taught in such arts as Filipino escrima or kali, or in Japanese bo or jo-jutsu. Nor are we discussing the kind of quarterstaff work that was utilized widely during the middle ages in Western Europe. We are speaking of military-type combat with the short and with the walking stick. This is the kind of simple, practical, reliably usable stick fighting that, for example, was taught by the WWII era giants (ie Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate, Pilkington, O’Neill, Biddle, Leather, and others) and that was carried on with the same purpose and intent by post-WWII teachers such as Applegate, Tegnér, Yerkow, Styers, Nelson, and our self — usually with the introduction of additional and expanded methodologies that enhanced the spirit and techniques of the WWII masters.

One of the more impractical publications on stickwork, in our opinion. The late Michael Echanis was a fine soldier and a totally dedicated martial artist (emphasis upon the "ARTIST", and not upon the "MARTIAL"). In our personal opinion, despite its popularity, Echanis's method is almost 100% too fancy, complicated, and elaborately acrobatic to be of practical value in honest-to-goodness hand-to-hand combat. We'd recommend this book as a reference for professionals regarding what does NOT work in real world stick fighting. Please note: In no way is any of this to be taken as a personal attack. We have nothing but respect for the late Mr. Echanis's abilities and his record as a soldier. This is purely a technical criticism of his method. And, we would add most emphatically, it applies to his KNIFE SELF-DEFENSE book, as well.

One of the most sensible and realistic books on stickwork is this one, authored by Bruce Tegnér. Our only disagreement with it is that its methods are not quite as vicious and destructive as that which we prefer, and there is inufficient emphasis on followup. Note that Mr. Tegnér also wrote a book on the stick in sporting contest, and that is irrelevant for personal combat. Two other highly recommended books are: COLD STEEL, by John Styers (in which the Kengla technique is described), and GET TOUGH!, by Fairbairn (in which part of Fairbairn's stick method is described). All three of these books are excellent if you train on your own and do not have a qualified close combat teacher with whom you can work.

The stick, like the knife, is an ancient weapon that is still of great practical value, today. The type of stick used in the modern setting is not the same as that which was once employed, prior to the age of arma blanca, or — later still — of firearms. Then, a five, six, or even as much as a nine foot pole was practical. Today, a “long” stick would be a walking stick, and a “short” stick would be, perhaps, a 26″-28″ hardwood baton (of the simple Koga design). The very short six inch yawara hand stick might also be included as a modern stick weapon, but for the purpose of this article we are not going to discuss any of the practical,  modern yawara techniques. We are going to describe some extremely practical techniques that, with a moderate amount of serious practice, almost anyone can learn to employ with devastating effect against a serious criminal assailant. These techniques will utilize either a walking stick or a baton length stick, or a convenient improvised stick implement (towel rack, umbrella, chair leg, tree branch, broom handle, plunger stick, axe or sledgehammer handle, etc.).

By no means is what follows a complete stick fighting system. However, it is an extract of stickwork methodology from the American Combato (Jen•Do•Tao) System’s stick fighting curriculum. It will place some solid ability in your hands, and some serious confidence in your mind, once you’ve learned it.

The techniques described are not to be played with, and they are not for sport. They should be employed with ferocity and all-out concentrated rage in any situation that is life-threatening, and in which you happen to be fortunate enough to be in possession of some kind of stick weapon. These are for emergency self-defense.

First — A Caution

It is almost reflexive for the novice who takes hold of a stick for the purpose of striking another individual to swing the stick — grasping it powerfully at one end, either with one or with both hands. If one has had some exposure to the Filipino arts of stickplay then one has actually been taught considerable “swinging” with the stick. This use of the stick, literally as a clubbing implement, is not actually the best way to utilize this weapon in hand-to-hand combat. Think first of the stick as a jabbing and as a thrusting or “spearing” type weapon; then, secondarily, as a smashing or clubbing implement. Swings are very difficult not to telegraph. They are also relatively easy to counter, unless done with incredible speed and skill. About the only time we’d “open the action” with a swing when using a stick in combat would be when we were smashing an enemy over the head from behind, in the context of a military type attack on a sentry, perhaps.

The swinging action has its place. Our caution to you is: see that the swing is kept and used only in its place!

A Mini-Course In “Instant Stickwork”

Here is a description of some excellent, reliable ways in which you can save your life, or someone else’s, using a stick:—

1. When attacking, use a wide over/under two hand grip on your stick. Both palms should not be facing in the same direction. This reduces the strength of control you have over the stick, and it eliminates some of the versatility possible to you in how you strike and maneuver in followup. Leave about four to five inches protruding from each hand (if a walking stick) and about two inches (if a baton-length stick). These protruding ends serve the purpose of protecting your hands, while providing a substantial exposed end for hitting (jabbing, butt-stroking, etc.). The two-hand grip employed in this manner also gives you the best possible leverage for using the stick with maximum power. Also, attacking while holding the stick in this manner permits a completely relaxed, non-telegraphed opening action.

2. Hold your stick with arms relaxed, hanging in front of you, apparently maintaining only a casual hold on your stick. (Note: It is sometimes possible to hold the stick in a modified “high port” type position, while appearing merely to be concerned to prevent the stick from getting in anyone else’s way — perhaps in a fairly crowded area.  Just be certain that holding a stick in this fashion is done with convincing relaxation and a non-aggressive appearing demeanor. One might also utilize this position as if withdrawing and cringing in fear, against, for instance, a couple of thugs — pleading that they not hurt you — while actually planning a surprise attack).

3. Once making the decision to attack be certain not to give that away by any subtle gesture or look in your eyes. This can be practiced in front of a mirror, or by having practice partners observe you, and having them advise you when and where you are “looking obvious” about preparing to move. The best attack — with bare hands or with anything — is one that “comes out of nowhere” and blasts into the enemy before he realizes what is happening.

4. Suddenly — drive an end of the stick, like a spear or bayonet, directly into the opponent’s abdominal or sternum area. It is also possible to direct this surprise thrust into the adversary’s throat, mouth, or general facial target area. In certain instances (perhaps in semi-darkness) this higher thrust to a smaller initial target might require somewhat greater precision.

5. Immediately after the thrusting jab solidly “connects” use one of the following actions:—

a) Snap the stick back toward your chest area and, maintaining a strong two-hand grip, execute a butt stroke upward and under the enemy’s jaw. Alternately, you might apply a laterally striking butt stroke, slamming across the side of the adversary’s head or face. How far forward the initial thrust causes your enemy to double over will determine which butt stroke to use. If you thrust the end of the stick into the enemy’s face or throat, then you might step in while smashing him laterally acriss the face or head as he reels backward.

b) Shift the rearmost end of the stick forward, after thrusting to the adversary’s mid-section, and using a full body swing and all of your strength, smash the center of the stick viciously upward into the throat or face of your adversary.

6. If necessary, after executing either “a” or “b” above, by sliding one of your hands close to the other at one end of the stick, you will now be holding your stick in a manner approximating how you might hold a baseball bat.

7. Now you may make effective use of the swinging type blow! Use either of the following:—

a) Using all of the power you can generate, smash the stick across the adversary’s knees or shins, swinging it like a bat. After doing so, bring the stick up high, still retaining that strong, close, two-hand grip, and crack him solidly across the brain stem or skull. —OR —

b) Should your attacker be doubled over considerably, simply bash him with every ounce of strength you’re got,  across his skull or brain stem. Note: A crack across the kidney area (or several cracks) might also be effective, but the skull or brain stem should turn out his lights every time, if you use a hardwood stick and do it right!

Note A: With a little bit of practice you can develop the ability to snap a walking stick from a natural one-hand-on-the-pommel, end-of-the-stick-resting-on-the-ground position instantly into the two-hand grip attack position.

Note B: Should any attempt be made to control your stick by seizing it when you have a two-hand grip, simply snap the stick in close to your chest, butt the enemy in his face with your head, knee him in the testicles, then stomp on his shin and instep, jerking the stick free and attack!

Note C: Never forget that you have two hands and two feet in addition to your stick. You can kick a man in the shins, setting him up for a stick attack. Or, after initiating the attack with the stick, break his knee with a side kick. Etcetera. Be fluid, creative, spontaneous, fierce, aggressive, and relentless!

Wa r n i n g !

THE MATERIAL PRESENTED HERE IS FOR SERIOUS SELF-DEFENSE AND WARTIME COMBAT ONLY. NEVER HORSE AROUND AND NEVER SHOW OFF OR ATTEMPT TO “PLAY” OR “COMPETE” USING THESE ACTIONS. THEY ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. THEY WOULD BE OF NO VALUE WHATEVER IF THEY WERE NOT.

Continue to scroll down for additional instructional tips as they are added to this section.

A Speedy Knife Counterattack That Works

WHILE the very popular knife defense shown above looks good, the truth is that getting an armlock or a wristlock on a determined attacker who comes at you with a knife is almost impossible. Making the above action even semi-possible of execution in an actual attack would require that the attacking enemy be countered before his attacking arm gained downward momentum— a very unlikely thing. More: in order for a defender who attempts to employ this  counter to secure an effective armlock, once he has blocked the descent of the knife, the attacker would need to be so cooperative as to refrain from attacking the defender with his other arm, with knee blows, or with stomp kicks! It is unwise to count upon such cooperation when confronting an armed killer. The defender would also need to have considerably more physical strength than his attacker in order to successfully employ this well-known “self-defense” technique. And all good self-defense must assume that the attacking enemy is stronger than oneself, and possessed of every physical advantage.

The truth is that it is never possible to be certain of successfully defending against a knife attack, no matter how expertly skilled in unarmed combat one may be. The knife is the most dangerous weapon in close combat, after a firearm.

What we recommend as a fundamental counter action against a knife attacker (whether he holds the weapon in that unlikely grip illustrated above, or in a more formidable type of grip) is a commando technique that was taught during WWII. It is simple. It stands a better chance of working than 95% of the so-called “knife defenses” that are being taught today, and it may be employed under tremendous stress, when normally dressed, if one is physically weaker than one’s attacker, and in almost any physical setting. It also is easily retained, once learned and practiced.

The Technique

When the attacker moves in, sidestep — abruptly and suddenly —  directly off to your left or to your right. Do not slide your foot when side-stepping. Step off strongly and plant your foot, hard, as your opposite foot follows and plants down about a foot or so beside your initial stepping foot.

Immediately you are  repositioned to the side, lash out viciously with a side kick to your attacker’s knee. Followup!Keep kicking kim in the  face and head when he goes down. Stop attacking only when it is clear to you that your assailant has lost both the ability and the willingness to endanger you further. ANYONE ATTACKING YOU WITH A KNIFE IS USING DEADLY FORCE, AND YOU MUST TREAT THE SITUATION AS THOUGH YOUR LIFE DEPENDS UPON WHAT YOU DO — BECAUSE IT DOES!

Important Point!: When executing the sidestep remain very strictly in a front-facing position. Do not “angle off” as you step, partially turning inward to face the attacker. The more sharply you sidestep and remain front-facing the less chance that you will sustain a life-threatening injury.

Here are some of the tips and pointers that we teach to our students in American Combato regarding knife defense, generally:

• If at all possible avoid any encounter with anyone armed with a knife. In other words, if you can do so without endangering either yourself or someone who depends upon you for protection by doing so, run away!

• Violent types often give warning of their intention to employ a knife. Any verbal threat to your life, accompanied or followed by the speaker’s reaching suddenly into his jacket, pocket, etc. should be met by lashing out with a powerful side kick to his knee or with a front kick to his testicles. Whether he is reaching for a knife or for a gun — or simply bluffing — is irrelevant. If a reasonable person would believe that his life was being immediately endangered by someone pulling a deadly weapon, then violent, overwhelming preemptive force is appropriate.

• Expect to get cut or stabbed! What we are endeavoring to do in instances of a knife attack is to SAVE THE KILL ZONE OF THE BODY, and any other vital points. It is ridiculous to suppose that one can tackle a killer who is armed with a sharp blade and sustain no injury whatever in the process.

• Learn to always keep outside of arm’s length distance from any approaching stranger. Off-angle yourself when facing someone you do not know. The more dangerous and experienced the knife-wielder, the more is he likely to try to get in close and then explode against his victim with a vicious, relentless stabbing attack. Let no stranger within arm’s length if you can help it.

• Use anything at hand to strike a blow or to throw into your assailant’s face The proven “chair defense” (see Get Tough!, by W.E. Fairbairn, or/and Kill or Get Killed, by Rex Applegate) is excellent — if you’ve got a chair immediately at hand.

• If you are a law enforcement officer or a lawfully armed private citizen DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REACH FOR YOUR HOLSTERED SIDEARM as your enemy moves in with his knife! You need DISTANCE, TIME, and SPACE in order to safely access and discharge your weapon before a knife-bearing enemy can close with you and stab you at close quarters (out to 20 to 25 feet!). Instead, either get behind a solid barrier, draw your weapon and, if necessary, shoot the knife attacker, or employ the sidestep and kick (perhaps followed by a few additional kicks) and then draw your weapon, if necessary.

• The traditional and popular ju-jutsu counters to knife attack in which the attacker’s wrist is grabbed and a wrist-twisting (kote-gaeshi) action is applied to throw him to the ground and hold him; followed by taking away his knife, are SUICIDAL. Do not practice them. Real world knife attacks under actual combat conditions do not allow for the timing, the fine motor articulations, and the certainty of being able to even apply a grip to the attacker’s wrist(!), let alone twist his wrist for a throw, and then “disarm” him, that such intricate “defenses” demand. Such techniques, regardless of how beautifully experts are able to perform them under sanitized “demonstration” and/or training conditions, DO NOT WORK.

• Forget all about “disarming” (ie taking any armed assailant’s knife or other weapon, away from him). You are not going to be able to do it if he is attacking you with murderous intent, and if he is determined and committed to kill you. And you must assume that he is! So don’t try “disarms”. Effective weapon defense involves a two-step protocol: 1) Avoid the initial stab, cut, shot, blow, etc., and  2) Ferociously neutralize the aggressor — knocking him unconscious, maiming him, or if necessary killing him.

The war-proven technique that  we have described here does not constitute “all” of that which one can and should learn, practice, and develop to a high degree in order to defend against knife attacks in the real world. However, this technique is solid gold, and it will give the person who works hard at mastering it a better ability to actually save his life if attacked by a knife-wielding enemy, than that which typically passes for “knife self-defense” in most training programs.

Train hard!

*****************************

Attacking The Eyes! — A Fast And Dirty Way To Defend Against Serious Attack

EYE gouging is perhaps the quintessential example of dirty fighting. It is a foul, underhanded and unscrupulous tactic that can blind (and in some instances kill). It is also supremely and universally effective, can render the strongest man helpless, and will work for the weakest person in  a defense emergency, against the strongest. In other words, this is a premier technique!

Unlike the testicles, the eyes are readily accessible whenever a man approaches. They can also be attacked from a sitting or a lying position, with one or two hands, and in a jabbing, thrusting, or gouging manner. Obviously it is also effective to throw something into an opponent’s eyes in order to distract him, but we want to focus on very destructive actions, right now.

Here are some excellent and efficient ways to employ eye attacks when you find yourself in a life threatening situation:

1. DIRECT FINGERTIPS THRUST

Simply open the hand and extend the fingers. Now thrust the extended fingertips straight into the attacker’s eyes. DO NOT TENSE THE FINGERS! Tensing the fingers will weaken them. Keep them extended in a relaxed way and try to drive them right through the opponent’s eyes and skull.

Ideally, the hand begins with the fingers pointing upward. The thrust (which must not be telegraphed) drives the hand palm down with all four extended fingers thrusting powerfully into the attacker’s eyes.

Practice tip: Use a “Lone Ranger Mask” hanging by two strings in a doorway as a target to simulate the eyes. Practice thrusting at this for accuracy.

2. FINGERTIPS JAB

Form the hand exactly as you would for delivery of an ear box attack; that is, cupping the hand strongly, pressing the thumb hard against the index finger. Now, instead of striking  with the cupped portion of the hand, you will strike with the fingertips, while holding the cupped hand rigidly, for strength. If your hands are resting easily at about your sternum level, or even at your sides, you will suddenly snap your cupped hand up in an arc, from the position that it is in in front of or beside you, directly into the enemy’s eyes. Note: A good strong hand could break the bridge of the nose as well as jab into the eyes.

3. GOUGING

Our preferred method of eye gouging involves the employment of a movement we developed which we call the “Cat’s Grab”. We call it the Cat’s Grab because it emulates the manner in which a cat attacks a scratching post.

We observed how a cat goes after a scratching post and noted that the "double claw" type of close-in seizure that is executed is ideally suited to the application of the thumb gouge.

Facing the opponent, suddenly bring both hands up in a snappy arc and drive the thumbs of both hands into his eyes. Simultaneous with this thumbing into the eyes the remaining fingers hold his face in a kind of  “claw”,  as the middle fingers of each hand are inserted into the attacker’s ears. You are now holding his head in a manner reminiscent of  the kind of grip that is secured on a bowling ball!

The attacker’s head is shaken, and a knee to the testicles that causes him to bend forward enables the thumb gouges to drive more deeply into the eyes.

Not a technique for the faint hearted!

Note:A double thumb gouge in which the thumbs are driven powerfully into the eyes with full bodyweight behind the thrust, and the adversary’s head pressed against the ground or a wall, will enable the thumbs to penetrate to the opponent’s brain. This is an assassination technique.

General Pointers

• Develop the ability to thumb gouge with one hand against one eye.

• Strengthen the fingers by thrusting and jabbing and gouging into a block of modeling clay. This builds great finger strength for offensive  action, but does not damage the hands as traditional karate conditioning methods often do.

• Think of the myriad applications of these three techniques! Certainly they are never to be employed in anything less than a serious emergency, however they are very versatile and can be employed to preempt, or to handle an attack that has caught you unaware. “Go for the eyes!” is a damn good rule for real world self-defense and close combat.

These techniques are not to be played with. Either exercise perfect control when working with a partner and make NO CONTACT with his eyes, or have him wear safety goggles. Better yet, practice on a dummy (the BOBXL is good). These kinds of techniques permit no margin for error in training. In an emergency, however, when some dangerous attacker obliges you to deal with his initiation of force against you, apply the eye attack most suitable to your position and opportunity at the time, and do so with every ounce of strength, speed, and ferocity you can muster!

The above drawing, borrowed from Wikipedia, is a pretty good illustration of one excellent way to attack the eye: using a thumb driven into the inside corner of the eye — deeply — and then digging and ripping outward. Best if done to both eyes using two hands.In any emergency the rules go out the window!

*******************

The Fabulous Chinjab Smash

As practical, valuable, reliable, and destructive as it was when the “Shanghai Buster” himself (Fairbairn) originated and taught it — this technique, with some tactical additions and revisions, should be high on every practical defense enthusiast’s “must learn” list!

Above: Fairbairn himself demonstrates the proper hand formation for the chinjab smash. The photo is from Fairbairn's wartime classic, HANDS OFF!, which was directed toward women, but which is a valuable reference for men, as well.

Above still is from the wartime film, "OSS TRAINING GROUP", which was only recently declassified. Here Fairbairn himself (wearing a mask, which was required of all who appeared in the movie) shows completion of the chinjab smash. Notice how an eye gouging attack follows the impact of the blow. Also, Fairbairn's left hand has smashed into the opponent's back. This accentuates the force of the trauma absorbed by the recipient's spine.

The technique is not at all difficult to learn, however — as is the case with the simple punches that a boxer  incessantly endeavors to perfect — the close combat student who takes his discipline seriously will never be satisfied with his rendering of this critical technique, and he will not only work hard on it, but will endeavor to exploit every possible nuance and variety of adaptation and application possible.

Let’s make some suggestions that should enable you to eventually master and make the fullest measure of use that this war-tested and battle proven technique of unarmed combat provides.

To begin, remember this rule: The farther underneath the chin that the blow lands, and the straighter up, the more damaging and effective it will be.  Thus, it is clear that for proper impact to take effect, the terminal position of the arm upon contact will be parallel to the enemy’s chest. Fingers of the chin-jabbing hand will be clawed and spread, and bodyweight should be thrown into the blow. This is achieved by a sudden and aggressive pivoting of the waist and hips (i.e the central axis of the body) when the enemy is right in front of you, and if we assume that the blow is being generated with your rearmost hand and arm, while you face your man in a proper off-angled ready position. If the blow is begun from a slight distance, say as a preemptive strike as the man you are confronting begins his attack against you, then Jack Dempsey’s “falling step” will enable you to close the momentary gap, and drive every ounce of your bodyweight into the blow. The falling step is executed by lifting your lead foot and letting it “fall” forward beside your enemy’s foot (your left foot leading will drop beside his right foot, thus aligning your arm and shoulder with the enemy’s centerline, and bringing the blow right on target). When executing the falling step do not forget to allow your rearmost foot to trail forward behind the lead. This assures that all of your bodyweight will participate in your attack. The chinjab smash should land a fraction of a second before your lead foot drops into place beside his foot. (Note: We learned a great deal from Jack Dempsey’s Classic, Championship Fighting that we adopted to hand-to-hand combat blows. The “falling step” is one of them).

A nice touch when you apply the chinjab smash is to have the forearm (which, remember, will ideally be vertical and parallel to the enemy’s chest) crash. viciously into the enemy’s sternum. The sternum area is vulnerable on EVERYONE. The strongest chest in the world does not protect the sternum.

A somewhat more effective way to follow the chinjab up with fingers clawing into the adversary’s eyes than that which is illustrated by Fairbairn, is to raise the elbow of the chinjabbing hand after impact of the initial blow. This enables you to fully claw the enemy’s face and it throws his head back sharply, assisting in rendering him off balance. By stepping in aggressively and thrusting down hard, you can smash the adversary’s head to the ground in a most effective combat throw.

Variation Suggestions:

• If you are close-in, whip the open palm of your lead hand viciously around the enemy’s lower back (slamming, for example, your left palm into your enemy’s left kidney as you drive the chinjab into his jaw. This greatly facilitates the throw described above.

• A simultaneous chinjab smash with both hands to the jawline area or (slightly modified in angle of attack), to the eyes, if that target is desired, will jar any man’s brain and set him up for  followup.

• Alternating chinjab smashes — rapidly and powerfully delivered while advancing aggressively into your opponent is an excellent technique. Fairbairn actually demonstrated this is a brief film that he prepared for the O.S.S. titled “Gutterfighting”.

• If in very close and your hands are hanging by your sides (where they should not be) you can snap the chinjab up into the enemy’s solar plexus. If the heel of your hand “connects” solidly, you’ll have every opportunity to finish him off. If it misses or grazes the solar plexus area, then the blow will continue right into the underside of the jaw — effecting a good chinjab smash!

• Once the chinjab smash lands, a good followup — should your hand continue upward rather than apply a clawing action against the face — is a downward heel of the hand blow to the adversary’s bridge of nose, skull, chin, or clavicle. This blow follows through, continues back, and another forward heel of the hand blow (or punch, or elbow) hits the enemy again. Note: A fingertips jab (see article above) that snaps into the enemy’s testicles after the chinjab travels upward following delivery, is another excellent option.

• Chinjabbing can be applied when you are pulled out of a chair, or assaulted by someone sitting next to you (on a public conveyance, for example).

There is even more to this blow and to its multiplicity of applications than what we’ve thus far presented; however, this material should keep you busy — and start you thinking!

Special note:— In the practice of the numerous variations of karate that are taught, the clenched normal fist is the overwhelmingly favored hand weapon. This is also true in the different versions of “challenge” type fighting (UFC, etc.) where contestants essentially “brawl”, in our opinion, and go at each other using full contact to limited areas and in very restricted ways. For actual combat and self-defense the OPEN, and not the closed hand, is undoubtedly the way to go. Clenched fist punching is not to be omitted entirely from a combatant’s repertoire, but it is definitely subordinate to open hand chinjabs, handaxe chops, fingertips thrusts and jabs, and of course to elbow smashing and jabbing, head butting, biting, clawing, and edge-of-the-fist hammer-blow smashing.

Keeping this in mind will keep you focused intensively on what really works; and it will keep you aware and appreciative of the valuable chinjab!

****************************