WHEN SHOULD YOU FIGHT:

Before you undertake the serious study of unarmed combat, it should be clear to you exactly when you will resort to your training. Determining this beforehand will eliminate, to a large degree, hesitation and doubt. It will prevent you from attempting to destroy someone when you may not have had to do so, and it will prevent you from holding back too long, when someone else might destroy you!

The hard and fast rule is this: Fight only to save yourself or a loved one from actual physical harm and danger to life. Fight when you or somebody is being raped or kidnapped - but when you fight, fight to wipe out the opponent.

Do NOT fight if an attempt is made to rob you. ( and use it as an opportunity to escape if you surrender stuff as a distraction )

Do NOT fight if it is to save a pocketbook or purse or any personal property. ( and use it as an opportunity to escape if you surrender stuff as a distraction)

DO FIGHT to save your life. Fight like an insane, brutally-savage jungle animal the second anyone raises a hand against you in malice. Above all, if you must fight, PRESS THE ATTACK. Purely defensive conduct is extremely dangerous to you. It merely en­courages the assailant to attack again. Remember: when you first launch a defensive or counteroffensive you have the element of surprise in your favor. But if you fail to take full advantage of your initial action YOU CAN NEVER OBTAIN THE ADVANTAGE OF SURPRISE A SECOND TIME!

( anything that you that know hurts you, attack the same targets on your assailant; be angrier than your assailant: be enraged; be galled that somebody would dare defile your boundaries )

An attacker will be more enraged, more cautious and far more dangerous if you counter any offensive gesture he initiates, and then ail to nullify him immediately. It is during that brief second's lapse in attacker's awareness - once your turn aside or break the attacker's assault - that you can move in and destroy him IF YOU ACT FAST, AND APPLY ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH.

( show no mercy; do not let up; do not stop until they flee, fall down, get knocked out, cannot continue, are mortally injured )

Make him turn his head, cover his eyes, duck, flinch in pain, grab at an injured limb or anything else, and, IF YOU ACT, HE'S ALL YOURS!

( any opportunity, once it presents itself, is to escape; do not look behind you and run away as fast you can to a safe haven or place )

When you decide that you wish to defend yourself and others from violence and carry weapons on your person or train in some self defense method, you have to always consider the legal ramifications after you participate in a violent confrontation. There are laws that govern the rules of self defense. These laws differ in each state along with what each state considers weapons that you can carry or not carry on your person for self defense. Many people (amateurs) tell you myths of what you can do and what you cannot do concerning self defense.

( only co-operate with law enforcement when confronted with evidence or witnesses; always claim one acted in defensively unconsciously and tried to get away as quick as possible; always claim implements used as tools or items were carried for work, school, home; always claim one did not want to get hurt and was afraid for one's life; be regretful or sorry that one had to hurt the other person; do not claim self defense right away but acted defensively and tried to talk your way out of it, regardless )

In short, you can only kill somebody during self defense in three situations below:

To protect yourself and somebody else against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse.

Below is a section taken out of the Pennsylvania Crime Code. Although it may not be exactly like your state's crime code, most have the same rhetoric based on common law. Before you decide to take a self defense course or study, research your state laws on self defense and use of force along with its list of prohibited weapons that you are not allowed to carry on your person. This will keep you out of trouble with the law and keep you out of jail. This is the most important concept of self defense - knowing the law so you do not wind up in jail living with 1000 criminal idiots that you are trying to defend yourself against.

§505. Use of Force in Self-Protection. (Pennsylvania Crime Code)

(a) Use of force justifiable for protection of the person.-The use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person on the present occasion.

(b) Limitations on justifying necessity for use of force.

­(1) The use of force is not justifiable under this section:

(i) to resist an arrest which the actor knows is being made by a peace officer, although the arrest is unlawful; or

(ii) to resist force used by the occupier or possessor of property or by another person on his behalf, where the actor knows that the person using the force is doing so under a claim of right to protect the property, except that this limitation shall not apply if:

(A) the actor is a public officer acting in the performance of his duties or a person lawfully assisting him therein or a person making or assisting in a lawful arrest;

(B) the actor has been unlawfully dispossessed of the property and is making a reentry or recaption justified by section 507 of this title ,(relating to use of force for the protection of property); or

(C) the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death or serious bodily injury.

(2) The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat; nor is it justifiable if:

(i) the actor, with the intent of causing death or serious bodily injury, provoked the use of force against himself in the same encounter; or

(ii) the actor knows that he can avoid the necessity of using such force with complete safety by retreating or by surrendering possession of a thing to a person asserting a claim of right thereto or by complying with a demand that he abstain from any action which he has no duty to take, except that:

(A) the actor is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work, unless he was the initial aggressor or is assailed in his place of work by another person whose place of work the actor knows it to be; and

(B) a public officer justified in using force in the performance of his duties or a person justified in using force in his assistance or a person justified in using force in making an arrest or preventing an escape is not obliged to desist from efforts to perform such duty, effect such arrest or prevent such escape because of resistance or threatened resistance by or on behalf of the person against whom such action is directed.

(3) Except as required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, a person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as he believes them to be when the force is used, without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which he has no legal duty to do or abstaining from any lawful action.

(c) Use of confinement as protective force.-The justification afforded by this section extends to the use of confinement as protective force only if the actor takes all reasonable measures to terminate the confinement as soon as he knows that he safely can, unless the person confined has been arrested on a charge of crime.

§506. Use of Force for the Protection of Other Persons.

(a) General rule.-The use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable to protect a third person when:

(1) the actor would be justified under section 505 of this title (relating to use of force in self-protection) in using such force to protect himself against the injury he believes to be threatened to the person whom he seeks to protect;

(2) under the circumstances as the actor believes them to be, the person whom he seeks to protect would be justified in using such protective force; and

(3) the actor believes that his intervention is necessary for the protection of such other person.

(b) Exceptions. -Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section:

(1) When the actor would be obliged under section 505 of this title to retreat, to surrender the possession of a thing or to comply with a demand before using force in self-protection, he is not obliged to do so before using force for the protection

of another person, unless he knows that he can thereby secure the complete safety of such other person.

(2) When the person whom the actor seeks to protect would be obliged under section 505 of this title to retreat, to surrender the possession of a thing or to comply with a demand if he knew that he could obtain complete safety by so doing, the actor is obliged to try to cause him to do so before using force in his protection if the actor knows that he can obtain complete safety in that way.

(3) Neither the actor nor the person whom he seeks to protect is obliged to retreat when in the dwelling or place of work of the other to any greater extent than in his own.

CONSIDERATIONS IN SELF DEFENSE

AWARENESS:

By simply being aware of what is going on around you, of who is walking behind your, of where you are, etc., you can avoid many instances where the use of force would have been necessary. Be proactive in your personal security. Be aware of your environment that you are currently in or going to. Know the risks involved in going to these areas especially bad parts of town etc… Avoid going to places with bad reputations for violence. If you must go to one of them, be aware and be prepared.

People find that as their physical capabilities to defend themselves increase, they feel more comfortable about avoiding trouble, even to the point of walking away from a fight.

So not let people come close to you if you do not know them. Always maintain a distance from them. When they do get close, give them verbal warnings not to come any closer.

We need to appear comfortable in our environment and not call attention to ourselves in dangerous areas. Now, let us do a personal inventory. It would be nice if someone could film you walking down the street, but barring that, have your spouse or someone else close to you give an honest appraisal. This may seem silly at first, but approach it with an open mind and you will see why it is worthwhile.

Find the answers to these questions:

a. Do I have an unusual way of walking? Don't dismiss this lightly. A recent study found that a startling number of crime victims had an odd or stiff walk which apparently attracted attackers. It is not easy to change your gait, but it is not impossible either. Actors and models often change their walking styles.

b. Do I appear surly? Establishing eye contact with every passerby and cultivating a tough-guy image won't fool everybody, and will attract exactly the kind of attention you do not want.

c. Do I appear alert? Someone staring blankly ahead is an attractive target.

d. Does my body language give the impression that I am in control of myself and of my surroundings?

Think of other aspects of your appearance and personality which might affect your susceptibility to crime. Try to change them if you can, if not, at least be aware of them.

You best hope of successfully defending yourself is if your attacker is comparatively inexperienced and/or untrained in combat techniques or when you have taken him by surprise.

Remember, your values and morals and concept of the world and people may not be held by others. Thus, others may be insulted by your thoughts actions originating from your values etc… Your way of life and thinking may be the exact opposite of other's way of thinking and acting. You may become involved in conflict with others having different values and lifestyles than yours if you are not aware enough to understand this concept. You may inadvertently insult another person from another culture or subculture that you are not aware of that leads to a violent confrontation. You have to watch yourself when dealing with people from all walks of life.

By clinging to your world model to the exclusion of actuality (i.e., other world models) you have gotten yourself stomped. Your were righteous, but your were not right. Awareness is knowing that there are other world models existing right next to your, and that these models are neither right nor wrong; they simply are there. If you know that reality is dependent on who's experiencing it, you are more capable of seeing what is actuality of the situation. How are your actions affecting the other guy's model? Right or wrong is entirely academic when that guy swings at your. Does his model include blindshots? Is he actually not interested in fighting, but your actions are threatening him? Does he feel that he has no option but to fight? Is he looking for a fight? Do you know the actuality of his model, or are you just assuming?

The most common mistake that is made about other people's models is using your own “ruler” to measure it. By this I mean that many people assume that the same significance is attached to a certain event in other models as in their own. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If the same significance was attached, it would be the same model. Often, identity is intermingled with the model. Someone isn't a person, and then a Marine. They are, first and foremost, a Marine! If the person who you are dealing with has the sort of model that his identity is involved with, you could be making a tactical error by assuming that he will view things in the same light as you do.

In the end, it is you who will have to do the work of increasing your awareness of other people's models. There is no one answer that works for this. It is the biggest wicked problem that you will ever encounter. The average American needs to be kicked in the butt before they notice something out of their model. The “bad guys” know this and rely on it heavily. Most people don't look past the end of their nose. You have seen bushes before, so instead of paying attention to them, you slip back into thinking about your boss yelling at your earlier in the day. Then somebody jumps out of the bushes to attack you. You were not in awareness mode. Remember, people who live in poor, violent neighborhood perceive things differently than those living in safe, middle class suburbs. The mindsets, models and conceptual world views are different.

In self defense, drawing the attention of others may or may not be a good thing. It depends on the intent of the attacker. If the attacker is going to jump you for money or whatever, they don't want attention. Do something that will allow you to get into an area of attention before you make a stand. Run into a crowd of people screaming “Fire”, then spin around to face your attacker. You will have an audience, which is exactly what your attacker does not want. However; If an attacker is really gunning for you, having an audience may not be in your best interest. If it is in an area where brawling is the norm, then it is different rules all together; an audience will cheer, drink beer, and enjoy the show. If there are not any witnesses, it is just your work against the attacker. So knowing what is going on in a potential self defense situation is important in planning a strategy of getting out of the situation.

Always remember, criminals do not want to be:

a. Identified. Thus, you scream, yell, use high tech noise makers or do anything to attract attention to yourself for others to help identify your attacker. Note: See above paragraph. This may not work in some areas.

b. Caught. Criminals and bad guys want to get away and not be identified to the police.

c. Hurt. Criminals look for people they believe are easy targets without weapons or the appearance of knowing how to defend themselves.

With criminals and bad people, they are sneaky and make self-defense difficult. They will do all kinds of illegal, harassing stuff to you, but the moment you retaliate in kind, they go screaming to the police. Thus, they try to have you thrown into jail for assault. Also, they have witnesses (their lying friends) around them all of the time to lie for them. You have no friendly witnesses on your side. This is a real trap. Be aware of this behavior.

Remember, that the law is often on the side of the criminal. This can also work against you in a self-defense situation. Thus, when confronted with insults, and abuse from bad people and you are in “their turf” with “their friends”, just swallow the humiliation and try to leave as soon as possible without escalating the situation to where it leads to violence on your part unless attacked first. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Hopefully, when you are attacked, it will be just you and the attacker but this is rare since most attacks are:

a. From the rear

b. By surprise

c. With superior weapons

d. With superior numbers (gang attack)

Always use your surroundings to hinder your attackers. Run into crowds, stores, between cars, architecture structural barriers etc. Anything to slow your attackers down or cover or conceal yourself.

Throwing things at your attackers is a good way to keep them at a distance and distract them.

Camoflauge is good, too.  Either blending in or making one seem relatively poor are good things to cultivate.  It helps not to make one look wealthy, upwardly mobile, affluent, or call attention to oneself for being out of place.  They breed resentment, envy, and hatred which justifies reprisal in people.  When in Rome...

Never allow yourself to be bound by ropes or other restraint devices. FBI statistics state that most people who are bound by an assailant never survive. So you might as well fight back for the chance of survival.

Most Self Martial Arts Schools and Self Defense courses are not complete. They teach you just enough to get you killed in a real fight. What they teach you is the moves, not the spirit or the awareness that will save you in actual combat.

M

Always improvise in a self defense situation:  I think a good thing to document is dirty fighting techniques.  Learn things like sucker punches or low blows.  How about pulling the jacket down over their arms or over their head?  Another one I used to always see is getting real close and punching, lifting the leg, or kneeing the groin.  Spitting in the face is a good distraction for follow up as well as pointing at them to poke and then go for the throat or eyes.  Slapping is better to train than cupped hand blow, palm chin jab, or palm smash.  Women slap faster than anybody so it must work.  Verbal distractions like pointing to a friend or somebody like the cops, bouncer, etc... can be a set up to laying into them when they turn their attention away.  Improvised weapons like beer mugs, ashtrays, lighter, watch, darts, pool cue, etc.. to the head, eyes, throat, groin, shin is effective.  How about spilling a drink or food right in their face so they can't see the f ollow up?  Nothing like a bowl of pretzels, peanuts, or cigarette ash in the face.  Squirting ketchup, mustard, flying salt or pepper shakers, and percussive sauce bottles are no fun on the reciever end.  Vinegar is even worse when squirted in the eyes.  I bet that will sting.  The best ones are when bouncers start to circle, spin and fling an opponent by the hair, collar, shirt, shoulders, arms, etc... to make them land hard on the ground.  How about smashing the head or limb on a piece of furniture? 

There are several reasons why people fail to counter an assault.

1. They have no idea what they are supposed to do. Those who have an idea of what to do often are still trying/hoping to beat/submit their attacker.

2. They are out of shape so they get tired, have no mechanics etc.

3. They get "nailed" in a range they are unfamiliar with (the grappler get's kicked or the boxer get's grappled etc.).

4. They were surprised by the attack (more often than not), they fail to plan ahead and train for the what if's, they don't have the proper mind set, lack of sensitivity to surroundings etc.

5. They showed up unprepared. No pepper spray, no impact device, no light etc...

We train for every possible scenario as to be familiar with all the ranges and if we're constantly doing this we should not get tired. We also train to operate under "body alarm condition" and under the influence of "Killer Instinct".

Certain of the skills in this lesson plan are based upon karate, ju­jitsu and Chinese kung-fu. Most are simply derivations of proven military close-quarters tactics. All of the techniques have been field tested, and THEY WORK.

PRE-VIOLENCE INDICATORS:

Awareness and avoidance is the mark of a true survivor. Being aware of certain pre-violence indicators that tells you that violence is about to happen is of major importance to avoid being a victim of criminal attack. It is a critical skill at home or when you are abroad.

Just because you have successfully avoided prior violent encounters in the past, you must still approach each incident apart from your past experience. Each encounter will be different for the most part. They may be different then those you avoided in the past by taking certain actions. Thus, you cannot always apply past actions to present situations successfully. You must take and judge every incident on its own apart from your past experiences. If you sense any of the below indicators be prepared to escape or fight. If you decide to fight, form your plan of action(s). Have a plan. Be prepared.

Pre-violence Indicators:

1. Unnatural impediment to your movement. When something or somebody stops you or causes you to go well out of your line of travel beware. An obstacle in your path may be there to reroute you into an ambush situation. People may jump in front of you on the sidewalk. If you try to get around them, they may continue to get in front of you so you cannot pass. These actions should warn you of a pending assault on you. This type of impediment can occur when you are walking, driving a car or bicycle. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

2. Correlation of someone's movement to your own. This is when somebody is keeping the same walking or running pace as you. You stop, they stop. You speed up, they speed up. You cross the street or go into a store, they cross the street and go into the store with you. This may be a coincidence but rarely happens as such. If the person stays with every move you make, something is wrong. This can also occur when you are driving a car or other vehicle. Does another driver follow your every move? Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

3. Sudden changes in status of a person or persons near you. If you walk by two people leaning against a wall and they suddenly quit leaning against the wall and start to follow you, be aware. Why did they stop leaning and follow you? You change your walking pace to see if they try to keep up with you thus correlating their movement with yours as in paragraph #2 above. Thus, you now have two Pre-violence indicators working against you. Also, if the persons start to execute predatory movements such as people starting to circle you, two people moving in opposite directions around you or one or more people moving around or away from you and another moving at you, beware and plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

4. Verbal communication initiated by a stranger. Attacks can be started by asking you a question such as, “Do you have a dollar?” “Do you have the time?” “Where is____?” When asked a question, you always take a step back to gain distance from the person and immediately look to your sides and rear for any of his friends who may be in on the assault on you. It is doubtful the person doing the talking is the attacker; usually the attack is coming from the side or rear by one of his friends. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

5. Target Glancing” or “Avenue-of-escape” glancing is a fairly reliable indicator that violence is about to happen to you. Target Glancing is when a person picks you out with his eyes to size you up as his target of attack. This is sort of the old “EVIL EYE” routine. This is noticeable when you see a person glancing in your direction several times, then glancing away. He is also looking for avenues of escape so he can immediately run away to avoid you and the police after he attacks you etc. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

6. Approaching on an oblique path that will intersect with your own path. This is commonly used as an access route to the target (you) because it keeps the attacker in a blind sport the longest so his approach to you and others is not seen until he is ready to attack.

7. Hidden hands which causes unnatural body movement. If a person approaches you, always look at his hands. Make sure they are both visible and the fingers of the hand are visible so that you are sure the person is not palming a small weapon. Be alert when the person has his hand(s) in one or both of his pockets or behind him and out of your view. You must know if he is trying to retrieve a weapon or about to. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

8. Bump, shove or push to you. This may be a setup to an attack on you. A fight usually starts as a bump, shove or push. It may be a pickpocket attempt. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

9. Absence of other people and police. Absence of crowds and police are great breeding grounds for violent attacks. After all, there are no bystanders to help, witnesses nor police to come to your aid. Singularly this indicator is not necessarily a big deal. When coupled with one or two other indicators it has enormous implications to your safety. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

10. Automobile stops as you are walking. Any car stopping alongside, slightly to the front, or the rear of you serves as ample warning to keep your eyes open. Any second pass of the same car should cause concern on your part. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

11. Drunks and drug addicts. These people can be dangerous individually or in a group. People in an altered state of mind may become violent and attack you. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

12. Glances between strangers as they are interacting with you in any way. This glancing occurs when criminals are just shy of launching their attack on you. They are looking at each other to ensure each is ready, taking one last quick look for police and glancing at the escape route to make sure it is clear. If the criminal is alone, it will look the same. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

13. Group verbal harassment. When confront by a group and one person is in your face shouting at you, keep your eyes not only on him but on the calmest appearing person in the group. He is probably the one who will attack you. The big mouth is the distraction. Keep looking at the whole picture until you have to strike, then pick one target and strike. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

14. Baiting. Obvious attempts to bait you into doing something is suspicious. Don't take the bait, Stay calm, keep your hands up and ready to strike or block, and keep moving. If there are other people in the area, move toward them and gain their attention. Beware, plan for escape or self defense action on your part.

15. If someone is watching at a distance, however, if they are close, see where their eyes are going. If they are looking up and down your body as opposed to in your face, they may be trying to detect whether or not you have a weapon, or something that can be used as a weapon against you.

16. If someone parrots you, it's a good sign they are targeting. For example: You ask someone what time it is, they, in turn, say the same thing to you.

17. If someone answers a question with a question, this may also be a sign of targeting. For example: You ask someone what time it is. They in turn ask you what time it is.

18. Another indicator is when the assailant / BG is ready to deploy and attack, they usually do the loosening up tic. They will either shrug their shoulders or bob their head a little back and forth to loosen themselves up in preparation to physically accost. Most people do some type of loosening up movement in preparation for any intended physical exertion whether it be a overt or subtle gesture. You see it all the time.

Note: Any one of these things alone is probably not cause for concern; two or three of them should make you twinge with anticipation. If you wait any longer to act you will be down to split seconds and the chances of avoiding or surviving are exponentially decreased.

STRENGTHS OF THE STREET FIGHTER:

1. Experience: He has violently assaulted others before and figures he can and will do the same to you with no problem.

2. Confidence, By virtue of the above mentioned experience, he attacks with no thought in his mind but of victory over you. It should be noted that confidence is the natural result of successful experience. When a fighter as a high level of confidence in his ability the he will be the victorious one in a fight, he acts without delay in his intentions and actions when attacking you. This is your objective also. The street fighter has this kind of confidence going for him. To put it simply, the street fighter doesn't think about techniques since he doesn't really have any. Thus, he only thinks about action. He is is not worried about his technique during his attack on you. This is the biggest problem in learning and training in traditional martial arts. Too much emphasis is placed on learning multiple techniques which can be complicated to learn and apply. This type of training can actually impair the spontaneity of your attack and defense responses when attacked.

3. Competence. He has mastered one or two techniques: generally, the right straight punch to the face and the right hook punch to the face.

WEAKNESS OF THE STREET FIGHTER

1. He is limited in techniques. This makes his attack somewhat predictble. He probably will attack you with either a right straight punch to the face of a right hook to the face.

2. He is a one strategy fighter. Because of his limited techniques, he does not follow up well. If you can avoid his initial strike, you can prevail.

HAND HELD IMPLEMENTS/WEAPONS IN SELF DEFENSE

Never fight anyone on an equal footing. Never let any concept of fairness cloud your willingness to strike like a hellcat.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, there's SOMETHING that you can pick up and use to assist you in fighting the opponent. Throw anything at him.

When embroiled in a fight PICK UP ANYTHING and use it to throw, or hit your opponent with it. You must at all times be AGGRESSIVE to win.

Sand, dirt, snow, small change, sunglasses, keys, a wallet, a pocketbook, a book, etc., can all be used to make your adversary turn his head or drop his guard.

ANYTHING that you can pick up and hold in your hand can be thrown, and is a potential weapon in unarmed encounters.

You can learn how to use a knife or stick in this Course. However, remember that you have on hand a myriad of improvised weapons, if only you will be alert enough to employ them. A light chair can be swung into the legs of an advancing opponent. A table lamp can be jabbed into an opponent's face. You are limited by your squeamishness and your own qualms about inflicting injury more than you ever will be limited by actual circumstances in finding a weapon to help you in close combat!

YELLING IN SELF DEFENSE:

It cannot be repeated after or before the description of every technique in this book, but YELLING should accompany any action you take in a fight. Yell when you throw something at an attacker. Yell when you hit him or kick him. Yell when you stab him. YELL!

SELF DEFENSE CONCEPTS

Doing something out of the ordinary is another one of your best defenses. Go ape on your opponent. Start screaming incoherently about his mother. Drool, bug your eyes, start quoting scriptures liberally laced with profanity while ripping off your clothes. Scream that he has turned into a tarantula. Anything! Just so long as he thinks you're nuts.

Out of the ordinary behavior is spooky to most people. If you start bleeding, wipe some of the blood on your hand and lick it off. Then, with a maniacal smile, look at whoever just hurt you and advance. They will get the message - it is time to go.

The big advantage to a person in a fight is that it always comes as a surprise to the opponent IF HE/SHE KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT, and, frequently, if he/she fights at all! This is a natural, inherent advantage that a person possesses should be exploited and utilized to the utmost.

The objective in unarmed combat is to knock out, maim or kill. Think always in terms of IMMEDIATE DAMAGE TO THE OPPONENT, OF INFLICTING INJURY as opposed to controlling or holding or restraining. These type of techniques fail to execute in real violent confrontations.

Throwing is also out for self defense for older and weaker people. There are some valuable combat throws, but a but a weaker person's natural weight and size and power handicap make them inadvisable for his/her practical use. Whenever you are in position for a throw, you can always find some, kick, jab, hack or gouge that can be used with less risk to you, and with far less tech­nical skill. You will rip, tear, gouge, kick, spit and strike in order to down your enemy. And you will batter aside his attempts to do the same to you. Your style of combat will be AGGRESSIVE.

No encounter should last more than thirty seconds. Remember that you are not fighting "rounds" and that there can be no second place winner! This is combat for keeps! You are fighting to survive, and the longer the fight lasts, the greater your chance of losing.

Fighting - like loving - entails risk. Not only that, but 'Even the victor in a serious fight can expect to be hurt. Your opponent will be trying to win also. And he wants to survive just as badly as you do. In a combat you get ONE chance.

Your body is not as fragile or delicate as you may have been led to believe. You were built by your Creator to take punishment, and lots of it_- You have the potential to assimilate enormous punish­ment if you have great will-power, and STILL fight back. So don't coddle yourself. Expect injury when you fight. That's only realistic.

A course of physical will make your body three or four times as "fighting ready" as it probably is now. FOLLOW THAT PROGRAM OF EXERCISE.

Do not hesitate to let your arm get slashed, if it means that you'll save your neck (literally!) by doing so. Taking an injury on a strong part of your body can give you the chance you need to WIN THE FIGHT AND FOLLOW-UP ON YOUR OWN.

You must expect rough treatment in any fight.

A knife remains the “sidearm” of the people who cannot obtain a gun. And, in all fairness, we must say that a knife is an excellent combat weapon - once you know how to use it. Seek training in knife fighting.

Violence against you is war. In any war, the participants fight to win, not lose. And they do ANYTHING. That must be you own philosophy if you wish to be successful in unarmed combat.

The fist is a rather clumsy tool for applying force. It is so big that it distributes force of blows over a large are and lessens its effectiveness. This is the reason bare knuckle boxing of yesteryear took such a long time to end. Fights rarely ended in a knockout since it was very difficult to do so. Instead participants were worn down to exhaustion and then finished off with several blows. Also bare knuckle boxers were fearful of breaking their fingers and would not strike as hard as boxers who wore gloves on their hands. Because of the hand's limitations in combat, most martial arts use the edge of the hand to execute strikes.

Karate schools teach standardized, fixed forms of fighting (which do not exist in the real world) and fill their students up with false bravado and security, until they meet up with an experienced street fighter. It is better to build up an attitude of respectful fear of any forms of violence and avoid it at all possible costs. However, one must also have a knowledge of and be prepared to utilize violence to defend himself if need be. Karate schools teach you movements but not the spirit or awareness that will save you in actual combat. Karate schools teach sport fighting which does not emphasize spontaneous defense against surprise attacks. This is why many martial artists cannot defend themselves in street fights. They cannot react immediately to surprise attacks. They don't train for them.

A fight is a sociological function, in which there are rules and limits on what one can do. Combat is a free-for-all, where victory is awarded to the survivor. There are no rules; in combat, you do what you have to do to win. These things are as different as night and day. A fight can be many things but fighting is not combat. Both of these call for a different mind set. A combat mind set is for self survival and to kill. A fight mind-set only seeks to settle disputes or establish dominance.

It is better to learn simple, basic self defense techniques and improvise as to existing situations occur during a fight.

To live through an impossible situation, you do not need the reflexes of a grand prix driver, the muscles of Hercules, or the mind of an Einstein. You simply need to know what to do.

Train to instinctively exploit any disadvantage you detect in your opponent and to always seek out primary targets: eyes, throat, groin and then secondary targets especially knee caps and sides of the knee caps.

When one wishes to defend himself, he must first address several basic concepts that are inherent in dealing with violent situations as follows:

Control fear and anger. Fear will supercharge your body for combat. Decide to use fear energy to your advantage in all ways to take positive action. The subject of fear is explained in this lesson plan. Try to keep loose. Tight muscles slow your reflexes up.

Maintain kicking distance: Let the opponent step into your kicking range so you can reach him but he cannot reach you.

ALWAYS keep your EYES on your enemy and to your front. Never allow your enemy(ies) to get behind you.

Note: There is a natural tendency to avert the eyes from any attack that involves a blow being struck to your face or body. This is the one natural reaction that had better become Unnatural and fast! Determine practice and careful thought will accomplish this. You can be hurt just as easily when your eyes are open and when you look at your enemy, as you can be hurt when your eyes are closed and when you are looking away from your opponent. In training, pay particular attention to the need to keep your eyes on the opponent.

ALWAYS watch your opponent's hands at all times:

a. Is he holding a weapon or looks like he is going for one.

b. If both hands hidden, consider opponent to be armed.

c. If one hand hidden, consider that hand armed and stay close to that side to better neutralize the armed hand.

4. If both hands visible, consider possibility of concealed weapon.

Analyze strengths, weaknesses of opponent to exploit or stay away from i.e. clothing (fighting rings & spiked wrist bands, glasses etc), size, physical defects and mental condition such as drugs and alcohol motivations, Psychosis etc..

Throw something in opponent's eyes like dirt, keys, change, pens, water etc… and attempt other distractions or fake outs.

Yell. Attack with a weapon like a gun, knife, club other (helmet, belt etc…).

Note: If possible, do not telegraph your intentions to attack. People blink their eyes rapidly before attacking. Thus, always observe the opponent's eyes and control yors so you will not telegraph your attack. Never gaze at your chosen target area on your opponent before you strike it unless you are doing it to fake the opponent out.

Press the attack. Pure defense is no good and extremely dangerous for you. Think of self offense instead of self-defense.

DEALING WITH FEAR:

Tony Blauer's ideas on fear:

Fear: Anticipation of danger, real or imagined. It is a negative emotional response to your perception that you cannot control the outcome of an anticipated dangerous situation.

Bravery is not the absence of fear but acting in spite of it. The only shame in being afraid comes from being defeated solely because of it.

Fear will get you killed. Fear leads to apprehension, apprehension turns to panic, panic leads to terror and terror leads to paralysis which will get you killed.

There are two types of reactions to fear: biological and psychological.

a. Biological fear is usually explained as the fight or flight syndrome and is really not pertinent to your success as it is an involuntary response. It is the mind that ultimately determines the action you will take.

b. Psychological fear, on the other hand, is an emotional state. It can be controlled and therefore, used to create positive action but usually it creates paralysis so the body does not move. Paralysis and/or panic is created by psychological fear when the mind visualizes failure. Understanding this is necessary to conquer fear.

Use the acronym - F.E.A.R. FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL as a simple way to remind yourself that fear is only an emotional state of mind and can be changed immediately. If you go into a crisis situation focusing on the negative, visualizing failure your self confidence will not be there and you will doubt yourself, hesitate, and absolutely will fail. You will think yourself into failure and defeat before you even start. The difference between a hero and coward is how the person decides how to handle their fear.

The next time you feel fear - fight it. Challenge your fear. Attack your fear. Do not fear fear. We all feel it.

Bradley J. Steiner's ideas on fear

Nobody on earth is fearless except for lunatics and dead people. Anybody who tells you that you can become fearless is a liar. If you are human and sane, you will feel fear in dangerous situations. However, feeling fear is not a disadvantage. If you know the physiological nature of the fear response and develop the ability to use it, you an momentarily achieve superiority over a much stronger opponent. Fear does not have to lead to paralysis. It can supercharge the 90 lb weakling into a raging fighting machine. If he is aware and perceives the attack coming in and not taken by surprise, he can channel his fear and using his increased adrenalin and power, he can defeat a larger and superior enemy.

The power of the fear response is similar to electricity. Electricity is a neutral force. People must decide how to use its electric energy. It can be used for good or bad. It can be used to light our homes or kill somebody. Fear is like electricity in that it has no will of its own. Somebody has to determine how fear energy will be used. Thus, the power of fear is like electricity. When we face danger, our fear response charges us with energy. It is nature's way of gearing us up both psychologically and physically to face a dangerous situation such as rescuing somebody from a fire or engage in personal combat for survival.

What people do not realize is that what one chooses to do with the raw rear response is:

A. Voluntary - You choose to run or fight.

B. Learned - Somebody taught you to run or fight.

The fear response itself is a given by Nature but what is done with it is not.

You were not programmed by nature to run, to panic, to cower or to freeze in the face of great danger. All you were ever born with is the basic raw psychophysical fear response itself. Nor were you or anyone else the recipient of hereditary cowardice or inherent weakness of character of any kind. There is no such animal.

You may have seen cowardly behavior among your relatives or others but you are an entity unto yourself and you can be exactly what you wish to be.

Fight or Flight Response:

The fight or flight response is automatic. What you decide to do with it is up to you. Know this now: You can regardless of how you may have reacted to the fear response in the past, change your reaction to it NOW (Learned response to fear). Fear of fear equals that state known as paralysis. Do not regret, resent or feel ashamed at feeling fear. It is normal for us humans. It is the fear of fear that causes us to go into the state known as paralysis or freezing at the moment of truth so to speak. Instead, WELCOME the fear response and decide to use its power in a positive manner instead of paralysis. During the fear response, your body chemistry changes. Your physical strength is increased by 3 times because of the adrenalin pumping thru your body. Your pain tolerance becomes superhuman, your senses are supercharged. Use these changes to propel yourself into action. Choose the fight response instead of panic and paralysis.

The difference between the seasoned professional fighter and the amateur is that the professional also feels fear but he has learned that fear is not his enemy and he decides to use it to his advantage. Fear, in fact, is the combat veteran's greatest friend in a fight. Fear does not go away with combat experience but its power can be used constructively to achieve self survival in battle.

Feel the fear and use the fear

To people who have never been thru a crisis or danger those that do heroic acts seem to be fearless. But that is a false assumption. The greatest heroes in history have often felt intense fear. They were heroes because they acted in the face of fear and did what was needed to get the job done. Their feats were extraordinary since they had tapped their fear response and used it properly to their advantage.

You can do the same thing each and every time you feel fear.

In your training always work with the knowledge that you will certainly feel tremendous fear energy surging through your body in a crisis and it will be beneficial when you feel it. Welcome the fear as a good friend coming to your aide and decide to direct that fear energy into a powerful counterattack of your own. Allow the full impact of your psychophysical fear response to propel your mind, body and soul into the battle against your enemy or crisis situation.

Whip that fear response into a fighting frenzy.

Never deny to yourself that you feel afraid. Never try to repress fear. WELCOME FEAR. USE FEAR.

Dealing with danger begins by knowing in your heart and mind that when faced with danger you will not let yourself become paralyzed by fear and you will force yourself to make intelligent decisions and act decisively to save yourself and others. Make a conscious decision to not be overcome by fear.

Things that influence fear:

a. Self esteem.

You must believe that your life has value and you have the right to live free and safely from criminal violence. High self-esteem manifests itself in quiet confidence in yourself which shows to other people.

b. Self image.

Believe in your ability to protect yourself. See yourself as a survivor no matter what happens.

No matter what happens, never give up. You have only 2 choices with danger: either defeat or run to fight another day. Remember, through training and thought, you can handle violence. If you consider yourself dead meat before you enter a fight, you have already defeated yourself. This type of thinking leads to

having a low self image.

c. Self Confidence:

You must have confidence in your defensive skills, equipment and weaponry.

d. Familiarity:

Things that you are not familiar with causes fear. You can overcome this factor by conditioning yourself to become familiar with things that you are afraid of. For example, if you are afraid of being attacked by physical violence, take up self defense arts. Here, you will become familiar with violent attacks and learn how to become familiar with them. Training builds familiarity. Familiarity builds computer programs in you brain that you can retrieve when needed. If you have not placed any self defense programs in your brain you will be killed. The reason you are killed is that when violence happens, the brain searches its computer data base for the file called "self defense". If the file is not there, panic sets in which leads to terror which leads to paralysis which leads to death. Another method of overcoming this factor is do not shy away from people who frighten you at first. Talk to them. Acknowledge them in a respectful way (everybody needs respect and recognition) and you will find that they do the same to you. So with familiarity, what seemed like your worst nightmare, becomes another familiar thing to you and you can deal with.

e. Awareness:

You will be likely to experience stronger feelings of fear if you are caught off guard or taken by surprise. Always be on the alert everywhere and at every hour of the day. Start to think like a police officer looking at everybody as suspect. Look for things that look out of place in your environment such as a person entering a business establishment in the summer time wearing a long heavy coat that may be concealing a weapon etc..... Stay alert - stay alive.

f. Will to Survive:

The chances are, if you are stabbed or even shot, you will live. However, if you let your fear of injury overwhelm you, the chances are your injuries will be much worse. Remember, you do not have to die if you get wounded. That decision is up to God.

Make it part of your daily conditioning to feed and strengthen your will to survive in a dangerous situation. If you give up the moment you are attacked; if you stop fighting the instant you are injured; then you are defeated before a crisis ever begins.

It is the combination of all the factors above that determine who much fear you will feel in dangerous situations. Your goal is to attain the highest level of each of them. Since fear is an learned emotion, you can overcome it by training and education.

Training methods to overcome fear:

a.. Redefine danger:

If two guys are going to attack you -- and you know you cannot avoid it, instead of letting fear take over leading to paralysis, why not tell yourself "This is a great opportunity to try out those new marital arts techniques I have been learning.

b. Practice:

You must practice your armed and unarmed self defense techniques to overcome fear. Your ability to execute your defensive techniques when you need them determine you confidence level which overcomes fear. No practice = no confidence = fear. Practice with your natural body weapons and other weaponry until they become second nature.

c. Crisis Rehearsal:

Use visualization to think up different dangerous scenarios and decide how you would respond if attacked or threatened in these scenarios. Always see yourself acting calm, cool and collective to defeat your enemy or contain the crisis. Here, once again, you are building defensive programs in you brain to react to dangerous situations.

d. Relaxation:

An important part of training to overcome fear is learning relaxation techniques. Fear brings about immediate and dramatic physical changes in your body. If not controlled these changes can paralyze your mind and your body. One way to put fear aside is to be able to counteract its physical manifestations by controlling them. Breathing is the most important thing to control. It is the first function to change during dangerous situations. Changing your breathing can counteract the physical effects of fear and stress. Police are trained to take 10 slow breaths and continue steady breathing which promotes calm energy and a sense of control over crisis situations. Also use progressive relaxation to calm the entire body one area at a time. Concentrate letting each area of the body relax while you breath. Practice both deep breathing and progressive relaxation.

e. Mind Focus:

If your mind is not focused on the danger, it means you are not alert and therefore will not be alive. Proper mind focus will keep you from being surprised. It will keep you from being afraid since the mind can only hold one though or emotion the same. If you are able to keep your mind focused on tactics, you will not be able to experience fear. Instead of focusing on your fear, shift your focus to dealing with and solving the crisis at hand. Remember that if something is not deeply programmed into your mind and body, its more likely that panic or fear will take over in a crisis and all will be lost. My belief is that you can be equally killed by being calm, cool, collective and fighting back to enhance your survival as loosing you head which gives you no chance of survival. Which is the best method to give you a chance at survival? You figure it out.

f. Self Talk:

After you have established a routine of defensive training, mental rehearsal and visualization, and relaxation and mind focus exercises, you need to start developing a winning mind-set. Do this through the use of positive self-talk. Positive self-talk conditions you to react decisively and correctly in a crisis. This is because the core of positive self-talk is "I will win". It is not a conditional or negative phrase such as, "I will win, if or, I won't give up." Never use negative or conditional wording in your self-talk. Never use the word try. This self talk must be realistic. Saying to yourself I will do it perfectly every time can create distraction and stress when faced with the imperfections of reality. Remember, executing your self defense tactics on the street will not be as graceful as in the dojo.

Positive Self Talk you can use:

I will win - no matter what

I can defeat any threat against me

I can stay focused on what I have to do

I have options for controlling the problem

I have rehearsed for this situation and know exactly what to do

I can decide not to be afraid

I know the tactics I need

I am skilled with my weapons

I can use deadly force to save my life or the life of someone else

I will never stop fighting until I have won

I can survive and keep going, no matter what, even if I am hurt

g. Mental Triggers:

You must know what degree of force you can legally use to react to dangerous situations by using mental triggers like using a color code scheme that represents the levels of danger inherent in a situation. If you have a gun (unless you simply panic and start shooting wildly) you cannot pull the trigger until you make a mental decision to do it. Your mental decision to act will be based on the color code below. Making a decision to use force can take as much as one-half of a second and in a violent crime that is way too long to make up your mind as to how you are going to respond. So, one of the most important things you need to do is learn how to set your mental trigger to respond to danger as soon as you know you there is danger by use of a color code system. You can break the level of danger down into the color code system below :

White: Things are calm and danger unlikely. Serenity.

Yellow: Trouble is unlikely but possible. This is everyday you leave your house that you can except possible danger to yourself.

Orange: Trouble is likely. You spot a danger and clear your mind and concentrate only on the danger to confirmed it or proved it to be a false alarm.

Red: You confirm the danger is real and take all lethal or non lethal defensive action as appropriate.

The theory behind a mental trigger system is based on the idea that in every moment of conflict, the strongest habit always wins. In a split second, your mind, body and emotions will follow the brain and nervous system pathways that are the most developed by choice and rehearsal. In the absence of such conditioned response, pathways the brain will revert to fear driven reactions. These reactions are: Apprehension, apprehension turns to panic, panic leads to terror and terror leads to paralysis, paralysis

leads to death.

With a mental trigger system, you remain calm because you have preset a precise course of action. Commitment is absolutely necessary in dealing with a crisis such as an attack. You have to act without hesitation. Whatever your defense, you cannot hold back. Whether you are going to fight or run, you cannot be anything less than 100% or you will lose. A mental trigger system puts you in a position where you do not have to think about making such a commitment - it happens automatically.

In addition to using the traditional color code, we suggest you add a word that you can use to set your mental trigger and put you into the proper mind set. Pick a word like Ready, Now, Action, or anything else that you can use to signal your mind and body that trouble is about to happen and you are going to take action. Rehearse in your mind saying this code word. When you hear it in your mind's ear, recognize that you are now in condition red and that your role is that of a protector.

h. Acknowledging Fear:

The last part of training to overcome fear is learning to acknowledge it. Recognize it for what it is. It is an emotion, a feeling and nothing more. Admitting you are afraid is not a sign of cowardice. Quite the opponentosite. Only a fool is not afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to control it and act in spite of it. You can turn fear into a positive productive tool. Turn your fear into anger and righteous indignation. However, do not let your anger cause you to lose control over yourself. Let it help you act with speed, aggression, intelligence and surprise. The bad guys are not expecting you to fight back and especially fight back in an effective manner. This would ruin their day for sure.

Things to take into consideration dealing with overcoming your fear of violence:

First, most people are not trained killers and are amateurs and may have no idea how to use violence effectively especially against a well trained and practiced martial artists. So train yourself to handle any violent situation and know that even if you get wounded during a fight, you will not die but survive.

Second, their weapons are not military weapons and probably poor combat shooters.

Third, police usually respond faster than in the past in larger cities. Fourth, modern medical care is within minutes if you get hurt and most people do not die from gunshot wounds per statistics. Thus, knowing these things can help alleviate you fear of getting hurt. Note: Place mental and physical responses to fear here and your decision to use fear as your friend or enemy. Controlling fear all comes down to control and decision making.

How do you overcome fear and turn it against your enemy? If you think like a victim, you will feel like a loser and act like one. Thus, you will become a loser and die or be raped etc..... To overcome fear, start acting like a security specialist like an LEO. Also, in a dangerous situation you must learn to not focus on yourself and the thought that you might get hurt -- a fearful though --. You focus on protecting the lives of your family that need you alive and the lives of the criminal's future victims. Start thinking of the overall picture and not just your own hide. By focusing on other people, you give up your victim mentality and become a tiger to save your family and friends. Even the meekest mother becomes a ferocious tiger when her babies are threatened. Teach the criminals a lesson and some may learn something and think twice against attacking people. So when you put aside thoughts of your own survival - fear turns to anger. Anger gives you the strength to fight, defend yourself and even kill, if necessary, to save your loved ones.

How well you control fear and use it against your enemy is determined by your self-image, self-esteem, confidence, readiness, familiarity, willingness to hurt and be hurt and the will to survive. You can control your mind and body. When you follow the principles given here, you will have control over fear and you will survive any problem no matter what.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF COMBAT: (Bradley Steiner)

1. FEAR CONTROL (see above for extensive explanation)

If you know the physiological nature of the fear response, and develop the ability to use it, you can momentarily achieve superiority over an adversary who is larger and stronger. What the majority of people do not realize or appreciate is the fact that what one chooses to do with the raw fear (Fight or Flight Response) response is:

a. Entirely voluntary

b. Learned

You were not programmed by nature to run, to panic, to cower, or to freeze in the face of grave peril, or in the face of a threat of any kind. All you were ever born with is the basic raw psychophysical fear response, itself. Nor were you or anyone else, the recipient of weakness of character of any kind. There is no such animal.

What you elect to do with it is up to you. Know this now: You can regardless of how you may have reacted to that fear response in the past, change your reaction now. Fear of fear equals that state of helplessness known as panic; so when the fear response manifests, accept and welcome it, and then use it. Use it to propel yourself into action. Choose the FIGHT RESPONSE.

Whip that fear response into a frenzy & into a combat rage.

Never deny to yourself that you feel afraid. Never try to repress fear. Welcome fear and use it to your advantage.

Do not be ashamed of fear. As pain is the body's warning systems of injury, fear is the mind's warning system to your whole organism.

Do not curse your fear, Welcome it. The shortness of breath and the chill up the spine you feel merely signal the onset of this period of literally superhuman strength. It will not last long, but if you have been trained to take care of yourself, that training will lock in automatically. You will literally watch your body perform what it has been trained to do, with your fists and your feet or with your makeshift weapon or with your gun, without really having to think about it that much. And, if you and your body have been properly trained and equipped, the programmed reactions to the danger will be carried out.

Focus on your offensive. Ignore pain. Adrenalin pours into your system: adrenalin being the magical substance that doctors in emergency rooms inject into cardiac arrest patients to bring the dead back to life. It puts your pain tolerance through the roof. Do not worry about the pain, because when you are in a fight mode, you will feel very little of it, and if you win, you can get to the hospital and get a shot to make it go away. Besides, it is human nature to forget pain. Pain is cheap, easily dealt with and forgotten. Defeat the shame however, stay with you forever and especially, the sense of fearful helplessness they engender. So does crippling injury, another predictable side effect of freezing up in a fight because you were afraid of pain.

2. INSTANT RESPONSE (SPEED)

You must instantly respond to an attack because the longer it takes you to react the greater your chances of being hurt or killed are. The only way you can respond instantly is by instilling in yourself an instant and murderous hatred of your attacker instead of fear, shock and panic. A person who damns to hell any assailant and becomes enraged toward him when confronted will have no problem at all responding instantly and well with whatever skills he has been taught and can use at the moment to save himself. Cultivate instant response.

3. EXPLOSIVE POWER

In combat, you must be a bomb and go off against your opponent. This is what you want to condition yourself to be: One second passive and noncommittal ; the next, exploding ferociously into the very face of the enemy, whenever you must do battle.

4. COMBATIVE MIND-SET

The combative mind-set is the state of mind that anticipates, realistically expects, and is prepared to cope with, the sudden eruption of violence. The individual who is neither dismayed nor shocked by sudden violence has an incalculable advantage would violence ever come his way. He will not freeze. He will not panic. He will not forget whatever skills he has learned. Instead, he will confront whatever threat he encounters, and he will take action. Envelope this combative mind-set by adopting a real world attitude.

5. ALERTNESS AND TOTAL AWARENESS

Alertness and total awareness with regard to who and what is around you in your immediate environment is necessary so you will not be taken by surprise.

5. DECISIVENESS UNDER PRESSURE

There are two basic phases of decisiveness that should concern the combat expert.

a. He must have developed SIMPLE &EFFECTIVE combat skills previously which he can execute without error and instinctively without conscious deliberation.

b. He must have mentally conditioned himself to immediately do something at once instead of freezing up in a fight and doing nothing. Always learn simple and effective techniques. Complex and fancy techniques is the last thing that you need in combat. Practice mental visualization & rehearsal and drill to foster a decisive mind-set. You can develop this by living through many hypothetical dangerous combat situations by using your imagination. Thus, you will be more at home dealing with the stressful emotions of the fight or flight reflexes that occur during a real combat situation since you have already been there in your imagination. By telling yourself over and over again via mental visualization that "if such and such occurs I will do this", etc, it will almost certainly come to pass in a real situation that, indeed, the expected course of action is the exact course of action taken.

6. RUTHLESSNESS IN BATTLE

If you must fight, win. Win at any price or cost, and give no thought to anything resembling humanity when closing with the adversary. Never fight fair. Fair is for fools and sportsman.

7. SPEED IN COMBAT

Speed facilitates the all-important pre-emptive strike. A defender who is suddenly aware of his adversary's upraised first can lash out with a knee breaking kick, if he is fast enough before one of those firsts strikes him. (In self defense against sudden holds or grabs, the effective countermove that is executed with speed is the one most likely to be successful. Fancy techniques with bare hands or with weapons simply take to long to use in actual combat. The simpler the better. In combat, if you have the choice, select the simpler move every time. In combat, time is always at a premium. You will have more chance of survival in direct proportion to the time you DO NOT TAKE to deliver whatever you do. So move with maximum speed.

8. COOLNESS UNDER PRESSURE

People who are cool in combat and dangerous situation are thus because they have decided to be so and for no other reason. So many of us are programmed to panic under conditions posing much less a threat than battle since childhood. Staying cool under pressure can only be done by personal decision and will. If you do not remain cool in battle, you will loose. A hell of a lot is riding on it so make a conscious decision to be cool in battle. Veterans of combat tell you "hotheaded" fighters become reckless and loose fights. In dangerous situations, if you can remain calm and be aggressive at the same time, you have a tremendous advantage over your opponent. Two things cause a person to loose his cool in a fight.

a. People trained in combat skills are afraid they will not fight well and concerned about style and their appearance when involved in a fight. It amounts to suicide to care about what you look like when you are called upon to defend yourself. Go into action and attack now. And let the cards fall wherever they may. No one in a real fight will look like Chuck Norris on the move screen - forget that.

b. The erroneous notion that by competing in combative sports one is acquiring the combative mind-set and conditioning that is demanded in battle. There is no carryover from playing to fighting. Combat is not a game or sport.

9. EFFICIENT AND PRECISE TECHNICAL MOVEMENT

A wild, frenzied, uncontrolled style of fighting is not the most effective. Fury is desirable, but it must be properly focused into correct movement and technique. Practice remains the only path to practical knowledge. Quality much more than quantity, must dominate your learning schedule. Quality means not only mastery of the best and most practical skills; it also means the fullest possible depth of mastery of every skill that is selected.

10. ELEMENT OF SURPRISE

When training is conducted by taking stances prior to going into action, the result is a student who is programmed to actually telegraph his intentions. If possible, stay away from set fighting stances. Do not develop habits when you train that prevent you achieving the surprise advantage in a fight. Tactics used to assist in executing the element of surprise is concealment and quick retrieval of weapons, feigning injury, illness, fear, etc. can totally disorient an opponent - then attack. Doing the unexpected facilitates surprise. Let an opponent think you are going to do one thank then do something else. Above all, master the art of spontaneous and ruthless attack and defense. Thugs aren't used to people fighting back like that. It comes as a shock.

11. THE ABSOLUTE IRON WILL TO SURVIVE:

In personal combat, everything depends upon the individual's iron will to survive and upon his refusal to panic or give up, even in seemingly hopeless situations. When that terrible moment happens, the fighter who is most fully determined to walk away and whose unbending, absolute will to survive the encounter is strongest, is the one most likely to live.

12. CONTROLLED FEROCITY AND AGGRESSIVENESS

To fully understand this concept, consider the case of a person who has gone mad and goes off having superhuman strength. In training, cultivate the ability to bring forth the same degree of furious rage and aggression as the madman, but to do so in a controlled, focused manner that directs the power generated so that it will achieve the most effective, worthwhile results. By vividly creating in one's own mind the desperation of facing a terrible assailant or enemy, one will develop the ability to actually rev up the entire body and mind for the supreme effort. Overwhelm you enemy with a seemingly insane, frenzied onslaught of ferocious aggression. Keep attacking when in the face of the devil himself and victory will be yours.

13. COMMAND PRESENCE

There are many times when overt self-assurance, personal assertiveness, and a clear, dominating attitude over a given situation or predicament can forestall trouble. Not always. But sometimes. And for those times, the student of combat martial arts should acquire command presence. The sense of power and authority that a person expresses in any confrontational context is the result of how he carries himself and how he expresses words and gestures. Often, a potential troublemaker can be discouraged when he realized that the object of his wrath will not wilt, but will instead prove to be a formidable adversary if trouble escalates. An example would be an Army Drill Instructor who barks orders and means for them to be obeyed.

The times when displaying a command presence is wrong are as follows:

a. When confronted by a weapon threat - compliance and submission is used here and then an attack if feasible.

b. Situations which there is only time to attack immediately.

c. Those situations where you deem only force will solve the problem.

14. SELF ESTEEM AND RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION

No one can or will defend that which he doesn't value. Self-esteem is self-valuing. A healthy, self-valuing person will not and cannot tolerate abuses without recoiling in rage and fury at the abuser. In a fight, you must turn fear into anger but you must also realize that people cannot feel anger if they have not developed a good self esteem and value themselves. The precondition for development of anger is a good self esteem which will transform fear into righteous anger as a natural, normal and automatic psychological process and response to a threat of someone trying to hurt you or your loved ones who you value. You want to learn to value yourself. Nobody on this planet has the right to offer your violence. If he does, then he is expendable rot.

An exchange of blows will not offer the individual the chance of survival he requires. The operator must be trained to kill with the bare hands so he can quickly close in and kill the enemy. True martial arts have lost the meaning of their creation and are now watered down sports. Combat should be quick, powerful and simple.

Realistic expectations, high motivation, and confidence are determining factors in close quarters combat.

Surprise assaults must be utilized when conditions permit. Only when they are impossible to execute should hand to hand combat commence.

Because of the constant movement occurring in a struggle, it is difficult to attack clearly, Therefore, so that a lethal technique may be delivered, continuous attacks must be launched at the enemy's vital targets.

Techniques must be mastered to the point where they are instinctive so that the attack can be altered as the encounter demands. Attacks must be reflexive so that the mind is not preoccupied with technique. Mind must be allowed to enter its killing rage and draw from its reservoir of power.

Attitude Conditioning. The use of tension breaths is highly effective. Roaring screams can be used to help tighten the body and reinforce determination.

Fear-Anger Control: Both undesirable emotions. Although they are natural reactions which stimulate our internal defense mechanisms, they cause us to lose control and act carelessly if they are left unchecked. To overcome trembling, bad stomach feelings and rapid shallow breathing, inhale slowly for 7 seconds. Hold breath for 5 seconds while simultaneously tensing the stomach and clenching teeth. Exhale slowly and feel the relaxation brought on by the breath. If conditions permit the procedure should be repeated several times until control is regained.

Close Combat: Tactics to give you all possible advantage in a fight.

Whenever you enter a room, scan the area behind the door.

If leisurely standing or sitting, position yourself with your back to the wall. Protects you against possible rear attacks.

In any area, look for possible or know troublemakers or those who may become dangerous.

Possible exits and escape routes should be noted and used

Note any possible makeshift weapon within reach.

Mental distractions: Attacking the enemy when he is unprepared is good strategy. Make maximum use of rear unexpected attacks or times when he least expects danger. When enemy is concentrated on you and prepared for combat, attempt to distract enemy is concentrated on you and prepared for combat, attempt to distract his attention prior to your attack. Conversation is one way of closing in on the foe and distracting him.

Play games on his reflexes by taking an object - book, jacket, bottle, stone and lightly tossing it at approximately waist level. His natural reflexes will be to catch the object. An attack can be executed as you take advantage of his reflex.

A shock technique is any action which will repulse the foe or gross him out. For example, prior to combat pick your nose, then wipe your hand on the foe's shirt or face, staying at a safe distance, of course. If his reaction is to cringe, you have momentarily distracted him and can quickly use that to your advantage by executing an attack.

You can fake being afraid of the enemy and draw him into making an overconfident careless move, or you can be the enemy's superior and intimidate him causing him to lose his confidence and fighting spirit.

Remaining humorous and calm when facing combat can upset the enemy and offer you a chance for attack.

Do not attempt a second distraction. Distractions should not be used if a simple attack can be effectively executed, for example if you are in very close quarters. The most effective use of distraction is to take advantage of an enemy's own carelessness.

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Distance and positioning:

6 ft = caution distance

1 step & 1 arm's length = combat zone. Enemy can launch a good attack from here. Your response is to attack or move away.

1 arm's length = close quarters. Battery attacks are executed.

Learn to adapt to a combat struggle that becomes a battery attack and vise versa.

In a fight:

Maintain a moving powerful stance as you execute techniques.

Make certain your stance guards your groin since it is a primary target area.

Within attacking distance - attack. If attacked, ride out the attack and retaliate with an attack of your own. Your attitude must be aggressive and your body committed.

Combat Rage:

Is a phenomenon of close quarters fighting.

Left unchecked, will cause errors in judgement & harm you.

Try to exercise your rage with discipline.

Not to be confused with blind rage spurred on by hate, anger or fear. Use the breathing exercises to overcome irrational emotions and their undesired effects.

Learn to use both right & left sides of body to attack and defend.

Study the way a foe counters your attacks and develop attacks to overcome them.

Train yourself to attack from all angles and heights, distances etc

A trained man is a living weapon.

Techniques must be practiced until they can be executed almost by instinct.

The operator must know the mechanics of the techniques as well as possess great speed, power in order for him to be proficient. Striking the opponent anywhere is the goal - not accuracy but accuracy is preferred but not necessary. It is your aggression that counts.

Regardless of how proficient the operator becomes in close-quarter, hand to hand combat, there are no guarantees. No one technique can be relied upon to kill an adversary under any circumstances. Be aware of the various factors that can influence the outcome of his attack and never rely solely on initial technique to kill your foe.

Your training must be such that you will adapt to any unexpected maneuver and continue your attack until your target is dead. Be trained to flow from one technique into another and to alternate techniques as the fight demands. Be aware of the different use of each technique and attack appropriately.

Your clothes should be comfortable and fairly loose fitting.

Your shoes, boots, or sneakers, must grip the ground and not hinder your mobility.

Light leather gloves such as driving gloves can offer you protection and reinforcement for knuckle or finger strikes.

When training for defensive maneuvers against rear attacks such as chokes or grabs, condition yourself to instinctively tuck in your chin and slightly raise the shoulders. This way you can effectively jam a choke attack.

You should be aware that while a person is talking, he is vulnerable to attack. The mind generally cannot hold two thoughts at once. If you are talking to a potential aggressor, remain in the concealed, at ready stance and guard. If you deem it wise to attack first, take advantage of the enemy as he converses.

It cannot be overemphasized that you are better off mastering one technique than half-heartedly knowing a hundred. Train and master one technique at a time.

When you first launch a defensive or counteroffensive, you have the element of surprise in your favor. If you fail to take full advantage of your initial counteroffensive, you can never obtain the advantage of surprise a second time and an attacker will be more enraged, more cautious and more dangerous if you counter any offensive gesture he starts and then you fail to stop him immediately.

Make him turn his head, cover his eyes, duck, flinch in pain, grab at an injured limb or anything else. This is because his hands will be occupied elsewhere and you can launch an attack easier.

Never fight on equal footing. Throw anything available at an enemy. Grab any local hand held weapon.

A light chair can be swung into the legs of an advancing opponent. This is a great knife defense also.

Always YELL while attacking: Throw, hit, stab or kick you must yell.

Yelling does 3 things for you in a fight:

a. Tenses muscles for maximum strength.

b. Freezes enemy's mind for a brief second.

c. Channels you into offensive action and aggression. Animals grow when they attack and not when they run away. Yelling is not screaming in panic however.

Because most civilized people are generally regarded as frail, helpless victims by criminals, many times they approach peaceful people with less than adequate caution; therefore, the initial moments of the encounter are crucial. It is then when a yell, chop, hit kick, or stab will produce the best results. A good strong yell delays the opponent's ability to react, giving you more than enough chance for a crippling counteroffensive.

Your style of combat should be: To produce immediate damage to enemy. Never restrain, hold, or attempt to control the enemy. Kill, rip, tear, gouge, kick, spit and strike in order to down your enemy. You will also batter aside his attempts to do the same to you.

No fight should last beyond 30 seconds. After that it becomes dangerous to you. You will have a greater chance of loosing the longer the fight goes on.

Expect to get hurt in a fight. The body is capable of taking lots of punishment.

Do not hesitate to let your arms get slashed by a knife, if it means you will save your neck (literally) by doing so. Taking an injury on a strong part of your body can give you the chance you need to win the fight and follow-up on your own.

Learn to act and react from any position you may be in. Sitting down or lying in bed.

Always be aware of what is going on around you, of who is walking behind you, of where you are, etc You can avoid many fights this way.

A knife is best sidearm of people who cannot carry guns.

Never report your fight to the police if you win it.

Never use a fist to fight - use edge of hand, hammer fist, cupped hands etc…

When a man is down, kick for the head, until blood is running freely from his ears, nose, and mouth. Or kick to the armpit, spine or ribs. Also to the throat, temples and neck. Foot stomp all available joints to you to break them.

Use teeth for side of neck tearing arteries out. Do so only when a life is in danger because of AIDS and other viruses that you can get infected with through biting etc...

Mentally review how and when all your natural weapons can be applied in the countless possible ways when fighting with an opponent. Know which of your natural body weapons are being used and which cannot be used because they are trapped/grabbed by your opponent. This way, you can determine which weapon to use during a fight. Also know which of your opponent's natural body weapons are being used and which cannot be used because they are trapped/grabbed by you which will determine your targets and choice of weapons to use on your targets.

There will be adrenalin flowing through your body giving you 3 times normal strength and 6 times your pain tolerance. Unfortunately, your enemy acquires the same.

When a human being is aroused by hate, anger, rage, lust or any other impelling emotional drive, he has 3 times his normal strength and 6 times normal pain tolerance. Therefore, he will not succumb to less than a really fatal crippling blow to the 3 primary targets - eyes, throat, testicles. A man can still fight back with broken limbs, stab wounds or even bullet wounds. Go for primary targets.

Eyes and testicles are the 2 most vulnerable areas. Learn to attack these areas. Develop the habit of automatically seeking out eyes, throat, testicles on contact with an opponent. A man will instinctively try to protect these areas. Remember this. When you attack, he will try to cover up the attacked area leaving you room to attack another primary target. He cannot protect everything at one time.

Remember, your strongest, most determined attacker has weak points - eyes, groin, throat. He is only human. You can defeat him. Never call anybody a superman who cannot be defeated. A human being

is a human being with weaknesses.

Regardless of how you attacked, attack immediately. With practice, your counter moves will become instinctive and reflexive.

Utilize a man's instinctive drive to guard his eyes. Sand, dirt, gravel, change thrown into his eyes will cause momentary hesitation on his part for 1 to 5 seconds during which time you can easily escape or kill your assailant.

Spitting into a man's face is often a very effective trick. The momentary hesitation will allow you to follow up.

The finest groin attack is the simple knee to groin attack.

You have 3 choices in an encounter: Knockout, maim or kill or escape.

When a fight happens, get your opponent where you can and press the attack.

While a man is kept in pain, he will not be as formidable an opponent.

A truly determined man must be battered down to the ground and beaten to death by hard, deadly kicks, chops and stomps. One magic trick will never do the job. Thus, go over gunned.

When an action is foiled and when the person initiating the action is severely hurt or injured, the desire to try the same action again is destroyed. Thus, you should learn to injure the opponent immediately the second he launches any offensive action against you.

The key to effective unarmed combat is simple, vicious aggressiveness. So, when you defend, you actually do so by attacking - this is self offense and not self defense. Your attack will insure a sound defense. When grabbed, held or seized, you destroy the attacker in order to destroy his hold on you. Forget the anti grab techniques - strike the opponent.

A simple grasp, is non-dangerous but may be a prelude to an attack. Thus, no matter how an individual grabs you, attack immediately.

As long as a person is holding on to you as in a grab, he is positioning himself beautifully for your kick attacks. He is aiding your balance. The tighter and stronger the grip the better for your kicks. He is aiding your balance. The tighter and stronger the grip the better for you. This applies to both front & back. Thus, if an opponent grabs your right wrist, don't worry about the grab. You just lean backwards allowing the opponent's grab to stabilize you for a strong right side kick to his knee cap.

People grab clothing for: intimidation, restrain to punch you or control to bring you into a more suitable position to attack.

A basic tactic when you are grabbed in any form from the front is to ram the heel of your hand up into the base of your opponent's nose or chin, Drive up, back, then gouge eyes.

If your clothing is seized, the last thing you need to worry about is the hand(s) that grab you. While it is attached to some clothing, it is occupied and stationary and thus harmless. A clothing grab is usually the start of an assault requiring immediate counter attack.

The longer you wait to break the wrist grab or any grab, the stronger a grip the enemy will place on you and use his other weapons to hurt you. When grabbed, counter attack immediately before he has time to strike or throw you.

An instant defense movement is more effective from a psychological, standpoint. Attacker finds himself suddenly thrown into the position of being the defender.

Anytime you are held close to an enemy, you may always, bite, pinch, spit. However, the best is a knee to groin. Remember this.

The golden rule for defending against any form or style or manner of rear assault is to kick back hard as many times and as quickly as you can. Then start to hit and slam your opponent by striking backward with any part of your body that can still move.

Always deliver knee kicks one after the other. Never one. Remember to go over-gunned. Always retract the kicking leg immediately to prevent it from being grabbed. Same goes for punching.

A moving target is a more difficult target. Never stand still, even if you do

not know what to do. Move.

All combat tactics must be subconsciously internalized.

If you are not directly threatened by a weapon, if not physically bound or not beaten to semi-consciousness, one can definitely defend oneself every time and kill or cripple his attacker.

Do not let blind fear get control of you no matter what the situation, You key to survival is attack.

Use the fine art of deception, then attack without mercy.

Remember, you will mostly be fighting average people/criminals - not green Berets.

Most traditional martial artist train for sport and not spontaneous defense which makes them weak street fighters. Most people get attacked by surprise and thus we must train to react immediately.

Your own panic or lack of sufficient presence of mind is more dangerous to you than your attacker is. He cannot stop you from fighting back only your own self-doubts and fears can.

No matter how an attacker may restrain you he cannot possibly do so in a manner that totally confines your actions. If he holds both your hands, you have your head and legs free. If he holds one arm and your head, then you have got an arm and two legs etc. Once you move, he must try to fend you off.

The point of the knee will crack at 65lbs of pressure. 70lb kid can do this. It is easy to escape once you have broken your opponent's leg.

The best and simplest way to stop any form of frontal attack is the side kick to the knee.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF CHU FEN DO by Tony Blauer:

1. Thou Shalt Train. How hard you train is in relation to “why you train? Train constantly for every type of situation that you can think of. Don't be caught by surprise and not know what to do in a crisis situation.. Coach Bear Bryant said, “The will to win compares little with the will to prepare to win”. Train.

2. Thou Shalt Not Defeat Thyself. When faced with just one opponent and you oppose yourself, you are out numbered. Your mind can be your ally or worst enemy. Your thoughts can motivate you or they can create psychological and physical paralysis as we talked about earlier. Be positive, aggressive and motivated.

3. Thou Shalt Not give Up. The will to survive is probably the most neglected area of training. It is the most important. Knowing what to do in a crisis is important but compares little with the will to survive. Will beats skill. “Not giving up means not giving up”. To increase your will to survive a crisis make a list of things you will lose if you do not survive the crisis which will serve as an unconscious motivating force that will trigger your survival mechanism during a crisis.

4. Thou Shalt Not Fear Fear. More dangerous than your opponent is your mind. If it does not support you, your are finished at the start. The next time you feel fear - fight it. Challenge your fear. Attack your fear. Do not fear fear. We all feel it.

5. Never telegraph your intentions in a fight. You can only beat the opponent when the opponent makes a mistake. The real opportunity to win a fight is when your opponent's intention to act is revealed or when there is hesitation or a lapse in attention. So your opponent should be the last person to see your attack. So study sucker punching, natural stance awareness, pattern interrupts and distractions and use them on your opponent. Use surprise attacks. Don't into stances or verbal arguments and state what you are going to do to your opponent. This gives him time to prepare for his defense.

6. Thou Shalt Not Loose the Street Fight. You must know in advance that you will survive the street fight.

The key point is that you must appreciate the relationship to the ego in combat. You do not win fights, you just survive one. Win/Loose are labels our ego uses. Think only of survival - not winning. Combat is survival and not winning. The best way to learn this principles of ego and survival is to read the writings of the ancient Samurai warriors about the mind, ego, combat and death.

Also, remember these things in a street fight/combat:

-Never fight when you opponents wants to fight.

-Never fight where your opponent wants to fight.

-Never Fight how your opponent wants to fight.

7. Thou Shalt Not Invite Disaster. Awareness training will help you avoid dangerous situations. Train to be proactive in fight situations. Evaluate your daily routine to see if you visit violent prone areas or situations. Evaluate your mind to see if you are always getting into fights at work and out of work which increases your chances of getting into rights. Conversely, are you always passive and giving in to aggressive people and thus need assertive training. Evaluate your arsenal of weapons you have to defend yourself. Is your perception of danger trained. Are you trained to use armed or unarmed combat effectively to meet any situation that comes up. If you cannot answer these questions, you are dead. Get some training and therefore self-confidence.

8. Thou Shalt Not Kill except in defense of your life or another. Know the laws of using lethal force in your state.

9. Thou Shalt Not Settle For Mediocrity. Human beings are designed for improvement. Our brains and bodies are built for success. We do not improve because of three limiting factors:

-Comparison. Don't compare yourself with others. Compete only against yourself and use other people with higher skill levels than you as role models for inspiration.

-Do not judge yourself or others. Learn to evaluate, diagnose, weigh, and consider. When you change your “judgement filter” to one of analysis you will gain insight and wisdom.

-Limiting Beliefs. Many people are programmed to think negative thoughts about themselves that become actual self beliefs which severely handicap their potential. When young, their parents and friends tell them, “You are no good, You are dumb, You can't do that, You will never etc...” Negative beliefs that do not serve your success, happiness or dreams must be purged from your mind. This is easy unless you believe it too hard. However, you must also know the difference of what your capacity to achieve is versus your potential. Asses your capacity, recognize your potential as far greater and create realistic goals so that you experience success regularly and you will be only your way to self mastery. Just be realistic about capacity to achieve and your potential to achieve. Keep your goals realistic so you do not disappoint yourself. Do not

hope to be a brain surgeon if you did not like school etc.....

10. Thou Shalt Not Rebuke Other Systems of Armed and Unarmed Self Defense. Keep an open mind to all styles of Martial Arts and Combat Systems. They all have something to offer. Let us be constant beginner students and learn from everybody. Style limits our potential and capacity. Remember, there are so many martial artists stuck in one style of unarmed combat that they are in denial of the fact that firearms and knives can be used by them or against them in combat. Face it, a spinning back kick will not defeat a .12 ga shotgun.

SIX ZONE SAFEGUARD SYSTEM BY PHILIP T. HOLDER:

In an unarmned attack, you want to keep your hands between your attacker and yourself to defend yourself against punches or kicks.

When attacked by a knife or long range weapon, you keep your hands in to make your attacker come in to you so you can intercept his attack. If you let your hand(s) stay out in front of you, the opponent will cut or club your hand.

Street clothing does not allow the freedom of movement that karate clothes allow you. This is another reason why traditional karate does not translate well onto the street.

Size of opponent. With a opponent your own size, you have the ability to move him around and counter his moves.

With a larger opponent, you are disadvantaged when it becomes a wrestling match..

With a larger opponent, you would not attempt to move him around like you would an opponent of your own size.

A taller man will have more problems defending his low lines than a shorter person, thus attack a larger opponent's low lines. Remember, there are advantages and disadvantages to being both big and small. Always look at the positives of each and take advantage of each size's weakness..

A shorter man can punch up better but a taller man cannot punch down with much power.

So to effectivly attack a taller person, attack his legs to destroy his mobility. This will be a stop hit, then go in for a straight blast.

JIM GROVER'S IDEAS ON SELF DEFENSE:

1. Final confirmation of an assault will generally come in the form of injury to you. Be alert and stay focused.

2. Don't watch opponent's eyes for they cannot hurt you. Focus on the real danger: his hands, which can hit, hold weapons etc.

3. Disarming doesn't necessarily mean taking the weapon away from a person. You can disarm him by making it impossible for him to use the weapon by causing him injury or unconsciousness.

4. Martial arts is something you do with somebody. Combatives is something you do to somebody, or on somebody.

5. You will most likely be attacked when the conditions most favor your attacker and least favor you.

6. When one technique does not work, go to another. Do not use the same technique over and over again. Your opponent will get wise to you. Chain your techniques.

7. In a fight, always maintain a combative attitude. Any fight is 10% techniques and 90% attitude. The superior attitude will win.

8. Keep the technique simple; if a technique cannot be performed under the physiological effects of imminent danger, it is useless.

9. A fight is, by its very nature, a struggle. Your techniques must be effective against an opponent who will be fighting and struggling against you every step of the way.

10 Mistakes You cannot make when confronted with a violent situation.

1. Don't hope it goes away. Take the necessary action to end the situation.

2. Don't expect there to be even a glimmer of compassion in your attacker - there isn't.

3. Don't believe the playing field will be even when you are attacked. Conditions will be most advantageous to your attacker and you will be most vulnerable.

4. Don't apply your social restraint to their attack. The two are not compatible.

5. Don't believe you can compete normally with their level of violence. They are abnormal.

6. Don't be confrontational or challenging. The situation is bad enough; letting your anger urge you headlong into a situation won't help.

7. Don't give up, ever, if attacked.

8. Don't promulgate a lie to yourself or your loved ones. The realities of today are what they are, and they need to know hard-core facts about them.

9. Don't forget, YOU didn't start anything or ask for any trouble.

10. Never forget number 7.

JIM GROVER'S COMBATIVES PRINCIPLES:

The concepts of Combatives is to develop power at a very short distance. To accomplish this, the concept of SWAMP is used. Basically, this means that you stay relaxed and rely on your twix muscles for power. You don't want to be tight and tense. So you kind of stay sloppy in your movements and snap/twix your muscles into your strikes. So your strikes will be whip like strikes.

SWAMP

S - Stay Relaxed

23. Move the weapon first. Don't make any big motion to telegraph your intentions to strike.

A - Acceleration of the weapon towards the opponent/target.

M - Move into the direction of the strike placing your entire body weight behind all of your strikes. Hips pointing in direction of the strikes.

P - Plunge the weapon beyond what your are trying to strike. Works the same with all strikes.

You always want to make sure that you move into the attacker to strike so that even if you telegraph your strike, the attacker moves back, your strike still hits him somewhere. This applies to all the strikes that you will do.

When executing strikes, either one of your feet may be to the rear. Thus, push off with the rear foot regardless of which hand is doing the striking. When you push off your rear foot, you can either step forward with it and point its toes in the direction of your attack or step forward with your forward leg and point its toes in the direction of your attack.

With your strikes, accelerate and drop your weight. Maintain forward aggressiveness.

Note: Always keep your eyes on the opponent's sternum with every attack so you can see what he is doing.

When executing strikes, you are not aiming. You are striking.

Most Martial Arts are not relevant to street fighting today. They are "ARTS". You must try to streamline the martial arts to make them easy to use in street fights. Most commercial martial artist want to keep your training at a slow pace to make money. What they should do is speed up the pace and forget the nonsense and get straight to the most efficient fighting range which is trapping range where all your fighting tools can be used.

There are 4 different fighting ranges. No matter what style you are from, you will be fighting out of one of the 4 ranges.

1. Kicking. Longest range. Opponent cannot reach you with any elbow, knee or fist.

2. Punching. This range is defined by the full extension of the left jab. At this range, opponent cannot deliver an elbow or knee kick. Elbows and knees are out of range to use.

Note: As long as you are kicking and punching, you are not elbowing, knee kicking or headbutting which are your most deadly weapons to use in a fight.

3. Trapping. This is the range just a little short of an extended left jab. This range is inside of boxing and outside of wrestling range. If you can maintain this range, the tools available are deadly. Most people do not know how to fight out of this range giving you the advantage.

4. Wrestling. When on the ground, knees and headbutts cannot be used to defend yourself. Most of the time, they are neutralized.

Everybody kicks, punches and wrestles but nobody knows trapping. This is your advantage.

Real fighting begins in trapping range.

Always remember that when one of your natural body weapons are trapped or unavailable, you must immediately use one that is not trapped or unavailable to an appropriate target. For instance, if both your arms are trapped in a front bear hug, you use your head or knees as your weapons.

Remember, as soon as you see an attack starting, intercept it with a pre-emptive strike on your own. Attack opponent at Zero and negative power if possible.

Remember, when your opponent goes low, you go low so you can see what he is doing rather than looking down on him and wondering what he is up to. Also, when an opponent is going low he is probably going to rush you and tackle you to the ground. If you go low with him, you can execute a vertical elbow to his face to stop him from grabbing you thus maintaining your center line. Training must be done in Progression as follows:

1. Show the trapping range weapons - feet, hands, elbows etc.

2. Show the range where the weapon can be used. Kicking, boxing, trapping,

wrestling.

3. Develop weapon by solo practice - shadow boxing or on static bag.

4. Develop weapon by Focus mitt practice while moving with the person feeding

the mitt.

5. Practice your weapons against a padded/protected partner.

6. 2 man sparring with both practicing offense and defense.

Use awareness to prevent being grabbed in the streets or somebody come into striking range.

Tell people to give you 5 then hit first.

These trapping range weapons were developed so that the smaller man can defeat a larger man when applied to vulnerable targets on a human being:

1. Edge of your hand (Axe Hand)

2. Heel of your hand (Palm Heel)

3. Cupped/Slap Hand

4. Fingers

5. Elbows

6. Forearms

7. Fingers

8. Thumbs

9. Knees

10. Feet

11 Head (Top) & Back of Head

12. Teeth

13. Hammer Fist

Practice using these tools in combination. They are meant to be used in combination with each other as the situation determines.

Practice these 13 tools on a heavy bag. Go in and strike and then move out.

TARGETS: Always train to instinctively seek out the following targets:

Primary Targets:

1. Eyes: A gouge to eyes will break any type of hold or attack. Blows to the eyes cause men to instinctively protect their eyes by covering them. Use this instinct to execute feints and fakeouts to the eyes and then attack other targets.

2. Throat: Fatal attack only if forecably delivered but always a disabling attack.

3. Testicles: Same comment as eyes. Holds can be broken if grasped or hit.

Secondary Targets:

1. Knee Caps

2. Side of Knee Caps

3. Temples: One of the most sensitive area on the head. Knockout blow.

4. Ear Drums: These can be broken with cupped hand blows and slaps.

5. Bottom of Ears - Jaw Hinge Area: Pressure applied here is effective to release a hold or stop offensive action of opponent.

6. Side of Neck: Knockout blow. Few men can stand up to these types of blows.

7. Nape of Neck: Knockout blow. Few men can stand up to these types of blows.

8. Nose: Palm heal blow directed downward to base of nose is effective. Blow directed at top (bridge of the nose) will result in death or knockout.

9. Shins

10. Insteps

11. Joints: Blows applied to these areas in the opposite direction will cause a break or dislocation

12. Fingers: Holds applied to these areas in the opposite direction will cause a break or dislocation

Focus Mit Combination Training. Feeder places himself in appropriate target position and striker reads the target and executes the appropriate strike. Here, the feeder may wear two focus mitts presenting two different targets to the striker depending on where the feeder places his mitts at. The striker can use the same strike in sequence to practice cycle attacks. This training is superior to static training methods since an opponent will not be standing still on the street for you to hit. Thus, you need to determine the distance, tool, speed and rhythm to use for your attack. Focus mitt training allows you to develop these skills.

a. Eye Jab & Scoop Kick

b. Eye Jab, Oblique Kick, Scoop kick.

c. Elbow, knee kick, headbutt

d. Eye jab, elbow, headbutt

In training, always think of your targets of opportunity and think of the autonomic reaction of your opponent upon your strike. When opponent flinches to your strike, immediately follow-up.

Your choice of tools to attack with will depend on which tools and lines are open to use in a fight. If one of your hands are being held, use the other one in a way that you can. Sometimes you will not be able to use a particular tools on a particular line since it may be trapped by your opponent so you must choose another one.

If you strike an opponent and he is still in trapping range, you continue to use trapping tools. If opponent falls back because of your strike(s), then use boxing punches if he is in boxing range or use kicks when opponent is in kicking range. So as you go in and out of the four fighting ranges we must use those tools unique to those ranges but we ultimately want to get into trapping range to use our 8 deadly tools.

Once these eight tools are developed for offensive use. Then you must learn how to defend against an opponent who blocks these tools. We use trapping to defend against the opponent who blocks our 8 offensive tools when we execute them.

STANCE

Traditional Karate Stances are too immobile. Their hand positions telegraph what types of punches and movements can be made from the stance. This stance takes the element of surprise away from you. You really want to surprise your attacker by executing a counter attack from a passive stance.

Note: Getting into a fighting stance displays aggression and telegraphs your intentions to fight. It also tells your opponent that you know something about fighting which may cause him to reach for a weapon since he may consider you as a better fighter than himself so he will try to overcompensate by using weapons etc…. Thus, it is better to not get into a fighting stance unless it is unavoidable. Better to put yourself in a passive but defensive stance with one leg in front of the other with your arms wrapped around your chest ready to defend against hand strikes and your legs to defend against kicks.

If you do have to get into a stance, your stance should be a boxer's stance. If right handed, left leg in front with right foot behind it. Do not use a karate horse stance as it is frontal exposing the groin and lacks forward and backwards mobility. The boxer's stance gives you complete mobility. Hands are up covering the face with palms facing out. Your hands protect your upper body and can strike targets and your legs defend against kicks and can execute kicks to the opponent.

A good stance & guard position should be aggressively oriented. Its purpose is to offer you the greatest chance of mobility and attack while affording you the best cover possible.

The combat stance and guard is assumed only when you are engaged in combat and there is no chance of launching an unexpected or surprise attack or ambush.

Awareness and avoidance is the mark of a true survivor. Being aware of certain pre-violence indicators that tells you that violence is about to happen is of major importance to avoid being a victim of criminal attack. It is a critical skill at home or when you are abroad.

Just because you have successfully avoided prior violent encounters in the past, you must still approach each incident apart from your past experience. Each encounter will be different for the most part. They may be different then those you avoided in the past by taking certain actions. Thus, you cannot always apply past actions to present situations successfully. You must take and judge every incident on its own apart from your past experiences.

Under no circumstances will you allow the enemy to position himself facing the center of your torso. Your forward arm is raised so that the palm is approximately level with your face. The rear hand is raised so that the finger tips are approximately level with the face.

Your body can be angled to face the enemy's outside, his middle if he faces you squarely or his inside. You can effectively attack the enemy facing any of these three positions.

When attacking, always neutralize the enemy's forward guard arm in conjunction with the attack. Such a maneuver can temporarily render useless his defensive and counteroffensive techniques.

If you encounter an enemy that is skilled in the ways of guard trapping and counter trapping techniques, you can defeat him by continuing your attack in a rush form, forcing him off balance. You can then take advantage of his defensive attitude and execute effective attacks.

It is idealistic to think that every fight will be preceded by a confrontation forewarning you to fall into a fighting stance. However, this may not be the case. Thus, learn to act and to react from any position you may be in - even shitting down or lying in bed.

Also, depending on the ground and terrain you may have to fight from any body position. For example, you may have to fight on wet grass, water, ice, sand etc…

The concepts of Combatives is to develop power at a very short distance. To accomplish this, the concept of SWAMP is used. Basically, this means that you stay relaxed and rely on your twix muscles for power. You don't want to be tight and tense. So you kind of stay sloppy in your movements and snap/twix your muscles into your strikes. So your strikes will be whip like strikes.

BASIC STRIKES AND KICKS

SWAMP

S - Stay Relaxed

24. Move the weapon first. Don't make any big motion to telegraph your intentions to strike.

A - Acceleration of the weapon towards the opponent/target.

M - Move into the direction of the strike placing your entire body weight behind all of your strikes. Hips pointing in direction of the strikes.

P - Plunge the weapon beyond what your are trying to strike. Works the same with all strikes.

General Notes:

You always want to make sure that you move into the attacker to strike so that even if you telegraph your strike, the attacker moves back, your strike still hits him somewhere. This applies to all the strikes that you will do.

When executing strikes, either one of your feet may be to the rear. Thus, push off with the rear foot regardless of which hand is doing the striking. When you push off your rear foot, you can either step forward with it and point its toes in the direction of your attack or step forward with your forward leg and point its toes in the direction of your attack.

With your strikes, accelerate and drop your weight. Maintain forward aggressiveness.

When practicing your strikes, always keep your eyes on our opponent and you're your muscles loose. Tight muscles slow your reflexes.

Always try to get opponent to bend forward by kicking at his groin. When bent forwards, he is vulnerable to knee kicks to face, edge of hand chops to nape of neck. And frontal strangle and neck breaks.

Note: Always keep your eyes on the opponent's sternum with every attack so you can see what he is doing.

When executing strikes, you are not aiming. You are striking.

When you kick, kick to the opponent's Target Triangle which is both of his kneecaps and his groin.

Trapping Range Weapons and Strikes:

Practice these while partner moves around with focus mits. Moving with Focus mits represent a moving and alive target unlike the static drills done in the dojo. The feeder must maintain proper distance from opponent for proper training..

Many of these weapons can be cycled in 360 degree circles. Circular motion is powerful continuous and strong as opposed to linier punches that lose their power at the end of the strike and need to be retracted immediately. You can have both inside and outside side circles or upwards and downwards vertical circles. Are all considered “cycling”. Circles allow your arms to cover and protect ½ of your body - the upper part.

All of these strikes do not use a boxer's fist so as to not injure the hand but yet provide powerful strikes.

With all of the following strikes, the SWAMP principles are applied. Also, yelling is used with the strike.

Nine out of ten times, you will be successful in landing these strikes on your opponent. However, if you are facing a more skilled opponent who may block/trap your striking weapon, you must use a trap of your own and strike again or immediately use another one of your free natural body weapons to the most expedient target on your opponent without trapping. Trapping & blocking skills are taught later in this course but are secondary to learning and executing the basics as traps and blocks are very hard to apply in street self defense situations in my opinion.

1. AX Hand (Edge Hand)

Extend the thumb up and fingers straight out at the moment of impact to target so that your hand and the bottom of your forearm up to the elbow becomes a stiff striking weapon. Note: Keep your thumb straight up when striking. If you move it down, your ax hand will collapse or bend in on itself loosing its striking effectiveness.

Backhand Ax Hand:

To practice this strike, do the following drill: This is a right backhand strike.

Your partner's center line faces your center line and has a focus mitt on his right hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing outside to his right so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

You stand with your center line facing the forward edge of the focus mitt at less than arms reach so you can strike the mitt with a right backhand axe hand strike and some of your forearm. You always want to make sure that you move into the attacker to strike so that even if you telegraph your strike and the attacker moves back, your strike still hits him somewhere. This applies to all the strikes that you will do.

You stand in either one of two submissive postures below:

1. Chin down, hands folded over groin area with your right hand over your left since you always use the closest free limb to attack the nearest target on your attacker.

2. Chin down hands folded over chest with your right arm over your left since you always use the closest free limb to attack the nearest target on your attacker.

Pretend to walk away from attacker by only twisting your hips to your left while raising your right shoulder up to protect your face from attack. Then twist your body to your right as your raise your right axe hand and place your left hand up into a boxing guard position to protect the left side of your face. Continue to twist your body to your right which will move your right axe hand to the target - do not use your right arm & shoulder muscles to strike with. Your entire body weight should be behind the strike so that the strike goes thru the right side of opponent's neck/mitt. With the strike, accelerate and drop your weight. Your right foot should step to your right side naturally as the body twists to the right while doing the strike. Your right foot should stomp the floor at the same time the strike hits the right side of opponent's neck/mitt.

Notes: The reason why you bring your left hand up to cover your left ear is to cover the left side of your face against a counter attack, because at the end of this movement, your left side will be displayed to attacker. Also, if you throw your left hand back as you strike with your right axe hand, you have the two arms working against each other's energy. One's energy is going backwards and one going forwards. This causes your strike to lose forward energy and power.

Forehand Ax Hand

Deliver edge-of-the-hand blows with the inner (i.e., little-fin­ger) edge of the hand, fingers straight and close together, thumb extended; contact is made with the edge only, about half-way between the knuckle of the little finger and the wrist.

1. Deliver the blow with a bent arm (never with a straight arm), using a chopping action from the elbow, with the weight of the body behind it. Practice by striking the open palm of your left hand.

2. There are two ways in which this blow can be delivered:

(a) Downwards, with either hand;

(b) Across, with either hand; the blow always being de­livered outwards, with the palm of the hand down­wards, never on top.

2. Face Smash (not to be confused with cupped hands)

Position your right hand as if holding a softball with all of the fingers spread apart including the thumb. This move is like throwing a baseball at an attacker's face. Keep your hand limp and use it like a whip when striking.

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner has his back to you with a focus mitt on his right hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing to you so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

You stand with your center line facing to the left of the mitt's entire surface at arms reach so you can strike the mitt/opponent's face with your right hand. Your hands are up in a one half surrender position away and outwards from your body.

Step forward with the left as you push off with your rear right foot. As you push off with your rear right foot and step forward with your left foot, your right striking arm should automatically go backwards and the inside of your right elbow will rest along your right side. Now it is cocked for the strike

Strike the mitt in the same fashion that you would throw a baseball with. Strike through the target and downwards using your entire bodyweight going downwards. Your left forward foot should stomp the ground at the same time your right hand hits the mitt/opponent's face. Your right hand should continue to go downwards until stopponented by your own right leg.

Note: It is the rear right foot which gives this strike its power. Just stepping forward with your left leg gives the strike no power whatsoever.

Note: Remember, you do not move the right striking hand backwards as if winding up for a round house punch that will telegraph your intention to strike.

3. Cupped Hand Blow.

With this strike you cup the hand to create an air pocket to create a vacuum when it strikes the target and disperses the air which creates a vacuum. This blow is very effective against the ears.

When executing this strike as with all of the others, you are not aiming. You are striking. So if your miss the ear slap, your forearm or hand may deliver the blow instead of your cupped hand. It does not matter as long as you hit the opponent.

There are two types of Cupped Hand Blows:

a. Short Cup Hand Blow

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner's center line aligns with your center line and has a focus mitt on his left hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing outside to his left so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at arms reach so you can strike the mitt.

Raise both of your arms in a hands up surrender position. Then place your left hand over your left ear for a boxing cover. Without telegraphing your strike, step forward and to your left side with your left foot (toes pointing to your left) and twist your body to your left and use your twisting motion (not your right arm & shoulder muscles) to execute a right cup hand blow to the focus mitt (opponent's left ear). Remember to shift your body weight with your strike in order to go through the opponent with forward momentum.

b. Long Cupped Hand Blow: Used in combination with opponent pushing you rearwards causing distance between you and him.

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner has a focus mitt on his left hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing outside to his left so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at arms reach so you can strike the mitt.

Opponent pushes you backwards. He decides to come in close to you to push you back some more or to grab you and throw you to the ground etc…. You do not want him to do this.

To prevent the attacker coming in close to you to push you or getting close enough to grab you, raise both of your arms in a hands up surrender position. Then place your left hand over your left ear for a boxing cover. Stick your left elbow straight out and jam it into the opponent's chest (as he comes in to push you back or grab you) creating a small distance or reactionary gap between you and the opponent so he cannot immediately push or grab you. From this position, you can counter strike immediately if you wish to.

After you stick your left elbow straight out and jam it into the opponent's chest, the opponent will have forgotten about your right hand. Immediately and without telegraphing your strike, point your left foot to your left (toes pointing to your left) in the direction of the line of attack where your cupped hand will travel on and step forwards with it. This will place your hips in the right position for the strike which will maximize the strike's power. Pre positioning your hips this way negates twisting your hips on this strike. If you did twist your hips, doing so will throw your energy to your right side and away from your target. Remember to shift your body weight as you execute your right hand cupped blow to opponent's left ear in order to go through the mitt/target. Follow through and follow up with HKE.

Note: Even if your attacker raises his right arm up protecting the left side of his face against your strike, if he sees it coming, you still execute the strike to his right arm pushing it down because of the force that this strike generates. Then use your left arm to follow up with HKE.

4. Web Hand strike to opponent's throat. Place your right hand in a position where your thumb is as far away from the other four fingers as possible. This creates a web hand to strike to opponent's adam's apple.

5. Palm Heal Strike. Just has in boxing, this can be a linier jab. Keep your arm straight. Do not bend your elbow when striking. Entire arm should be straight. Start with your right hand on your right hip with your palm up. Shoot your right arm out, rotating your right hand counter clockwise and strike bridge of opponent's nose with the palm heal. Remember, to twist your body into the strike like a boxer does in a right cross. Hit target with the palm heal of your hand and retract it immediately after the strike so opponent cannot grab your striking arm. This strike can be used with vertical circles going up and down. (cycling).

6. Thumb Poke. Thumb is resting on index finger. Thumb is thrust upwards under the opponent's eye. The upwards thrust allows you to lift the eyelid up and scratch the naked eye.

7. Eye Jab. To execute eye jab, keep wrist loose and use the hand that is on the same side as your lead leg. Flick your wrist outwards and upwards in a backhand motion to strike. An eye flick will just scratch the opponent's cornea so it is a humane method of attack. Practice with right and left leads. Eye jabs are best used in upwards motions to lift up the eye lids to scratch the eye and remove an opponent's glasses.

8. Hammer Fist

Your partner has his back to you with a focus mitt on his right hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing to you so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner has his back to you with a focus mitt on his right hand holding the mitt in a “Power to the People” manner with the face of the mitt pointing to you so his arm will bend inward with the direction of the attack preventing injury to him.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at arms reach so you can strike the mitt.

Your hands are up in a semi surrender position. Position your right hand up in a natural manner (not cupped etc…).

Step forward with the left as you push off with your rear right foot which is what gives this strike power and cocks your right striking arm. As you push off with your rear right foot and step forward with your left foot, your right striking arm will automatically be cocked for the strike. You do not move the right striking hand backwards as if winding up for a round house punch that telegraphs your intention to strike.

Simulate a fly on the center of the focus mitt and try to grab it with your right hand and squash it. This is how the hammer fist is performed. The hammer fist takes its shape just before it hits the target.

Strike through the target as if you were to continue your right hand through the mitt and downward onto your right knee. Your left forward foot should stomp the ground at the same time your right striking hand hits the target. A hit on any target will do. There is no twisting at the hips involved - just forward pressure. Follow up with HKE.

9. Chin Jab

Position your right hand as if holding a softball or grapefruit with all of the fingers spread apart including the thumb. This blow is very effective when opponent is talking and has his tongue out.

There are two types of Chin Jabs:

a. Short Chin Jab:

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner holds the focus mitt in front of his face with a hand on each side of the mitt. The mitt's surface is toward you.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at a close range distance (elbow range) so you can strike the bottom of the mitt.

Start from a hands up position. Starting the jab beneath the opponents belt line and staying close to his centerline and out of his vision, twist your body to your left like a cork screw and execute a right chin jab under the bottom of the focus mitt. Remember to shift your body weight up with your body twist and strike up to move the head/target up and back. Also remember to keep your right forearm vertical to the opponent's center line so your elbow does not stick straight out to your side as if you were shooting a rifle. The movement of this strike is the same as a boxing uppercut punch. Follow up with HKE. Note: A horizontal elbow across opponent's throat after a chin jab is effective.

b. Long Chin Jab:

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner holds the focus mitt in front of him with a hand on each side of the mitt.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at intermediate (arms length) so you have to take a small step towards the mitt to strike the bottom of it. Start from a hands down position. Then place your left hand on the attacker's right hand to trap it. With your right hand resting on your right hip or back a little more, push off your rear right foot as you step forwards with your left foot and push your right arm outwards and up and under the mitt (still below opponent's line of sight) much like you were doing a NAZI salute. Your left foot should hit the ground the same time your right chin jab impacts the bottom of the mitt. There is no body twisting with this strike. Weight is forwards and up. It is a straight strike much like a boxing jab. Followup with HKE.

10. Elbow Strikes: Your most powerful weapon.

There are three types of Elbow Strikes:

a. Short Elbow Strike:

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner holds a large focus mitt in front of him with his right hand with the mitt's surface towards you. He must brace his body against it for stability since these are strong strikes.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at a close range distance (elbow range) so you can strike the center of the mitt.

Start from a hands down position. Then place your left hand on opponent's right elbow checking it because when you do your elbow strike, you don't want to lose your opponent but stay close to him for followups. Without telegraphing your strike execute a Modern Arnis #1 right diagonal elbow strike down to the left side of opponents neck/target. As you strike, step forward a bit with your left leg and point your left foot in the direction of the attack. At the same time, twist your body to your left like a cork screw and hit the focus mitt. Immediately after the strike, raise both you hands up in a boxing rope a dope cover. Follow up with HKE. Even if you miss your intended target, you are still hitting the opponent somewhere and still placing him off balance for your followups. Even if he throws up blocking hands, you will strike them with your elbows. The key is to strike the opponent.

Note that you are not executing a horizontal elbow smash to the side of opponent's neck as the opponent might just step back or be pushed back with your blow and you will not hit anything. The movement of this strike is like a boxing short hook. Follow up with HKE.

b. Long Elbow Strike:

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner holds a large focus mitt in front of him with his right hand with the mitt's surface towards you. He must brace his body against it for stability since these are strong strikes.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at a long range distance so you will have to take a step forwards.

Start from a hands down position. Push off with your rear right foot and step forward with your right foot planting it beyond your left foot and twisting your body to your left like a cork screw and hit the focus mitt.with your right elbow with a Modern Arnis #1 angle. Here you are putting your body weight downwards into your twisting motion to add power to your elbow strike. You are also aligning your feet and hips to point in the direction or line of attack adding power. Follow up with HKE.

Note: If an attacker is taller than you, as long as you point your elbow straight up and go straight down on attacker, your strike will work.

c. Pointed Elbow Strike:

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner holds a large focus mitt in front of him with both of his hands.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at intermediate range where you have to take a step towards the opponent. He must brace his body against it for stability since these are strong strikes.

Opponent rushes you frontally. You bring your left arm up in a guard position. Push off with your rear right foot and step forward with your right foot while sticking your right elbow straight outwards creating a pointed spear. Let your opponent run the focus mitt (his sternum) into your pointed elbow. Here, you are putting your body weight forwards and down into your opponent's sternum etc…..

Note: This technique is a good defense against wide round house punches.

Note: Never back away from a punch especially a round house punch or hooking punch. You will run into the apex of the punches power. Go inside of the arch of the punch where you will only be hit with the inside of attacker's arm. Then HKE.

Non Grover Alternative: Another effective guard is do a boxing cover by placing your left hand over your ear and then move the point of your elbow so it is in line with your nose. Place your right hand in front of your face with palm outwards across from the point of your left elbow.

Note: If an opponent tries for a frontal football tackle, you go down to eye level with attacker and execute a upward vertical elbow to opponent.

11. Kicks

a. The Side Kick: Here is your most effective long range attack. Instead of a straight smashing thrust of the master arm, you rear BACK, shifting the weight on the REAR FOOT, the RIGHT hand raised as if to ward off a blow. As soon as your opponent comes within range, your FORWARD FOOT is thrust forward at your opponent with a FULL snap. The foot, in a HORIZONTAL position, should smash on or below your enemy's KNEE. If his groin is unguarded, you may safely direct your kick into this region.

Whether you hit or miss, follow through with a wheeling attack. The arm you had raised before your kick may also be used to smash aside a dangerous blow from your opponent.

You will find that you will actually bounce when you KICK properly. The foot whips out horizontally to its maximum range, then whips smartly back. There will be little opportunity for your opponent to grab your leg.

If your opponent is armed with a knife, you will find this foot attack one of the safest and most effective ways of keeping him away from you; if he attempts a cut on your leg, you simply chop his head with a backhand smash.

b. Front Kick to the bladder or groin area.

c. Shin Kick (This kick is the oblique kick from JKD)

Shin Kicks are great low line attacks to the opponent's Shin that has no protective layers of muscles guarding it. Thus, the shin bone along with its nerves right under the skin are good targets.

To practice this kick, do the following drill

Your partner holds a large square karate striking pad in front of his left shin. His head should face to his left side for protection and safety.

You stand with your center line facing your opponent/pad at intermediate range where you have to take a step towards the opponent/pad. Step forwards a little bit in the direction of the attack/kick with your left foot and then move your right foot towards the opponent's left shin/pad with the inside of your right foot (instep) being the striking weapon. Strike the middle of opponent's shin bone/pad with the inside (instep) of your right foot by striking downwards. At the time of the strike, bend your left knee which helps place your entire body weight down into the strike and helps slide your right foot off of opponent's shin. Then slide your right foot forwards and off of the opponent's shin/pad and let it land outside of opponent's left foot. You do not want to have your right foot staying on top of the opponent's left foot. Continue your follow-up attacks from the outside of the opponent's left side -HKE.

Note: Do not use straight in toe kicks to the shin as you are trying to hit a small target with a small weapon. You can miss the target doing so.

Note: Do not use shin scrapes as afterwards your right foot is on top of opponent's left foot putting you off balance with his weight on top of you whereupon the opponent can push you away. The outside of your right ankle and inside of your left ankle will be easy to get at plus the right side of your face is exposed to your attacker. You are also too close to an opponent if the shin scrape was not powerful enough to neutralize him. Opponent will then have ample opponentortunity to counter attack.

Note: Even when you kick, keep your weight forward and downward.

This is a good all around defense against grabs and punches. If opponent throws a left jab, you tap it inwards with your right hand and then execute a right oblique kick to opponent's left kneecap. If opponent grabs you, execute a right oblique kick. Focus mitt held in front of your forward lead leg for target identification training.

d. Spike Kick (Target is the testicles)

To practice this kick, do the following drill

Your partner holds a small karate striking pad down and in front of his groin or places a thin karate pad between his legs but he also wears a groin cup for safety.

You stand with your center line facing your opponent/pad at intermediate range where you have to take a step towards the opponent/pad. Step forwards a little bit with your left foot and then bend your right leg a little and LIFT (not levering it, not snap kicking etc…) your right leg straight up with your right toe striking the opponent's testicles. If you opponent decided to move into you as you start your kick, just change your spike kick into a knee strike to his groin. Continue your follow-up attacks from the opponent's left side. Remember, that most people will bend forward as a result of a groin kick.

Note: Do not bend your back rearwards as you kick. This will place you off balance and cause your kick to arch. Your opponent will move in or grab your leg.

Note: Even when you kick, keep your weight forward and downward.

e. Low Destructive Kick (Target is the outside of opponent's knee/knee joint)

To practice this kick, do the following drill

You will not use a karate striking pad for this. You do this slowly and lightly with no force at all since it is too dangerous to practice full force.

You stand with your center line facing your opponent at intermediate range where you have to take a step towards the opponent. Grab opponent's right wrist with your left hand and grab his upper right shoulder with your left hand to trap it in place. Step forwards and outside of opponent's right foot with your left foot. Then place the bottom of your right foot directly to the side of opponent's knee joint. Press in slightly. After the kick to the side of attacker's knee, continue your follow-up attacks from the opponent's left side.

In real combat, you would do the following:

You stand with your center line facing your opponent at intermediate range where you have to take a step towards the opponent. Grab opponent's right arm with both of yours to trap it in place. Step forwards and outside of opponent's right foot with your left foot. Then jump in the air and as you come down placing the bottom of your right foot directly on the side of opponent's knee joint to break it. If you can, try to do all of these steps in one motion. Continue your follow-up attacks from the opponent's left side.

Note: Do not kick behind the opponent's knee as it will bend him forward and down as this technique is used to lower a taller opponent than you. It will not break the knee joint.

f. Stomp Kick (Target is any joint of opponent's body when he is down)

To practice this kick, do the following drill

You will not use a karate striking pad for this. You do this slowly and lightly with not force at all since it is too dangerous to practice full force. Place opponent on his back or stomach on the ground.

You stand over your opponent. Identify the nearest joint on opponent's body as he lays on the ground. Then step forward with your left foot (if a step is required) jump up and lift up your right foot up and come down in a crouch with your right foot stomping on the opponent's joints. Pay attention on how the attacker's joints are positioned. Sometimes, they will be positioned in such a way to make them break easier. Continue your follow-up attacks by stomping other joints.

Note: If you stand straight up without crouching forwards and just extend your leg to stomp, 50% of your weight goes upwards and there will be no power behind the stomp. All you are doing is just stepping on the target with no crushing effect. Very weak! To get your weight behind the stomp - crouch and stomp. Remember, you are trying to place all your force on your stomping foot and apply it to attacker's joints.

g. Angle Kick (Mui Thai Kick) (Target is the outside of opponent's leg)

To practice this kick, do the following drill

You will not use a karate striking pad for this. You do this slowly and lightly with no force at all since it is too dangerous to practice full force. Line up you center line with your opponent's center line with your feet shoulder width apart and your opponent's feet shoulder width apart. You are close to your attacker.

You move your left foot counterclockwise until your toes point straight to your left side. Twist your entire body at the hips counterclockwise and raise and bend your right leg with your toes down. Strike the outside of opponent's left leg with your right shin bone and then continue to apply downward pressure on opponent's left leg by pushing down on it with your right shin (sticky legs in Wing Chun). Continue to push your right leg downwards on the opponent's leg and go through it. You should wind up to the left side of the opponent with both of your feet planted on the ground for balance. You center line is aligned with attacker's left side. Followup with HKE.

Note: You do not extend your kicking leg straight out and kick with a stiff leg. The leg is bent upon impact. Also, you do not want to move away from your attacker after your kick as you want to maintain close range so you can continue to counter attack with all of your natural body weapons and keep the momentum of your counter attack going strong.

h. Hook Kick (Mui Thai Kick - long range to back of opponent's knee)

To practice this kick, do the following drill:

You will not use a karate striking pad for this. You do this slowly and lightly with no force at all since it is too dangerous to practice full force. Line up you center line with your opponent's center line with your feet shoulder width apart and your opponent's feet shoulder width apart. Your distance will be a little more than with the Angle Kick previously mentioned. Opponent will have his left leg bent at the knee.

You move your left foot counterclockwise until the toes of your left foot point straight to your left side. Twist your entire body at the hips counterclockwise and raise and bend your right leg with your toes down. Strike behind opponent's left knee with your right shin bone dropponenting your opponent to the ground. You should wind up to the left side of the opponent with both of your feet planted on the ground for balance. Followup with HKE.

Note. Hit with the Shin only. Always execute this kick with a bent leg as a straight leg will put you off balance whereupon the opponent can push you down.

i. Knee Kick (Target is basically opponent's stomach, pelvic bone, groin).

Your partner holds a karate striking pad in front of his groin but also wears a groin cup for safety.

There are two types of knee kick:

a. Violent Walk forwards:

To practice this kick, do the following drill:

With your left leg, step forwards as you walk into opponent frontally. As you close with your opponent, raise your rear right foot with the toes pointing to the ground to give you power in the strike. Strike opponent's stomach or groin straight on with your right kneecap. Your weight is forward. As opponent bends over, followup with HKE. Even if you miss the attacker's groin, you will still be in a position to use HKE attacks.

b. Basic Knee strike:

Your partner holds large focus mit in front of his groin.

With your left leg, step forwards as you walk into opponent frontally but step to his right side with your left leg. You do not want to place yourself right in front of the opponent when executing a knee kick. If you do, the opponent can wrap his hands around you and throw you to the ground. Execute a right elbow strike to the left side of opponent's neck with your entire right forearm which strikes the side of his neck and slides forward with the strike. With both of your hands, grab back of opponent's shirt at the middle right side of his back. You should be off center line to opponent's right side since his head could hit your head as he bends forwards after your kick. Then step back with your right leg and raise your right foot with the toes pointing to the ground to give you power in the strike. Strike opponent's stomach or groin straight on with your right kneecap. Throughout this strike, keep your body in a bend or crouched position which places all power into the strike. Do not stand straight up when executing this strike as it weakens the strike. After the first knee kick , step back with your right leg again and strike opponent's stomach or groin straight on with your right kneecap again. Here, your movement is forward giving your strikes forward momentum which is assisted by your crouching as you execute the strike. As opponent bends over, followup with HKE.

Note: Mui Thai fighters use both hands behind opponent's neck while they do their knee kicks. The problem here is that it is center line to center line and opponent can grab around the legs for a takedown. Thus, you want to be on either side of attacker's neck when executing the basic knee kick.

c. Hooking knee kicks. These are knee kicks that are thrown like hook punches in boxing.

12. Bite. Use this when somebody holds your head close to their body (headlocks & chokes) where you can bite. If choked from behind, tuck your chin down before the opponent completes his choke. Also used in mass attack situation and you are on the bottom of the pile with somebody giving you a headlock. Once your bite gets a reaction from your opponent, you must run or followup. Do not bite unless your life depends on it because of AIDS or other diseases you may contract in biting. As with any hold, recognize it before the opponent completes it by biting immediately.

13. Headbutt. Use the top flat portion of the top of your head to headbutt opponent's nose/face from your front or use the back portion of your head to headbutt opponent's nose/face.

14. Fingers and Thumbs for eye gouges from front or real and for pinching of sensitive areas on opponent's body which can cause the release of holds.

Strategies in Self Defense:

a. Cycling (Circles)

This is when you do not use linear strikes by extending your arm out in a jab or straight punch and then retracting it which is considered slow and weak when it comes to doing jabs. Cycling is mainly used in combination with a “face smash” (or other similar) and a circling hammer fist. This is continuous circular motion which retains energy (as opponentosed to linear strikes) for powerful strikes. Linear strikes loose their power at the end of their extension. Circular strikes are continuous energy.

To practice this strike, do the following drill:

Your partner has a focus mitt on his right hand in a power to the people manner with the surface facing out. Make sure he reinforces his right hand with his left as this is a powerful striking drill.

You stand with your center line facing the focus mitt at arms reach so you can strike the mitt.

Strike the mit/opponent with a face smash (or other similar) with your left arm. Move to the one side of the opponent.

Move your right arm and right hammer first in a forward circular motion and strike downwards onto mit/opponent's body. Keep moving your right arm in the forward circle motion and continue your hammer strikes. Upward hammer strikes (or any other strike) can attack under opponent's chin or groin. After you hit the opponent a few times, then follow up with HKE.

You can use short circles with your elbows bent but remember to always use circles with your body weight forwards.

b. High/Low Attack Concept:

Here is when you attack to the high line until opponent starts to defend his high line against you well enough that renders your high line attacks ineffectual. When this happens, attack to the opponent's low line until opponent starts to defend his low line against you well enough that renders your low line attacks ineffectual. Then attack the high line again.

You use this technique of high/low to make the opponent react to your strikes so you can execute more strikes with the hope that he cannot defend himself against them. Here, body autonomics comes into play.

You want to make the opponent's body react in a certain way to present targets to you. For example, to expose his groin, execute a high line attack to opponent's eyes. As opponent throws his hands up high to protect his eyes, you kick to his groin etc…

Some Combination of strikes are in the examples below:

Sequence #1.

Your partner has eye protection and groin cup on. No mitt.

You stand with your center line facing the opponent at arms length or longer. Your hands are in a non threatening manner. Your eyes focusing on the sternum of opponent's chest.

Strike the opponent with a face smash (or other similar strike) with your left arm as you take a small step forward with your left foot. Alt: Strike with your right arm with right to groin.

With your left hand, grab the opponent's right triceps or clothing to keep him close to you. Remember, when you face smash somebody, they will go backwards away from you thus you must grab them to keep them at CQB distance where you can still get to him for more strikes.

Execute a vertical circle by swinging your right arm up as you would when using an old style sling shot like King David did in the Bible. Step inwards with your right foot to put your body weight behind the sling shot strike. Strike opponent's groin with the palm heal of your right hand. Note that your entire body weight should be forwards and going upwards giving the strike power to lift opponent off the ground just like an upper cut in boxing would do. Opponent should be bent over by now. You should be on the opponent's right side.

Follow ups:

Execute a right elbow strike to right side of opponent's neck while still holding his right arm with your left.

Place both of your hands on back of opponent's head or your right hand on the back of his neck and your left hand on his lower back and execute a short right knee kick to opponent's face.

Execute a long right knee kick to opponent's face by stepping back with your right leg before the knee kick.

Execute a left elbow strike to back of opponent's neck.

Once opponent is on the ground, execute foot stomps to his joints.

Combat Sequence #2

Your opponent is standing straight up facing your center line and in your way. He will not let you pass him. You try to step to your right and he steps with you blocking your path. You step to your left and he steps with you blocking your path again.

Shift your hips to your left and drop your right hip down as you execute a low right straight karate punch to opponents groin area while at the same time grabbing the opponent's right forearm below the elbow with your left hand and pull it into your own chest to control the it.

Execute a right elbow smash into side of opponent's right thigh horizontal to the bottom seam line of his rear right pocket and vertical along the vertical seam line of pant leg. This is where the nerve area is. After the elbow strike, grab opponent's right tricepts with your right hand and rotate your body to your right and you execute a left elbow smash down to the back of the opponent's neck. When opponent is on the ground, stomp available targets.

Combat Sequence #3

Your opponent is standing straight up facing your center line and in your way. He will not let you pass him. You put your right hand under your chin as you hold your right elbow in your left palm as Jack Benny used to pose on his show.

Step forward with your left foot making sure that your right foot is to your rear and grab opponent's right arm above the elbow with your left hand and launch a short right chin jab under the opponent's chin from your Jack Benny pose. Retrieve your right chin jab and execute a long range right knee kick to opponent's groin. This should make the opponents head go down. Execute a regular power chin jab (like an uppercut) to opponent's chin. This should make opponent stand straight up again.

Place your right hand on opponent's left breast and push with it as you pull opponent's right arm towards you with your left hand which spins the opponent around. When opponent's back is toward you, place him in a right rear choke hold. Lower your body weight straight down and drop opponent vertically to the ground along his vertical spinal line. Maintain your rear choke hold. If opponent moves his head into the bend of your right elbow to relieve the pressure or bite you, place your left fingers into opponent's eye sockets and lift his head up and reapply the hold. You can also place your left fingers under the side of opponent's left chin where the nerves are which causes the opponent's head to go up and reapply your rear choke.

Combat Sequence #4

Your opponent is standing straight up facing your center line and in your way. He will not let you pass him. You put your right hand over your right ear for a boxing cover and keep your left hand free and upwards on your chest so you are ready to strike or block with it. In this position, you are pretending to cower away from your opponent.

Step forward with your left foot outside of opponent's right foot. Check opponent's right arm with your left hand. Pivot your weight to your right side as you launch a right edge hand strike to the right side of opponent's neck. If time and circumstances permit, execute another edge hand to the neck. If opponent has his hands up guarding his face, execute your right edge hand to opponent's right arm and continue.

Kick behind opponent's right knee joint with your right foot (or left depending) causing opponent to bend and fall forward. If circumstances permit, execute a left elbow strike behind opponent's neck. When Opponent goes down to the ground, stomp any available joint.

YOUR PLAN OF ATTACK:

Acquire, in the back of your mind, a "library" of PLANS OF ATTACK. These plans are ALL SIMPLE and DIRECT and they will cover a broad selection of situations, logical in individual combat.

Learn to choose the RIGHT attack instantly. Learn its timely execution.

These PLANS OF ATTACK must be PREARRANGED; they must be outlined and developed in your mind, forming a detailed list from which you may draw instantly when you are confronted with a situation which threatens your life. When the situation confronts you, you will have little time to think it over. A library of PREARRANGED PLANS will be in readiness.

Like swimming, these plans once thoroughly learned, will never be forgotten. Besides, you need not stay in top condition to apply them effectively.

When danger is imminent and you are unarmed, if there is time, look for something to supplement your natural weapons-a stick, a stone, dirt, ANYTHING.

At the sight of your enemy coming at you, start to put into action your prearranged plan of attack. Assume your proper stance instantly; your choice of attack will depend upon your enemy's stance and the nature of HIS attack.

Launch your prearranged plan of attack the moment he comes within range.

In your plan, simplicity and directness of action will be the keynote of your attack. By TRAINED instinct you will direct your attack in a manner which will exploit any disadvantage you can detect in your opponent. Without a plan and the means to execute it, you are lost. Once the action has started and you find that your original plan is not working, you will automatically switch to another. You will find that this is NOT difficult because ALL of your plans from which you made your initial choice, were SIMPLE and DIRECT.

In the frenzy of a "to the death" struggle, anything short of an absolute Knockout blow on your enemy will allow him to remain dangerously fighting for his life-or yours.

Your first step will be to snap yourself into your stance.

In an instant you will size up your enemy-his speed, the position of his hands, the way he carries his head.

WITHOUT PREMEDITATION, execute your plan of attack the instant he comes within range.

Remember, no one is going to set himself up for you to execute perfectly any routine series of attacks. Explode your whole plan, or any part of it, ALL OVER your enemy in rapid succession.

All of your plans o f attack are drawn up with one objective in mind - to achieve ultimate victory.

Perhaps you may accomplish this quickly with one direct attack that strikes home . . .

Or it might be a long, drawn out operation . . .

In any case, your plan o f attack should cover all possibilities. You know that the best way to destroy your enemy is to destroy his primary targets first if you can. In a personal contact with an indi­vidual enemy, destroy ANY ONE of his primary targets and victory is yours.

Those primary or high priority targets are:

1. The throat.

2. The groin area.

3. The eyes.

A heavy pounding at ALL OTHER targets will directly or indirectly damage the primary targets and will batter down resistance, allowing OPENINGS for you into his primary targets, which you will immedi­ately attack in a manner prescribed in your plan o f attack - with hand and fist blows, crushing, gouging, ripping with fingers and thumbs, elbow smashes, knee smashes and knee drops, kicks and stomps with the foot.

From your stance you will attack the targets described under "TAR­GETS", with the weapons described under "WEAPONS", in a manner prescribed under "ATTACKS."

ATTACKS

Distract and attempt to throw your enemy off balance by heaving a handful of dirt, your cartridge belt, helmet, coins or cigarettes at him. Throw ANYTHING you can get your hands on; throw it the moment he comes into your range.

1. The Thrust Attack. If your enemy comes at you with his ARMS LOW or SPREAD OUT out in such a manner as to expose his HEAD, you may start your attack with an exploding STRAIGHT THRUST with your RIGHT, or master hand in the same manner as the execution of a knife thrust. If he is in range and is OPEN for such a blow he will not be able to block it. It will land hard enough for you to MOVE RIGHT IN, allowing your attack through at close range-POINT BLANK range or your most effective blows.

Depending upon the speed and stance of your enemy, this type of initial attack may be launched in the following manner:

1. Fist exploding on his face.

2. Fingers extended and joined, thrust into his throat.

3. First two joints of the hand doubled up and thrust into his throat.

4. Fingers extended and spread, ramming them into his eyes.

B. Follow through o f the Thrust Attack. The instant your initial blow has landed, you wheel in close, every weapon you have exploding on every target opening. If there is no target opening, MAKE ONE, keep battering and pounding. It will be impossible for your opponent to protect his COMPLETE body at once. This should give you incentive and confidence. It is not humanly possible for your enemy to protect his throat, groin, eyes, solar plexis, base of skull, kidneys, etc., ALL at the same time. You will be forcing the attack, keeping your enemy off-balance and placing him immediately on the defensive; he will be so busy protecting himself that the choice of targets will be yours.

The heavy artillery of the body's natural weapons consists of both elbows, the sides of fists, the knees and feet and the forehead-used as battering rams.

When you close with your enemy, immediately following the right thrust attack, wheel or pivot in with a left elbow smash, the arms hooked, elbows and fists FLYING. All of the way to the RIGHT, then BACK again, pressing the attack by wheeling and smashing. EVERY full pivot will expose your enemy to a hit from your elbows, fists and the sides of your fists.

If this attack lands successfully and your enemy goes down-and he is still moving-prepare to finish him off by planting well placed toe kicks or heel stomps into the following targets:

1. Neck, anywhere, all the way around. 2. Groin.

3. Lower rib region, anywhere, all the way around.

4. All joints.

5. All muscles.

Finish him off with a vigorous stomp or kick to the neck, or a knee drop to the same place.

KNEE DROPS are excellent when your enemy goes down. Merely drop your entire weight, concentrated on ONE of your knees, on any part of his anatomy. Something will GIVE! You may then finish him off with hand blows or gouges and rips to the throat. However, it is SAFER to kick and stomp when your enemy goes down.

Possibilities

If after your initial attack and follow-through, your enemy is still fighting, you remain in close and keep up the assault.

If he grabs your throat, your complete wheeling action with a left or right elbow smash will break his grip.

If he grabs you low, he is exposing his head, neck, etc. Smash at these targets with the sides of the fists, edges of the hands and elbows. If his head is high, smash and thrust at his throat, with the hands and edges of the hands.

If he gets a dangerous hold on you, SLOW DOWN and grab ONE of his offending fingers and BREAK it, or crush his windpipe with the thumbs or a blow with the hand or smash at his GROIN. Keep your hands moving in the direction of his vital targets. (There are no easily acquired holds that he can get on you which will keep your hands from reaching his groin.) Once you get one of your hands in the vicinity of his throat, eyes or groin, launch your most vigorous attack, smashing, gouging, crushing and ripping.

If he is at any time knocked off balance, leaving you out of arms reach for a moment, kick him, concentrating on the groin, lower rib area and throat area.

If his back is at any time available to you, leap upon it-apply the double-arm strangle hold, wrapping the legs around his waist scissors hold. This also will end the fight.

If your two hands are clear, and his ears are hands over his ears are in range, slam both hands over his ears as hard as you can. The result will be similar to a blast concussion.

The Wheeling Attack:

If a straight thrusting attack is impossible because of an opponent's extended arms, launch a WHEELING ATTACK from your guard posi­tion. If your opponent is facing slightly to the LEFT, wheel your attack in the direction in which he is facing. If he is facing RIGHT, wheel your attack in that direction. This attack will break down his defense and SPIN him around, making any counter attack impossible.

This pivoting right and left cross attack was introduced by the late Robert Fitzsimmons who used it to win the heavyweight championship over the late James J. Corbett. It was known as Fitzsimmons' "killing shift."

Colonel A. J. Drexel Biddle's description of this attack execution. Here's how it's done:

From a regular boxer's stance (LEFT foot forward) a right hook is aimed at your opponent's chin; at the same time the RIGHT FOOT steps forward, adding speed and force to the blow. Your RIGHT FOOT should advance outside of your opponent's LEFT FOOT.

If your right hook failed to land on your opponent's chin, all well and good, the FOLLOW-THROUGH of the blow will have smashed down the enemy's defenses, leaving you LOW and to his LEFT. Instantly rip back up with your whole body, clearing everything with your RIGHT ELBOW, but that LEFT FIST OF YOURS is brought up from the floor and is planted in the SOLAR PLEXIS of your opponent. While this doubles up your enemy, you return to the LOW POSITION and repeat the LEFT HAND PUNCH. This time you can direct it to the point of your opponent's chin. If delivered with KILL­ING INTENT. this last blow can drive your opponent's jawbones into the base of his skull, resulting in a brain concussion which can cause death.

On the battlefield, this same principle can be applied from YOUR guard position (RIGHT foot forward) with NO regard for the right elbow clearing before the LEFT fist comes up. Nor is it necessary for you to direct the first left to the solar plexis; a slight lowering of the range into the GROIN, will be more effective for the result you wish to achieve. Keep your body well-balanced with natural foot movements.

The Foot Attack:

Here is your most effective long range attack. Instead of a straight smashing thrust of the master arm, you rear BACK, shifting the weight on the REAR FOOT, the RIGHT hand raised as if to ward off a blow. As soon as your opponent comes within range, your FORWARD FOOT is thrust forward at your opponent with a FULL snap. The foot, in a HORIZONTAL position, should smash on or below your enemy's KNEE. If his groin is unguarded, you may safely direct your kick into this region.

Whether you hit or miss, follow through with a wheeling attack. The arm you had raised before your kick may also be used to smash aside a dangerous blow from your opponent.

You will find that you will actually bounce when you KICK properly. The foot whips out horizontally to its maximum range, then whips smartly back. There will be little opportunity for your opponent to grab your leg.

If your opponent is armed with a knife, you will find this foot attack one of the safest and most effective ways of keeping him away from you; if he attempts a cut on your leg, you simply chop his head with a backhand smash.

If you are knocked to the ground, it is very important to get up immediately.

THE ART OF GETTING UP FROM THE GROUND:

You will have noted no holds or locks on the ground are talked about in this course. The reason for this is:

(a) Your object is to kill or dispose of your oppo­nent as quickly as possible and go to the assistance of your friends/loved ones/comrades.

(b) Once on the ground, you are more vulnerable to attack.

(c) It takes months of constant daily practice to master the art of falling, and personal instruction from a qualified instructor is essential.

(d) There is a vast difference between falling on mats in a gym­nasium and falling on a road or rocky ground. Even a roll on to a stone or a small stump of a tree, should it press into the kidneys, would certainly put you out of the fight permanently.

It is, therefore, obvious that you should concentrate on remaining on your feet. No attempt is made to teach you how to fall, but the following guides are given on how to get back on your feet if you do fall or are thrown:

You are on the ground on your back.

Turn your body sharply towards your left-hand side, stomach to the ground, rising by the help of the right forearm and right knee. Pushing on the ground with both hands, force yourself backwards and then stand up.

Note: All the above movements must be one rapid and continuous roll or twist of the body. If, when in the position, your opponent is behind you, place your right foot as near as possible to your left hand, turn sharply on both feet towards your left-hand side, and you will find yourself facing your opponent.

GETTING UP FROM THE GROUND (BACKWARDS):

1. You have fallen on to your back on the ground.

2. Lie flat on your back and place your right arm at an angle of go degrees from

the body, the back of your hand on the ground and your head turned towards your left shoulder.

3. Raise your legs from the waist and shoot them over your right shoulder. When in this position, allow your right arm and hand to turn with your body.

4. Bend your right leg and bring it to the ground as close to your right arm as possible. Keeping your left leg straight, reach as far back with it as possible.

5. Your left hand will be on the ground approximately oppo­site your right knee. Press on the ground with both hands and force yourself up on to your right knee. Continue the pressure until you are on your feet.

Note: The reason for keeping your feet apart is that you will immediately be on-balance when you come up on your feet. This is a very important point to note and is very seldom taken care of by the average man. A man off-balance can be pushed down again with a few pounds' pressure of either hand. Moreover, he cannot administer an effective blow or even defend himself properly.

KICK ATTACK BLOCKS:

a. Counter to knee kick to groin

(1). Block right knee kick to the groin by pivoting to the right placing your left forearm on top of the knee. Place right hand under opponent's raised right knee. Grasp side or back of opponent's collar with left hand. Follow thru by lifting right knee pushing opponent down and backwards with your left hand.

b. Frontal Kicks

(1). Use the edge of your foot, stop the opponent's kick with a checking action applied to opponent's shin. This is a Stop Hit.

(2). Block (by 2 hand web block as in knife defense) and grasp the foot when kicked. Opponent is off balance and can be thrown, pulled, or pushed into many effective falls. Maintain your own balance. Twist or turn the foot to the right. (always toward the person's inside). Step forward and push opponent to the ground - he will fall face downward. A knee, leg or straight push can be used also as a takedown. Follow up.

(3). If you are carrying an object in your hands like a club or stick, it can be used to block the attacking leg.

c. All other Kicks

(1). If the kicks are high enough, your immediate reaction should be to turn sideways so as to off the minimum target. Then use your arm closest to the offending leg (not your hand) to cradle the opponent's leg and raise the leg and carry on the momentum sending opponent backwards onto the ground.

(2) Execute lower double arm slap block to the inside thigh above knee, execute right knee kick to opponent's groin to right elbow smash to opponent's face. NOTE: Go with the direction of the foot. Ride it out just like in the counter for the roundhouse club attack.

(3) Execute lower double arm slap block to the outside of attacking leg to rear hair on collar grab with one hand and pull opponent back while executing a knife hand to his throat with your other free hand. Maintain control of hair or collar and followup as appropriate.

d. Use your forward leg up block along with a rope-a-dope double hand block.

PUNCHES AND HOW DO DEAL WITH THEM.

1. Review of common punches in the order of their frequency:

a. Straight armed, flailing roundhouse: Is a sure sign of an inexperienced fighter and is the most visible and easily blocked. The common misconception that the roundhouse is a knockout punch is the reason for its being thrown so often. In fact, the roundhouse punch is usually an arm punch with very little body strength behind it. The best way to deal with this punch is to either move into it before it reaches the apex of its power, or to move with it and use the momentum of the attack to your advantage.

b. Hook Punch: Is the next most common punch. It resembles a roundhouse thrown with a bent elbow. The hook, when properly thrown, is a devastating punch. Body weight is behind this blow. It is a difficult strike to block because it exposes very little blocking area on the attacking arm. Although a strong punch, it is a short one intended for use on the inside when the fighters are at close range. To block a hook, move inside if possible and stop it at the elbow where it is less powerful. Because the hook is a short punch, it can be beaten with a well placed front kick or side kick which in most cases ends the ordeal without any further action.

c. Straight punch: Is most often encountered when dealing with a boxer or experienced street fighter. Can be as devastating a blow as the hook but faster and less visible. It is best to sidestep a straight punch to either side, letting the blow pass and countering from a position where a ribcage or unguarded jaw is available. Guiding the straight punch by you as you parry/block and sidestep is a good way to throw your attacker off balance, making him vulnerable to a sweep or throw.

Notes: Moving in close to a puncher and working on his inside lessens the chances of a 2^nd or 3^rd punch being thrown at you. When inside, strike to primary targets and take opponent down with head butts, knee kicks and elbows.

As with all self defense techniques, the above tactics are meant to be modified to suit the individual and should not be considered static. Be flexible.

2. Key concepts for defense against punches:

1. Relaxation. Keep your hand open and loose so it can move almost instantaneously.

2. Economy of Movement. Do not reach out to meet the opponent's blow (extending your arm out). Do not attempt to forcefully push the strike away (contesting opponent's power). Simply, close the gate that the strike must pass thru to hit you.

3. Unity of movement. Make the movement of your open hand into your opponent's attack line and the movement of your head out of the attack line a simultaneous action.

Throwing a punch is almost entirely instinctive to most people when they attack - expect this form of attack first and prepare for it.

Usually, punches will be telegraphed with one leg of opponent well in advance with no thought given to balance. Watch the opponent's sternum with your primary vision but in your peripheral vision watch his elbows, shoulder and inside of his arms for his telegraphed intentions to throw a punch.

Keep your eyes on your opponent at all times with gaze fixed on sternum of opponent. Never ever take your eyes off of him.

Block with your whole body by twisting violently into your block - also this pivoting will take you out of alignment of punch's path.

Move into the opponent as you block or afterwards. Follow-up immediately, to cripple or kill the opponent.

Blocking is not a good self defense technique. If an individual block is not immediately followed by a strike, kick or any other follow-up, it is useless. If one keeps blocking an opponent's punch one after another without striking back, sooner or later the opponent's punch or strike will land on you. This is especially true about fighting a person with a stick or knife when you are empty handed. If you try to do a block to the opponent's knife or stick hand, all he has to do is change the angle of his strike to go to another target area. Or, he could hit you with his free hand or another one of his natural body weapons.

It is quite preferred to move away from or destroy the attacking arm regardless if opponent is using a stick, knife or empty hand. Thus, blocks really do not work and never will but only for a split second in a fight. Learn to bob & weave, duck, parry etc.. against any punch.

There are only a few general means of dealing with punch attacks. Moving into the punch, stifling it before it reaches the point where it is the most powerful; moving with the punch letting your attacker's momentum carry him thru your technique; or beating the man to the punch by outreaching him or using superior speed to get him before he gets you - this is a stop hit advocated by Bruce Lee. The best thing to do is hit him first is if a fight seems imminent.

The facing concept in self defense:

If you are facing your opponent squarely and then position yourself to the left of his center line, then you can statistically expect that the opponent will throw a right straight punch to your head. Usually the opponent's right foot will be forward before he strikes.

If you are facing your opponent squarely and then position yourself to the right of this centerline then you can statistically expect that the opponent will throw a right hook punch to hour head. The opponent will usually move his right foot and leg forward and turn his upper body toward you so he can face you a little more squarely before he throws his punch.

If a fight seems imminent, you should always try to weigh your opponents's size, strengths and motives w/your choice of defense. For instance, it is much wiser to let a large man's punch pass you by while moving to the side than it is to try and stop it at the risk of missing and getting your head knocked off. A smaller opponent should be treated with equal caution as he may be faster and speed may be more necessary in your choice of defense. The reason a person is driven to violence is another factor. If he is drunk, deal with opponent, on a less violent level then a sober violent opponent. Use common sense in your judgment Although it sounds like a lot to think about in a short period of time during the beginning of a fight, these factors above are usually weighed swiftly and unconsciously by anyone who has been trained when confronted with a potentially violent situation.

Traditional karate blocks against punches are:

a. Too slow and real fights that happen in split second.

b. Defense and counter strikes in karate are divided into two movements. You can get hit on the second movement.

c. Too weak to use. A big opponent will bulldoze through your block, destroy or crash through your block. Thus, you need to evade the blow initially then counter in one fluid motion.

Always look for telegraphed intentions such as a running or lunging forwards with hand drawn back or an enemy getting into a fighting stance and drawing back his fists. KICK forward leg or target triangle immediately & first if possible

3. Types of punches and needed blocks:

Note: always look for telegraphed intentions used such as running or lunging forward with hand drawn back or an enemy getting into a fighting stance and drawing back his fists. Also, look for shifting/repositioning of body or one or both legs. It should be noted that these will be very suttle movements. KICK to forward leg or Target Triangle immediately & first if possible.

Straight jabs have very little body weight behind them. They are very fast and rely on speed alone. They scare you into thinking your opponent is faster than you. When you are scared, you tighten up which means you slow down and begin to make mistakes. Their objective is to get you scared so you will make mistakes. If you get uptight about making mistakes, your judgment gets clouded by your own emotions. If you are worried about making a mistake, you have just made the biggest mistake possible. So if an opponent lands a stinging slap on your head - so what? If you get mad, or go chasing after him like a madman or allow yourself to get scared and lose your defense, you will get hurt a lot worse. You should have just remained cool, maintained your defense and took the punch. Jabs are used as setup blows which are used to get you to lower your guard leaving a hole in your defense then to allow you to be hit with a stronger blow.

Blocking straight punches to the outside.

Slap block: When a straight in type of blow is directed at your face or upper body area, simply swerve backward in a smooth pivot action and sweep away his attack with whichever arm is on the same side as the hand opponent is attempting to strike you with. (This method is called an outside slap block or parry). Step back with your opposite leg. Follow-up with an edge/ax hand across opponent's throat with your slapping hand or kick to opponent's body. For instance, when opponent throws a right straight jab and you sweep block the outside of his right arm with your left arm and hand.

Blocking straight punches to the inside:

If a straight punch is thrown and the attacker's offending arm winds up outside of one or both of your defending arms, execute a twisting double elbow block & roll with the direction of the punch. Follow-up by knee to groin. NOTE: If possible, try to get close in for an arm wrap & chin jab and knee kick.

NOTE: Double arm block could be used in conjunction with a hammer first to opponent's bicept.

Defending against roundhouse punches

a. Wild roundhouse punches: They are usually telegraphed by the opponent. This is great for you - the defender. These blows are the slowest and most telegraphed. They have full body weight behind them. A big weakness of roundhouses is that most people are off balance when they deliver them. And you know what can happen to anybody if they are off balance - they are easily dealt with. Here is a rule of thumb about roundhouses. Remember, it is not a law - there are a lot of exceptions. For the most part, you can tell where the power blows will come from by noting which way the opponent squares off against you. If he leads with his left foot, the odds are (but not always) that the power blows will come from his right side. So watch how someone squares off and, if possible, try to keep out of the sector where the power blow will come from. That means if he squares off facing you with his left foot forward, try to keep to his left side. If you wander towards his right, you have just walked into danger. The reverse goes for you: you want opponent in the area of highest danger. Always look for telegraphed intentions such as a running or lunging forwards with hand drawn back in an attempt to throw a roundhouse at you.

If you see the wild roundhouse punch coming and have enough time, step into opponent, at the start of his strike before it gains any momentum. Swing your arms or elbows up for a double arm block on the same side as his striking arm up and push them hard into the crook of his attacking arm. Twist into the block with the head held low and close to your own blocking arms. Block, then execute an arm wrap with chin jab and knee kick. Follow-up by executing wheeling elbow smash to face, more elbow smashes and frontal head butts.

NOTE: Double arm block could be used in conjunction with a hammer fist to opponent's bicept.

Defenses against hook punches:

NOTE: Hook punches are medium blows and have more body weight behind it than jabs but less than the roundhouse. These can be damaging blows. Do your best not to take the full effect of these blows. If one gets through your defenses, roll with it. Mobility is to be used here. There is a technique called "shedding: that is especially useful against these blows. On whatever side you are pushed, you spin with the force. Roll with the punch. If the blow is thrown at the center of your face, you shift to the left or the right, then as the blow lands, you sort of shed it off by rolling to the side.

Hook punches are generally thrown when you are inside both of opponent's arms, unlike when you were outside of his striking arm. When you were outside of the opponent's striking arm, you didn't have to worry about his other arm counter punching as you do when your are on opponent's inside. When you are on the inside, you can expect the old one-two hook punch routine. So when you are defending against a hook punch to your head, you must be aware of the counter punch coming immediately. The opponent always thinks you will move backwards and thus he feels he can control you and set you up for other strikes. So move with the hook punch and move inside of the punch and the opponent.

Other techniques to defend against the hook punch

a. Hook punches. Opponent attacks your midsection with his right arm. Maintaining a mid low double arm block, lower your elbows to protect your midsection and kidneys and sweep away and absorb the punch with the outside of your forearms. Turn with and inside of the blow moving into the opponent letting his striking arm wrap around your midsection. Execute an elbow smash to opponent's face.

SELF DEFENSE AGAINST COMMON ATTACKS:

SD SKILLS:

Note: In hand to hand combat, always be aware of your free limbs in relation to available targets when you don't succeed in a technique.

0. Front 2 Hand choke (Always keep one leg forward for groin protection for a, b, c.

a. Wheeling elbow release. Grab one of opponent's wrists with one of your hands and immobilize it. With your other arm bring it over and across the opponent's choking hands and pin both of the opponent's arms beneath your armpit. With you pinning arm, execute an elbow smash to opponent's face.

b. Grab both attacker's wrists with both of your hands and step back with one leg and kick to groin with this rear leg. (Commando pg 102).

c. Inside finger strike to throat to chinjab & eye gouge with a head twist takedown & neck break over your leg. (Ayoob pg 26)

d. Running/Lunging 2 hand choke grab attempt. Kick First. If kick is not possible, as soon as the opponent grabs your throat or chest with both of his hands, grab his left wrist with your right hand and pivot on your right foot while wheeling your left arm around opponent's right arm still using his momentum and tripping him with your left leg throwing him onto the ground.

0. Front 2 hand choke with your back to the wall (Protect groin with a forward leg) (Steiner pg 64).

a. If opponent is very close and his arms are bent, execute, eye gouges, ear slaps, spit and pinches and knee kicks to groin, shin scrapes, toe stomps.

b. Reach between opponent's arms and execute spear hand to eyes and base of throat and keep it there to cause opponent to gag or palm heal to opponent's nose. Knee kick to groin.

c. Execute head twist takedown (Paul Hawthorn)

d. Bend opponent's elbow by using a double forearm strike downwards to pull opponent close to your. Grab his lapel, head butt to knee kick.

0. 1 hand choke or chest/lapel grab from front with your back against a wall.

a. If opponent is very close and his arms are bent, execute, eye gouges, ear slaps, spit and pinches and knee kicks to groin, shin scrapes, toe stomps.

b. Execute spear hand to eyes or to base of throat and keep it there to cause opponent to gag or palm heal to opponent's nose. Knee kick to groin.

c. Execute a double downward forearm strike to opponent's grabbing hand, and entrap opponent's grabbing arm with them and then pass your arm closest to opponent's neck up and behind the opponent's head as in a headlock and bang it against the wall and finish with a knee kick to groin.

0. 2 hand choke from sides.

a. Execute spear hand to throat between opponent's hands and side kick to side of kneecap. Also a nose push could be executed.

b. Wheeling elbow smashes

c. Wrist lock and arm bar takedown

0. 2 Hand straight arm choke from rear.

a. Execute an about face and twist inward with your head going under the opponent's arms thereby going against the opponent's weakest point - his wrists. To twist away and low kick. Protect head with your hands as you proceed.

b. Rear arm entrapment with slap to ear and thumb gouge to closest eye.

0. Front one hand clothing grab to shoulder with no attempt to strike with the other hand (protect groin with 1 leg.

a. Offending arm is straight and grabs your shoulder clothing execute arm circle against offending wrist (Bullard).

b. As opponent grabs your arm or shoulder, trap his holding wrist with the webs of your two hands. Pivot and slam your armpit down on his extended elbow while you lever his hand and wrist up. Followup (Spear pg 48).

c. If offending arm is bent grabbing your shoulder clothing and/or pulling your towards opponent, execute hooking of offending arm to possible chin jab & eye gouge takedown (Bullard.

0. Two hand grab to shoulder clothing.

a. Whirling elbow smashes can be used effectively against both straight and bend arm grabs. Just twist your entire body while throwing one of your arms over the offending arms. Here, you may also pin the opponent's attacking arms under your armpit as in the two-hand frontal choke defense and then execute an elbow smash to opponent's face.

b. Execute head twist takedown.

c. If above releases not successful, eye gouge, ear slap, spear hand to throat, pinch, spit or bite to soft up hold then repeat a-b.

d. 2 bent arms grabs - execute hooking movement to only one of opponent's hand.

0. Frontal one arm straight or bent grab to chest.

a. Low chest grab with or without a strike attempt to you with his other hand.

(1) (You have room to move about) Pivot to outside of grabbing arm. Put one foot between opponent legs and keeping the other foot to rear. Execute a forearm block over opponent's grabbing arm & block the striking arm of opponent. Execute an elbow smash to opponent's face & face & followup as appropriate.

b. High one arm chest grab

(1) (You have room to move about) Grab offending hand w/your opponentosite side hand. Pivot to the outside of offending hand by placing your arm that is on the same side as the opponent's grabbing arm over the top of the opponent's arm and twisting inwards while shielding your face with this same arm. Then execute a kick to kneecap then an elbow smash to opponent's face with this same arm. Repeat followups.

(2) Double forearm strike downwards to a head lock to a knee kick.

(3) Twisting Chin Jab with knee break takedown.

c. High straight one arm chest grab (unable to move about)

(1) Head Twist takedown. Apply a shearing action against the opponent's grabbing arm resulting in an arm lock. If opponent grabs you with his right hand, execute a right palm heel strike to opponent's wrist while at the same time execute a left palm heel strike to opponent's arms just above his elbow joint. Then grab opponent's right offending hand with your own right hand in a wrist throwing manner. Execute a wrist throw while pushing opponent's right arm inwards with your left hand with your entire body weight behind it for an arm bar. You now have opponent in an armlock. Followup as appropriate.

Note: If releases not successful, spear hand to throat, eye gouge, ear slap, pinch, kick, shin scrapes, spit then repeat.

(2) Headlock - Push down on opponent's arm with both of yours which causes opponent's arm to bend and to bring opponent closer to your body. Entrap opponent's grabbing arm with your same side arm and pass your fee hand up and behind the opponent's head placing opponent in a head lock and then execute a knee kick to opponent's groin.

(3) Chin jab - Grasp opponent's grabbing hand and entrap it with your same side hand then turn your body toward your grasping side and use your free arm to execute a chin jab or palm heel to nose.

0. Headlock

a. Frontal: Groin punch, pinch, grab (use a other hand to protect face).

b. Side: Punch to groin with your opponent side first, grab hair or rear collar with same side hand, stand straight, edge hand to throat to eye gouge. (Gambordella pg 19).

c. Side: you are on left and opponent grabs you in a headlock with his left hand. Place your right foot directly behind opponent's right foot. Grab opponent's left leg right above the kneecap. Place your right forearm in front of the opponent's throat and then encircle entire throat area and stand up straight and push opponent backwards and to the ground with your encircled right arm and pull on his left leg with your left so opponent will land on his head. Note: Opponent will still have his chocking arm around your neck so you will have to go to the ground with opponent but side the fall so opponent hits his head on the ground with you. Followup as appropriate.

d. Side: When you are grabbed in a side headlock, reach up with same side arm to execute a reverse headlock to opponent's face while you push opponent's head backward and lift his nearby leg and execute a knife hand to opponent's groin with your closest hand before dumping opponent's head to the ground.

0. Wrist grabs (keep your grabbed wrist/arm close to your chest to let your chest muscles and body weight assist you in your release).

a. All side kicking options

b. 1 & 2 wrist grab - against thumb options (Bullard)

c. Two offending arms grasping 1 wrist - calls for a coupling of 2 to go against the wrist (Bullard)

d. 2 Man grab twist away with kicks to soften up the holds. (SOF)

e. Cross grab by one of opponent's arms. With arm that is grabbed, twist your grabbed arm inward and apply an arm bar with assistance from your free hand, take opponent down and break arm (SOF).

0. Arms Grabs

a. All kicking options as in wrist grabs

b. 1 & 2 arm grab - All against thumb & wrist options

c. 2 arm grab - Two offending arms grasping 1 arm calls for a coupling of 2 to go against opponent's wrist.

0. Rear 2 arm grabs:

a. High elbow grab - go in between and up and down opponent's arms.

b. Wrist grab - palms up and down against opponent's thumbs.

c. Kick back.

0. Hair Grabs:

a. Front - with your 2 hands, grab attacker's grabbing hand, step back, pull attacker's hand downward, kick to target triangle.

b. Wrist throw and arm bar takedown to kick to face. (Commando pg 106, 107)

c. rear - W/both hands seize your opponent's right wrist & arm, making him keep his hold on you. Turn to your left (inwards towards your opponent) by pivoting on your left foot. This will twist his arm with his palm facing upwards. Step backwards as far as possible with your right foot jerking his hand off your head in a downward and backward direction between your legs. Keep a firm grip on opponent's wrist & arm and follow up with smashing kick to opponent's face with tow of your right foot. Fairbairn pg 32

0. Front Bearhug (Arms Free) (Protect groin with one leg)

a. Head Twist Takedown: Eye gouge, knee kick, to head twist takedown. (Personal Combo) Note: If releases not successful, eye gouge, ear slap, pinch, kick, bite nose and then repeat.

b. Back Bend: Place your left hand in the small of his back and apply a chin jab and push chin straight up or palm heel to nose and lean forward. If necessary, knee kick to groin. Could use cradle blow/grab also.

0. Front Bearhug (Arms Pinned) (Protect groin with one leg).

a. Hip Throw: Knee kick to groin to force opponent forward, hip throw. If this fails, go to alternate counterclockwise armwrap to knee kick to face to chin jab & trip. Bite nose or ear. (Variation of Fairbairn pg 27).

b. Knee Break Frontal Takedown: Place one of your knees behind the opponent's knee and execute knee break while twisting your body and pushing with your same side arm & shoulder against the opponent causing him to hail backwards & in front of you over your tripping leg.

0. Rear Bearhug (Arms Free)

a. Leg Lift Option: Keep feet at shoulder width apart. Strike backwards to opponent's eyes > butt out & bend over to grab opponent's leg > use opponent's leg as lever and sit on opponent's knee while pulling opponent's leg up while sitting on his knee and pushing opponent backwards to ground. All leg lift options including rear kneebreak takedown.

0. Rear Bearhug (Arms Pinned) - Keep feet shoulder width apart for balance. (US Army pg 68)

a. Groin Seize, Grab: Lift one of your legs across your body to expose opponent's groin & seize & squeeze or strike and/or pinches.

b. Butt out & leg lift: head butt backwards > butt out > elbow to stomach, fist to groin to leg lift options including rear kneebreak takedown.

0. 2 Hand Full Nelson (Note: Always execute an "elbow down" & whirling smashes to opponent's face & leg lift options if need to prevent the hold from ever being established). Also, always kick back before trying anything. You may want to attempt to pinch attackers bicept with anyone of your hands to gain release. (R. Dettinger personal observation).

a. Elbow Smashes: Clasp your hands & push back to relieve pressure from yourself and to prevent the opponent from pushing your head forward > stomp kick to opponent's instep & shins until attacker's hold is loosened somewhat thrust your butt out while pushing arms down with sharp quick motion to break/loosen his grip > execute whirling elbow smashes to his face >, Follow up with leg lift option and others as necessary (Tegner pg 84 Gambordella pg 21, Ayoob pg 44).

b. Leaping Knee Break: Leap into the air to the right rear, placing your left foot between opponent's feet from the rear. Execute a knee break to back of opponent's right knee with your left knee. Grasp opponent legs to the inside of opponent's pants since a wrestler can place a scissors hold on you if you don't. With both of your hands lift opponent from the ground and followup by releasing one of your grabbing hands and use it to execute a knife hand to opponent's groin before you throw him to the ground.

c. rock and Shoulder Roll: If opponent continuously moves and does not allow you to step behind him for a leg lift or kneebreak takedown, bring your elbows downwards and lock his right arm between you arm and body. Drive your right shoulder to the floor in front of and to the left of your. Allow your body to roll when it hits the floor. As your roll, twist your body to the right so that you roll over the opponent's head. Followup .

d. Finger Bend: Press your hands against your forehead preventing opponent from pushsing your head forward and relieving pressure of hold. Grasp the opponent's fingers with your right hand. Bend opponent's fingers backwards to force opponent's hand from your neck. Twist fingers while walking out of the hold and follow up.

e. The Snake: Stick both hand straight up in the air and drop down. Then with both of your hands, grab behind both opponent's ankles and lift your hips off the ground while pushing backwards and throwing the opponent onto his back. Followup as appropriate.

0. 1 hand rear choke

a. Elbow Smash to Armpit. Grasp opponent choking hand with your opponentosite side hand > place your chin in crook of choking arm to relieve choking pressure of hold > cock your elbow on same side of choking arm with body weight behind you. Drive your elbow into his armpit. Push & pull to armlock tactic as in Jap Strangle Hold Counter.

b. Backward Walk When Being Forced Backwards: Grab choking arm with your hands. When opponent pulls your backwards, rest your shoulders against opponent's chest & nestle your head on opponent's shoulders, take your foot that is on the same side of the choking hand and place it behind the opponent's leg and your turn outside towards the choking hand and walk forward & trip the opponent to the ground. This works even with threat of knife to throat or gun to head or side. (Bullard).

c. Knee break takedown: Grasp you knee behind opponent's knee for a knee break takedown while executing strikes to the midsection with your elbow or to with a hammer fist to opponent's groin or use hair, ear and collar grab takedowns - repeat sequence until grip is released or opponent thrown to ground. You always will deliver initial blow towards the arm encircling your neck. If you need to get some space to move, execute a butt out then get behind opponent.

d. Shoulder throw. Turn head - place shin in bent arm so opponent can't choke you. Maintain a grip on opponent's right choking hand with your left hand while grabbing opponent's right shoulder clothing with your right hand then push your butt backwards & place your right foot outside of opponent's right foot and lower your body by bending your knees. Bend swiftly from the waist throwing opponent over your right shoulder. Hold arms and follow thru with a kick to head or neck.

e. Eye gouges, pinches, Gambordella pa 80, D'Eliscu pg 39, E Lee pg 91 & US Army pg 67

0. Against rear double arm strangle. Note: Before trying these tactics use shin scrapes, heel and toe stomps to soften up the opponent's hold. Also use pinches to the maximum.

a. Butt out and pull opponent straight over your back and head throwing opponent to the ground. Followup as appropriate.

0. Against a Japaneese Strangle hold.

a. Against a jap strangle hold. When opponent has locked his right hand on his left arm and is pushing forward on the defender's head with his left hand, the defender grasps the opponent's right elbow with his right hand and the opponent's left elbow or wrist with his left hand. Defender softens opponent up by using elbow smashes to opponent's armpit then pulls downward with left hand and upward with the right hand. At the same time pivoting his body to the left as he forces the opponent to twist down and over. He follows thru with a knee blow or throw. (USMC HTH).

0. Right hand hammer lock

a. Turn towards your locked elbow > cock your free opponentosite elbow > reverse your turn, spin elbow to opponent's face or midsection/groin. (Commando pg 95).

b. Eliminate elbow bend by driving forward and down, twisting and straightening your right arm out > kick to target of opponentortunity, (Commando pg 94 w/personal variation.)

0. Against one arm push.

a. Place both of your hands on his pushing hand and press back against your chest. Be sure edges of your hands are directly on the enemy's wrist joint. Bend swiftly forward and step back with one foot while still pushing down on the hand. Knee kick to enemy's chin. (Applegate pg 45).

b. Wrist throw and arm bar takedown.

0. Frontal rush attacks w/opponent standing errect:

a. Body block - football type (U>S> Army pg 85, para 109

b. overhead throw (U>S> Army pg 84, para 108

c. kick to attacker

d. In Quatra avoid

e. front headlock break

0. Sitting Defenses:

a. Leg entrapment and knee kick (do rope-a-dope if opponent is hitting you) and then execute this tactic.

b. Arm bar against a hand placed on your leg

c. Small finger spinout against hand on shoulder

d. Elbow Smash to opponent's face

e. Groin strike/squeeze, pinch inner thigh

0. Standing Up Sweetheart grabs:

a. Execute eye gouges, elbow smashes to opponent's face and/or first to groin, eye gouges.

b. Opponent has hand around your shoulder, waist or elsewhere > place your knee behind opponent's knee & execute a knee break > with the hand on the same side that your kneebreak was done, twist & shove the opponent backwards.

0. Rear Football Tackle: Turn your body to one side of your and as your start to go down, place the hand that was on the same side that you turned downward to hit the ground to break your fall and plant it there. Then with the assistance of your planted hand on the ground and the continual twisting of your body, fall face up with your back on the ground. Grab the opponent's hair for control and execute a hammer first to pop's nose, throat and/or gouge to eyes.

KATA

2 hand choke to front:

wheeling elbow release

head twist takedown

groin kick

eye gouges, ear slaps, pinches spitting

Running/Lunging 2 hand choke attempt to front:

Wheeling elbow takedown

Front 2 hand choke w/back against the wall

Spear hand to throat/palm heel to nose

Eye gouge, ear slaps, pinches, spitting

Head twist takedown

Bend pop's elbow w/a downward double arm blow, grab pop's lapel, execute a headset to nose, to kneekick to groin.

1 Hand choke or chest/lapel grab from front w/your back against wall:

spear hand to throat, palm heel to nose, eye gouges to ear slaps

bend opp's elbow headlock, slam head into wall to knee kick (Here, if you think opp will strike you w/his other first, do a 2 arm horizontal boxing cover up, then from this position, strike downwards with both hands to opp's elbow then continue this tactic.

2 Hand choke from sides:

Kick to knee to spear hand to throat between opp's arms

Wheeling elbow smashes

Wristlock and arm bar takedown

2 hand choke from rear:

About face

Rear arm entrapment

Front one hand grab to shoulder clothing

Eye Gouges, ear slaps, spear hand to throat, palm heel to nose

For straight arm grab - arm encircle to inside of grabbing arm

For bent arm grab - hook & chin jab takedown

Double forearm smash to bend opp's elbows to headlock to knee to groin

Twisting chin jab with knee break throw

2 hand grab to shoulder clothing

Whirling smashes

Headtwist takedown

Arms bent - Hook one arm & chin jab takedown

Eye Gouges, ear slaps & all other alts

Front low one arm (straight or bent) chest grab/attempt to strike (able to move about) with or without a strike

Forearm block to wheeling elbow smash

High one arm (straight or bent) chest grab (Able to move about)

Shield face w/your same side arm, kick to knee, elbow smash

Headlock to knee kick to neck break

Twisting chin jab with knee break throw

High one straight arm chest grab (unable to move about)

Chin jab or spear hand to throat and/or eyes

Headlock to knee kick to groin

Headtwist takedown

Headlocks

Front

Side knife hand to throat, or cradle hand dump or groin cradle head dump

Wrist Grabs by one hand

All kicking option

Go against thumb

2 Arms grasping one wrist:

Coupling of hands

2 Man twist away

Cross wrist grab & arm bar

Arm grabs by one hand:

All kicking options as in wrist grabs

Go against thumbs

2 Arms grasping one arm

coupling of hands

2 Arm rear grabs:

high elbow grab

wrist grab

kick back

Hair Grabs:

Front - kick then wrist throw and armbar

Rear

Front bearhug (arms free)

Head twist takedown

Back Bend w/spear hand to base of throat, chin jab, palm to nose

Eye gouge, ear slap, pinch, spit

Front bearhug (arms pinned)

Knee kick & hip throw & two alternatives to its failure

Frontal Knee break takedown

Rear bearhug (arms free)

With feet shoulder width apart - rear eye gouge & leg lift options includes rear knee break takedown.

Elbow smashes to face to leg lift options

Finger spinout

2 hand full nelson

Prevention

Instep Strike

Leap into air

Shoulder throw

Finger Pell - spin out

Snake out

1 Hand Rear Choke

Wheeling elbow smash to armpit then push/pull counter

Spin & walk backwards

Knee break & elbow smashes to midsection & groin

Shoulder throw

Others: spear hand to opp's eyes

Pinches

Rear Double arm strangle

Butt out to straight pull opp over your head

Jap strangle hold

Elbow smash to armpit to push & pull and twist away

Right Hammer Lock

Reverse elbow smash

Spin out

One arm push

Frontal Rush Attacks w/opp standing erect

Body block - football type

Overhead throw

Kick to attacker

In quatra avoid

Front headlock break

Sitting Defenses:

Leg entrapment and knee kick

Small finger spinout

Elbow smash to face

Arm bar takedown

Groin strike & pinch

Standing up Sweetheart grabs

Elbow smash to face

Rear knee break takedown w/elbow smash

Football tackle from your rear:

Twist to one side, land on one hand, get on your back, rake opp's eyes

Ground Defenses:

Opp sits high with legs pinning your shoulders: kick to groin punch

Opp sit low on your stomach holding your wrists: Steeple

Opp choking you with both hands:

Head twist

Double forearm to eye gouges & ear slaps

Wrist throw and armbar

Ground Defense: leg entrapment & kick to knee

Stomp Defense

Knee Kick to Groin

Hand slap and pivot to get throw

Front kicks

Kick check

Two hand web block to leg throw

Object block

Arm cradle to leg throw

Inside slap block to knee to groin and elbow smash

Outside slap block to collar grab and edge hand to throat

Thai leg block (rope a dope)

Against straight jabs to upper body/face

Observe telegraphed intentions and kick to forward kneecap

Block to outside

Right arm sweep block as in windmill

Left arm sweep block as in windmill

Follow up with an ear slap

Block to inside

Kick to forward kneecap

Biker block - palm up, slap block with other hand, move head, turn in with punch and get close to opp, followup with knife hand etc

Roundhouse punches

Kick to forward kneecap

Shoulder stop with arm wrap to chin jab and knee kick to groin

Step in with double arm block to arm wrap to chin jab and knee kick

Hook punches: Note: With all hook punches, if opp withdraws his striking arm, you know he is goin to hit you with his other arm so be ready to immediately check his opposite shoulder with slap block.

To Head - biker block - balm up, slap block w/other hand, move head, turn in with punch and get close to opp, bollowup with knife hand to throat etc..

To Midsection - lower double arm block rolling with punch to elbow smash to opp's face

To lower body - lower left or right bong sao rolling with punch and leg trip.

Running lunging punch

Kick

Shoulder Throw

Quatara Soto

General punch defenses

Duck & knee collar takedown

Duck & arm pit and knee break w/head lock takedown

Low opposite cross slap block

X block: Face X block : Attack opp's attacking arms w/out weapons

Unarmed Self Defense Course 4

10/14/03 5:13 PM

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