Low Tech Combat

Interview: Matthew Apsokardu on Traditional Martial Arts and Self Defence

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:26:00 +0000

MATTHEW APSOKARDU

Do Traditional Martial Artists have their head in the sand when it comes to self defence?

Some do, no doubt, but some do not. This interview is an example of one who most definitely does not.

Traditional Martial Arts are not just focused on self defence. Students are also studying an art. Some students practising Traditional Martial Arts are learning self defence skills they would never have been exposed to otherwise. Some would never have sought out a self defence class or course. So this exposure is a great thing for people. Traditional Martial Arts is how I began on the path.

I asked Matthew Apsokardu to do this interview as I know him from his blog (and you probably will too), Ikigai Way. Matt has been studying the martial arts for 16 years and has acquired the rank of 4th Dan Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudo of the Nakamura Shigeru, Odo Seikichi, Bruce Heilman lineage. He is a good guy who always offers some straight up commentary on matters I raise here on this site about violent behaviour such as knife attacks. He has also written some very interesting posts on his site as well that make for interesting reading. He is very experienced and knowledgable in the martial arts world yet still very humble.

I wanted to ask Matt from a Traditional (and Classical) Martial Arts background his opinions on matters relating to self defence. I want people to see what he responds with. His answers demonstrate that not all Traditional Martial Artists have an unrealistic perception of real violent behaviour and violent attacks. A good Traditional Martial Artist understands his arts strengths and weaknesses and is not blinded by his involvement.

Let's begin.

Matt, can you give us a short brief of your background and about how you got involved in martial arts and what led you to become such an expert?

I wouldn’t use the word expert anywhere around me, but I’d be happy to share a bit about my background.

I started my training in Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudo when I was about 11 years old. I didn’t really know what Okinawa Kenpo was or how it was different than other martial arts, but it seemed like a fun and engaging activity.

Lucky for me, an individual named Bruce Heilman had been bringing his instructor, Odo Seikichi, to the U.S. for some time and was based around Reading, PA, not far from where I lived. I started at one of Heilman Sensei’s branch schools, but ultimately came to study under him directly.

Over the years I’ve gotten to study with many of Heilman Sensei’s contemporaries and friends, all of whom are respected instructors in their particular fields.

About 8 years ago I also began formal study of the Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu style of swordsmanship, although I am not a direct lineage student.

Who or what was one of the biggest helps / lessons /reference points etc. in steering you down the path in your earlier days?

Multiple times a year Heilman Sensei arranged training gatherings with martial artists from all over that he knew to be of high quality in both character and martial content (a habit which he continues to this day).

Seeing those senior artists come together and operate at a high level always inspired me, and ingrained a sense of openness about traditional arts.

I later came to learn that Heilman Sensei was carrying on a long Okinawa Kenpo tradition of sharing, started by Nakamura Shigeru as he built his Okinawa Kenpo Renmei with individuals such as Shimabukuro Zenryo and Uehara Seikichi.

What do you feel are the 3 best aspects of traditional martial arts that directly improve ones self defence skills and/or ability?

I’d like to take a temporary semantic detour. In my mind, there is a significant difference between classical martial arts and traditional martial arts, the exact differentiation points of which are debatable.

I generally think of classical martial arts as those that developed prior to the influence of World War II. Traditional arts are those that developed during the lead up to the war, during the conflict, and as a result afterward.

The focus of classical arts and traditional arts as I have defined them were, and continue to be, very different.

My personal training straddles the fence between the two, as certain aspects of Okinawa Kenpo have been affected by Nakamura Shigeru’s time in the “karate school system” as well as his later life as he reached back deeper into the art’s core essence via instructors like Kuniyoshi Shinkichi. Furthermore, my direct instructors come from a varying amount of experience in both classical and traditional worlds.

One of the biggest fundamental differences between classical and traditional is the focus on sport and regimentation. Classical karate was an intriguing intermingling of experience and resources (Okinawa being a highly utilized crossroads for trade and travel). As such, The Okinawans were concerned with effectiveness in their techniques and how efficiently they could ward off very real threats from Wako (pirates), intruders, and each other.

As WWII began to ramp up, Japanese influence caused karate to skew in the direction of physical fitness and mental readiness for military obedience. After the war, the bad taste of those efforts caused karate and other arts to keep the physical fitness aspects but move in a more benign sport direction, losing a lot of lethality in the process.

With that in mind, I’d like to suggest three aspects that traditional training still offers of value:

1. Muscle memory through rote repetition of kata and kihon. The simpler, the better, hence an overarching love of naihanchi kata once it is understood (although it performs terribly at tournaments).

2. Increased impact tolerance and reduction of conflict fear through the use of sparring drills.

3. Increased sense of self confidence and lowering of “victim behavior” through posture, eye contact, demeanor, etc.

What are the two biggest shortcomings of traditional martial arts that affect peoples self defence skills and/or ability?

Continuing with the discussion of traditional:

1. Lack of training in realistic conflict drills, stemming from an over-reliance on sparring “games” and kata repetition.

2. Often as a result of #1 - a false sense of confidence and ability that results in serious injury or mental shutdown during real self defense encounters.

What areas of traditional martial arts are likely to evolve in the future?

The evolution of traditional martial arts is going to be highly influenced by the continued impact of MMA and the tournament circuit.

More and more ground/clinch fighting is likely to be introduced into traditional schools that didn’t have any of those aspects built into their systems.

Alternatively, the effectiveness of other styles will continue to dwindle as they focus primarily on competitive aspects of martial sport.

What is one (or more) of the best drills used in traditional martial arts that are relevant for developing self defence skills?

Kata is certainly the most important weapon in a traditionalist’s arsenal when it comes to developing skill. That being said, kata can also be used as a cover-up for laziness in drill creativity.

One drill I happen to like a lot is the “turn around attacker”. In this drill, all the students in a class make a single file line in front of one of their classmates. The lone classmate (Tori) then turns his back on the would-be attackers (Uke).

One at a time the attackers walk up behind Tori, and as Tori either hears or feels them coming, he/she turns around. As Tori turns around, Uke attacks in an unpredictable fashion (sucker punch to the face, grabbing at the shirt, grabbing the arm, etc).

It is then Tori’s job to utilize his/her flinch response to avoid/evade/intercept the initial aggression and conduct an effective response to eliminate the threat. Tori is not to stop until Uke is clearly handled. Strikes are done to vulnerable targets but are not conducted with full contact.

This drill doesn’t address noticing pre-attack indicators, but there are other drills for that. This one is highly valuable for getting past that moment of initial aggression.

Fundamentally, cases of assault and muggings are quite different to each other with different mind sets, goals etc., What type of attack do traditional martial arts mostly concentrate on?

A lot of traditional schools address both. They utilize sparring environments to simulate an assault scenario where precursors provide a level of preparedness and indication that violence is on the way. Also, sparring is rarely lethal (which fits into the alpha male category of assault violence).

Self defense repetition drills usually do the job of preparing people for mugging scenarios. This is where you’ll frequently hear action-response explanations, i.e. “if an attacker points a gun like this, you do this. Ok now try it”.

I’m not suggesting these separate methods are entirely effective, especially when left unintegrated into a more complete whole, but that’s what you’ll see.

Will someone be proficient at dealing with most likely self defence situations after becoming a black belt in a traditional martial art?

Acquiring a black belt is definitely not a guarantee that an individual will be prepared for self defense environments. I can tell you, looking back at myself when I was a Shodan, I still had plenty of gaps in my understanding and ability.

On the flipside, I’ve met some green and brown belts who could more than adequately handle themselves in self defense situations. The belt color doesn’t translate universally for all martial artists; personal aptitude and quality of training are much more important factors.

What is the best attitude/perspective etc. for a traditional martial artist to have, to help them along the path to effective self defence?

To me, love for a traditional art is expressed when you are the most unyielding skeptic about what you do. If you aren’t aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your style then you are trying to protect what it represents rather than what it was originally built for.

Good traditional/classical styles will hold up to scrutiny, but they won’t appear flawless. That can be scary for some individuals, especially after they spend 20,30,40 years training in it.

The best attitude for a traditionalist is one of balance. It’s important to preserve the cultural traditions, kata, and philosophical underpinnings of an art while not being frozen into complacency by them.

Can you provide some real world examples of some traditional martial arts students (or instructors) who have applied what they learnt in real self defence situations?

I’m happy to say that I train with some truly impressive individuals. I thank all of my instructors and influences for their pragmatic approaches. They manage to preserve what their teachers shared with them while also grounding their methods in reality. Just a few specific examples:

• Major Bill Hayes of Shobayashi Ryu is a rare classical martial artist who truly embodies the spirit of Okinawa. He took karate with him on his second tour of duty in Vietnam and was also one of the founding developers of MCMAP, the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

• Jody Paul is a direct student of Toma Shian and Uehara Seikichi (Seidokan and Motobu Udundi, respectively). He was also a member of the initial Navy Seals team. His training revolved around small team operations conflict.

• Miguel Ibarra is an instructor of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu and also a probation officer in Bronx, New York. He has an extensive knowledge on the effectiveness of techniques and the varying uses of pain compliance vs mechanical debilitation.

What are some of the common problems that traditional martial artists experience in real self defence situations?

A common problem for traditionalists is the chaotic and tight nature of real conflict.

Too much sparring set at an intermediate distance can create great intermediate technique, but sacrifices the ability to shift range. The mind can easily lose its focus and fluidity if a habitual distance is altered and conflict gets messy.

Furthermore, an over-reliance on scripted yakusoku kumite (prearranged block-punch encounters) can provide a false sense of technique improvement, as the issue of assessing unknown attack indicators is completely ignored.

If you had to give away one secret about self defence, what would it be?

Don’t underestimate the impact of your eyes. Where you look leading up to conflict and during conflict can have drastic effects on how matters develop.

Leading up to an altercation, the eyes can be used to dominate and subdue an opponent of lesser spirit. However, they can also cause an alpha male to feel threatened and move more quickly toward violence.

Similarly, eye contact with a potential predator can invite them to latch onto you or begin a conversation, while glancing sheepishly away will spark their innate instinct to search for weakness.

During conflict, the eyes should not become fixated on anything in particular. Personally, I prefer to avoid staring directly into an opponent’s eyes as it can cause wayward trains of thought, reducing reaction time and flow. A broad gaze based around the center of the chest tends to allow for optimal viewing and reduces intimidation and personalization.

In swordsmanship, an opponent is simply a recipient of your technique, nothing more.

What is one thing traditional martial artists can take away right now to enhance their self defence skills?

Put yourself in situations where you might not look like a polished expert of all things violence. In exchange you get a chance to test your abilities to handle chaotic attacks and self defense situations.

There is a pervasive idea that in the dojo (or dojang) every block should work and every strike should be a one-hit-kill. These are lofty ideals, and something worth working towards, but it also inspires people to hide from failure.

I enjoy the times when my abilities break down or when a technique thuds with resounding ineffectiveness. It’s a reality check, and an opportunity to discover where I need to improve.

Where can people find more information about you and your thoughts on traditional martial arts?

I write over at my martial arts blog entitled Ikigai Way. The topics include thoughts on classical training in karate, kobudo, swordsmanship, and general matters like self defense and martial philosophy.

I also have an interviews section where you can learn more about some of the people I mentioned above and other important folk in the classical/traditional community.

For anyone interested in more about how classical karate can translate into modern day conflict, they may want to check out this project: Natural Karate.

Matthew, thanks very much for your comprehensive answers. It’s been thoroughly enjoyable. I hope you, the reader, have found the interview interesting reading.

Although I generally recommend people to avoid Traditional Martial Arts purely in a self defence context as there are better options out there, I still believe they can be very valuable and fulfilling for peoples lives. They can be beneficial for self defence and for developing other areas of themselves.

What are your thoughts on this interview? I personally found Matt's responses very interesting and insightful. Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

Adam

5 Most Important Skills For Protecting Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Note: This is the first guest post published at Low Tech Combat! Go to Authors Box at bottom of post for more details of Author. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Low Tech Combat.

It is unfortunate but we seem to be living in a more and more violent society. Inner city crime rates are on the rise again and the recent widespread riots across London and other major cities in the UK highlighted the extent to which criminal gangs control our cities.

As stupid as many muggers and thugs appear to be, some really are not completely dumb. Like any successful predator they target the easy prey. If someone is walking along the street looking confident, strong and alert then a mugger will often steer clear. It is when people are looking nervous, timid, day dreaming or simply too weak to defend themselves that a mugger will attack. So, to avoid a dangerous situation learn to carry yourself in a more assertive way by following these safety tips.

1. Stay Alert, Look Ahead

If you have a habit of day dreaming while you walk you may find yourself walking into trouble. A mugger often relies on the element of surprise and it is very easy to surprise someone who is walking along while day dreaming. Make sure that you are always looking ahead so that you can spot signs of danger. If you see someone, or a group, on the path up ahead that look out-of-place cross the road early to avoid them.

If you are walking late at night always be extra alert. This is the most dangerous time as most criminals only attack when it is dark and they are high on drugs or alcohol. There is nothing shameful about looking over your shoulder every now and then to check who is around you.

2. Walk Confidently but not Arrogantly

A confident person is rarely targeted by a mugger. This is connected with staying alert, but also you should walk with assertiveness and confidence. Just changing your posture can quickly change the impression people have of you.

Standing up straighter with your shoulders back and your chest puffed out slightly can ward off any would be attackers. However, do not look too arrogant as this can attract too much attention too and the moment your shield slips you become a greater target. Remember, attackers are just predators that prey on the weakest.

3. Know When to Run

There are really 3 key skills that could save your life - swimming, running and fighting. Swimming is not relevant on the street, so your focus on staying street safe should be running and fighting.

As brave as it may seem to take on a mugger it is always better to avoid a confrontation and there is no shame in running. There are 2 advantages of running from an attacker. Firstly, you may out-run them and get away without a fight. This is the ideal situation should the need arise. Secondly, if they do catch up with you and you are fit and have learnt to fight too, you should be in a better position to take them on.

Often though an attacker will not take chase. When a 26-year-old was attacked with a knife one evening in 2010 (Knife Attack in Burwell, UK) he quickly ran off which saved him from further assault and loss of property.

4. Use Quick and Effective Techniques

Never underestimate the fitness and fighting ability of a mugger - even if you have several years of martial arts training under your belt for they may have a decade of street fighting experience under theirs! It is for this reason that fighting is best avoided, but should you have to fight, make sure that you are prepared.

Ideally you should learn some basic self-defence and learn to strike where it hurts. There is no shame in attacking vital organs, you do what is necessary and then get out of there as fast as possible by running away from danger.

If you have to fight, make sure you strike hard and quick. Forget any soft styles you may have learned and never push someone off as this just gives them more space. If you find yourself in close you must strike hard and hopefully wind your attacker and then quickly make your escape.

When training in a martial art it is important to learn the differences between training and the real thing. When practicing in the gym you do not suffer from elevated adrenaline levels, tunnel vision and reduce conscious thought. In a real life situation these can occur and your training should teach you how to manage them and still make a clean escape. The key is to be stressed in training but calm in real life.

5. Stay Away From Trouble

Sounds obvious doesn’t it? But answer this: how well do you really know your town? After the recent trouble in London many people admitted they only just realised how many people were living so close to them who had such poor economic prospects.

Every year we hear that many people are living on the poverty line, but how often do you stop to question who these people are and how they survive? Staying out of trouble could be as simple as taking a slightly longer route home when walking, cycling or even driving. Know your neighbourhood, your streets and learn the safest routes.

Staying out of trouble also means avoiding dangerous nightclubs and even some house parties. Doormen in clubs are notorious for allowing people to smuggle weapons in. People carry knives, hammers and even guns into some night clubs.

These simple tips could keep you out of serious trouble. Although we learn martial arts to defend ourselves, the ultimate form of self-preservation is to not put yourself in danger.

“To have 100 victories in 100 battles is not the highest skill, To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.” - Sun Tzu

And of course, even better than subduing an enemy is to avoid meeting one altogether!

AUTHOR BOX: This guest post was written for Low Tech Combat by Jack Roberts of Black Eagle Martial Arts.

Image via Lua Ahmed

Is Killing Someone Who Broke Into Your Home, Self Defence?

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

FORCED ENTRY

A number of cases in the UK recently are certainly saying YES, it is Self Defence.

There seems to be a big trend in the UK this year for both law makers and politicians (including the PM, David Cameron), for wanting to clarify the law to state that stabbing a home intruder to death should never be punished. It should only ever be determined as acting in self defence.

"put beyond doubt that homeowners and small shopkeepers who use reasonable force to defend themselves or their properties will not be prosecuted"

- David Cameron, British Prime Minister

Below we will be having a look at three cases where all of the people featured were found to have acted in self defence where no charges were laid. The defenders were deemed to have used reasonable force. All of the intruders were killed by stabbing wounds from a knife.

One other case will highlight what was NOT considered reasonable force and this person was sent to prison. This was a controversial case at the time.

Let's get into it.

Vincent Cooke

VINCENT COOKE

During the home invasion, the home owner, Cooke, had been taken upstairs at knifepoint by the intruder, Raymond Jacob. Whilst being taken upstairs by Jacob, there was a struggle and Cooke stabbed the intruder.

"At the time he was in fear for his own safety and the safety of his wife and son, who arrived at the house as the incident was happening."

- The Prosecutor

The courts decided that Vincent Cooke had acted in self defence and had used reasonable force.

Thoughts? In this case, I doubt anyone would disagree. When criminals start moving people around, they normally mean no good. And if anyone is ever in that situation, where your wife and son arrive as this is all happening... well... In that situation, it is reasonable to assume that something very bad was going to happen either to you, and/or your loved ones.

The other key here is that the intruder was using a weapon, a knife.

This case is a clear example of reasonable force. Killing in this instance was deemed Self Defence.

Source: BBC

Peter Flanagan

THE FLANAGHAN HOME

Peter Flanaghan, his 27yr old son and his son's girlfriend were woken during the night, just before midnight by sounds downstairs. Flanaghan investigated the disturbance and was confronted by four intruders, one of whom was armed with a machete. When Flanaghan confronted the men, a scuffle broke out between him and one of the intruders and Flanaghan stabbed the man in the chest.

Shortly afterwards, three of the other intruders were seen carrying the body of the stabbed intruder down the street. When they heard sirens approaching, they abandoned their accomplices body on the street and fled. They were soon caught.

"People are entitled to use reasonable force in self-defence to defend themselves, their family and their property. All the evidence indicates that in the frightening circumstances that he faced, Mr Flanagan did what he honestly and instinctively believed was necessary to protect himself and his home from intruders."

- Chief Crown Prosecutor

Thoughts? You've got your son and his girlfriend upstairs as you go down to investigate the sound. When you see the four men, one armed with a machete, what goes through your mind? What would go through any normal persons mind? That is the key. If the answer to that question is similar to what happens, what happens would be seen to be reasonable at the time and the claim of self defence will probably be established.

Key factors in this case were that there were multiple attackers and they were armed, one with a machete.

Source: The Independent

Cecil Coley

CECIL COLEY

Cecil Coley, 72yrs old, was playing cards in his flower shop with a 60yr old friend of his. Four men armed with guns and knives stormed into the shop. During the ensuing struggle, Mr Coley received a number of injuries, including a serious facial injury, and his friend was knocked unconscious. At some point in the incident, one of the guns, a blank firing pistol, was fired.

"all the evidence indicated that when Coley took a knife that was on the shop counter and struck out with it, he was acting in a way that he felt instinctively necessary to protect himself while fearing for his life."

- The Prosecutor

Coley killed one of the intruders by stabbing. Coley was deemed to have acted in self defence.

Thoughts? It must have been terrifying for him. Four men armed with knives and guns. Coley was 72. Coley was outnumbered, outarmed and much older. These are all factors that contribute towards a favourable self defence decision in court. Coley had them all on his side.

Source: The Guardian

Brett Osbourn

Note: This case is longer than the others as the circumstances need to be explained.

Brett Osbourn and four friends were watching television over a drink.

Wayne Halling had been smashing the windows of other houses in the street with his fists and head, giving himself more than 90 wounds. His wrist was cut to the bone and he had sliced half through one of his toes. He was covered in blood.

By the time Halling arrived at the home where Osborn was sitting with his friends, he was, as every witness who was interviewed stated, a "terrifying sight".

Halling got in the house because one of Osborn's companions, Kelly Hinds, had heard the commotion and gone outside. The drug-crazed Halling took her for "Emma", the girlfriend who, he screamed, had "set him up". Miss Hinds recalled that he "grabbed me and pushed me against a parked car. I immediately got blood from him on my top. I managed to push him away".

Halling pursued her back to the house. Miss Hinds managed to get inside but, even with the help of her pregnant sister, Jodie, was unable to close the door against his weight or stop him from pushing his way in. He staggered along the corridor, smearing the walls with blood.

Jodie Hinds screamed "He's in the house! He's in the house!" and Jay Westbrook, her boyfriend, struggled with him, knocking him down. But he got up again and kept going.

Osborn recalls: "There is blood everywhere, things are flying everywhere, the girls are screaming hysterically. I just don't know what to do. Then he starts coming towards me." In fear and confusion, Osborn picked up a steak knife with a 6in serrated blade that he says was on the floor. He would later tell the police: "I didn't know what he was going to do to me." Also, knowing that Jodie Hinds was pregnant, he was terrified of what might happen if she were attacked. "He came towards me, sort of grabbed me," says Osborn, "and I lunged, and stabbed him that was the only thing I could think to do. It was just the panic. He's mad, he's crazy, he's just smashed up three houses, attacked people, beaten up my friend. I didn't know what was going to happen. There's blood all over him. The only thing I could think of was to protect myself and the other people in the house."

Halling fell to the floor. Police and an ambulance then arrived: there had been several calls to the emergency services, but because of fights in Romford as the pubs closed, officers had been slow to get to the scene.

"The law does not require the intention to kill for a prosecution for murder to succeed. All that is required is an intention to cause serious bodily harm. That intention can be fleeting and momentary. But if it is there in any form at all for just a second - that is, if the blow you struck was deliberate rather than accidental - you can be guilty of murder and spend the rest of your life in prison. Moreover, while self-defence is a complete defence to a charge of murder, the Court of Appeal has ruled that if the force you use is not judged to have been reasonable - if a jury, that is, decides it was disproportionate - then you are guilty of murder. A conviction for murder automatically triggers the mandatory life sentence. There are no exceptions."

- The Barrister

The legal situation was explained to Osborn by his defence team. Mr Bott and Mr Potter advised him that although they thought it very unlikely that any jury would reject his plea that he had stabbed Halling in self-defence, they could not, in all honesty, claim that it was a certainty. There was a small chance that a jury might decide that his use of the knife was "disproportionate". The jurors would then be bound, under the law, to convict him of murder.

Osborn pleaded guilty to manslaughter as a result of provocation. He was sentenced to five years in prison, of which three years was expected to be the maximum sentence.

Thoughts? This was (and remains), a controversial case. Many people felt that under those circumstances, Osborn had acted reasonably. He was with friends, including two females (one of which was pregnant and one was assaulted by Halling), he was clearly unstable, was covered in blood and had forced his way into their house.

The main difference in THIS case was that Halling was unarmed. There was only one of him. Osborn had used a knife. These are the facts that make a ruling of self defence difficult. Was using a knife and stabbing Halling five times using reasonable force? It's all too easy to look back in hindsight, a calm mind and some clarity of the situation.

Did Osborn need to wait until Halling had picked up a knife first? Would it be reasonable to feel that Halling would launch into a lethal attack at any moment? In the situation Osborn found himself in, I would assume that Halling was an immediate threat. At any time, he could arm himself and attack. After all, where did all that blood come from? Did he just kill someone down the street?

You COULD go for the self defence plea but again, who knows what a jury would think of using a knife against an unarmed aggressor. It's risky either way.

Because this case could have gone either way, I though it important to highlight that sometimes people in genuine self defence situations go to prison due to split second decisions.

Source: The Telegraph

Summary

Let's not forget for one moment in our calm look at the facts with the benefit of hindsight, each of these cases would have been quite sudden and quite scary. They were all desperate situations where those involved would have been shocked by the element of surprise and that shock would have endured throughout.

All genuine self defence situations are scary. Someone is trying to kill you! (I hope your training scares you from time to time as well, it should).

In this state, humans cannot make clear and logical decisions. How we react, besides acting on instinct for the untrained, will largely be a result of our own training, beliefs and make up.

What are your thoughts on using lethal force to defend yourself or your loved ones?

What are your thoughts on using lethal force to defend your property?

Are they different?

Have you got weapons handy in case someone does break into your home? Will that make any attack you use with that weapon pre meditated in the eyes of a jury? That is something you need to consider. Is there a way you can store it in a place that is more natural for you to instinctively go for it? Instead of having a knife under the bed, could you store it with some diving or fishing gear in a cupboard nearby? Things like this need to be considered. You do not want to set yourself up for a prison sentence before an intruder has even forced his way inside your home.

What about after the fact?

Those three men that were deemed to have used reasonable force in a self defence situation still have to live with them killing someone for the rest of their lives. Have you considered that? Are you inhumane? Will you take pleasure in killing? Do you look forward to it? Will you regret it every day for the rest of life?

Or do you accept that in such a situation, they have forced you to respond in a way to defend yourself. They have caused it, not you. You need to come to terms with how you will mentally view such a situation. Not just pre (as in trying to build confidence to act, though that is important), but post. How will you feel about your actions after the fact?

Does it really matter what your thoughts on it are if you spend the next ten years in prison?

Such considerations are just further reasons why we need to train in systems and methods that only use reasonable force, all of the time, such as ISR Matrix. If you are training in some ancient way where you do a sweep and then do a 'finishing' move once you have the attacker is down, you are training in an old obsolete system for the realities of todays day and age.

If you train knife defence where you do a disarm and then cut the attackers throat with their own knife, you are training in an obsolete system for todays day and age.

Spend some time thinking about what you consider reasonable actions are in the event someone (or group of people), breaks into your home. Think of numerous situations. What will you do? Maybe it will help if you spend a few moments writing down all of the realistic possibilities for your area. Then consider your appropriate options for each.

Can you fall back into one room that can be securely locked, like a safe room whilst you call the police?

What are the laws in your area?

Do you ALWAYS have all doors and windows locked? Even during the day? Do you always open the front door when someone knocks?

Food for thought.

What are your opinions of self defence in the home, or about the cases above? Do you know of other cases that are controversial?

Is killing ok?

Should we be able to use MORE force during a home invasion because it is in our home?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Opening Image via timsamoff

Human Combative Behaviour Manifesto

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:32:00 +0000

It's finally here.

The Human Combative Behaviour Manifesto.

Understanding human to human violence enables you to recognise a violent encounter before it happens. It enables you to avoid places, activities and times that are high risk for certain types of violence.

It enables you to avoid violence.

Understanding human to human violence better enables you to de-escalate a situation if you have been unable to avoid it.

Sneak Peak Inside

Have a sneak peak inside the Manifesto below.

Understanding Human Combative Behaviour is about knowing that broadly, there are only two types of violent encounter...

An Alpha Male encounter.

And a Predatory encounter.

The Human Combative Behaviour Manifesto provides details of both of these types of violent encounters. You will learn the following:

Know how to recognise high risk places, times and activities for each of the two types of human combative behaviour
Understand the vast differences in the Alpha Male and the Predator
Know the different goals of each
Know how to avoid each
Know how to de-escalate each (they both require two very different approaches)

There is a whole lot more in the Manifesto. It is over 8000 words and 40 pages.

BONUS Case Studies

Besides the Manifesto, you will also be sent 5 Case Studies. These will explore 5 real attacks and look at how they happened. The case studies will show you what type of combative behaviour the attacks were, the locations they happened and what the victim was doing at the time (and what they were not doing...) and more.

These case studies will showcase real incidents in the light of the knowledge learned in the Manifesto and will show you how you can apply the knowledge learnt in real life.

The case studies will show how a knowledge of human combative behaviour could have enabled the victim to recognise early what was going on and avoid the incident altogether or evade it or de-escalate it.

You will also be sent updates from this site, Low Tech Combat, as new articles are published as well as future special newsletters that will be sent only to newsletter subscribers. Subscribers will also be sent any future updates of the Manifesto as new information is obtained or refinements are adopted.

Get it all Now

Simply fill in your first name and email address above or below or in the top right of the sidebar of this site.

Once you have done that you will receive an email shortly after.

You will need to confirm you want to opt in to receive the Manifesto.

Once you have done that, you will receive your first newsletter which will tell you how to download the Manifesto.

Not convinced? Have a look at some of the feedback which has begun coming in about the Manifesto already, below.

Enjoy :)

Adam at Low Tech Combat

The Manifesto will be Released this Weekend :D

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:51:00 +0000

Announcement: The Human Combative Behaviour Manifesto will be released this weekend! 10 - 11th December 2011

Check out the short Promo video below :)

It will be available at some stage over this weekend. Not sure of the exact time as yet. Depends on the technical set up. I am very proud to be able to release this for free to all of the Low Tech Combat tribe. I am hoping this will be a very valuable resource.

Not long to go now.

Adam

Intro to Low Tech Combat: Video

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:44:00 +0000

YouTube link http://youtu.be/hKqulsW6OHs

Welcome to our brand new video :)

It is just a short 1 minute introduction to Low Tech Combat. Please share it around and let people know what Low Tech Combat is all about.

And while you're at it, let them know about the upcoming release of the Human Combative Behaviour Manifesto... It's coming soon.

Collection of Videos From Gathering of Modern Master Minds

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:37:00 +0000

Here is a sample of three audio based videos from a gathering of some well known and highly skilled and experienced martial arts and self defence instructors and practitioners. The following videos include such names as Kris Wilder, Rory Miller, Marc “Animal” MacYoung, Al Peasland, Nicholas Yang & Iain Abernethy.

What do you think? Some interesting stuff for sure.

The rest of the series of 11 videos can be found HERE.

Finally, the Differences Between Strategy and Tactics Explained

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:36:00 +0000

Too many people use the terms ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ incorrectly or even talk about a particular ‘thing’ or topic as being both a good strategy and tactic. Usually, this is actually referring to a tactic but the person likes to throw in the word strategy because it sounds cool, they don’t know better or believe it somehow implies a deeper thought process and means more...

Not any more. No more excuses.

There are unquestionable and very fundamental differences between strategy and tactics and these will be clearly detailed in this article. Not only are these words used poorly and often interchangeably, but a poor understanding of the meaning of the words can inhibit or mislead a persons overall training outcomes and objectives. It can muddy a persons goals and lead people down the wrong path. Sometimes, years can be spent training a certain way or in a certain system that is not really in line with their long term overall goals, purely because the meaning of ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ is not clearly understood.

These matters and more will now be discussed in detail.

What are Tactics?

Traditional definition:

...the art of disposing armed forces in order of battle and of organising operations, especially during contact with an enemy.

Simply, it is the art of disposing armed forces, especially during contact.

Tactics are those short term decisions and actions that give a combatant an advantage during combat or that time immediately prior.

Tactics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Counter fighting
Drawing an opponent to use a desired attack in order to present an opening to attack
Feinting to determine likely responses
Stop hitting
Using set up questions
Using non aggressive stances and posture to mentally disarm an aggressor
Telling an angry male that you thought you knew their girlfriend from school, that is why you were staring
Appearing crazier than the aggressor in order to prevent a possible encounter going physical
Repeating the same technique in order to prompt the defender to expect it again and then do something else
Go low then high, high then low, left then right, right then left etc.
Deciding not to argue with the drunk male who said you were a pathetic moron and told your girlfriend she could do better
Identifying that guy across the room who is pissed at you for some reason so you decide to leave that room or establishment prior to violence kicking off
Crossing the road or turning around when you see a dodgy person lingering near a driveway up ahead at night
Deciding not to use that ATM because there are some people hanging around that do not appear quite right
Buying that drunk guy a drink after his got spilt by you

This list is not exhaustive. Tactics are where the action is. Tactics are those actions and decisions taken with a short term focus. Tactics are right in the thick of an encounter or just prior to it happening or potentially happening. For many people, tactics are where the juice is. It is what they love. It is often quite enjoyable to watch a sport fighter fight who is a very good tactician. There is a lot going on. You can see them setting up their opponent. They are often referred to as smart fighters. They think. They utilise tactics and do it well.

Tactics and a 'game'

Of note, many sport fighters are certainly not good tacticians. Instead, they use their exceptional power or techniques. They have very good tools and they know how to use them. This could be in the form of combinations that work for them, superior quickness or an unstoppable takedown followed by submission or ground and pound.

These combinations of moves that work well for them are a basic form of rigid tactics. As an example, they will punch high for a while and when the opportunity presents itself, they know they will go for the takedown. This rigid form of tactics is what is referred to as a fighters ‘game’. They have a game plan they are going to follow. It is like a strict system of tactics that are tied together. Once a talented fighter with great tools has a good ‘game’ that works for them, watch out. They can be very hard to beat, even for a fighter who utilises a more fluid implementation of tactics.

Tactics are what most people focus on. It is what many people are good at. It probably makes up around 99% of a persons training time. It is what we do when we 'do' training. We drill, we spar, we roll, we compete etc. Most people have a pretty good appreciation of what tactics are and how to train in order to develop and enhance them. The mistake is, many people call some tactics, strategy. This is incorrect.

What is a Strategy?

Ok, we understand what tactics are now, so what is a strategy?

Traditional definition:

...a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

Strategy happens away from the action. If you are involved in a violent encounter, you are not using strategy, you are using tactics. Hopefully good ones and hopefully to a good standard.

Strategy is big picture stuff. Strategy happens when you think about something deeply over a period of time and make a deliberate decision. This could be a goal or plan or whatever. These could be medium term but are generally long term. Even very long term. These deliberate decisions or goals are what drives everything else. Implementing a strategy often takes work and effort. It can require a detailed plan as to how you are going to reach your strategic goal.

It is often hard work to make something achievable. That is one of the reasons few people engage in strategic thought and implement a strategic action plan to get things done in accordance with strategic aims. Its all too easy to place it in the too hard basket for a while and then go back to doing whatever you feel like on spur of the moment decisions or just follow what everyone else is doing. Following this pattern, it is very unlikely you will by accident end up where you want to be.

And then you are 80 years old and realise you havn’t done what you truly wanted to do...

In a martial arts or self defence context, deciding you want to learn how to defend yourself is very much a strategic decision. And an important one at that! However, too many people leave the strategic thought there and simply begin doing whatever classes are close to them or what their friends do. The basic strategic intent is there, however the implementation of that desired end state is done poorly. The decision of what to learn can impact on a person for years to come. A person may begin going to a certain class for 4 to 10 years or even longer. We are talking about a long time. But is that class really well suited to the students desired end state? Their strategic aim?

The issue largely stems from a beginner not really understanding violence and violent crime, so any decision they make at this early stage is likely going to be ill informed. As time goes on and the new student learns more about that violence they have made a decision to prepare themselves for, better decisions can then be made. Improvements to previous decisions can be made. The implementation of that strategic aim can improve over time.

A persons overall goals can change, so their strategic direction will change accordingly. They may change from wanting to be able to defend against a real attack to wanting to understand a certain culture and art they have since fallen in love with. As strategic goals change, their plan as to how they want to achieve those goals needs to change as well.

Another persons overall goals may harden. They may be more interested in the area of human to human violence and may want to learn more and more and pursue the worlds best practises and concepts in that field. This persons overall strategic goals don’t change, but their plans about how they are going to pursue them, will. It will become refined over time and more targeted and informed. The implementation of the strategic plan will improve as knowledge of the subject improves.

Strategic decisions drive activity through plans and routine. After identifying an overall strategic goal (and this may take some time to consider), a strategic plan is developed as to how that strategic goal is going to be realised. That plan is then implemented into ones life and is followed. This becomes a persons training routine. In that routine, classes and seminars are gone to, books are read and thought is undertaken.

Lessons are learnt. Done properly, these lessons directly contribute to moving towards achieving those strategic goals.

One of those areas that are developed whilst actioning our strategic plan is tactics. We learn tactics at our classes and whilst studying. With a properly implemented strategic plan, these learnt tactics will be very relevant to our desired strategic goals.

Strategic Decisions Drive our Learning of Tactics.

This ensures what we learn is what we want to be learning. If we did not make well considered strategic decisions we will likely not come across those lessons that we desire which includes our understanding of tactics. What point is being the worlds best at performing a Wushu demonstration when what we really wanted to do was become a proficient boxer? This is just a simple example of how not making those important strategic decisions and sticking with the intent can lead one easily down some other path that seemed interesting enough at the time but became all consuming as friends were going there and the people were nice and friendly.

Along the path, knowledge can increase strategic understanding and provide direction as to how our routine will best facilitate learning.

Here are some strategic issues and areas where knowledge can drive understanding and appropriate training which will likely lead to relevant tactics being learnt:

Understand the real violent crime statistics for your own neighbourhood
Understanding what form of violent crime YOU are most likely to encounter in your day to day life (fight at pub, mugging at car park etc.)
Understand what weapons are most commonly used in real attacks
Understanding that three or more attackers are much more likely than just two
Understand that some people will harness social norms to gain an advantage over you non violently
Understand how ego and face can become a core reason that violent encounters begin
Understand that assault types of attack are much more likely (about 10 times more), than muggings and robbery
Understand that about half of all assaults are between people who know each other (It may not be the stereotypical drunk guy you dont know in the pub)
Understand where the primary danger zones are for you and when they are most dangerous

The above is not an exhaustive list. These are just some big picture considerations that could be seen to be useful in driving some training methodologies that would be most relevant to a person for THEM and not a one size fits all. Once knowledge is gained and strategic direction is followed, look out. Such a person would be well on their way along the path.

The importance of strategy does not only need to apply in the martial arts or self defence context. It can apply anywhere. Think of a long term goal and work towards what is truly important to you. That is strategic thinking and strategic action. Along the way, you will learn tactics that work for that particular strategic field.

This article has demonstrated some of the clear differences between strategy and tactics. The differences are obvious. When you hear people use the terms incorrectly now, it will be loud and obvious. Harnessing the power of strategy is the most important thing. Tactics follow strategy. Strategy drives a good understanding of tactics.

Strategic subjects are generally those which are written about on this site. Most articles here are about bigger picture areas of what we call Low Tech Combat. To us, this is the most appropriate use of the written word on the internet. Tactics are best learnt in person from another person. However, too many people are engaging in training that does not really follow their overall intent. And that is a shame.

Strategy must come first in order to facilitate informed decisions and appropriate training.

Images via Okinawa Soba and Davide Restivo

Colour Codes of Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:46:00 +0000

The Colour Codes of Awareness from White through to Black

The Colour Codes of Awareness can be used as a model or system for conceptualising just how we should actually apply awareness. Many people espouse that we should always maintain awareness of our surroundings and be on the lookout for warning signs and indicators that warn of a person about to possibly attack. But it can still be unclear as to how we should go about being ‘aware’.

The Colour Codes of Awareness provide a clear and simple explanation about how to go about applying awareness and how to be aware. Such is the beauty of the system. This system was first developed by Jeff Cooper who was an officer in the Marines who served in WWII and Korea and was later a weapons trainer. The system I will be presenting here is a modified version which I think is more targeted and specific to the topic of awareness.

The system uses a scaled or tiered colour system to indicate different levels of awareness. The colours progress in order from white through to yellow, orange, red and black.

White - No Awareness

The white level is where you are completely unaware of what is going on around you. An example would be walking down the street to buy some fruit, staring at the ground and thinking of what you will be doing on the weekend. At the white level you are very prone to being caught by surprise. Some may even be able to remember being in such a state of awareness and being caught by surprise as someone else turned a corner at the same time as you and almost ran straight into you. Imagine if a person standing casually against a wall that you did not notice all of a sudden pulled a knife and demanded your wallet or purse. That feeling of surprise would be much much larger than simply bumping into someone.

White is bad. It leaves you vulnerable to being caught by surprise. Even a highly trained fighter will be on the back foot in such a situation and could be the difference between surviving and not. One of the very best things we can do for our own safety is to deny any possible attacker the use of the element of surprise. When you are in white, you are not aware of anything going on around you.

In white, you are vulnerable.

Leave white for when you are home. Of course, only if the doors and windows are locked. The home is one place we should all feel safe. Some extremists insist that even at home, we should never be at the white level. I certainly disagree on this one. If the doors and windows are all locked, let your guard down a little. Enjoy dinner. Enjoy that movie on the couch. But when out and about, we should all be in yellow mode as a default setting...

Yellow - Casual Scanning, General Awareness

The yellow level is what we should all be in at most times. At the yellow level, all we are doing is maintaining a general awareness of our surroundings. This involves recognising when we go into higher threat areas such as an empty multi level car park alone, or along a street that leaves a busy entertainment area at night by ourselves. These are higher threat times and we should logically be security conscious when in these environments. It is only through being aware that we can recognise a possible threat early so we can avoid it or take other measures. Being aware of our surroundings enables us to recognise this as we go.

As well as being aware of our environment and surrounds, in yellow we also maintain a general awareness of the people around us at any one time. This involves just a casual scan as we go about our lives. It is not about walking along, staring at people and turning our head in every direction. It is certainly not about being paranoid. It is simply about casually scanning as we go along with our life. Often when doing this, we will see our friends or family at a shopping centre well before they see us for example.

Essential for this yellow level to work, we need to know what we are looking for. Here, knowing some of the key signs and indicators of people likely to be trying to hide violent intent is vital. Some of these aspects are things such as clenched fists, avoiding eye contact, rocking back and forth or bouncing slightly, quick actions rather than relaxed and casual as well as hiding their hands are just some.

These are the types of things to look for when in yellow. These types of cues are used in conjunction with the environment you are in. Being in a busy mall in the middle of the day where pick pockets would be likely and being in a quiet train station at night where muggings or robbery would be more likely require two different types of approaches.

Actually knowing what to look for and knowing where the most dangerous areas are and actually casually scanning as you go about your life is what the yellow level is all abut. Scanning without the knowledge to know what to look for is misguided, though better than nothing. Skipping through an empty car park then lane as a short cut but scanning is misguided as well, as you may encounter 6 youths with weapons in front and behind you. This is about environmental awareness as well.

Once you have identified a possible threat, the orange level springs to life...

Orange - Possible Threat Detected, Assessment

You have been aware of where you have been going and you have casually been scanning around you and you have detected someone suspiciously hanging around a driveway up ahead who is hanging back mostly out of view...

Congratulations.

You have detected a very possible threat. This is how you stay safe from violent crime. Now that you have detected this possible threat, keep watching. Assess their behaviour. Think about the context of where you are and what the time is. Maybe you will see that this person is merely waiting for a lift as a car pulls alongside and picks him up. Maybe he has had a few drinks and is looking for somewhere to do a piss. It’s up to you to assess if this person really is a threat. It may take a split second, it may take a couple of minutes depending on how far away you are and things like that. If it is nothing, keep going on with your life.

The main thing is that you have identified something and have considered a threat to you. Many people never accept that someone would do any harm to them. It will never happen to them. Sometimes, it does. Most times it won’t though. There will be many instances of where you go from yellow to orange to yellow to orange and so on. This is the meat of how to avoid violent crime. If you are not looking for it, you won’t see it.

Red - Decision, Action

You have been in orange mode and have determined that the threat is likely a real threat. It is now decision time. Time to act. In the case of the person hanging around in the driveway mostly out of view, one possible action could simply be walking across the road before you get anywhere near that person. Maintain a watch on that person as you go by. Remember, most predatory attackers are looking for an easy victim, someone unaware, someone who can be caught by surprise. They will probably let you go by. Continue on, maintain awareness. Possibly as you cross the road, the person comes out a little, looks up and down the street quickly and is looking to cross as well. Turn around and go where you came from. If you need to, run. This could only ever be possible because you were at the yellow level to begin with and detected this threat early.

Red is all about taking avoidance actions. It is only possible because of the yellow and orange levels before it. Avoidance is more than just walking away from an argument (though it still can be), it is about detecting a threat early and then avoiding it. It could be leaving a bar or going to a separate area of a bar because you have seen someone eye balling you after they thought they saw you checking out their missus...

Is avoidance cowardly? Is it the weak way out for losers? I have heard some poor and immature arguments saying it is. Normally it is people with very low self confidence, very low self belief and fragile egos. I am very comfortable with myself and my abilities. I look at avoidance as winning. If I can recognise a threat and avoid it, I have won. Without lifting a finger.

Black - Engaged in Physical Encounter

Black is when you are engaged in a physical encounter. It could be a fight, a gang attack or whatever. This is not really a level of awareness but needs to be included as well. For one very important reason. What happened at all of the previous levels dramatically effects what happens at the black level. If you were in white mode and got attacked, your chances of success are quite low, no matter your ability. Whereas if you were in yellow mode, then recognised a threat, determined it was a probable one, and took action to avoid it first... Then you know exactly the nature of the attack. You are not shocked by surprise. Sure, it will still be a scary thing but you are not shell shocked by a massive push from the side.

You will know the nature of the attack such as whether it is predatory or alpha male. You may be able to lessen the time of the encounter. You will have a better base to draw on any methods you use as you know how it developed and maybe even why. You may have even detected that there are actually three guys and not only the one you see now. That is a key factor to know so you are not blindsided. You are in with a fighting chance.

You may have even had time to find an improvised weapon to even the odds a little. If you were in white mode, no such luck should be expected.

You may even have been able to determine that the guy is not a lethal threat because of what you saw prior to him picking you. He may just be hopelessly drunk or even mentally challenged. You may then attempt using less force than if you were caught by surprise.

Summary - Awareness = Avoidance

The point is, by starting at yellow, you give yourself options. You minimise the chances of being caught by surprise. Even though you may not be caught by surprise, it should be said that there will still be stress. Utilising the colour codes of awareness will not necessarily stop things such as tunnel vision, slow motion time, auditory exclusion, high heart rate, loss of fine motor skills etc. But, it will limit their effects as surprise is taken out of the equation. Combat will always be stressful. Low Tech Combat is Raw. But seeing things develop early can limit these effects and enable us to still think and act. Especially important is that harnessing the colour codes of awareness enables us to act before it turns physical.

All you need to do is start off at yellow and avoid white. Its that simple.

Yellow then orange then red. Hopefully that is all. That is how awareness works and how awareness equals avoidance.

What Does the 21 Foot Rule for Defending Against a Knife Mean For Non Mil/LE?

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Nathan over at TDA Training has asked me to contribute to a series of posts about a video he published on his site which showcases Dan Inosanto. I was only too happy to contribute! It is quite a famous video. In it, Dan shows how a Police officer with a weapon still in its holster, generally requires a surprise knife attacker to be 21 feet away in order to allow enough time and space to recognise what is happening (the person has pulled a knife and is charging), and then make the decision to act, and then draw the weapon and fire at the centre of the attacker. Any less than 21 feet and the officer is generally not able to draw the weapon and fire in time before the knife is inserted into the Police officer's body. I recommend going to watch the 21 foot rule video at Nathan's site before reading on.

This video is specifically aimed for Law Enforcement (LE). For non LE or Military personnel for that matter, what does this video teach us? What about purely from a self defence perspective? There are some things which are quite important in this video and some things that are not relavent.
TGace from The Things Worth Believing In has detailed some of the more pertinent cases against the video at TDA Training. This is a good read and I won't go into what TGace covers too much here. Also, Patrick Parker from Mokuren Dojo highlights that the handgun is not always the supreme weapon. The knife can be more dangerous. This video shows some examples of this. Peter talks about this and more HERE.

Is the 21 Foot Rule Irrelevant?

From a self defence perspective, the video is largely irrelevant. We do not walk around with a pistol in a holster (except maybe some of the US readers and subscribers, but you guys are a minority). We do not need to fumble for a pistol. So that part is completely not of use to us. Or is it?

What type of movement is going to draw a pistol out of a holster? Yes. It is a fine motor skill. Straight away, regular readers will know what this means. It once again highlights that fine motor skills fail under pressure. Even when quite a lot of training has been done on just one fine motor skill movement. When an attacker with a knife chargers, that is the only move. The LE officer does not need to choose from a large number of possible techniques. There is just one. This makes things much easier to process under real intense stress. But still, we can see in the video that one simple fine motor skill fails (or is very slow and fumbly), under pressure.

This once again highlights that relying on fine motor skills is a very risky endeavor. Relying on gross motor skills is a much better tactic with a higher percentage chance of working under pressure. Unfortunately, the LE officer has little other option but to draw the weapon from the holster. Here a LOT of repetition is key. And this must include repetition in realistic scenarios such as the ones in the video.

Distraction

One other interesting lesson from the video is that in many instances, Dan goes to draw the weapon soon after handing over ID or some other activity. This is another key point. The LE officer is distracted and focused on something other than what the suspect is doing. This is important. As I have said numerous times,

Beware the distracting question or action from someone you consider a possible threat!

This is very relavent for self defence purposes as well as LE. This requires us to ignore some questions for a few moments in case the person does something quickly. This also means not looking away to where the person may be pointing. It also means not looking down at our watch when asked the time. These are just some ways an attacker may seek to distract us. This is a very common tactic. And it works.

Expect a Knife to be Possible

In the UK, Australia and Canada (as well as likely many other similar countries), the knife or edged weapon is the most likely weapon used in attacks today. This statement has come from research I have done into real statistics from those countries. In the US, a handgun is the most likely, followed by a knife. In the lead up to any possible physical encounter we all need to be looking (not constantly), at the hands of the other person. The knife may not be there straight away. This does not mean we can tick it off the list. Throughout, we need to watch for the person going to draw a knife. This is another key lesson from the video from a self defence perspective. A knife can be used even on the ground, so watch for a draw there as well. In many instances in the video, we can see the LE officer did not see Dan going for the weapon straight away. This was largely due to them being distracted.

Generally, a knife is secreted away in the waist area. Watch for them going for that area. This could be the front or the back. This is something that Wim mentioned in his comments about the same 21 foot rule video. As soon as a likely attacker goes for that area, assume a knife is being sought. Obviously, take the context of any discussion into account.

No Gun, So What Do We Do?

In the footage, the LE officer had a pistol. We will probably be unarmed. True, but the lessons from this video is not so much about technique, but about awareness. The earlier you can see a threat, the sooner you can react to it, thus shortening down that 21 foot distance. The only way you can see a threat early is by looking for it. The only way you can be looking for a threat action is if you are not distracted.

Be aware and maintain your awareness.

But what do we do? What technique can we do instead of the pistol draw? Obvious question. But this is not one that can be answered well purely online. That is not the point of this article. Seek out your own training providers in this regard. One good example of knife defence is STAB knife defence. Check it out. But technique requires hands on. Whatever it is you do, make it gross motor!

Image via sethfrantzman

STAB Knife Defense System Video

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:46:00 +0000

The STAB knife defense system is certainly a good one. This is a solid video on knife defence. I encourage everyone to watch this all the way through, it is that important. It is 17min and 20sec of your life, invest it in learning this stuff.

The STAB knife defence system is alive and it is all about controlling that knife bearing limb. This is 90% of what effective knife defence is all about. Controlling that knife bearing limb.

At Low Tech Combat, we discuss realistic knife defence a lot. The things we suggest for a realistic and effective knife defence system is evident in the STAB system.

For further considerations and info on realistic knife attacks and defence, check out the following:

and on Aliveness for those who are not fully aware of what that term means:

Aliveness: Common Sense or Controversial?

Has anyone done any STAB courses or training? What do you think of the video? Too simplistic? Incomplete? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

ISR Matrix: The Definitive Review and Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:48:00 +0000

ISR Matrix is a self defence system which teaches a linear response that aims to overcome an attack in a progressive manner. The defenders response can be scaled depending on the nature of the attack. In particular, the response is scaled according to the legal use of force continuum. For a more aggressive attack, more force can be used where necessary. Where little real threat is present, control is used to neutralize the attack.

This organic ability within the system is one of its strengths. Although ISR Matrix is targeted primarily at the Law Enforcement (LE) and Armed Forces (AF) communities, they also cater to civilians. It is well understood that LE and AF personnel need to adhere to strict use of force guidelines however, most self defence systems for civilians ignore such a reality. Everyone needs to be concerned with use of force. A person defending against an attack can legally use too much force purely out of a reaction or overly aggressive training and end up in court and then prison. CCTV is everywhere. This is very important.

Review and Interview

This post is an independent review of ISR Matrix so that subscribers and readers of Low Tech Combat can better understand the system and make an informed decision as to whether they should pursue opportunities to participate in one of the ISR Matrix courses. Included is an exclusive interview with Dave Pauli who is the Australian representative for ISR Matrix. This in itself is excellent reading! Some of the key strengths and weaknesses of the ISR Matrix system will be explored as well.

UPDATE: Since first writing this review, the writer of this post (Adam @ Low Tech Combat), has participated in an ISR Matrix course, so this post has been updated where necessary. Not much has needed to be changed actually. Indeed many of the comments at the bottom of this post (which are numerous and positive) make more sense since having now done a course. The quick version, it is highly recommended!!

Note: This is a long post, even for Low Tech Combat standards.

ISR Matrix was founded by Luis Gutierrez in 1996. It is based on the principles of Aliveness. Luis Gutierrez is also the vice President of Matt Thornton's Straight Blast Gym. Therefore, we can see straight away that the system is very much focused on closing and clinching. This is how the system pressure tests its students. This is how the founders and instructors are able to test their system and prove that it works. Can they apply their system against a 100% resisting opponent in realistic scenarios? With much of the focus being on the LE and AF community, the focus is teaching that which works in real dynamic environments, within the use of force continuum.

ISR Matrix

ISR is an acronym which provides an overview of the entire system.

"I" stands for Intercept.

"S" stands for Stabilize.

"R" stands for Resolve.

The 9 Core Components

Within ISR Matrix there are 9 core components.

Within the "Intercept" phase there are the "Helmet", "Dive" and "Arm Drag".

Within the "Stabilize" phase there are the "Wrist Weave", "Harness" and "Underhook and Pike".

Within the "Resolve" phase there are the "S Position", "Back Rides" and "Arm Wrap and Knee Ride".

Overall, the system teaches a 3 stage response whereby the defender intercepts by either outflanking or closing aggressively with the attacker and achieves a controlling position to momentarily stabilize and neutralize the attack. When physically engaging, this is the first response to all attacks. From that moment and position of stability, the situation and resolution options are quickly assessed and the defender choses how to resolve the situation with due regard to the nature of the attack, the likelihood of it continuing and the legal considerations of the use of force continuum. The defender may chose to disengage, restrain or indeed apply striking techniques. This the beauty of the system in a day and age of legal prosecutions and a widespread network of CCTV cameras spreading through society.

Within the Use of Force Continuum

In a self defence setting, a simple locking or restraining hold may be all that is required to stop the threat. Remember that most assaults occur between people who know each other. You do not want to knockout uncle Bob just because he has been going through a rough patch and has had a few too many drinks at a family bbq.

For an attacker who is still being aggressive and is still trying to attack the defender, further techniques can be used to stop the attack from a controlling position where the attacks are mitigated. Where there may be more than one attacker, a more destructive technique could be used. The person being held could be positioned between the defender and the other attackers or forcefully directed into them. Striking, dynamic takedowns and forcefully directing attackers into obstacles is always an option. At any time, the defender can disengage if required.

The point is, once in this controlling position, an appropriate technique can be deployed depending on the level of threat. From these stabilising positions, the defender can think. This is very important. Thinking under pressure will enable smarter decisions to be made rather than just reacting through an entire encounter. It is known that in a real encounter, under pressure and stress, thinking rarely happens. This is normal. These stabilising positions facilitate and enable the defender to think. The advantages of this should not be overlooked. ISR Matrix has obvious advantages to any practitioner.

Aliveness is Central

One other aspect of ISR Matrix which is also key to its success and growing popularity is its ability to train its students in the system gradually and progressively. At first, the system can be taught slowly until it is understood and then it can gradually be stepped up in intensity by having the "attacker" resist the moves more and more until they are resisting 100%. This is important.

Indeed, as an opponent resists, this leads to follow up transitions. The resisting opponent determines what technique the ISR Matrix defender will employ. They are not trying to force their techniques on the aggressor. This is one of the aspects of the training that impressed the writer of this review. The defender can easily transition from one hold to another, based purely on how the aggressor tries to resist from a stabilising hold. This happens to a good standard in a very short period of training time on an ISR Matrix course.

Like has been said many times here at Low Tech Combat, any system that aims to be teaching self defence as one its training benefits (be that self defence courses or martial arts), needs to be utilizing Alive training drills, so that students can apply their techniques and tactics under pressure.

Sensory Depravation and Overload

Once proficiency has been gained in utilizing the 9 Core Components against resisting opponents in various scenarios, there may be further additions to the training, venue permitting. Music is turned up loud. This is to overwhelm the sense of hearing. The lights are turned off. This is to limit the use of sight, humans most powerful sense. Lights are flashed on and off from a torch and shined over the place and into the defenders eyes. All of this aims to take the student out of their comfort zones and raise the heart rate and apprehension.

In such a state, no fine motor skills will work. Such lengths are gone to because in real situations, the conditions may not be ideal as well. ISR Matrix is designed to work regardless of environmental conditions and stressors. Drills such as those briefly described above greatly enhance the participants confidence in the event of experiencing similar stressors in the future.

Interview with the ISR Matrix Australia Head Representative

Low Tech Combat has been in touch with Dave Pauli, who is the head ISR Matrix representative in Australia. I have asked Dave to answer some questions about ISR Matrix for the subscribers and readers of Low Tech Combat. Dave has surprised me very much with some very comprehensive answers which make very interesting and informative reading. I got a lot out of it. I am sure you will get a lot out of this interview as well.

Let’s get into it.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

What do you feel are the 3 best aspects of the ISR Matrix system?

Dave ISR Matrix:

The core ISR techniques enable the participants to train with high levels of intensity for extended classes with practically zero risk of injury. High levels of intensity in training are essential for the participant to have confidence in themselves and the system and to burn the system to memory. Systems that rely on bone breaking, joint manipulations and so on simply cannot be tested under pressure in training.

All ISR techniques are truly multi-purpose and interchangeable, offering a lot of bang for your buck across a wide range of situations. Less is more… fewer techniques means quicker reaction times and more training time available to build expertise in each of those skills. This aspect, along with the emphasis throughout the ISR on structure based defence, dominant positioning, environmental control/situational awareness and ready transitions between techniques and use of force options ensures street applicability.

The training method and the people behind it cannot be overlooked. The ISR Board of Directors is comprised of some of the finest sworn law enforcement and military use of force training professionals worldwide. The proven coaching methods and techniques have been refined in their own successful and progressive MMA gyms and within their special operations teams. We have one instructor that served in a military special operations unit followed by over 30 years on a busy full-time SWAT team, all the while training and competing in functional combat sports. Most have over 20 years experience at the sharp end.

The ISR approach has been validated by the ISR Board of Directors, both in competition against trained resistors and in the streets, jails and night clubs from Iraq and Afghanistan to the United States, Canada and Australia where the bad guy is not bound by rules. The ISR material has been tested under extreme levels of resistance during our internal R&D and the team routinely beat up on each other to validate the truth in combat. I have not seen this level of commitment nor this level of operational and training expertise evident in other systems that I have trained under.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

What are the 2 biggest shortcomings of the ISR Matrix system?

Dave ISR Matrix:

Currently the single largest shortcoming of the ISR is that demand is close to outstripping supply. Our ISR Matrix LE Instructor Trainers remain full-time Law Enforcement Officers and run MMA gyms part time. ISR Matrix is in demand worldwide and although we regularly conduct courses for various agencies, we simply don’t always have the instructional staff on hand to readily deal with every short notice course request that comes our way. That said we are not about to compromise on the training standards required of ISR Matrix Field Instructors and Instructor Trainers.

Further to the above, we simply don’t have the time, the staff and in many cases the interest to create a full-time marketing division to raise awareness of the ISR and the extent of our training programs. We are well known in LE/MIL training circles amongst the better units as that’s our core business. We aren’t as well known in civilian circles as some of the better known systems out there that are run by retired Officers or civilians. ISR was established in 1996 and only advertised to civilians in the past couple of years. ISR Matrix has 3 different streams and numerous levels and modules available within those streams.

ISR is best known for the subject control material, however there are further training modules available that integrate with our core material such as ground survival and escape, attached and unattached striking, vehicle based combatives and clinch with cloth, all of which are exceptional and battle tested programs in their own right. All too often, potential students and sometimes even those that have trained with us for one course, have an incomplete view of the depth of the ISR system.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

What areas of ISR Matrix are likely to evolve in the future?

Dave ISR Matrix:

Although we continually pressure test our material, the actual techniques themselves will likely not evolve a great deal. They have stood the test of time over hundreds of years in their respective combat sports and thousands of encounters over 15 years of our own internal R&amp;D. That said in the unlikely event that we find something more functional we will pressure test and adopt it if it meets our needs and enhances the system.

Our training methodology is undergoing continuous subtle refinements as we closely monitor developments in adult education, sports psychology, performance under stress and use of force training research. We are often developing new drills to teach or reinforce our proven tactics in a more efficient manner. We recognize the limitations placed on training budgets and training hours and seek to develop the finest possible exponents within the constraints of Departmental realities in training.

We are continually getting operational feedback from our course graduates, workplace liasions, Field Instructors and Instructor Trainers that are actively involved in high threat law enforcement and armed forces operations worldwide. As a specialist training provider without a large instructional cadre and without restrictive hardcopy “doctrine” we are well placed to quickly respond to emerging threats and new developments and nowhere is this more evident than our ISR Matrix AF stream where there is always an abundance of new variations and drills to be dissected at each of our regular Instructors summits.

We have been reluctant to release manuals and instructional DVD’s in the past given concerns over quality control and the potential for people to take this intellectual property and teach it as their own without ever having attended a course or properly understanding the material. However as the ISR grows in popularity and demand from our affiliates thirst for knowledge increases, some of our clinch with cloth material will be offered in instructional DVD format and some of our core material will become available in manual format.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

What is one of the best drills used in the ISR Matrix courses?

Dave ISR Matrix:

From the very first low pressure drill, through to the last high pressure drill, each drill has its place and is a stepping stone that contributes to the students success. That said it’s not possible to identify the best drill as they are all important for the students development. Feedback from students indicate that the better drills are those that prove challenging to their previous skillsets and highlight the importance of choosing function before form, especially in low light environments and confined spaces. ISR isn’t about aesthetics, it’s about what works in the real world.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

That’s fair enough Dave, there may be no ‘best’ drill, but could you just explain one of the basic drills found in ISR matrix for the readers of Low Tech Combat?:

Dave ISR Matrix:

I could take the easy option and give an example of a simple drill, but that would be both short changing you and not giving an accurate picture of the ISR. A single drill in isolation would appear to be "just another tool for your toolbox" or just another party trick. What's more important to ISR than the drill itself is the desired learning outcome of our systematic progressive drilling. A key strength of the ISR is the ability to control, assess and reassess while transitioning to other core techniques within the matrix. We don't train to get stuck in a rut by over training a certain pattern with a compliant partner.

Although there is a small selection of techniques in the ISR, there is an infinite number of drills or sequences available. Each drill I teach is an evolution of the previous drill and a step to the next drill. We introduce new drills every few minutes throughout the course by inserting another variable, another movement, another tactical consideration and/or another element of subject resistance and 99% of our drilling involves degrees of resistance (aliveness).

My aim through drilling and stimulus response training is to have students reach a stage where their initial physical control response to a hostile act occurs without conscious thought, leaving the students mind free to consider the situation, the environment, their options and consequences for selecting a course towards resolution - i.e. restraint, disengage, induce trauma or employ a weapon or other tactical option. Think of it as instilling tactical problem solving ability on the fly.

To answer your question, an example of a basic drill that illustrates my point in layman's terms could be: the subject throws a punch (any punch), you cover, intercept and take up a modified clinch then push him away to disengage to safety. That's an example of a basic drill and it's a drill that won't work all the time, that's why I chose it to illustrate this example.

ISR students however would constantly train a series of minor environmental, situational and subject variations, drawing on tactics from the rest of the ISR where necessary to enable that tactic to apply with a wider range of situational and environmental considerations - i.e. rather than the student learning a single technique, they now have a functional and adaptable skill with the ability to apply it to multiple situations and problem solve mid fight.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

Fundamentally, cases of Assault and other attacks such as Muggings and Robbery are quite different to each other with different mind sets, approaches etc. One is very Predatory in nature (muggings and robbery) and one is what we call Alpha Male in nature (Assaults). What type of attack does ISR Matrix mostly concentrate on?

Dave ISR Matrix:

While an understanding of criminal methodology and profiling is a most useful pre-fight self defence skill, when a fight breaks out, the reason why a fight erupted is of secondary concern to actually dealing with the fight. ISR picks up where the other systems leave off in that a students first course especially, the training is almost all about the in-fight. We don't engage in drawn out reality based style scenarios that may try to establish or deal with an attackers motives when we can instead be drilling and attaining proficiency in functional self defence skills. With that in mind, we train for probability not possibility.

Historically speaking, with a background in training private security, corrections and police, ISR students are at risk from a physical assault ambush during a field interview or resistance during restraint. That's primarily what we train towards. A committed attacker will most likely come at you with either punches, a tackle, a grab or push and ISR deals with that very well.

An attacker who resists the control and restraint process is another typical threat that is thoroughly addressed by ISR. Given that our tactics are functional and multi-purpose there's no reason why they can't be utilized in other less common self defence scenarios that become physical. For the hardcore RBSD scenario fan, many utilise the ISR Matrix tactics in conjunction with their existing pre-fight awareness and communication skills.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

Will someone be proficient at dealing with most self defence situations after doing one ISR Matrix course? Please expand.

Dave ISR Matrix:

ISR deals with probability, not possibility. If you are seeking an intensive course that offers tangible benefits and measurable success in dealing with common assaults then you have come to the right place. ISR training instills immediate instinctive reactions to these common attacks and students are physically performing well after 3 days, far better than an equal amount of time spent training in less functional systems or with a less functional training method. We will perform around 1000 repetitions of each technique in a course under progressive alive resistance through many different drills and thousands of technique transitions.

After 3 days hard training, students with no previous martial arts background are able to consistently deal with larger, stronger, fitter and better trained attackers. The many testimonials on our website speak volumes of the speed at which our students develop functional skills. That said, more is always better and a students performance and understanding improve dramatically on subsequent courses – another reason why we don’t award instructor status after just one course.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

Can you provide some real world examples of some people who have done an ISR Matrix course and have applied what they learnt in real situations?

Dave ISR Matrix:

There are many. Some that immediately come to mind –

A bouncer that successfully applied a torso control technique on an aggressive patron only hours after his first day of ISR training.
Numerous watch house officers who have earned reputations as the go to guy to restrain hostile prisoners because they have demonstrated functional subject control skills.
A Crowd Controller who was jumped by six offenders in a hotel and was able to defend himself until backup arrived without suffering injury or escalating to higher levels of force.
A Police Officer that witnessed a brief demonstration of just one ISR technique and used that technique successfully on numerous occasions despite never having practiced it themselves.
A friend of a student who avoided an armed robbery or assault with a weapon in Indonesia because one of our students had talked with him about some of the pre-threat cues that were integrated into our ISR drilling.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

If you had to give away one secret about self defence, what would it be?

Dave ISR Matrix:

Nobody ever won a fight, there’s always consequences and rarely is anyone deemed a hero. The best you can hope for and indeed train for is to go home in one piece, surviving the fight, the trial by media and the courts with your integrity, bank balance, employment and relationships still intact. Training appropriately to achieve this outcome is vital.

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

What is one thing from the ISR Matrix system that readers of Low Tech Combat can take away right now to enhance their self defence skills?

Dave ISR Matrix:

Adopt an instinctive non-diagnostic, ambidextrous response that stops you from getting knocked out. All else fails if you are unconscious. Surviving the physical assault ambush, immediately gathering your senses and countering appropriately are essential to self defence. Question, test and filter your current techniques via alive resistance and only retain that which is functional - better still, save yourself the decades of research and development and come an learn it direct from us to get it right the first time!

Adam @ Low Tech Combat:

Dave, thanks very much for your comprehensive answers. Its been thoroughly enjoyable.

Dave ISR Matrix:

Thanks for the interview Adam, it’s been a pleasure.

Great stuff. I am sure will all agree. Now we will have a look at what can be perceived as being the strengths and weaknesses of the ISR Matrix system.

Strengths

Legal considerations covered by operating within the use of force continuum.
Alive training allows for pressure testing and quick learning times.
Gross motor techniques work under pressure.
Realistic physiological responses are stimulated.
Technique selection and progressive training methodology ensures safe training despite the high level of intensity.
Emphasis on training for position later lends itself to striking and combatives from a position of safety.
Once foundation skills are established, there are further modules available to address ground and striking applications that integrate with the foundation skills

Weaknesses

Lack of training at the pre-fight stage.
Use of strikes are limited in the earlier stages of ISR Matrix training modules.
Closing can be unnecessary/dangerous in civilian circumstances.
Closing can be a bad choice if an attacker turns out to be a trained grappler.

Conclusions?

Let's address the weaknesses first.

Lack of training at the pre-fight stage -

ISR Matrix is unashamedly interested solely in the actual combative phase of any conflict. It lets other systems deal with, and teach, the pre-fight aspects such as recognizing the nature of the approach and pre-attack signs and indicators. This allows the system to focus purely on drilling and attaining proficiency in the physical responses of any type of physical encounter. If you are interested in learning about and understanding the pre-fight stage of conflict, ISR Matrix courses are not for you. If you want to quickly achieve a good level of physical skills, this is the course for you.

Use of strikes are limited in the earlier stages of ISR Matrix training modules -

From such a base where control is first sought (as in ISR Matrix training modules), strikes can easily be delivered from a position of control. In particular, elbows and knees. This is why in earlier modules, the focus is on first achieving that control or position. One can argue that this weakness is actually a strength in that attempting to apply strikes from a poor position or even trading blows is a poor tactic. The ISR trainers are generally Combat Sport coaches so in later modules, striking is covered well and effectively. Once a base in achieving a good position has been attained, strikes are then taught in later modules. For people who like striking, they just need to wait and learn the fundamentals of control first. And then they can unleash their awesome strikes hehe.

Closing can be unnecessary/dangerous in civilian circumstances -

The topic of closing vs not is a larger topic than there is room for here. Some like to close, some like to stay away from an attacker. Some like to control the attacker, others like to stay away from their weapons. The approach used by ISR Matrix in their civilian modules is always to escape where possible.

It is the belief of both ISR Matrix and Low Tech Combat that closing is actually the better option as that is the best place to control the encounter from. Less force can actually be used. Strikes are not necessary, but possible. Once control has been achieved in close, it is easy to disengage if necessary. Closing does not have to mean going nuts and going for the knock out elbow or pulling out an eye. Attempting to evade and slip and dodge an incoming attack from a distance can be seen to be a high risk approach as eventually, one of the attacking techniques will probably hit their mark.

Closing can be a bad choice if an attacker turns out to be a trained grappler -
The argument of closing against a grappler can be said also of trading blows with a Muay Thai expert or boxer. There are no final solutions. If you do close and the attacker is a trained grappler, then it really is not your day. Such a scenario is very unlikely. The opposite can be said to be true. Much more people have a basic understanding of striking and that is the most likely basic skill set (or simply behavior), of an attacker. Choosing to close is most likely to move the conflict into your strength area (up close) which mitigates the attackers most likely strength (strikes). There are no final solutions.

Less people in society are trained at grappling range than striking range. This gives a little advantage to anyone who closes rather than tries to 'box' an aggressor. Closing to a position of advantage (such as an aggressors back), is obviously a good thing, even against a grappler. As is often the case as well, grappling range often just happens regardless of either persons intent to close to that range.

Thoughts?

Much of these weaknesses once they have been looked at, are not really weaknesses at all but can be seen as strengths in a solid reality based self defence approach.

With these weaknesses considered, along with the strengths, Low Tech Combat has no issue with recommending ISR Matrix as a Low Tech Combat approved training provider. Such training with a basis of Aliveness and Use of Force (Legal) concerns is absolutely vital in todays day and age for anyone interested in time effective self defence training. We can see a similarity between what ISR Matrix offers and what Low Tech Combat offered as a possibility some time ago as to what would make an excellent Reality Based Self Defence (RBSD) course.

Upcoming ISR Matrix Courses

Of note, there are numerous ISR Matrix courses coming up soon around the world. You can check out when one is coming to a place near you soon HERE.

What Do You Think?

What are your thoughts? Have you participated in an ISR Matrix course? What did you think? If not, do you intend to do one? Do you have any questions for Dave? If you have any, I will contact Dave and let him know and give him the option of replying here. Leave your thoughts below.

25 of the Best Comments from YOU

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:05:00 +0000

I thought it was time to showcase some of the BEST comments from subscribers and readers of Low Tech Combat. What a good way to begin 2011 by showcasing the best of YOU :) This is a BIG thank you to those who take the time to craft an interesting comment on some of the posts here. From MANY of them I have gained a better insight into the topics I write on. Thank you very much.

And here are 25 of the best in no particular order.

From Phil on the post Can You Be Stabbed With a Knife and Not Know It?

I heard of a case of a police officer and his partner who was in a gun fight with an armed offender. They shot the suspect dead. They proceeded to check each other for injury as it was at very close range. His partner noted that his shirt was shredded where a bullet had apparently passed through his shirt missing him. When he saw that, he relaxed knowing that he was not injured. At that point the vasoconstriction released and the bullet wound in his shoulder began to gush blood. He had not felt it because of the adrenaline and the vasoconstriction had prevented the bleeding until he made the psychological distinction (which then resulted in a physical response) that he was out of danger.

Great article.

From AFJ on the post How Hard is it Really?

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I would like to offer a few contrary observations. I believe that you both overestimate the time required to train for a violent struggle, and you conversely underestimate the level of threat one might face. This sounds a bit contradictory, but I observe:

1) The skill set one must develop for a violent confrontation is not complicated. Gross motor skills, as you note. If it takes you more than a year of serious work-outs to learn those skills, then I think you should question either the complexity of your technique or the complexity of your tactical plan. Vastly more difficult to develop than skill is the capacity to form the genuine intent to harm an attacker. Years of learning ever more intricate technique will not compensate for a lack of intent.

I realize that your figure of five years is merely an example, but to even talk in terms of years of training is, in my opinion, to go well beyond what is required and you end up overemphasizing physical technique. Now, if we're talking about gaining the knowledge to successfully train others for combat, then five years or so is probably a good starting point.

2) Dividing threats into two basic scenarios or types is useful, so long as we avoid being too stereotypical in our depictions. Examine the videos you have linked from your post "Violence" and try to categorise them cleanly as Alpha Male or Predatory. As archetypal poles of types around which to group instances of violence this division might work, but when it leads to an almost dismissive tone towards "Alpha Male drunks," I think there's more harm done than good. The psychology of human motivation is, obviously, complex, and this includes the motivations for violent assault. We recognize complexity in ourselves and we must likewise recognize that complexity in our hypothetical attacker(s).

I fully appreciate the need to develop self confidence, but to accomplish it by building a contemptuous image of an assailant is, I believe, a serious mistake. This assailant has the primary advantages of choosing the time and place, and choosing the conflict. He has the initiative, he has the intent, and he has the belief that he will win (otherwise why start it?). Or, he is out of his mind and irrational, or drugged/intoxicated. Neither situation is to your advantage. You might be assaulted by a hardened ex-con, just out of a ten year lock up and seeking to finance his new freedom with whatever your house contains. You might have a fender-bender with a bodybuilder just peaking on a steroid rage. You might happen to be the next person in a borderline paranoid's path when he decides he's mad as hell and won't take it anymore, and the look on your face makes him reach for a knife. Hypotheticals, sure. And unlikely. Just as facing a serious assault from anyone is statistically unlikely in most of the developed world. But to reduce your expectations of violence to drooling schoolyard bullys or sly predators who will avoid you 'cause you're a stud, well, that's simply flawed thinking. Everyday in every city in the world there are violent encounters that do not fit easily into this scheme, and bad men daily walk the streets.

My revision to your post is essentially this...Winning and surviving a physically violent encounter isn't especially complicated and training for it need not take up a huge amount of our time...but it can still be hard as hell.

From Sifter on the same thread,

Which is why soldiers at higher levels who receive hand to hand combat typically drill it for many hours each day, every day, for maybe three weeks. Intense, basics, repetitive, but not for years. We all get absorbed in 'Hollywood' fighting, movies, that promote spinning back kicks and techniques requiring years just to learn. I think some of the reality stuff, Krav Maga, WW2 Fairbairn stuff, is more like what is needed. Plus immense conditioning, something I need to improve greatly.

From Anon on the post Overseas Travel Dangers: Know Them, Here's How

Security strategy depends on what it is you're doing overseas. Moneyed businesspeople working in high-risk areas would benefit from a no-nonsense book like "Still The Target" or "Beyond the Bodyguard". Aid groups will benefit hugely from this free manual: http://www.odihpn.org/publistgpr8.asp

Your risk, and your security strategy, depends totally on your role and mandate, your relationship with the groups in the place you're operating, your exposure, things like your nationality, gender, manner of dress and behaviour, etc.

Plan in advance what level of risk you can accept, where you can and can't go, how to make local connections, etc. But once on the ground, get up-to-date info from allied groups and locals. Conditions change all the time.

From Marc G. on the post TMA v Modern Systems

"...fundamentally, the practise of martial arts aims to teach skills which give one the ability to successfully defend and counter any physical attack that may come their way."

I couldn't agree more. Everyone has the right (and I think even the resposibility) to defend themselves.

"The threat we face on the streets today are very different than the threat faced in south east Asia hundreds or thousands of years ago which is what TMA were developed for and is still today, essentially, the focus of these systems."

I do not neccesarily agree. I think violence is violence and the same basic techniques of number superiority and and armed thugs is still the same as ever. Guns add a new dimension to it, but that is about the only practical difference. And, many of the modern asian arts (Karate for example) were developed for exactly the individual man defending himself.

"Its my belief that the study of the classics, some of these listed above, combined with hard, effective training is actually a pinacle in the history of hand to hand or low tech combat..."

I agree as well. There is something of value in many of the martial arts. And they all have their strengths and shortcomins. There is nothing wrong with absorbing what is useful from many...as long as you are actually training and learning reliably, not just to pad a martial resume youmight say. It is the intent and intesity of the training that make a superior martial artist...not a "superior art".

http://actionkaratearts.com/why-we-train/machineguns-and-the-martial-arts/

http://actionkaratearts.com/traditional-karate/well-dont-we-all-have-style/

And, to those "Anonymous" commenters out there...if you are going to bother to make negative comments...that's fine, but at least don't hide while you do it. Identify yourself somehow (nickname, first name, number, something...)

From Ed on the same thread,

Adam,

First, thank you for opening what seems to be an infected wound in the MA community. By all means, lets lance it, let it drain and hopefully it will heal with minimal scarring.

I come from a military/law enforcement background and have twenty years or so in the arts. Funny thing tho, I started in a more "Immediately Practical" training system in the 80s. I don't know if they invented the term MMA yet. I discovered I was searching for something and found it in Aikido. In addition to my Dan ranking, I also am a Law Enforcement Firearms, Defensive Tactics Instructor, and Impact Weapons Instructor.

15 years later (with dozens of real applications with people who really wanted to really wanted to hurt or kill me) I have learned that Aikido and similar arts can be very effective in the real modern world. That being said...

We are not talking about "TMAs v. MMAs" here. What we are talking about is separating the "Sports" or "Hobbies" from the path of warriorship. A warrior wears no label. He honestly inventories his surroundings and threats and compares them to the tools he already possesses. If his arsenal contains an effective response, great, he works to perfect the employment of that tool. If it does not, he MUST (becuase he is a warrior, not a student of a specific style) seek out an answer to the problem. If that search crosses the TMA/MMA border in either direction, so be it.

For keeping that dialog open, thank you.

Ed

From IronMongoose on the post 50 Year Trends in Violent Crime in the US

Several sociologists and economists have suggested that the drop-off in violent crime in the early 90's was due to the liberalization of abortion laws 20 years earlier.

Many of the people whose demographic properties put them at high likelihood of committing those crimes, were killed before they were even born. 20 years later, when they were at the "peak" of their would-be crime career, we first notice that they're nowhere to be found. That's the drop-off in violent crime stats.

It's a controversial theory. Conservatives hate it because it seems to suggest abortion has an upside. Liberals hate it because it blames crime on a certain "type" of person, and has creepy eugenic implications. But they've done multiple-baseline comparisons that seem to support the model. I think it's pretty plausible.

From hsoiblog on the same thread,

Another reason is gun laws.

In the late 1980's and early 1990's we started to see the movement towards the legal carrying of concealed handguns by law-abiding citizens. For a good illustration of the growth, see this animated GIF:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Rtc.gif

Brief explanation of the legend: "unrestricted" is just that. "Shall-issue" means the state shall issue the carry license once criteria are met (e.g. must be of particular age, must not be a felon, must pass tests, etc., exact requirements vary from state to state)... but the point is, once the requirements are met the state shall issue, no allowance is given for some administrators personal opinion or bias. "May-issue" allows some administrator (e.g. local sheriff) control over who may or may not get a license, e.g. in New York they routinely deny average citizens, but rich people, movie stars, sports stars, etc. get granted for whatever arbitrary reasons. And "no-issue" is simply that.

So anyways, you can see how over the years the "right to carry" has grown, and correspondingly, violent crime has dropped. Does this correlation equal causation? Not necessarily, but many studies have been done examining this data and evidence is strong.

Or to put it in a simple way, criminals don't like getting shot. :-) There was a burglar arrested in my town last year. He was responsible for about 50 burglaries, but all of small businesses. After he was finally arrested they discovered why: because he knew he was in Texas and that many people in Texas have guns in their homes and he didn't want any part of that.

http://hsoiblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/smart-criminal/

So your guess of laws changed? Yes, in part.

From Todd I. Stark on the post Alpha Male v Predatory Threats

This is a very good concept, and one I've found extremely useful myself as well.

I follow a similar distinction in my thinking, but with a slight variation. I distinguish social violence in general (intra-species basis in social emotions) from predatory violence (coming from inter-species behavior).

My reasoning is that essentially, when our species preys on itself, it is leveraging mechanisms evolved for predator/prey interactions with other species. Bur our species evolved with powerful selective pressure for social interaction, both cooperative within groups and aggressive between groups.

The reason for the difference is that the two types of interaction use different neurobiological mecchanisms, and so the implicit underlying rules that we follow tend to be different.

Predatory violence is what happens when we "dehumanize" someone and treat them purely as a target. All but a very small percentage of us start out with a powerful inhibition against killing another person outright or using them as piece of meat (see Grossman's "On Killing" for the argument). Various kinds of training or indoctrination or social-political forces can conspire to overcome that inhibition.

Most human interaction is not predatory, it is rather social, and both domestic and "alpha male" patterns fit into that category for me. Just because there is an abuse of power and sometimes becomes lethal doesn't make it predatory for me, you have to look more closely at the process leading up to the danger points.

When we train people to kill, we are essentially teaching them to dehumanize their opponent and invoke predator-prey thinking. Some forms of military combatives and "reality" training are based on this principle. According to some, this is presumably neccessary because the other guy is trying to kill us, so we have to fight on his rules. I think a more flexible and human strategy (although more difficult) is to be able to distinguish the types of interaction and train for each accordingly.

It's a matter of making the basic distinction (predator/prey vs. social interaction); and assuming that either we should prepare for the most lethal but least likely type (predator/prey) or the more likely type (social); and then whether taking a predator stance is really the best choice in each case.

The most important heuristic for me is that social violence can generally be deescalated or defused, and predatory violence generally cannot, it can only be avoided, defended, or constrained by force.

The distinction is very similar to arguing with a rational vs. irrational person. In the former case, you present evidence and make arguments and reasonably expect to listen to each other and come to some consensus. In the latter, you set boundaries and establish alternative strategies and focus on the small things where you can be effective, you don't bother trying to argue. However, if you guess wrong in either case, you are going to be less effective.

From Elias who shared an educational account on the same thread,

Hi Adam, I wanted to share a story with you; this happened to me yesterday.

I was on my way home from training, catching a train in a sketchy neighbourhood at 9.30 PM.

As I was descending an escalator, I saw a guy looking at me; I thought it was a little suspicious, but didn't really think anything of it. When I looked again a few seconds later, he was still watching me, so I was pretty sure he marked me.

I'm a 22 year old male, but I'm told I look a few years younger than that. I weigh about 160 lb and am around 5'6. I am short sighted and was wearing my glasses, and I use a schoolbag to carry all my training stuff, which is why I think he marked me.

Anyway, I happened to be going in the opposite direction, so when I saw him switch platforms I figured it was on; he entered the train on the opposite end that I did, but he walked the entire length of the train (I think he did this in order to check I had boarded).

I made absolutely sure I knew where he was sitting and then adjusted my position so I could see his hat; however, when we got to the city he exited the train as fast as he could; I followed him as subtly as I could to make sure he left the station, and then took extra precautions on the rest of my way home, as there are a couple of stations within running distance of the city, on my line.

I believe that this was an attempt at a predatory attack; he thought he had singled out a weak, unaware victim; I think that when he realised that I was aware, he decided to bail.

I couldn't judge whether or not he could fight, but I have been training Krav Maga for a little over two years, and also I was aware enough to notice that he was sketchy.

Do you have any thoughts?

From Ikigai on the post Punch on the Street or Not?

Interesting discussion. Bill Hayes (Shobayashi Shorin Ryu Karate) always says 'hard to soft, soft to hard.' In that he means, use your hard knuckled fist to strike soft vital areas like floating ribs, nose, mouth, and solar plexus. Use your soft surfaces (palm of the hand) to strike hard surfaces like the head and joints.

From BK Price on the same thread,

A recent article in Black Belt Magazine (I think from March 2008, but I could be wrong) discussed the fact that clenching one's fist is a natural, instinctive reaction to the fight/flight reflex. Flexing of the hands, clenching the fists is one of those things that we often see as "pre-fight" indicators and supports this notion.

So whether punching with a fist or not is best may not really be a choice. If you know the fight is coming, sure strike with open hand strikes to the head but if you are caught off guard (as in the majority of actual fights), then you may end up throwing punch anyway.

Blauer teaches in his SPEAR course that its best not to try to resist instinct. Rather, to progress from "primal" to "tactical" in the shortest means possible. This would suggest the same for hand techniques. Instead of trying to resist the urge to punch to the head, it may be better to simply learn how best to punch to the head to minimize potential injuries. You can't necessarily train an instinct out of your system, but you might be able to manage that instinct the best way possible.

Just a thought.

From BossMongo on the same thread,

I agree with Ikigai, and BK beat me to the punch (no pun intended) by bringing up the SPEAR.

One thing I would add, though, is that the line of reasoning that "you will fight as you train" is not thought through to its conclusion. If a boxer's abilities are debilitated by the loss of his gloves, and his chances of injuries are increased, then it is because he is not training as he expects to fight. Don't think anyone can really count on having the time to wrap and tape his fists and then pull his gloves on on the street.

That said, I think that if the fist is trained and conditioned for punching, it is thoroughly functionally sound and reliable. However, most people only ever throw a naked fist "in extremis," and then complain that naked fist punches are dangerous when they break their hand. Spend a thousand hours on a hard makiwara, and I think that you can reasonably claim that your fist is now 1)more dangerous and 2) less susceptible to injury than the boxer who employs his naked fist for the first time on the street.

If the ungloved fist is to be regarded as a primary piece of the fighter's tool box, then training time should incorporate naked fist training and conditioning.

From AFJ on the same thread,

While palm strikes do protect the knuckles from a shattering impact, they bring up the distinct possibility of catching a finger or two and wrenching them violently backwards if you are even slightly off. Even with the fingers curled inwards, any impact above the lower palm and its direct line with the wrist has the potential to cause painful and debilitating injury to the tendons in the area. This isn't to say that palm strikes should be avoided, of course, just that they carry their own risks of personal injury.

As for punching, I believe that one of the better strategies to reduce the risk is to consider Jack Dempsey's style. He wrote that you can punch harder and safer if you target along the ring finger's knuckle. The idea is that the impact here will almost always involve the knuckles of the middle finger and the little finger as well, not the exposed and solitary index knuckle or the middle knuckle alone. It might seem that this would expose the little knuckle which is the weakest, but in practice it's almost hard to end up landing with the pinky alone. While this certainly doesn't eliminate the risk, I believe it reduces it. Further, this feels like a more natural punch for me, allowing a stronger locked wrist.

Of course, the best answer is to always hit just what you aim for...

From Zara on the same thread,

Since our primary focus is self-defense we teach open hands in the form of palmheel strikes to the nose or chin (either straight or rising) and cupped hand strikes to the ears (packs a huge whallop when you put the entire body behind it as you always should with any striking technique). For SD open hands definitely is better than closed fist since you’re far less likely to injure your hand and wrist but it is indeed true much depends on the way you train and perhaps even more so on the fact whether you’re a man or a woman: men almost instinctively clench their fists when there’s trouble and in fighting they will throw punches, whether they’re trained or not. Women tend to favor open hand strikes naturally and it’s much better suited to them since their wrists are generally weaker and their knuckles more fragile. I think boxing is a great art and a very useful skill to have in your SD arsenal but it needs to be modified and turned away from the pure sports-context: the defenses are generally the same (parries are always useful and actually the best way to defend a straight punch) with the exception of the cover that definitely needs to be higher as you recommend (however I wouldn’t go so far as to put the elbows in front of your face since it exposes the entire body and it’ll be a lot more difficult to defend low blows which can be just as damaging as shots to the face, at least when they’re aimed accurately at the solar-plexus and the liver. You should be able to take some punishment on the forearms and if you lean into the incoming blow you’ll greatly lessen the impact. Of course the moment you feel impact on your guard you should automatically respond with a combination of your own otherwise you’ll be acting as a punching-bag and sooner or later you’ll get hit. Personally I don’t favor covering up but in some situations you have no choice and if you don’t have it ingrained into your system you’ll be in serious trouble.

In any case: if you plan on using bare knuckled boxing punches or you know that’s what’s going to come out naturally train for it: do push-ups on your knuckles, strengthen your wrists, do rounds on the heavy bag without taping your hands or even wearing gloves (start lightly, it’s also a good idea to get a lighter, softer bag if you’re going to be doing this regularly) … You’ll immediately feel when your punch is perfectly aligned and this is what’ll break your wrist in a streetfight, when this can happen to a boxing great as Mike Tyson then it definitely can and most likely will happen to you unless you prepare for it. Boxers tend to be very careless in the way they keep their wrists or the exact spot they punch (of course it’s hard to accurately target a moving opponent) since they don’t have to worry about injury as they have a padded surface to strike with and the hands are so taped in they can’t even move an inch.

Here are some excellent posts on the subject that I highly recommend to all boxers or martial artists who are serious about SD:

http://oldstylemuaythai.blogspot.com/2009/10/bareknuckle-boxing-for-beginners.html

http://oldstylemuaythai.blogspot.com/2009/11/bareknuckled-vs-gloved-six-thru-ten.html

Regards,

Zara

From Anon on the post The Best RBSD System

40 hours is about a good length for a program, but few people of "average fitness" will be able to hold up doing consecutive eight-hour days of new and vigorous activity with contact. Five consecutive Saturdays, or a couple evenings per week for a few weeks, would work out better.

1) Active and inactive sections should be alternated. 1.5 full days at the beginning before you get into the real combat stuff isn't the smartest way to go about it. Break it into memorable 1/2 to 1 hour modules which are alternated with the hitting, grip breaks, etc.

2) Dovetailing with the above, "spaced practice" makes for better retention of learned material.

It doesn't take a lot of time to teach the principles of detection, avoidance, deterrence, and defusion. Repetition and application IN SCENARIOS, spread over the course of the training, and linked-in with the combat skills, will reinforce it much better than trying to cram it all in at the beginning.

3) CQC basic movements should be taught before the weapon defence, since the students will draw on some of the movements, such as kneeing the peroneal nerve after acquiring outside-two-on-one on the knife-arm.

4) You're missing multiple-attacker training, ethics, and jurisprudence.

You're on the right track, but you're not going to get a good, working program until you break it down into finer pieces, and figure out how they should be optimally sequenced.

From BK Price on the post Improvised Weapons, Grips and Holds

Weird coincidence, I was just writing up my lesson on improvised lessons this past weekend. This post is very helpful, thanks. If you don't mind, I'd like to use some of your pictures for illustrative purposes. I'll give you full credit and a link to your blog.

When I teach improvised weapons, I teach that there are six (possibly seven) ways to use any object that you come across. My "attention getting step" for my students is: You walk into your house/apartment/room and find someone in the process of burglarizing it. Before you can leave, they turn on you with a knife, you reach out and grab the first "equalizer" you can find, how do you use it?

For offenisve use, I divide the weapons into four categories: Smash, Stab, Strike and Slash. The weapons fall into these categories based on whether they are narrow or wide or if they are long or short. A narrow, long weapon is used to slash at an opponent. A narrow short weapon is used to stab an opponet. A wide, long weapon is used to strike and a narrow, short weapon is used to smash.

I also provide a hierarchy of use for those weapons that can be used for multiple types of attack suggesting that priority should be:

1. Stab

2. Slash

3. Strike

4. Smash

The idea being that you want to use any edge you have to stab or slash because it will cause more damage. Stabbing is more effective than slashing because it typically does more internal damage ("On Killing" discusses this in greater detail as well as why people generally do not like to stab vs. slash). Striking is higher in priority than smashing because you can get more leverage from the swing and because the range can provide you more reactive distance from your opponet.

Defensively, I recommend using objects either as Shields or as Surprises. Shields is pretty self-explanatory, you pick something up that is large enough (or deeep enough) to stop a weapon from being employed against you. Surprises are smaller objects (typically) that can be thrown into an opponent's face to temporarily blind or startle them.

My last catefory is Structure which references the ability to use the environment around you as a weapon by "smashing" your opponent into it. Things like bathroom sinks, resteraunt counter tops, curbs, etc.

I also discuss ways to choose between weapons if you have enough time for that (you're being chased and you get into the kitchen a few seconds before you opponent). Things like "heft," "focus," and "durability."

I've seen towels and ropes recommended as weapons much as you do, but I've never studied a system that uses anything like that, so I have no reference for using it, let alone instructing it. I've trained with nunchucks, of course, but in most cases, they are just "strike" type weapons. You can entagle folks with them as well, but that's never really be a training area for me.

BTW, the 7 S concept is built upon the 4 S method taught by the Modern Combatives Group. I've never trained with them, so while I know they use the same 4 offensive labels that I use here, I don't know anything more than that. I didn't intend for this to be a "six minutes abs is better than 7 minutes abs" sort of thing. I just liked the brief article they had about it and I thought about how I would teach the same concept.

Also, I would recommend Marc "Animal" MacYoung's book on the same topic. Completely different categories and a lot more emphasis on the actual employment techniques.

From John W. Zimmer on the post 11 Key Differences Between Training and the Real Thing

Some of the surprises I've found in real fights were beer on concrete and flip-flops did not mix. In that fight I landed on my butt (slipped on the beer) after the first kick and then got up and used hands the rest of the fight.

I discovered that you fight the way you train. I did lots of point fighting and in some fights I would hit the guy with a back knuckle and then have to do it again (after realizing what the heck I was doing).

I had tunnel vision when I drank too many beers and found I could not do any spinning moves (not that this was a good idea anyway but as I said, you fight the way you train.

Great point about unknown persons... in the bar when I was a bouncer - it was the guy you did not know about that was the danger.

I've always said that you would get into a fight when you were too sick, tired, drunk, injured or such so your training had better get you through...

As far as consequences - I used to have to fight in the pre-cell phone camera era... I would really be worried about one-sided pictures in today’s mindset. One cannot simply disappear to avoid questions and a he said/he said situation. Now everyone has a camera and might actually accuse you as being the aggressor just because you won the fight.

Excellent points in this post.

From Anon on the same thread,

A huge difference, and one that screws up more martial artists than any other I know, is judgment. See, in class you don't usually need to exercise judgment - you don't have to decide if you have the legal ability to throw down, decide when and really have to figure out if the situation is no longer salvageable with words and only violence will resolve things. In class you get ready to spar and the teacher gives the word and it's on.

In the street you have to Observe what's happening, Orient to the threat, Decide what to do and then Act (OODA loop). Rarely does most civilian training introduce and train this process, which leaves the mental wheels turning like a hamster wheel under critical incident stress - spinning for all they're worth but not really going anywhere.

From John W. Zimmer on the post Real Combat is Raw

Interesting - I took this post as injecting a little realism into fighting. Most people that have only gotten into fights in grade school do not really understand for a couple of minutes - anything goes. All conventions of normal society are on hold and your own response to the aggressor is what is important.

If it takes biting, scratching and yes screaming to distract - do it. I've always ended up fighting when I was injured, drunk, or sick so being able to regroup and win is the most important. It would be nice if fighting could be planned and one could pick the probable opponents but this is not the case.

I for one like the fact that you are trying to make people realize that they just might have to come out of their comfort zone if then end up having to defend themselves or family.

Keep up the good posts!

From Boss Mongo on the same thread,

Adam,

I think Anon needs a snack; his blood sugars appear to be getting a little low.

I concur training should start with the worst case scenario and expand from there--to include nonviolently avoiding a confrontation with an agitated musclehead in the Wal Mart parking lot.

In my professional community we start with the LINES training (Linear Infighting Neuro-muscular-overload Engagement System; basically applying as much blunt force as possible in the shortest time possible to the most efficacious locations of the target's body) and then grow from there. I'd posit that the more tactics and techniques with which one becomes proficient and the more nuance and finesse one can apply to a given situation, the further one slides on the scale from "martial" to "artist."

I would submit, though, that your descriptors of the modern battlefield apply to a very narrow dimension of armed conflict, and that the modern battlefield we actually find on the ground is a lot less antiseptic than you--and, unfortunately, a great number of operational planners--seem to think. Both theaters of war are rife with examples of soldiers and marines involved in close, personal combat employing their firearms (as clubs), edged weapons, and field expedient bludgeoning devices.

Enough of this has happened that, while it probably cannot be described as common, it is statistically significant. Enough so that the US Army has revitalized its hand-to-hand training manual and programs. Of particular interest, these situations have validated the need for groundfighting. Of course, groundfighting on a broken/paved surface in full "battle rattle" is a little different than putting on a gi and rolling on a mat. And, too, I have issues with the Army's training program, which is best described as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu meets the Ranger Regiment. Still, a lot of missions require a dirty, dumb grunt to do the job, rather than a pristine, smart bomb.

From IronMongoose on the post Real Case Studies Highlight Most Attacks Occur Between People Who Know Each Other

When Tony Blauer first discovered this little factoid in the 1980's, it was what stimulated him to look into defusion techniques and the whole pre-contact part of his system.

I have always said that if you have the choice between living in a city with high violent crime and one with high property crime, pick the one with high violent crime, because it's relatively unlikely to touch you.

Most heavy-duty violent crime occurs between people in drug distribution, gambling or other criminal activities, or between intimate partners (e.g. spouses), or among people who have been drinking, or in places where people are drinking. It's ridiculously easy to avoid.

Of course, there are limits. Those cities with ridiculously high violent crime are those where lots of people are mugging or raping strangers... that's exactly the sort of thing you want to avoid.

From progressivedefence on the post Senshido's Shredder

Hi mate,

Just to provide an explanation of the sometimes cryptic claim that the Shredder "bypasses the flinch response", it isn't because the Shredder is so quick or non-telegraphic, it is because of the feral nature and constant momentum.

Allow me to explain. If I am to strike you on the half beat (for example, with a jab-cross combo,) even if I manage to get the jab off non-telegraphically and you don't flinch, you are instinctively going to flinch and/or cover the same target before the cross arrives. This is why a jab-bodyshot combo will hit more often than a jab-cross.

Now, when we shred we attack something ferociously, say a hammerfist to the nose. Now since we're moving on the quarter beat, as you flinch away from that strike I've already grabbed your ear and ripped it. As you flinch away from that my hand is at your throat, or your hair, or I'm kneed your thigh, or struck your groin, or spat in your face. You see, by constantly applying the principle of "closest weapon to closest target" in tandem with non-telegraphy, I 'bypass' your flinch mechanism by staying one step ahead of it. This is what makes the Shredder so devastatingly effective. The nervous system is completely overwhelmed and feels like it is being attacked from all angles. As such, the most common reaction is for the person to go fetal - our most primitive defensive structure.

I'm happy to expand further, but hopefully that helps.

Joe Saunders

Senshido International

From IronMongoose on the post Grappling When Weapons May Be Involved

You are exactly right when you say that we need to train grappling against an armed attacker NOT because we'd choose to go to the ground with them, but because it CAN happen.

The same reasoning that says "don't train against an armed assailant on the ground" would also, logically, say, "why train for self-defence AT ALL?" No one WANTS to be attacked... you should always avoid or defuse. Don't let it go physical, and don't bother training for the possibility of it going physical.

Of course, that's absurd. ALL training is contingency training. Winding up on the ground with an armed assailant is one very significant contingency that needs to be addressed.

It is NOT advantageous to be on the ground with the attacker. Yes, you can bring him to the ground with a controlled takedown--that is a different issue entirely. An actual groundfight or grappling match with a knife means all body parts are in close proximity to all others, which means more opportunities for holes in your body. It also means that you forfeit the possibility of stunning and running. This being the street, all the other disadvantages of being on the ground are in play: hazards on the ground surface, the risk of multiple assailants coming into play, etc. etc.

One option that presents itself more on the ground than standing, is to smash and grind the bad guy's hand against the ground surface as a disarm. (Standing, the concept can also be used with walls and objects.) This surely isn't a REASON to WANT to go to the ground with an armed attacker, but it's an option that should be trained.

Tony Blauer had a vid on weapons defense on the ground. He kept going for a modified mount where his shin pinned the bicep of the knife-bearing limb.

SouthNarc has an interesting clip on Youtube where he modifies omaplata and gogoplata to address weapons scenarios: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeX1PyKKuYk

Go for an improvised weapon? NO NO NO NO. Everything has to be thought of in terms of time and space--white space, reactionary gap, reaction time, whatever. If you and the guy are in clinch range and the guy has his hand on a knife, priority is to control that knife/hand. Now is not the time to be thinking, "Hmm, well there's a pen in my chest pocket... if I switch to scarf hold I'll be able to pull it ou--"

That knife is going into you NOW.

Remember the Tueller Drill? Now how many feet apart are you when you're in a wrestling match?

That's right--ZERO.

From Bob on the same thread,

Back in the prison days we were strongly discouraged from spending too much time on the ground in a one-on-one situation. This because an inmate's pal could attack you while you are busy grappling.

That having been noted, I can remember at least a dozen times where 3-5 officers wrestled with an inmate on the ground who had an improvised weapon. In fact part of our PPCT training covered motor nerve strikes that were employed in a group setting to get the inmate to let go of the weapon. Big difference here is that it was 3-5 wrestling an armed inmate vs. one-on-one on the street.

The street has different variables than prison. However, it seems logical that self-defense should cover some basics about wrestling one-on-one with a knife-wielder.

Our interactions on my blog and my current class have got me thinking about grappling and weapons. So far I have not found the ideal system. Some seem to come at it from an unrealistic stand-up perspective while others come at it from an unrealistic ground fighting perspective.

The truth has to be in the middle -- right? If you or any of your readers is aware of a "system" that does a good job of balancing striking, grappling, and weapons defense I'd love to hear about it.

So far Krav Maga has risen to the top of my list - though I'm not sure if they cover weapons on the ground.

How good are these comments? Very insightful. Again I would like to shout out a big thank you to all of the subscribers and readers who have left comments here and added to the topics being discussed. Let's keep things going into 2011. I look forward to hearing from you all in the future.

Best of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:28:00 +0000

This is the final post from Low Tech Combat for the year. In this post, we will highlight the best posts that were published here on this blog as well as highlight some of the best stuff from around the web that we shared via Twitter and Facebook. The posts from here are listed under different topics and the Twitter stuff is listed under their topics as well.

I hope you enjoy looking back over 2010. I am sure you will find some interesting stuff you have not seen before. That goes for you subscribers and followers as well. I know you all live busy lives and no-one gets everything. So this is a kind of catch all as well.

Before we get into it, I would like to hint that next year will see a couple of big things
(for Low Tech Combat anyway), being brought to fruition which I am very excited about. These will be exclusively for our subscribers as a kind of thank you for your interest in the topics covered here at Low Tech Combat. Besides the posts which will continue, the new... umm, things :) will be only for our small and exclusive community. Stayed tuned next year for more on this...

Let's get into it shall we?

Best Posts of 2010
Core Topics

Aliveness: Common Sense or Controversial?

ATM Card Skimmers Exposed!

Do Your Thoughts Lead to Consequences?

Senshido's Shredder

Functional Strength Training for Combat

What Controls You, Your Instincts or You Mind?

Cyber Security Tips

Do Power Strikes Reign Supreme over Combinations?

Case Studies and Analysis of Real Attacks

News: 69yr old Ex Wrestler Fights off Attackers

News: Man Attacked by 6 Muggers

Can You be Stabbed with Knife and Not Know it?

Real Case Studies Highlight Most Assaults Occur Between People Who Know Each Other

News: Knife Attack in UK

Would You Have Fallen Prey to These Real Knife Attacks?

50 Year Trends in Violent Crime in US

Grappling with Weapons

Low Tech Combat Videos

Know Your Pre Attack Indicators

Understanding Assault: Street Fights

Videos from the Web

Knife Defense with Paul Vunak

Bus Attack Video

Found and Shared On Twitter
Some Quotes

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” -Winston Churchill

"The mind is like a parachute. It works best when it is open." - Rickson Gracie

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato

"We all must suffer from one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret." - Jim Rohn

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein

"Great minds discuss ideas, Average minds discuss events, Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"The practice of non-violence is still rather experimental on our planet, but its pursuit, based on love and understanding, is sacred." - Dalai Lama

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

"Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions." - Author Unknown

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." - Albert Pike.

Interesting News Stories

Man stabbed to death chasing down muggers http://tinyurl.com/yzma75n Terrible story

News story about mugging. BEWARE the testing question! http://tinyurl.com/y8cha8m

Man robs 76yr old women while sitting on toilet on 3rd floor of building complex. http://bit.ly/4DUl7g

Watching Cage Fighting helped man thwart Robbery attempt! http://tinyurl.com/yca67xq

19yr old uses claw hammer to strike co-worker in head 4 times after being asked a question! http://tinyurl.com/y9bqs7f

An armed mugger ended up shot with his own gun http://tinyurl.com/y86d948

Another robber gets shot with his own gun http://bit.ly/dmf9D4 let em have it!

Absolutely senseless knife attack http://tinyurl.com/y8vl7j2 2 stabbed more than 30 times!

73yr old man hits other man with cane and then stabs him with a small knife inside a bank! http://tinyurl.com/3yay25x

Burglars Use Facebook to Pick Targets http://mashable.com/2010/09/11/facebook-places-burglars/

Marine Dies Defending His Wife: http://mil-com.me/djWHzM

In the US, the FBI say 80% of crime is committed by gangs http://j.mp/7uf8Ob

Other Stuff I Was Reading With Interest

Checking out brand new eBook by @IkigaiWay It looks very well done. Be sure to have a look! http://tinyurl.com/ycnk9uv

Legalise MMA in New York? http://www.markstraining.com/2010/01/legalise-mma-in-new-york.html

So Flash Entertainment, now 10% owners of Zuffa, will be building an arena for the UFC to have shows in located in Abu Dhabi. Interesting.

FAST Defence self defence against a weapon video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKCKo8YR9ns&feature=youtu.be&a

Self protection tip: In danger at ATM? get card retained then make a big fuss. No mugger would rob an angry person with no money

Airplane theft more common than u might think. http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=9554898

Excellent article examining the various types of threat out there http://tinyurl.com/ylzmoyq well worth a read

How to Win a Fight: Self-Defense Strategies for the Untrained Fighter: http://bit.ly/aOl2DQ

How to build a home made medicine with Ross http://tinyurl.com/2fqp7uo

Glucosamine, though good, has quite bad health effects http://bit.ly/cU7bQ2

Excellent article on the merits of Combat Sports for men http://tinyurl.com/23r2adq

Chatting with Marc "Animal" MacYoung about human combative behaviour and other things on a MA forum http://bit.ly/exvm1G

Four Case Studies of sudden violence http://bit.ly/h1vsTH Are you prepared?

65 Martial Arts and Survival Ebooks. http://bit.ly/hMeUvF

How to train on a slippery surface, Part Two - Training on ice. Good times. http://ow.ly/1amKdX

How to implement realistic scenarios into your training and classes/courses from a SWAT trainer http://bit.ly/gEzBao

Cool Videos

MMA conditioning video MMA Conditioning with Matt Pack http://bit.ly/8EaxIZ

Tony Blauer in one of the best videos on the net! The startle/flinch response http://tinyurl.com/yf2s95q

MMA FAIL http://i.imgur.com/zt5eI.gif

New...ish RossTraining compilation video http://tinyurl.com/yel57b3 Great strength and conditioning stuff. Amazing ability!

Best Mike Tyson video of all time http://rosstraining.com/blog/2010/01/28/mike-tyson-tribute/

Crazy awesome spinning heal kick knocks out opponent cleanly! http://tinyurl.com/yax7456

Amazing Slow Motion Video of Olympic Weightlifting... http://bit.ly/9EkwgR

Eric Ingram's remarkable modified Gracie jiu-jitsu from wheelchair http://bit.ly/9tq1IR

2010 Dog Brothers gathering of the pack http://youtu.be/nTKqYkvmdkU Awesome!

Interview with GSP about Training http://bit.ly/fcIspY

Found and Shared on Facebook
It is a new feature from late 2010.

Pictures Worth 1000 Words - Inspiring collection of images

Rendell vetoes self defense bill for outside home Self Defence legal stuff in US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx796zSg5gs&feature=player_embedded - Video showing a Zebra not giving up against a Lion.

Conclusion for 2010

Well thats it. You may want to bookmark this page and come back to it over the next few days so you can go through it all properly.

Hope your 2010 was great and 2011 is even better. We will be back and posting sometime early in 2011. Happy holidays!

Image via jessi.bryan

Grappling when Weapons are or May be Involved

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:44:00 +0000

Grappling with weapons opens up another dimension to Low Tech Combat. The above image is from a real incident where a Law Enforcement (LE) officer was attempting to apprehend a suspect. You can see that the suspect juuuust has a hold of the pistol grip and is actively going for the weapon. The magazine is out of the weapon and on the ground. Even someones sunnies are on the ground. It is on.

But seriously, this is a dangerous situation, caught well in this image. Apparently the suspect was out of jail in just a few months. Many LE officers are shot with their own weapons. This means that the suspect got up close and personal. They probably got the weapon while they were grappling/wrestling with the officer. A tough situation where hormones would be racing freely through the arteries and veins.

It is not only LE officers who need to deal with worrying about weapons whilst grappling. Recently we came across a case where a fight went to the ground between two women which resulted in one woman being stabbed in the back of the neck whilst grappling. Numerous people have discussed this very subject and we will have a look at what their thoughts are as well. We will finish with a couple of videos of how we can train for this possible eventuality.

Knifed During Groundfight

The incident was in Windsor which was the scene of two women fighting outside a bar. One woman (34 yrs old) grabbed the other (27 yrs old) in a head lock and wrestled her to the ground where they continued to grapple for a while.

Friends eventually broke the fight up and only then realised that the 27 yr old had been stabbed in the back of the neck and was bleeding.

Nobody saw the knife.

The 27 yr old was rushed to hospital and received surgery for the non life threatening injury. This case again highlights that people can be stabbed with a knife and not know it. I bet the other girl, and the bystanders did not expect a knife to be used. Most people would not think about it. When people see two people fighting on the ground, they assume it is a fist fight so to speak. This is not always accurate as we have seen.

Preferred or Not, it May Happen

I don't think anyone would like to be rolling around on the ground with an attacker who has a knife. But sometimes, as in the case above, it may just happen. Brian VanCise pondered this very possibility:

I do not really want to be grappling with an opponent on the ground with a knife in their hand. That is simply a difficult task to deal with and since your mobility is restricted you will have a harder time dodging a knife thrust or slash. Certainly I would like to be standing up and mobile. However, we do not always get to choose the battleground or whether we will be vertical or horizontal.

Is Grappling Bad Against a Knife Wielding Attacker?

Marc "Animal" MacYoung has strong thoughts on the matter as well when he discusses what he calls "knife fighting lies". In that article, of particular relavance to this post is what Marc calls "Lie #10 - Grappling with a knife". In that piece Marc explains:

While demonstrating an empty-handed with one of them, he tackled me and took me to the ground... Anyway, when we hit the floor I realized that there was no way I could contest this guys strength, he was a bull, full of muscle and grappling skill. The thing was I had landed next to a practice knife that I calmly picked up and dragged it across his throat.

and goes on...

Do not attempt to "grapple" with a knifer. Once on the ground, you are not guaranteed to be able to control his knife arm well enough to prevent him from carving you up. If it were a barehanded fight, then you can often prevent him from being able to generate enough power to effectively strike you, but a knife doesn't need power, it just needs to touch you. And if you are attempting to control his arm while on the ground, he will wiggle free and repeatedly cut you until you can no longer continue to resist.

Now Marc has some good points here. I agree that it is bad to 'tackle' someone with a knife. Very bad.

However, I think his point of view ignores a couple of things.

Immobilising on the Ground is Easier than Standing

Yes, when trying to control the attackers knife bearing limb on the ground, the knifer may 'wiggle free' and cut you. But seriously, trying to do the same thing standing is MUCH more difficult to do. A knifer can more easily move around and thrash whilst standing.

On the ground, with good control, there are far fewer opportunities for the knifer to wiggle free. Immobilising the knife bearing limb on the ground has a much higher percentage chance of succeeding than doing the same thing standing. So while I agree that tackling a knife attacker is a stupid thing to do (not so bad against a stick), it is a better place to immobilise a knife bearing limb. Once a knife is immobilised, a counter can be applied of your choice, whatever that me be for you.

But How do we get Safely to the Ground?

Working in reverse order, how do we get a knife attacker to the ground safely and securely so we can immobilise the knife bearing limb? You may not have to worry about this one. You may just end up on the ground without meaning to. It happens. Not preferred but a real possibility. And you probably won't have control of that weapon...

But for techniques if you choose to... this is largely dependant on what techniques you use. At Low Tech Combat, we tend to avoid prescribing specific techniques, just overall tactics, strategies, perspectives and viewpoints. Any technique that facilitates you closing and entering safely against a knife attack is good, particularly if escape is no option and there are no other weapons around.

Instead of staying standing and trying to maintain control of the knife bearing limb and then countering, do some form of take down from here. The best option is when the close, enter, immobilise and take down happen all at once. This gives the knifer less chance to struggle free from the immobilisation. As the take down is finished, it should end up with the knife bearing limb immobilised, you free to stand up if you need to quickly and also where a counter of choice can be applied. Juggernaut provides just one good example of how this can be done with an explanation and video.

What Do Other People Think?

There is lots of discussion out there about the whole matter of maybe having to grapple/wrestle someone when weapons may be involved. In a Filipino Martial Arts forum some time ago, there were some interesting comments. There is a wide range of opinions out there proposing different tactics and views on the subject matter. Some are as follows:

...nerver ever fight knife with empty hand..Ruuuuuuuuuuun! If a person really wants to hurt you with the knife...you be bleeding before you even know it...sinawali will give you that empty hands move you need for practice...just my opinion!

Fair enough on that one. Hopefully we can run.

You probably don't want to close on a guy with a knife... There is the simultaneous block with one hand/thrust to the eyes with the other hand, which is tricky, or the crossing parry and pass, which kind of assumes the other guy's free hand won't come into play. Also the double-handed control of the arm holding the knife, which is also dicey. Of course, if you don't do something, maybe you die. Other thoughts?

We have covered that one already. As can be seen, trying to control the knife bearing limb whilst standing is a 'dicey' approach. The commenter has no real reason why closing is bad. This is actually a common view. When we look into it, we can see that being on the ground can be advantageous, though still overall bad. If you do not close and immobilise that knife bearing arm, the knife will continue to be a threat and it can be slashed and stabbed into you any number of ways, really fast.

...Even worse is the effect of the UFC on the MA newbies, who think shooting for a takedown is the strategy that beats everything even on the street. Going for a double leg takedown without being totally sure that the attacker is unarmed is just suicidal.

Agreed. I am sure there are instances of double legs working quite well on the street (I have seen some awesome footage of that actually some time ago), it is high risk when the possibility of a knife being inserted between the ribs next to the spine is considered. But again, this does not mean we should not train grappling or wrestling with weapons. Particularly knives and sticks. These things happen and we need to have familiarity with such situations to better our chances of surviving them.

...I worked as a bouncer in a Strip Club and while taking an unruly patron out for being a numb skull his buddy ambushed me from the side burying a blade into my right pectoral area, puncturing the lung...trust me waking up to the taste of a cold respirator bit taped to your mouth sucks!

Another good example of how two people can be in a normal grappling situation where everyone thinks it is just someone being escorted out of a club. And then a knife appears from somewhere else... Something to consider.

At close quarters, sensitivity training is also useful, since one may be too close to see the blade. Here we tend to grab the weapon hand and hang on, while using the other hand to apply a beat-down if possible, but this is theoretical, since I haven't ever been attacked with a knife.

Sensitivity training certainly sounds worthy of consideration. It also raises the important point that we need to be actually aware there may be a weapon that can be drawn later on, mid rumble.

Unfortunately, there is a risk of having to defend a knife while rolling on the ground. It is as simple as gettiing in a fight, falling or being brought down and the guy pulls a knife. Paco's point of improvised weaponry is well taken especially for those who have no general experience in grappling. Use what is available.

Exactly. If you do somehow end up on the ground and a weapon is drawn or you think the attacker may have one...

Look for an improvised weapon of your own!

Great advice.

Lets Have a Look at Some Videos

Not a bad drill. Obviously, both of these people may have died a couple of times each. However, they were just drilling. They were on the ground wrestling with the new dynamic of a knife being involved. Also, not many knife wielders attack like they were but regardless, the video provides some good food for thought.

Stepping up the Tempo a Little Now..

This type of training is a little closer to reality and is a step up from the last video where the training was more at the drilling level. This is a bit more intense.

So yeah, weapons can be found in real fights on the ground, you need to be prepared for that. Hopefully this post has gone some way to aiding you in your training and mindset.

Opening Image by 7mary3

Check out the Facebook Page!

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:59:00 +0000

Low Tech Combat now has a Facebook Page! If you are on Facebook, be sure to pop on over and ‘Like’ the Page :) CLICK HERE NOW!

Once you have Liked it, you will stay updated on interesting news stories, statistics on violent crime, interesting discussions, posts, videos and a whole lot more. Don’t worry, your news feed will not be inundated. The updates will just trickle along and will not be annoying.

Best of all, the updates will be exclusive to the Facebook Page and will not be published on the main site so there will be no doubling up. You will need to 'Like' the page to get these updates.

At the moment there are a whole lot of interesting links shared, some very nice imagery to browse which is some of the nicest imagery from this very site, there are the two exclusive Low Tech Combat videos and a discussion area which will feature some interesting talks in the future. There will also be one or two new features on there coming soon...

It is only a new Page so be sure to share it with all of your Facebook friends. You never know, they may just learn something that will make the difference between them becoming involved in a violent encounter and them being able to avoid it.

CLICK HERE to check it out.

50 Year Trends in Violent Crime in the US - FBI Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:40:00 +0000

Recently the FBI, or more precisely, Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) have released a searchable database tool where the user can input particular crimes, at particular areas in the US and over certain time periods. This is a very useful tool, particularly if you live in the US. This tool enables you to drill down into the specifics of violent crime for YOUR state.

What I have done in this article is just showcase some 50 year trends in crime in the US by using some simple charts where the figures were generated by the UCR database tool. The above chart showcases the total number of violent crimes in the US from 1960 to 2009 and the overall trends throughout. This chart allows us to see that overall, violent crime peaked in 1992 with 1,932,274 total number of violent crimes reported in that year. From the figures obtained from the UCR database, we can learn that from 1960 to 2009, there have been a total number of 59, 307, 925 violent crimes reported in the US.

Below you will find each type of crime singled out and displayed in charts for ease of comprehension. Some interesting observations can be made from these... Each chart shows the 50 year trends from the US. where Aggravated Assault, Robbery, Larceny/Theft, Murder/Manslaughter and Property Crime are showcased.

Aggravated Assault

The assault statistics over the 50 years follows similar trends as the overall violent crime numbers. The numbers peaked at about the early to mid 1990's at over 1 million incidents. Aggravated Assault is the largest sector of violent crime. This is due to most incidents being related to social or group activities where posturing and other types of Alpha Male activity occur. Fights are normally the outcome of such behaviour and this in crime/legal terms is Aggravated Assault.

What is interesting is that the Assaults trended smoothly up, building to the peak in the 90's. I have not done the research, but this climb is probably related to an increase in population. Take note of the overall shape of the graph and the smooth climb up. This will become important as you progress through...

Robbery

For the robbery trends, they also peaked around the early 90's to just under 700,000 in that year. This chart highlights the more volatile nature of the overall trends for robbery. From that peak in the early 90's the drop has been quite severe with overall Robbery numbers dropping dramatically to almost half of what they were 8 yrs after the peak.

There are more noticeable rises and falls than the smooth trends seen with Assault. Instead of the smooth climb seen in assault trends, we can see 3 clear high spots. This is different from the assault trends. Also remember the characteristics of this chart as you go through the remaining areas. Patterns will begin to emerge and insights gained...

Murder

The murder/Non Negligent Manslaughter numbers are much lower than robbery for example but again the figures show similar trends over time.

This chart looks much more similar to the robbery chart than the assault chart. There are three clear high spots as there were in the robbery chart. I do not believe this is a co-incidence. The underlying nature of Robbery and Murder is similar. They are both Predatory type behaviours. It is only natural that the trends would be similar between these two types of violent crime. As I first saw these similarities, I was surprised as I was not looking for them.

Forcible Rape

The overall numbers of Forcible Rape also peaked in the early 90's at about 110,000 however the drop in numbers has not been as significant as Robbery for example. I am not an expert in rape so will not pretend to be one here.

The main thing I note is that this chart follows similar trends to the assault chart. Perhaps this is an indication that rape is tied to an underlying social/alpha male type activity from the perpetrators. I would like to hear from people more experienced in this matter, comment on this observation.

Property Crime

Property Crime numbers show a similar overall trend over the 50 years. Again, numbers peak in the early 90's at about 13 million incidents nationwide in the US. Even though the trend is for a lowering of the number of Property Crimes reported each year, the number is still the highest of all seen here.

Although it is an overall fatter chart, the trends seem to be more along the lines of Robbery and Murder. There are three high spots here as well although they are less defined. Again, this seems to indicate that Property Crimes are more Predatory in nature. This is in line with the entire concept of the Alpha Male and Predatory behaviour model of human combative behaviour.

Larceny/Theft

The Larceny/Theft numbers although quite high with a current number of just under 6,750,000, are following the same trends as all of the crimes showcased here with a peak period around the early 90's. This chart does seem to contain elements of both the Alpha Male and the Predatory trends seen in the previous examples.

Perhaps the Alpha Male and Predatory model is most relavent to actual combative behaviour and not so much for other crime types and social behaviour. This could also be why the property trends are less distinct.

Conclusion

Writing and developing this post I had no idea I would identify these patterns in the charts. My intent was just to highlight the UCR database tool and throw up some charts. I thought there would be much more variation in each of the charts.

I am surprised the relationship between different types of human combative behaviour emerged through these charts which showcase trends over 50 years. Perhaps I am looking into them too hard? Do I have a preconceived notion and am looking for evidence of it everywhere? I doubt it but I am always mindful of such things. Perhaps I am not looking at them hard enough. A technical share trader examines share charts in fine detail and makes assessments on all sorts of patterns.

The one thing which is common throughout ALL of the charts is the drop off in the early 90's. I am not from the US and suspect the best way to understand this is to ask an American. Why do you think the changes occurred in the early 90's? Was legislation changed at that time? Were laws changed? This is the main reason I suspect but it is a total guess on my part.

An answer or some suggestions would be interesting to know. Let everyone know in the comments below. Are there any surprises here? Anything I missed?

Do Power Strikes Reign Supreme Over Combinations?

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:42:00 +0000

There is an ongoing discussion between the merits of using predominantly powerful strikes or combinations. But what is the end aim for striking a person? It is to knock the attacker/opponent out. Depending on your view, it could be to stop an attack. Both have slight nuances as to their differences but they can be bunched together as the meaning is almost the same.

A brief explanation is provided for each position and then a video showcasing each approach is offered to better highlight how each approach is applied. The power approach is provided by a high level Muay Thai match and the combination approach is provided by an Ernesto Hoost highlight video.

Enjoy!

Power

The power camp believe that each strike thrown should only ever be thrown if it is intended to knock out the attacker. They do not want to waste effort by throwing a technique that is not intended to knock the attacker out as it may be intercepted and countered if it lacks intent. It also wastes energy.

The powerful striker will also place fear in the minds of the attacker as the strikes are felt. They are indeed powerful. There is more fear in facing an opponent who really wants to knock your head off rather than just score points...

Initial strikes can be difficult to land. Here, the power fighter will need to learn more of the subtleties of combat such as stop hits, feints, draws, counters and other higher level tactics to land their powerful strikes.

Some in the combination camp feel that people who always strike with power may lose balance and their composure if their strikes miss the mark. This is not always the case. The video below highlights this...

Below is a video that showcases the power approach. It is of one real Muay Thai match. It is high end Muay Thai and demonstrates the power approach well.

An excellent example of power striking
Combinations

The combination camp believe that it is difficult to land the first strike. Other strikes are thrown in an attempt to set up further strikes by encouraging the defender to defend a certain way to allow strikes to other areas in. In some sports matches, this approach is used to score points.

The combination approach can overwhelm a defender as the strikes just keep coming. The defender can be apprehensive of another long and confusing combination attack being launched again.

Often, the combination fighter will not utilise as many tactics such as feints and draws as the power fighter but will instead use their own techniques to prompt reactions from the defender which aims to open up the defender for the combination fighter to land strikes at will on various parts of the body.

Some in the power camp feel that people who use combinations lack knock out power. This is not always the case. The video below highlights this...

Below is a video that showcases the combination approach. It is a highlight video of Ernesto Hoost. It shows the good combination fighter striking certain areas and then striking other, now open areas.

An excellent example of combination striking
So, what approach do you feel has more merit, the power striking approach or the combination approach? Leave your comment below.

Image via lecercle

Understanding Assault - Street Fights (Video)

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:17:00 +0000

And now to proudly introduce Low Tech Combat's second video for the world to behold! hehe.

The video showcases some fundamental statistics about Assault (or street fights, whatever you want to call them), in an attempt to educate people on the realities of Assault and shatter some incorrect pre-conceived notions as to what really happens during most cases of Assault. It also utilises some great imagery gathered via Flickr.com

Watch in YouTube
The statistics were gathered from Government bodies in the US, UK and Australia and have previously been discussed on previous posts here at Low Tech Combat.

Thoughts?

Would You Have Fallen Prey to These Real Knife Attacks?

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:17:00 +0000

Knife attacks seem to be more and more common these days. This is likely to continue as authorities place more and more restrictions and controls on the possession of firearms. As has previously been discussed on this site many times, knives are the most common form of weapons used today in attacks, except in the US where a firearm is most common, followed by knife attacks.

The case studies below of REAL knife attacks provide four separate examples of how knives can be used in attacks. Some of these attacks resulted in only minor cuts and regrettably, one was fatal.

As you read through these, ask yourself if you were in the same situations, would you have been aware enough to detect the threat and avoid or counter them.

Knife Attack at House Party

Near Preston, in the UK, a 25 yr old man was stabbed in the back at a house party at around 1.15am on a Saturday morning. Two young males aged 16 and 17 were believed to be the attackers.

Source - http://www.lep.co.uk/news/man_stabbed_in_knife_attack_1_2027801

Main Points

This case has limited information available but some points can be reasonably claimed. A house party on a Friday or Saturday night can reasonably be expected to be full of people consuming alcohol and/or drugs. After midnight, most or all of the people there can be expected to be drunk or high. This type of environment usually results in normal fist fights or some other Alpha Male type behaviour.

Just because this is the normal type of conflict in these situations, does not mean knives or even firearms cannot be used instead. The normal rules of conflict are just guidelines and we should always expect the unexpected, particularly where alcohol and drugs may be involved.

So would you have been aware of, and on the lookout for, a knife based attack in such a situation or would you be mainly on the watch for unarmed based attacks such as king hits?

Attacked With Knife Whilst Walking Dog

The area of the crime in BC - via Google Maps

At 2am on a Monday morning, a 16 yr old male was walking his dog down Collins Road in Cache Creek, British Columbia. The 16yr old claims to have detected the glint of a knife on his periphery vision and instinctively raised his arms to block the motion and also punched the attacker in the stomach. The attacker fled the area.

Source - http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/ashcroft_cachecreekjournal/news/102752934.html

Main Points

Firstly, this is a surprising attack in that the victim had a dog with him. Walking a dog seems to be no guarantee that it will deter an armed attacker. Perhaps the dog was a lap dog although it is mainly medium to large dogs that get walked as smaller dogs tend to get enough exercise at home. Anyway, walking the street at night at 2am should automatically increase the awareness levels. The boy seems to have let somebody sneak up behind him.

We can see the bodies reflexes in action here as the 16yr old instinctively raised his arm to stop the attack which in this case, may have prevented a much more serious injury taking place. The bodies instincts do work and any training should not aim to stop these, but build on them.

Would you have even gone and walked your dog at 2am in the morning? If you did, would you have been aware of the Predatory threat or be pre occupied with other thoughts?

58 yr Old Woman Engaged in Ground Fight with Armed Attacker

The 58yr old victim after the attack

At 9am on a Tuesday morning, a 58 yr old woman was talking to a neighbour at Clement Attlee Estate, UK, after taking out the rubbish before heading off to work. The woman said:

"I was talking to one of my neighbours and then I felt myself being hit. I didn't know what it was at first and I did not feel the pain until afterwards really."

The woman's son said:

"I had been working nights so was sleeping when I heard my mum screaming. I ran outside and could see her fighting on the ground."

The woman's son rushed to her aid and helped restrain the attacker who was a 55 yr old woman and was detained under the mental health act. The victim sustained a seven inch cut to her neck and throat and had the tendons in her leg torn as they grappled on the floor. She stayed in hospital for three days before being released.

Source - http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/local-fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2010/09/16/fulham-lady-speaks-of-fear-after-alleged-knife-attack-82029-27281596/

Main Points

Now there is possibly some history between the attacker and the victim but regardless, this type of thing can happen. This case highlights that knife attacks can occur anywhere and at any time.

One other key point I would like to raise here is where the woman stated "...and then I felt myself being hit. I didn't know what it was at first and I did not feel the pain until afterwards really". This is another case demonstrating you can be stabbed with a knife and not feel any pain. This is important. If you are involved in a real encounter, afterwards check yourself for bleeding as you may be cut and not realise it.

When you are doing menial tasks, do you maintain a base level of casual awareness? Would you have detected this elderly woman armed with a knife?

For those who participate in either grappling or edged weapons based systems, how often do you grapple with weapons involved? Just a point worthy of consideration.

Martial Arts Expert Stabbed Fatally Over Minor Squabble

Martial Arts expert, Chai Eun Hillmann was fatally stabbed

Early on a Thursday morning, two dogs that were tied up got entangled on the pavement in Brooklyn, US. As the two owners came to separate them, the situation escalated. An argument ensued as they were being untangled. Other people became involved. One man (the eventual victim and martial arts expert), placed his hand on a woman's arm (the wife of the eventual attacker), indicating to her that he could handle it.

When the eventual attacker saw this, a fight erupted between the two men. The offender then produced a knife and stabbed the victim fatally along with stabbing another man as well. According to the New York Times, the attacker was previously arrested and charged with murder in "1991 and eventually sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for manslaughter. He had been released from prison in June 2000, and was on parole until June 2006."

According to the NYT, the victim:

"Mr. Hillmann was born in Korea but grew up in the United States. He studied martial arts and in the mid-1990s was the sensei of Chai Karate in Ardsley, in Westchester County. In an interview in 1996 in The New York Times, he described martial arts as a means of self defense, saying of its practitioners: “They won’t be victims,” and adding, “They can choose whether to continue confrontation or get out of it and flee.”

Source - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/nyregion/01leash.html?_r=2&src=mv

Main Points

This is a clear case of Alpha Male activity. The difference here is that the results were unfortunately fatal. This is not the most likely outcome of such encounters. Again, this case illustrates that generalities are not constants. Some of the time, things happen that are unlikely.

Even trained martial arts experts can get involved in situations that escalate rapidly from something very benign, into life or death struggles.

In such an incident as that described above in New York, would you have been prepared for the attacker to draw a knife and use it? What if you were not the victim but the other person involved who got stabbed? If you were not directly involved but close by, would you be aware enough to identify someone drawing a knife?

Conclusion

These cases are educational in that they are real attacks. They are not hypothetical. We can learn from these. Of course, these exact attacks will not happen again exactly as they occurred here but it is important to look at real attacks instead of only working by scenarios based on reality.

So, placed in these same situations, would you have been more aware and identified the threat? Would you have avioded these situations or prevented them from escalating to where they did?

Leave your thoughts and comments below in the comments box.

Images via the source articles, google maps and by e_monk and cheggy

Dog Brothers Gathering in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:06:00 +0000

Here is the video of the latest Dog Brothers Gathering of the Pack.

I really like what the Dog Brothers do and totally respect everyone who participates in these gatherings. They have a lot to offer the self defence and Low Tech Combat community in showing us what works under pressure and just as importantly, what does not work.

Hat tip the group, or pack... Enjoy.

Watch in YouTube

Cyber Security Tips for Cyber Security Awareness Month

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 11:03:00 +0000

Online attacks are very real and frequent. A new Windows computer will be hacked within 20 minutes of connecting to the internet. This fact will be explored further later in this article.

In the US this month, it is the inaugural Cyber Security Awareness Month. This post is in part an effort to promote this cause.

As our lives go online more regularly, it is just as important to maintain our awareness of the threats online as it is walking down a dark alleyway on a Saturday night.

As in real life, our security online is our responsibility.

There is a real threat online and it does exist and people become victims all the time. The risk is not to do with becoming the victim of violence such as receiving cuts or stab wounds or being knocked out and then kicked repeatedly.

The risk is that we can be hit in our hip pockets. The online threats want our information, which leads to hitting us financially. If they do not want our information, they want to use our broadband and our processing power or our storage. And that costs money as well.

The threat online is different but still very real

A good reason to take the threat online seriously can be seen with the 'Honeynet Project'. An article by the Washington Post explains what the Honeynet Project is all about.

The project takes servers and computers "out-of-the-box" -- without any changes to improve or reduce their security -- and connects them to the Internet for the sole purpose of seeing how often they are probed and hacked, and what techniques attackers are using.

Based on the project's tests, the average unprotected Windows computer with the most common security holes will be hacked within 20 minutes. Even secured computers will be probed or scanned for known vulnerabilities dozens times each day.

Interesting stuff. It goes on...

Using automated software tools available online, a malicious hacker can set in motion a scan of more than a million computers before he goes to bed at night and have hundreds of systems under his thumb by morning, Spitzner said.

Many people feel that they would not be a target of online attacks but that is not true as well and is in fact ill informed. The article continues:

The reasons attackers would want to break into your machine are as varied as the methods for doing so. Computer criminals often use other peoples' PCs for storing files that would be incriminating if found on their own machines, such as child pornography or lists of stolen credit card numbers. More frequently, criminals hijack computers for financial gain or as a means of attacking others with impunity.

You do not need to be in possession of information of value. Attackers may want to use your computer for their own needs that do not even involve you personally.

The Washington Post article details 7 Top Cyber Tips for safe online computing. Briefly, these are listed below:

Install and use a firewall
Use anti-virus software and update virus definitions regularly
Create secure, original passwords
Update your computer with the latest vendor security patches
Practise basic email and downloading "street smarts"
Download and use anti-spyware software
Periodically back up your data

The Most Dangerous Places on the Web

An excellent article at PCWorld highlights the 17 Most Dangerous Places on the Web. It graded the activities and places on the web on a scale from 'Green' being only slightly dangerous up to 'Red' where you will almost certainly get attacked. Some of the results were very interesting and surprising. The grading system used is from the Department of Homeland Security.

The 'Red' areas were as follows:

Torrent sites and other file sharing sites
Drive by downloads which download Malware automatically when a page loads
Fake anti virus software that extorts money and credit card info - via email

The 'Green' areas were as follows:

Geolocation on your Smartphone
Sites that sell email addresses to Spam companies
Oversharing personal information on social networks

The following image demonstrates how someone can become a victim of online attacks.

Click to view larger image

The following tips were provided:

Keep up on patches
Be password smart
Use security software
If it sounds too good to be true...
Assume that everyone is out to get you

Some of these are starting to appear as common themes which is a good sign they are the most important areas to focus on.

Location, Location, Location

It seems that another significant risk factor when online is where you are online. In a recent study by AVG, it can clearly be seen that online attacks are more likely in certain areas. In an article about the study, it shows that the 4 highest risk countries for logging on are as follows:

Turkey
Russia
Armenia
Azerbaijan

Some of the safest countries in which to surf were Japan and Taiwan as well as numerous African nations where broadband use is low. As a continent, South America was the safest and North America was the riskiest.

For western countries, the following can be seen:

The US was ranked as the 9th most riskiest place to go online with 1 in 48 computers attacked
The UK was ranked at 30th with 1 in 63 attacked
Australia was ranked at 36th with 1 in 75 attacked
German web surfers were attacked 1 in 83 times

Wikipedia is also an excellent starting point for learning about the various areas of cyber security and the threats that are online. A detailed list of 400 such resources on Wikipedia can be found at the following Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Computer_network_security

Below is a list of resources for further reading and study for more in-depth information on the topic of Cyber Security and safe internet use:

National Cyber Security Awareness Month Tip Sheets - These sheets include downloadable documents designed for use for parents and kids
Free Security Check Ups - Check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks
Top 10 Cyber Security Tips for Families - This article is primarily geared for parents
National Cyber Security Website - This is a very large site with many many articles and videos
AVG's Ultimate Free Guides - This AVG page contains 7 PDFs for download for free about internet security topics
Internet Tips Protect Your PC and Data with the Security Checklist - Another PCWorld article
United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team - This is a US Government website which has links to 54 detailed Government articles with tips about various internet and cyber security topics
3 Easy Security Tips - An article by the Enigma Software Group
Top 5 Common Mistakes - As above

The common theme throughout much of what is out there seems to go back to keeping your software up to date, install and use anti virus/malware software, install and use a firewall, use good passwords and surf responsibly.

Hopefully this article has gone a long way to increasing your awareness of the various types of cyber threats that are out there. There is a lot of information to absorb within the links presented here. It is a lot for one sitting.

It is recommended therefore that you bookmark this page or add it to your favourites so you can come back to it in the future and continue reading through it at your leisure.

If you find this article to be of value, please forward the link to your friends who may enjoy it whether they be martial artists, self defence practitioners or even just concerned parents or PC or Mac owners.

Please feel free to leave any comments or other links to sites of interest in the comments below. There is no need to log on or anything like that to leave a comment, you can do it anonymously.

What Controls You, Your Instincts or Your Mind?

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:46:00 +0000

I recently tweeted the question, 'What controls you, your instincts or your mind?' after having some random thoughts the other day. The question was not based on any firm ideas I had but was rather a thought provoking question and thought process I was going through.

Do you base your actions mainly on logic? What about social expectations? Do you always eat when you are hungry? Do you think aggression is bad? Can you turn your aggression on and off consciously or are you a slave to your instincts and emotions?

This along with other similar thoughts was going through my mind which prompted me to tweet the question. I didn't really expect people to reply as it was a rather abstract tweet, although there were a couple of interesting replies I got back. It was more to just throw the question out there to get people to think about it. I found the replies very thought provoking though.

Instinct Driven Process

My thoughts were that most people operate mostly on instinct. My view was that people do what their instincts tell them to do. An example is as follows:

I am hungry
What do I feel like eating?
I want something sweet
Go and buy something sweet
Eat it
Feel bad for not eating better food I know is good for me

So in this example I am sure everyone is familiar with, we can see there was no conscious critical thought process that went into the decision to eat. It was all instinctive. The mind had no say. It could also be said that the mind is fat and lazy in this example.

Mind Driven Process

In the above case, instincts control the person. So what would the same scenario involve when the mind was in control of the person? Let's have a look:

I am hungry
What should I eat?
It is lunch time so I should have something light but satisfying
Chicken and salad is a good healthy option
Go and buy chicken and salad
Eat it
Feel good as it tasted nice combined with knowledge that it is good fuel for the human body

This above example was where the mind controlled the actions of the person. The instinct 'I am hungry' cannot be stopped. But the moment conscious thought comes in is where the mind takes over in this example.

This is the line of thought I was having when pondering the question of mind or instincts. I was generally of the belief that many people have lazy minds and let their instincts drive their decision making, or lack thereof...

Interesting Responses

But interestingly, I got two replies on twitter where they thought it was better to have instincts control the person. I was intrigued at this. After reading their responses I can see that this is just another separate way to look at the issue.

First to reply was @CombatTrainer

I found this a bit surprising and was keen to find out more about his reasoning behind his wish to have instincts control him more. So I asked him and his reply was:

I could begin to see where he was coming from. This was a very different viewpoint from where I took mine from, though I could see what he was saying. He went on:

This I could relate to and agreed totally. I really found this an interesting view point on the topic I was pondering and it was great to listen to a different view from someone. This is one of the things I like a lot about twitter. You can just ask a question and you get different peoples views on things which are more often than not, different from yours and thought provoking.

I was looking at the question from one view where as their were different views out there as well. What I feel @CombatTrainor was getting at was that people can become docile and lack any real drive and passion. They lack those raw instincts which is what being alive is so much about. In a way, it can be seen that society as a whole can subdue all instincts. Aggression is seen as bad except in the military. Passion can be seen as unruly. There are two sides to each coin, often more than two. It is interesting to look at the one topic and explore the different angles to it.

I had to include this but @CombatTrainor also sent the following which was nice:

He is certainly right! hehe thanks for the kind words @CombatTrainor!

The other interesting reply was from @kravmascara

Her first reply to the question was as follows:

I found this interesting as @kravmascara also claimed instincts to be more important. Included in her tweet was the inclusion of needing the mind to oversee everything. She went on to say:

This I found very interesting. Where as I too considered a lazy mind important to prevent and overcome, @kravmascara thought it was instincts that were required to overcome that laziness. There was certainly merit to that viewpoint. That drive deep down inside of us can become week if we subdue it. This can decrease motivation and passion and a real lust for life. This is also an important element in life in general.

Its All About The Angle

My angle on this is that it is only with a conscious thought from the mind, that we can drive these instincts inside us to the surface and harness them for our own creative juices. It is only the mind that can control this. If we let our instincts go wild, surely no good could come of it. But by being controlled by the mind, those instincts can be brought out and freed and most importantly, directed where we want them to take us.

I found the responses and conversations interesting and wanted to share them here for the readers and subscribers of Low Tech Combat to absorb. Both @CombatTrainor and @kravmascara have interesting sites as well so be sure to check them out at http://combattrainer.com/ and http://www.kravuk.com/.

So what do you think? What controls you? Your instincts or your mind? And what is more important?

Image via h.koppdelaney

Knife Attack and Defence Myths (Videos)

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:56:00 +0000

Found these two videos over at the senshido forum.

Warning: These videos contain graphic images showing real knife attacks for educational purposes only.

and this one,

Overall, I like the message the producer of the videos is trying to make. There is a LOT of garbage out there regarding knife and edged weapons defence. I am not so sure about one or two of his points but overall, I found the videos to be very interesting and thought provoking.

What are your thoughts?

Functional Strength Training for Combat Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Low Tech Combat) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:58:00 +0000

This post is an updated, revised and expanded post that was written by Adam @ Low Tech Combat and was originally published at the fantastic strength site, Straight to the Bar titled “The Right Attributes for the Right Fighters” in 2008. Enjoy.

Functional strength training is getting more and more popular. And that is a good thing. In large part, the rapidly spreading Crossfit protocols have popularized functional, compound movements and high intensity workouts into more of the mainstream. In the realm of Low Tech Combat, combat sport athletes are especially interested in functional strength in the search for that competitive edge in their sport. But has the popularity of CrossFit over-emphasized 'generalness'?

Is a Good General Movement Enough?

Lifts like deadlifts, cleans and over head presses are great, but are these movements specific enough for the specific movements and attributes needed of a combat sport athlete? A strength training program which includes lifts such as clean and jerks, some basic gymnastics exercises and similar movements is good. It is very good. But is an all round functional ‘general’ routine enough for that competitive edge? It gets more complicated when we ask what type of combat sport a particular fighter participates in.

Different combat sport athletes require different physical attributes.  For example, a boxer will need a different type of strength and conditioning than a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) competitor. Each of these sports places different physical demands on the athlete’s bodies. Each combat sport athlete will require different strength and conditioning traits. Lets explore that comment in more detail below...

The Boxer

The boxer in his sport uses predominantly 'pushing' movements with his upper body along with some torso rotation and some pushing with his legs to generate power from the floor up and through his gloves into his opponent. This is very specific. Should a boxer do a lot of cleans? Sure, cleans are a fantastic movement. We all know this. The clean connects everything from the feet to the hands via a strong core and connects all those muscles and joints in a very functional way which develops power.

However cleans are an upper body 'pull' movement.   The boxer rarely if ever uses such a movement. Yes cleans are a very functional movement however they do not really develop the specific physical attributes required of the boxer which is primarily aimed to develop knockout punching power.

Are there better movements that have a lot of the similar benefits of cleans but are more specific to a boxers needs? How about thrusters? Or even push presses? Or one armed push ups, handstand push ups and explosive push ups with claps. These are just a couple of options that more closely replicate movements found in boxing.

Any movement that involves a ‘pushing’ movement will likely be of benefit to a boxer. There are a variety of ways this can be done. A combination of pushing movements would be of benefit to the combat sport athlete involved in boxing. This would include a variety of movements that use heavy weight and also body weight exercises.

Some of these movements will by necessity be very sport specific. Generalness will only get the boxer so far. They can certainly develop a good and solid level of broad strength, however after a certain point more specific movements which involve pushing need to be developed.

The BJJ Competitor

The BJJ combat sport athlete has different demands placed on him from his sport. Let’s look at some other functional, general movements. The jerk is a great movement as is the back squat. However, these are movements that are not really seen in this sport. Perhaps back squats would be better utilized by wrestlers due to the type of take downs they perform.

BJJ generally places a big emphasis on grip strength and endurance as well as upper body 'pulling' movements and upper body isometric holds.   Even though movements such as the Jerk and back squat are very functional movements and are excellent movements for developing general aspects of a well rounded physical ability, there are more advantageous movements that BJJ combat sport athletes can engage in. The BJJ competitor would be better off being more specific with his selected movements to better develop attributes with more carry over benefits for his sport.

Such movements could be weighted heaves, towel heaves or rope climbs, deadlifts, Kettlebell swings and sandbag bear hug and carries. These movements more closely replicate those found in BJJ. Any movement that involves upper body ‘pulling’ movements (from the guard position breaking posture and setting up submissions) and static holds under tension (side control, knee ride) are what would best develop the physical attributes required of a BJJ competitor. General is good, however specific is needed to develop physical attributes past what general movements can.

Compound AND Sport Specific

Athletes and fighters from the combat sports should continue to use functional, compound movements. However these movements should still be specific to their sport. There is a massive number of functional movements along with a wide range of training tools and implements to use out there.

The combat sport athlete can still utilize compound general movements in their training regime, especially when they are part of a movement based ‘cardio‘ session. Such sessions are fantastic for developing the type of ‘cardio fitness‘ required of a combat sport athlete when engaging in their chosen sport. But for that extra edge, specific time and focus should be spared for developing the physical attributes required for the specific demands of that sport.  

In conclusion, it is encouraged that serious combat sport athletes not get carried away with being TOO general. It is worthwhile for the fighter and coach to analyse their sport, paying particular attention to the movements involved and look for movements that replicate those seen in their chosen sport, when engaging in strength and conditioning training.

Image by Aristocrats-hat