2008 October | Lethal Street Self Defense

Martial Arts Self Defense Techniques - 3 Techniques to Escape a Choke in a Self Defense Situation

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Oct 192008

Pete Kauffer asked:

Many times in a self-defense situation, an attacker will attempt to choke the victim. If the altercation is face to face, the assailant would typically attack the neck with both hands. Many martial arts experts agree that in this situation the attacker places themselves in a vulnerable position. In this article we will look at 3 techniques to defend a front choke.

The simplest way to defend a front choke is to strike the attacker in the upper part of their body or head. The variable here is reach. This martial arts technique requires that the victim can reach the vulnerable areas, the nose, the eyes, or the throat. A forceful strike with the fingers, the knuckles, or the fist to any of these areas can render an attacker helpless and an escape can be made.

If the victim cannot reach those parts, the next martial arts technique would be to step back with one foot, bring either arm over the attackers forearm and rotate their body. This motion will release the hands from the throat. It will also bring the assailants off balance body within striking distance. With either hand, knee or foot, a forceful strike can send an assailant straight to the ground.

A third martial arts technique to escape a choke is performed using either the forearms or elbows. The victim brings both hands inside the attackers outstretched arms. With a forceful straight up motion, the victims forearms or elbows strike the attackers arms. This releases the hold and allows for a forceful strike using the hands, knees or feet to any of the vulnerable areas.

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Women's Self Defense in the Military

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Oct 172008

Wanda Hall asked:

There are no women’s self defense classes in the military. Why you ask? The military does not discriminate against gender and teaches women the same self defense techniques as men. Women’s self defense in the military usually starts off at book camp. Here after weeks of physical conditioning and indoctrination into the military life style, the women get their first chance at women’s self defense classes. These classes will show this new warrior how to take out an attacker in various ways. The woman will learn self defense using her hands, her bayonet, her rifle, and her grenades. Women’s self defense takes on new levels in the military and once trained the woman becomes a deadly fighting machine.

The first women’s self defense technique taught is hand to hand combat. Here the woman learns to use her hands, legs, feet, and head as a weapon when in close proximity of her enemy or assailant. She will learn the pressure points that will not only injure but demoralize her enemy. Using all the extremities of her body the woman solider will be able to take down a man twice her size. With a combination of martial arts and other lethal methods, the woman will be able to take a man off his feet and disable him from further attack. The hand to hand training takes place in about two days, far more women’s self defense than you would get in a hour class at the YMCA.

The next phase of women’s self defense in the military is bayonet training. Here the soldier will learn how to kill a man using her bayonet either on her rifle or in her hand. She will learn that the bayonet can slash the throat of her attacker by coming down at an angle in a downward motion. She will be taught how to stick the bayonet into her attacker’s body, twist it to cause the most internal damage possible, and then pull it from his body. She will also be taught to use the **** of her weapon to deliver a powerful downward stroke that will kill or knock out her enemy.

Also during the boot camp experience, the soldier will learn universal women’s self defense methods that will allow her to fire her rifle and throw a grenade. Even though a woman is not legally allowed to fulfill combat roles, in the event of ambush or unrecognized enemy threats a woman can be forced into combat just as a man. She needs to know how to use her rifle and to use other military weapons to protect herself and her fellow soldiers. The lack on knowledge of women’s self defense techniques can get her and her comrades injured or killed.

The branch in the military dictates the extent of women’s self defense classes a woman will receive. Some branches are more stringent than others. Remember that woman’s self defense is used to define that it is a woman that learns the craft and not specific to either gender.

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Fight Simulator Theory for Reality Based Street Defense

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Oct 142008

Richard Grannon asked:

This is such a powerful tool that it should leave no question unanswered for you and allow you to create an infinite number of techniques and drills. As this is a principle rather than a technique based system, here are the principles:

PRINCIPLE1: you get what you train for

PRINCIPLE2: if you want a specific answer, ask a specific question

What’s the problem with martial arts and artists? Why do they argue so much? Why cant we find one style that is the best? After all we all only have two eyes, two arms, two legs and one head. (Except if your from a “close community”). Never mind Dragon style, Tiger style, Twisted Badger, Irrational Donkey style… what about “human style”?

The problem is this:

you can’t just fight. It hurts. Bits of you will break. That’s why its called “fighting” not “hugging” or “tickling”. You’re trying to hurt each other. The only way to learn it is to do something dangerous and painful- its a double bind.

That is why one of streetfightsecrets.com ‘s prime objectives is to get as close to reality as possible as safely as possible.
How do you do that?

Flying a plane is dangerous and potentially very expensive. Solution: Flight Simulators.

You must have a certain number of hours virtual “flight time” before you can competently do it for real.

We haven’t yet got the technology to create a virtual reality simulator for hand to hand combat. Though we do have them for firearms training. Hand to hand is such an involved, complex, multi-sensory experience it could be many years yet before we do develop the technology to accomplish this objective satisfactorily.

Until then we must do the best we can. It is this aspect of out training that is the MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in determining how proficient we are in reality (in the “street”!).

That is why the main focus of this manual is principles and drills. There are pictures and descriptions in the manual of techniques and options, but you should by now have seen all these before.

What would you have a hi-tech virtual reality fight simulator do? What scenarios would you focus on? What ranges?

Imagine that. You could practise for anything. What would it be?
Can you get close to that in real life? In my experience the answer to that nine times out of ten would be: yes.

Game Theory

Imagine we had that kind of technology. What kind of games could we develop to teach kids (and adults) how to fight? I had an idea for a DOOM type game. In DOOM your first level attackers are really slow and use one attack over and over again, but your options are also crappy because you haven’t picked up many weapons yet. Could we adapt that for street fighting? Yes. Is there a way of simulating it in the real world? Yes. But you need good training partners.

Here are a couple of ideas for games you could play for beginners learning to cope with multiple opponents.

level1. person who is “on” stands in middle of 5 opponents, she has to break out of the circle, opponents must keep her in without using their arms. (principle being developed is breaking the circle)

level2. person who is “on” wears gum shield. 5 opponents wear heavy gloves. They may attack her only with big, slow haymakers. They may hit her in the back of head. She must stay in arena without being hit for 45 seconds. (principle being developed is positioning so multiple attackers get in each others way and spatial, peripheral and rear awareness.)

level3. person who is “on” wears a gi top. All 5 attackers wear belly shields. The attackers objective is to drag her to the floor using gi. She may only defend with front kick strikes to belly shields. (develops use of front push kick to defend, coping with being pushed and pulled, maintaining balance under duress etc)

These are just some ideas for games or drills. You get what you train for. You are only ever as good as the games you play.
My advise would be to keep these drills specific. Drill for a particular principle or technique.
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Or…

You can use the FIGHT SIMULATOR as a means to answer questions. A really fun, creative thing to do that always creates a buzz with students is to present them with a problem and let them find their own solutions.

If a student has been attacked in a certain way or is worried about being attacked in a certain way or by a certain type of person work to create those circumstances and find a solution.

eg: one of my female students had been thrown up against a wall and pinned with a one handed lapel grab whilst being threatened with a glass in the assailants other hand. I got everyone in the class to do it with a partner and a water bottle as a prop. They came up with as many solutions and escapes and counterattacks as possible, we analysed some of the best ones and everyone experimented with them.

This works well because it causes the mind to think in a proactive, creative, solution finding way as in a real scenario. You must be able to think for yourself and think on your feet.
From the best solutions we took from the class we then did a live drill. A live drill is like engaging in a section of a fight. Just for a few frames of the film. It should be very intense, but short lived (no more than 10 seconds, this is not sparring, unless you compare to three step sparring).

One of the counterattacks was as follows:

1. A slams D into wall. Left hand at lapel, right hand brandishing water bottle.

2. D drops weight and hips down and into wall, goes into an ambush response position: bends knees, curves spine, hunches shoulders, tucks in chin whilst simultaneously, raising both hands and setting her right foot against crease of where wall meets floor. right hand swings loose from outside in and up in anticlockwise direction (wouldn’t break grip of larger stronger attacker but brings right arm back into play.)

3. Left hand reaches for attackers elbow crease to cover weapon wielding arm, right hand hooks attackers left collarbone. Springing off from wall with right foot, stamping down with left foot, straightening her spine, pushing her hips forward to drive a big knee into the groin whilst simultaneously yanking collarbone down and in towards her and clawing the forearm muscle points and pulling attackers right arm in and down. Depending on attackers position she gives a stun strike with her forearm, or head **** or a simple shove and then makes her escape or repositions herself to continue assaulting attacker.

Whole drill is less than 5 seconds when done at full speed.
Run it slow first. Attacker should wear a groin guard and defender should not strike at full power.

Defender should wear a gi so attacker can really grab at full force.
The most important thing again is the principle. The defender is growing accustomed to being grabbed and shoved violently, going with that force and responding immediately and viciously.
Try it.

And work through all the “what ifs”. What if attacker immediately tries to use the bottle as a weapon? Can you cover it, work your counterattack and still escape or does something else present itself? Try it and find out!

What if he jerks his hips back to avoid the knee to his groin? Well, you have still caused a reaction which can be capitalised on, so what is the next best step? Would it be to pull his head down and into the wall?

…Whatever- if you are doing this as a teacher with your students avoid the temptation to always provide solutions. Let them find them…

*Excerpt of a chapter from my manual FROM THE CAGE TO THE STREET

hand to hand combat

Self Defense - Learn to Discourage an Assailant With a Single Blow

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Oct 102008

Calasanz Martinez asked:

When it comes to self-defense too many students forget or don’t understand the effectiveness of a single blow. In a life-threatening situation, the goal is not to engage in a sparring match with your assailant. The best defense is to strike as hard as you can to the most vulnerable area of the body and flee the scene. Remember, self-defense is about staying alive with minimal injury to oneself. A single blow provides the quickest means to the end of disrupting your assailant’s attack so that you can run to a safer place.

This technique in Japanese is called GOKWI or OKUGI. If more then one opponent surrounds you this technique becomes very important. The window of opportunity to subdue each attacker is very small. You cannot fail to deliver the hardest strike to the most vital area of one opponent so that you afford yourself time to work on the others.

A single blow is a very simple technique that you can learn to use in a very short period of time. It is usually combined with a block or a dodge then counterstriking with the single blow. This technique is highly recommended to Law Enforcement and police officers in general but especially for those in narcotic and gang units.

There are two important components to a single blow; the first is power! Now there are a number of components that go into generating maximum power such as strength, flexibility, timing, coordination, and body unity. All of these must be in fine tune for maximum power, but the most overlooked part of power is coordination. The whole body must be used to generate great power into a strike. For instance, many people use only their arm when throwing a punch. However, power is actually derived from the torque of the hips, and the solid connection to the ground of the legs and feet!

The second important part of the single blow is accuracy. Punching an assailant with everything you have in the arm will do little if anything (may just make them angrier). Soft sensitive points must be targeted such as the nose, chin, throat, and groin. Your assailant’s knees are also a good target to focus a single blow. If your assailant can’t walk, then he can’t come after you!

There are all kinds of courses which address building power in your body and the use of the single blow in a variety of situations such as grabs, car jackings, air travel attacks, weapon attacks, and much more. So train your punches, palm strikes, elbows, knees, round kicks, and front kicks for maximum power and accuracy! Learn how to strike hard, do damage, and get away!

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