darrianation

Paradigms in Self-defense

Okay guys, I hope you don’t hate me for this but I am going to write a series of long rants that explain my personal beliefs on combat (self-defense). I will explain what it is I believe and how I came to those conclusions….what were the defining moments and my personal experience. Read it if you dare, agree with it, disagree with it, but I hope rather you like it or not, you walk away with something you can use in your daily lives or your training.

I created the thread “The ideal self-defense system” so I can get your input on your beliefs. This is a spin off of that and I hope you don’t mind this is going on in two different threads. Please feel free to post your opinions/beliefs in either thread. And I am not abandoning the other thread.

Again, I apologize if doing this is taboo.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

Defining the objective and developing the model…”Optimization”

First a Disclaimer:

In Britain, some parts of the US, and in many foreign countries, there maybe some limitations or constraints (another part of optimization) where you maybe limited in how you deal with some self-defense issues. Such as firearms for example, and in some places even knives are illegal to carry, etc. So, keep that in mind…but for our discussion here I am going to be talking about the US Where we have to worry about armed criminals with guns, knives, baseball bats, etc.

Here (in the US) we the law abiding are allowed to carry firearms and knives for self-defense. If you live in a location that you are legally allowed to proportionally arm yourself, why wouldn’t you want too (if you are serious about self-defense)? Self-defense after all is about increasing your advantages over your opponent/s who you my have to face in a future encounter. I also realize some of you here are too young to carry firearms legally, so, you have to take that into considerations when choosing your personal options.

Onward

One of the first things we should do when considering building a “model” is what is its intended purpose. I have heard folks call this the “objective function” which is really a matter of optimization. So, in other words we want to minimize or maximize. For our purposes we want to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks.

There will also be a set of unknowns or variables which will affect the value of the objective function that we will have to account for both linear and non-linear. The variables might include the amounts of different resources used or the time spent on each activity. The unknowns are the parameters that define the model.

The variables define the parameters for our model which in turn develops the “context” for how we train. Let’s take a look at some of these.

Environment:

Multiple environments where anything goes and anything can happen where the possibilities are capable of sudden dynamic shift.

An example of this can be walking down the street when someone asks for directions and as you are explaining to him how to get there his partner comes up from behind you, hits you over the head with a lead pipe rendering you unconscious (really happened-many times). Another example maybe, while tangled with Bubba applying a Kata Gatme his cousin Cooter (who you didn’t see before) begins driving a 10 inch screw driver through your kidney (also from a run I did as a paramedic---maybe not the kata gatme part by the ground grapple part). Or, you are beating the shit out of the little drunk skinny kid Cletus but do you see his knife under his shirt? Maybe mid-fight Cletus decides he has had enough and pulls his knife. All this can happen in fractions of a second.

What about ranges? Let’s see, combat happens in all ranges. I am not strictly talking about military combat, for this discussion I am talking about civilian combat. Since we have already established and I think most agree that self-defense is the violent part of a self-protection program, then I think we can call it combat without loosing the meaning of what we are talking about. Anyway, Combat/self-defense can happen at long range, stand off range, striking range, clinch range, and ground ranges. So we have to develop a set of tactics and techniques (strategies) that are stout and robust that can account for all these ranges.

A couple of quick look examples for the different ranges (these are not all inclusive):

1. Long range—Movement and cover, rifle (scoped or un-scoped), escape.
2. Stand off range-- Movement and cover, handgun, shotgun, escape.
3. Striking range—Aggressive and flexible forward drive, handgun, knife, improvised weaponry, empty hand strikes, escape.
4. Clinch range— Aggressive and flexible forward drive, retention draw stroke (gun/knife), empty hand strikes, throws, trips, and takedowns, and counter to throws, trips, and takedowns.
5. Ground grapple-- Retention draw stroke (gun/knife), empty hand strikes (ground and pound or to aid you in regaining your feet), escapes, and submissions (chokes/joint manipulations).

*empty hand strikes include all non-mechanical devices i.e. gun, knife, stick, etc (weapons). Included are biting, gouging, headbutts, elbow, knees, forearms, kimura, osoto gari, etc, and etc.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

Defining the parameters

Next, who are we training to beat?

Will our next fight be against a little skinny kid who bench presses 65lbs who has never seen the inside of a gym (fitness or martial art)? Or will we get Big John who was recently released from prison for murder. Who has a lot of experience in violence from the time he was young and is currently a member of the Hells Angles who played division 1 college football at nose tackle and was a former golden gloves boxer in his youth. He holds a black belt in Gracie jujitsu and is pissed off at society and is “super strong and super mad”? Oh, and by the way he carries a bowie under his leather motorcycle vest and a .38 in his saddle bags (he is always armed).

Since we cannot predict who we will get in our next fight (we don’t get to choose who we fight, they get to choose us), and in our next fight we can get anyone from the lil’ retard all the way up the spectrum to our perfect “storm opponent” Big John and anyone in between and of course maybe some of their friends.

I know some of you are thinking to yourself that Big John can’t be beaten (outside of a ambush or a sniper rifle from a safe distance which is illegal), bull shit! He can be beat but you do have to realize he exists and you have to train for him—objective function.

So who do we train for and how do we train for him?

Now we are getting into “driving pressures” the stimulus that forces adaptation for optimization.

We can use Big John (or the little fucking retard) as our driving pressure within the context of a life or death struggle (or patty cake) in an environment that has multiple possibilities and variable unknowns. Meaning, not only is there a possibility that we may have to face Big John, but we might be reacting to his gun (or knife) already drawn or him and a few of his buddies. Remember we are talking about the street where surprise and shock has already gone to the bad guy.

So, how does this change the way we train?

What we need is a way or method to define our objective function or what our parameters are in context with what we want to accomplish.

Let’s take a look for example from modern day sports. We find the driving pressures that result in relatively high performances of the athletes within the restricted parameters of the event such as football, basketball, baseball, boxing, wrestling, etc, produce better athletes and technicians than we have ever seen before.

Let's look at the “mixed martial arts” competition as our first method for finding an unarmed combat system. Top performers and their trainers in mixed martial arts cage fighting venues studied their objective function in relation to the performance parameters of the sporting event and came up with a formula of taking the most repeatable and functional portions from a combination of high performance martial arts. What they decieded on that met this criteria were high performance components from Brazilian jujitsu, western wrestling (Greco-Roman), and Russian Sambo, with western boxing and Muay Thai to form a new hybrid that dominates the unarmed combat world.

However, the mixed martial cage events do have a lot of rules and restrictions such as weight classes, one vs. one only, no weapons, the fight is agreed upon, both participants have the time to mentally and physically prepare themselves prior to the event. Certain techniques are outlawed such as eye gouging and biting, the corner can throw in the towel, the referee can stop the match, they have doctors at the arena, they have judges, and award points, etc.

So how do we set our objective function in an anything goes street event? In our reality event we have no set structure as above. There are no rules except the ones the good guys have to follow (criminal and civil laws) the bad guys do not have to follow them and won’t. In our event the criminal can skew the advantages in his favor by bringing weapons, friends, ruse and deceit, and ambush to the fight. You may not even know you’re in a fight until you’re in it or until it’s too late. In our event “anything goes and anything can happen.”

What other factors must we consider for optimization?

1. How about the criminal may have the added advantages of surveillance, stalking, and intelligence gathering and mission planning. The criminal surveys and selects who he fights, when he fights and how he initiates his attack based all on his predefined requirements.

2. Environmental factors- low light, darkness, sun glare, obscured from public view, isolation, uneven terrain, limited or confined space-limited maneuverability, narrow paths or corridors/enclosures, trapped in an area, inside a vehicle, rain, snow, mud, slick or cluttered surfaces, traffic, restrictive clothing, etc and etc.


3. Physiologic responses- Adrenaline, stress, fear, reduction in fine motor function, and decision making, even panic. Psychological attributes- Motivation, determination, aggressive tactics, tenacity, and other hard to measure physical, mental and other social requirements/parameters, etc.

What about the hard to define attributes?

What I found in the traditional and sport model is a method for developing highly skilled fighters in what I call sportive skills…that is punch, kick, shoot with technical preciseness and to score on targets such as chin, solar plexus, groin, or silhouette, although this an asset in combat it isn’t the most important. even more startling to me is the traditional model has a belief that physical skill is the most important attribute in combat which is just dead wrong. Oh, sure they may pay lip service to other attributes such as psychological/emotional, etc, but the method proves otherwise.

The predominate training model is based on the sport model where physical attributes and technical attributes comes before tactical attributes and psychological attributes. Whereas, if we follow our optimization model for combat maybe we will see something like mindset (psychological) and tactics are more important than technique, etc.

An example of this might be Joe Bob the big fat slob who isn't known for his athleticism but has his hand on he gun, hidden beneath his coat, thinks to himself “If that mother fucker doesn't back the **** up I am going to draw my gun and shoot him to the ground” is probably going to win.

The sporting event is organized to concentrate on predefined parameters. In other words the winner of the event is likely to have a high level of skill within a predefined rule-set that governs the event. When you add rules or tightly restrict the variables, such things as the offsides are penalized where as it wins the street fight. So, the attributes that determine outcome in a street fight are not always measurable. So, models that rely on some kind of predefined performance i.e. kata, one step/two step sparring, isolated movments, coopertive partner drills, competition, etc, Can still end up blowing up in the face of the practitioner in the street because a number of variable that are present in the street fight are missing in training.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

Development of a model.


I was once involved in a group that was dedicated to finding solutions to stopping folks who were carrying out abductions of Americans as well as European tourists oversees. Our small but humble group had no idea what the **** we were doing. But suffice it to say it laid the ground work for a paradigm shift that would take place many years later.

After leaving this group I didn’t train in any martial arts for a few years, preferring instead to train on my own (admittedly somewhat inconstant). But eventually I went back, and started searching again. I tried sports based systems, weapons based systems, and empty hand based systems just to find more disjointment (new word). I finally figured out that what I was looking for was something different, something folks simply weren’t doing (they were folks doing it I just didn’t know it).

When I finally discovered that I didn’t really know shit I went into panic mode. I had a long conversation with a buddy of mine (from the group) who reminded me of the experiments we did that lead to a few (not earth shattering by any means) discoveries.

He said something to the effect of “In our group if we wanted to find out what worked (unfortunately, usually by first finding out what didn’t) to stop four bad guys who set up a road block to stop a bus for the purpose of abducting Americans to hold for ransom. We went and got four bad guys and we put them out in front of the bus, we put passengers on the bus and we put our folks on the bus and we worked it out (tested).” The objective was to kill or capture the bad guys while not killing the tourists or ourselves in the process, of course easier said than done, talk about decision making under pressure and acting within the “right moment”, geesh.

This type of stuff quickly evolved into having two independent opposing groups that tried to out think, out smart, and out maneuver each other in unscripted and often chaotic events. We were thrown many curve balls including our opponents passing themselves off as passengers, etc. I think this alone had 20 different branches or variants. We were forced to get better. We used the same methodology to test many different problems and possibilities.

He reminded me of how we defined the inherent problems both the solvable and unsolvable and how we approached a method that best dealt with the problems that we could account for. This got me thinking about what we did and the conclusions we came too. This clicked and it finely all made sense and was a definite light bulb moment. From that time forward I began using this as a model for designing solutions for other possibilities. Basically, we want to develop a formula that you can plug into a virtual buffet of possibilities and still account sufficiently for a large number of variables. I began to replicate what we did then with civilian groups I became involved in later.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

Defining the problem

What seems to be often over looked in the secular martial arts is a precise contextual objective. For example in the military, if we wanted to destroy a building, we drop a bomb on it, the objective is to reduce or destroy its capabilities and remove its function from the combat equation---Pretty fucking simple (in theory anyway).

As an example of context, in the military our job was to find, exploit, and capture or kill the bad guys. Or keep them from doing that to our forces by distracting, disrupting, interdicting, and unbalancing/disorienting them. Of course the methods and technology of doing so ran the gambit from simple to very complex.

In our efforts to carry out “the mission” or “objective” We committed a lot of resources to gathering Intel, carrying out surveillance, and planning. We want to know as much as possible about our enemy’s capabilities. We learn about his language, culture, religion, technology, weapons, tactics, motivation, etc.

We adapt specific doctrines and developed multiple war fighting platforms and weapons systems (sea, air, land, and space) to defeat the enemy. What we do is in direct relation to his capabilities and constructing a blueprint to dominate him in his own environment. As our enemies adapt to our methods and tactics we adjust to his. Everything we do is directly influenced by his technology, tactics, weapons, and capabilities. We want to seek, identify, and exploit his weaknesses. What we are seeking is to have all the advantages, better informed, better technology, better weapons systems, better fluidity to adapt quicker to changing conditions on the battlefield, and we want our soldiers to be better trigger pullers, be meaner, bigger, smarter, etc.

At that point, I began to look at the “martial arts” from that reference point. I started looking at the martial arts the same way as I did military tactical engagements. What I believe we should be doing in our self-defense training is develop a model that directly and specifically relates to the criminal, his tactics, weapons, motivation, capabilities, and how he selects and assaults his victims. We want to seek, identify, and exploit his weaknesses.

Basically, we want our practitioners to be smarter, meaner, have better weapons and technology, make faster more accurate decisions, and be better trigger pullers than the criminal. We want to dominate in his environment. I have never found a traditional or sports based model that satisfies these requirements. This may just be one of those “duh” moments but its true.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

Specialization

The traditional martial arts, in my mind, have lost the “objective function” or the context for which defines they’re model. This, I think has occurred for a couple of primary reasons (among many others). One is that it doesn’t get continually and regularly tested. Many instructors have never been in a fight or in combat. The other is it is based on a culture that is not the culture we live in and the method was developed under a completely different set of driving pressures and technology. Often times the methodology is fixed and a rigid single mined process often influenced by politics, and social restrictions. As a result of this in many instances they really don’t apply to modern technology or modern American criminals.

Many martial arts specialize in one or two platforms that are a strictly single minded approach. One example of this are systems that specialize in stand up striking only such as karate and some styles of kung fu, while others are specialized in grappling such as Brazilian jujitsu and wrestling, which are great sports and definitely have some value but as a single approach to combat can get you into serious trouble if the bad guy has a weapon or accomplices. There may be platforms that compliment both such as the mixed martial arts but they are still specialized in unarmed only combat. Another thing that many folks don’t consider is that this problem also exists in the shooting world. Most firearm training is simply a one dimensional launching pad to launch projectiles down range and nothing more.

What we find in the “street” is that criminals do not attack in such a fashion, i.e. one on one and unarmed. This may be true in certain “special” circumstances such as in rape, crimes against women and children, and attacks carried out against senior citizens. However, in each of these cases we find that the perpetrator was physically superior to their victims and often used ruse or ambush before suddenly attacking. Also in the majority of the cases the victims were thrown and pinned to the ground and beaten. So in other words the attacker is physically superior to the victim. Still in the case of stranger rape a weapon was produce 42% of the time. But rarely do we see such unarmed attacks elsewhere in the criminal assault arena.

The fact is the criminal will not risk himself to attack someone who has the potential to fight back or harm him. He (the criminal) will employ other tactics such overwhelming odds or in other words he will stack the deck in his favor before he attacks. The criminal’s advantages are…he gets to choose who he fights, when he fights, and how he fights. He gets to prepare himself mentally and physical prior to the fight and he gets to maneuver into a superior position before he launches his attack.

The criminal’s advantages maybe proximity, a weapon such as a knife or a gun, superior numbers (friends), superior pre-positioning, ruse or deception, ambush, and intimidation, he just may be a that large super strong super mad ex-con just released from prison. He may be able to bench press a school bus and has the determination and resolve to hurt you, he will most likely be able overcome your average unarmed skill-sets unless you happen to be super strong and super mad also. But if you were such a person the guy looking to get your wallet or murder you probably won’t resort to empty hand violence against you, no this guy will have a gun and just maybe a few of his friends.

The victim gets none of these; the victim has to begin the fight from a cold start often from behind the curve and without a lot of available information. The victim does not get to pick who he fights, where, or the moment when the fight will be initiated (unless he can recognize what’s happening and beat the bad guy to the punch).

Ask yourself this question, if you were given the opportunity to select a victim without any limiting social pressures, who would you choose? The big biker mother fucker that has arms the size of truck tires, the little skinny kid walking with his friends of 3 or 4, the other short skinny kid walking by himself talking on his cell phone looking at the ground and wearing a Rolex? What locations are apt to give you the desired results…i.e. a human cheese burger that has what you want? How would you approach him so you could get close? When and how do you initiate your attack?

Now, what if you had to go after (for whatever reason) the big biker guy with the Home Depot size chest, you have time to plan your attack, how would this change your tactics? What if you had to select 2 guys walking down the street, how would this change your strategy?

Remember the criminal needs to want to commit the crime, you have to have what he wants, and he has to get close to you. So, the criminal needs intent, opportunity, and ability. He will use a few basic strategies for getting close. The direct approach (why ask for what you can just take), he walks straight up to you and without anything being said shoves a gun in your face or he physically attacks outright. The good guy approach (most common) “Can I get the time,” Hey you just dropped this twenty dollar bill as you left the store”, “Can I barrow your cell phone to call my wife?” Etc. The hostile approach where he walks up to you and immediately launches into aggressive posturing and verbal threats meant to overwhelm you. Basically, this can be either immediate or start off as a friendly approach and rapidly escalate. And various methods of team approaches.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

The Model

Back when I use to teach I often had students play the part of the bad guy. One drill I do is have them actually go out and do surveillance at a location that they have identified as an area that is consistent with a prime hunting ground. We often use the Wal-Mart parking lot after dark or the city park.

I have them take notes on the environment, such things as where did they position themselves for stealthyness, what was the lighting like, weather, and other pertinent info on the environment. People watching- who would make good victims and why? How are these folks paying attention? Do they see and acknowledge your presence, are they alert or are they oblivious? Do they walk with confidence or with meekness? Do they project confidence or a low self-esteem? Can the target be isolated from public view? Are they talking on their cell phones, do they get in their car, lock the doors and drive away in a timely manner or do they sit there listening to music or balancing their check book?” Can you get close without being seen? Etc, etc

Next, I have them describe or even roll play how they would approach, contact, and assault their victims. I then have them do this in teams of 2 and 3 and ask them how that changes their strategies and tactics. Maybe they will pick folks they otherwise would have passed on when doing this drill solo. Now, I ask them to think about how do we deter and counter the criminal? And we roll play it. One thing we find in doing this is that the participants tend to pick folks who they believe they can take without a lot of risk to themselves. Yah, so do the criminals.

I often had my students performs unscripted drills from a suboptimal position against an unknown attacker (to assure the variables didn't get corrupted) and, or, unknown attacks. This never looked as slick as the staged drills you find in most traditional dojos but it increases anticipation and stress while minimizing expectancy and gaming and better prepares the participant to act sooner and simulates more closely real world events.

So, as you search for a platform that offers you a “model” for reality training here is something that might help you in your search. If I were to critique any combative system or I was asked to perform a comparative analysis between multiple systems I would use these four criteria:

Principle of robustness- The simple things that can be applied in complex environments across a wide spectrum of possibilities. The tactics, skills, and techniques that survive the crucible of the intense unscripted force on force Darwinian environment.

Robustness:

What I look for in a “robust system” is tactics and techniques that can be applied against a wide variety of problems. Such as a default; let’s use the high elbow shield (done as when flinching) as an example. The elbow shield is based on the startle reflex so it is natural and very quick. It can defend against a looping punch, a straight punch, the hook, a high line knife attack, or as the start point for the jam and bam retention draw stroke and is a stable platform in which to launch into a counter offensive using either weapons or empty hands. It doesn’t matter which arm you use in relation to how the other guy attacks. It has a repeatable high success rate for accomplishing its intended task under unscripted intense simulation and in the real world.

The reasons we want keep movements and techniques simple are because not everyone can reach the same levels of competency and because of the effects of adrenaline, stress, and fear.

Fear is a built in safety mechanism that keeps us out of trouble and that’s healthy. We can also have too much fear that can actually work against us causing hesitation this is unhealthy.

Adrenaline is a hormone in the body produced in the adrenal glands. When stimulated by other hormones from the pituitary gland it immediately springs into action.

Humans have been designed to survive emergencies. Suppose you meet an ominous shadowy figure in a dark ally. What happens? Immediately hormones are released that tell the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline (epinephrine). The adrenaline prepares you for vigorous muscular activity. You are now prepared to fight or take flight.

Effects of adrenaline:

1) Pupils dilate.
2) Heart rate increases (this is why some people are given epinephrine during cardiac emergencies such as cardiac arrest).
3) Muscles tense up ready for action.
4) Bronchodilation occurs so more oxygen can move into the lungs, and more carbon dioxide can move out (this is why people suffering from severe asthma attacks are sometimes injected with epinephrine)
5) Vaso-constriction of superficial arteries occurs; resulting in decreased bleeding from superficial wounds, and an increase in blood pressure.
6) The liver will dump sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy

Some folks will automatically go into fight mode, because their response to adrenaline will be anger. Some people will run, because their response to adrenaline will be fear. In any case whether it is fear or anger this causes anxiety and stress.

What's wrong with this life-saving response? The anxiety adrenaline can cause can be either good or bad. Sometimes adrenaline can increase very rapidly, and at high levels it can be intense enough to cause panic. Panic can result in slowed responses, tunnel vision, or even temporary paralysis. Even seasoned athletes and martial artists are not immune to this.

When adrenaline is flushed into the bloodstream during a “fight or flight” episode, the individual often loses a good deal of their ability to control their limbs. This is especially true of “fine motor” skills such as many martial arts techniques demand. On the other hand, gross motor skills are much better retained under adrenal stress conditions.

Tunnel Vision-

One’s vision often tunnels into the perceived visual threat and peripheral vision can thus be greatly reduced. Armed robbery victims will tunnel into the gun or knife and thus they often report to police “it was the biggest gun I ever saw!”

Auditory-

In many police shooting reports one can read officers reporting something like this: “I didn't hear the shots I fired, I don't know for sure how many, all I felt was the buck of the gun in my hand as I fired” In general hearing can be greatly impaired under adrenal stress

One of my favorite examples of the adrenal stress problem occurred when I was teenager and my uncle took me up in his airplane. A few minutes after we took off my uncle brought my attention to the fuel gauge. It was on empty. He stated in a somewhat urgent voice he was turning back to the airport. After a few more minutes the engine began to sputter. I was terrified. My uncle began turning dials and pushing buttons and working the throttle when we went into a dive. I remember grabbing and white-knuckling the dash in sheer terror. He then got the engine going again as he began to laugh. It turns out the aircraft had two gas tanks and the other one was full and he deliberately stalled the aircraft just to play a trick.

As I remember back on the situation I wonder if in those moments of stress, uncertainty, and adrenal rush if I could have performed, say, algebra or if I could do some sort of complicated motor task? The answer is an obvious no. What I did was grab on (it’s no wonder this is one of the most common actions during a fight, which is to grab on to the opponent). Anyway, this goes to show that gross motor and primal/startle reflexes are going to be more accessible than the fine motor tasks during the startle reflex and the adrenaline rush. Also, we will likely be limited from our full range of cognitive attributes.

Principle of parsimony (Occam’s razor): - This refers to deciding between two (*or more) competing theories or explanations. One should always choose the simplest explanation of a phenomenon, the one that requires the fewest leaps of logic.

Examples:

Option one engage the opponent by shooting-in for a double leg takedown followed by a ground progression for position (control) proceeding to a joint lock or choke.

Option two, draw your gun and shoot him to slide lock. Reload and repeat as necessary.

When we are placed in an sudden survival situation the skilled fighter has to make tactical decisions that can both apply defualts (manage devistating losses) and cognitive thinking actions (choosing between options). Stopping when you hit upon the first reasonable option and switching to action is often the best way to deal with fast moving problems.

For training for unstable envirnments remember this simple formula:

Keep the simple and most used things and keep applying them to increasingly more complex environments (but keep the simple things).

Contextual training- A contextually underscored method is specifically designed to meet all the criteria of the objective function. In this case, we are talking about unscripted violence where anything goes and anything can happen. Such a system will employ the most usable and functional concepts, tactics, and techniques that are proven on the modern battlefield under conditions of surprise, uncertainty, stress, and unstable environments. The scenarios are appropriately designed to simulate as closely as possible they’re real world counterparts. Properly designed scenarios will stimulate, elicit, calibrate, and modify appropriate psychological (emotional and behavioral) and physiological responses as well as force decision branches. It employs appropriately designed force on force methods to test the student in highly intense simulated environments that gives him incentives and unveils hidden deficiencies within the chosen measures. The system provides a method of dealing and managing the criminal’s- tactics and strategies, his weapons and tools, multiples/teams, ruse, and ambush? The system continually proves and improves (evolves) its, methods, concepts, tactics, and techniques in a variety of conditions, situations, and environments to stay ahead of the curve, etc. The criminal’s technology, tactics, and strategies improve over time so must ours.

A real world simulation:

The fighter enters a convenience store to pay for his gas and a cup of coffee. When one or even two gentlemen walk through the door armed with handguns or shotguns (bad guys with Sims or Airsoft for us po’ folks) “announcing this is a hold up”.

They are between the fighter and the door (the only escape route). These guys are mean hardened and experienced street thugs who will not care if you’re a good person, if you are the pastor of the local church, if you have young kids at home or even standing next to you for that matter (another good scenario by the way). They will take ruthlessly and brutally what ever they want.

Here the fighter has to make decisions about what to do. He needs to find a better position tactically, but I guarantee these bad guys will give him special attention. So, the fighter has to decide on the best course of action based on the initial information.

There are many variants to this scenario such as hiding, complying to “give me your cash”. This drill may account for that and the bad guys may leave without a shoot out. The fighter never knows making what decisions he makes that much more important.

The fighter has to act according to his positioning (which in most cases will be at a disadvantage) and his training. He may have to pay close attention to the bad guy’s attention, his words, tone, and body language, for imminent pre-attack cues.

The fighter may have to employ some type of diversion, ruse, or surprise before or as he draws his weapons and fights his way out the door using the most proven and repeatable movement patterns.

There are so many manipulations of this and other drills that can keep the students on their toes, forcing decision branches and minimize expectancy and gaming.

These criteria alone unveil the deficiencies of many systems out there.

Scientific method- the scientific method refers to a body of techniques for the investigation of phenomena and the acquisition of new knowledge of the natural world, as well as the correction and integration of previous knowledge, based on observable, empirical, measurable evidence, and subject to laws of reasoning.

We want to observe, question, hypothesize, predict, and test.

Testing:

For instance have two shooters face each other with Simmunitions guns (or airsoft) in hand at their sides. They are standing approx 15 feet apart. The only instruction given to them is “On the signal" Begin shooting”.

Lessons from this drill:

1. We found folks shot the hell out of each other.

2. “Movement” while shooting gets you shot a lot less

3. Folks who moved to slowly or tried to shoot from a stable stance got shot.

4. Fighting is dynamic not static.

6. Movement is a “key” ingredient to your overall fighting capability.

Now compare this to a control group maybe folks who just stand their and shoot at each other. What are the statistical differences? You could take it a step further by asking and proving (or disproving) what movement patterns give us the best chance of survival, etc. Compare your data to police after action reports or to military after action reports to see how they compare and find out from other sources that have been doing this work and compare your results with theirs.

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A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

darrianation

In conclusion:

What we are doing here is selecting and modifying our tools including; psychological, strategic, tactical, technological, mechanical, and physical, mutating them into a highly potent hybrid to dominate in the criminal arena.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

treelizard

hey D,
Thanks so much for posting all this!!! I have a lot of questions but a few things that have come to mind...

You mentioned that many instructors have never been in a fight or in combat. Do you think this necessarily makes what they are teaching less credible? What if their instructors have been in a fight or in combat? What if someone who was in a fight assumed (consciously or not) that other fights would go the way theirs did and ended up emphasizing something that may not be as important (statistically) as another skill?

Where are you getting your stats on how often criminals attack in groups and armed?

Lastly, I'd be interested in hearing more about potential responses to "good guy" approaches. The more I train and become more aware, the more I've noticed that the incidents that kept coming up for me are decreasing and decreasing, but I do still get a lot of guys on the street asking for the time or for change to call their friend, etc. etc. and of course what they really end up wanting is never what they ask for (i.e. they don't go away when you tell them the time or give them change). I've been playing with different responses and have found that every approach I've tried ends in the exact same way, with the guy saying, "F*in' b#@$" and such as I quickly dart away. I'm not really sure if these guys are trying to size me up to see if I'm white bread or not, but aside from the obvious (crossing the street as soon as I see 'em if possible) there doesn't seem to be a good response. I've often thought about the possibility of multiples (i.e. his buddy across the street and the guy behind us, too) and all of my scenario training has left me short... Thoughts?

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darrianation

I am not trying to say that because an instructor hasn’t had real world experience automatically disqualifies him/her as a good instructor. And not all experienced folks make good teachers. I think that any system needs not just to be tested but retested in the real world outside of the vacuum and isolation of the gym. I think if a system is not tested in such a manner it will lose it’s combative components over time and what we have left is a rigid progression that only mimics the art form.

I liken it to memorizing a mathematic formula but without a working knowledge of that particular field of mathematics, if any of the components or variables changes the whole experiment explodes out of control. Another way to look at it is, there is the way the text books says how it should be done and then there is the way it’s actually done in the real world and those things can be very different.

In my personal experiences (and observations) I find that a good instructor will teach from his personal experience, not simply because that is the way it’s always been done. The best instructors bring with them a wealth of knowledge from their past and present experiences.

Some may bring to their teachings, aspects from some of their prior training (I.e. boxing, BJJ, Muay Thai, etc) as well as their military training and combat experience, or their experience in law enforcement or in the professional protection services where they have seen and experienced violence first hand. This is what we need to teach from. It is no surprise that so many systems look so different and that is how it should be. Many schools of combative thought operate on the same premise i.e. tactical principles but their training and what techniques they use can still look different.

I find those instructors who lack this experience can still teach great technical precision and put out quality fighters but it takes that guy with experiences who knows that technical precision and the ability to score points in a competition like kickboxing, etc, is not nearly as important as other aspects of combat and knows the differences between what works in training vs. what works in the street. As Mr. Murry (training at the speed of life) who first brought sims out to the folks at Dam neck, points out just about everything works at half speed, many things work well at three quarters speed, and surprisingly many things work at 90% speed, but very few things work at 100% speed. (not a perfect quote…just what I remember of it)

I realize not everyone who studies martial arts is wanting to learn violence (self-defense) and there are many other “good” reasons to study the MAs. So, for those folks this is a mute point.

Another thing I find is that folks (instructors) who lack real world experience often teach from rote or in other words teach nothing more (or less) than what they’ve been taught. To better explain the concept...have you ever heard of the story of the four monkeys called the “Four Monkey theory”? I was first told this by an old wise instructor who had more RWE (real world experience) in tip of his little finger than most folks get in a life time and he has forgotten more about combat and combative principles than most of us will ever learn. I have also seen it in other forums as well.

During a scientific experiment, scientists placed four monkeys in a cage. Inside was a latter going through an opening at the top. At the top of the latter was a bunch of bananas. One of the monkeys looked up, saw the bananas, and decided to climb the latter. He ascended the latter and once at the top he reached for a banana and the scientists sent a jolt of electricity into the cage. The whole cage was wired not just the latter. All the monkeys received a nasty shock and the monkey at the top came crashing down.

The scientists took one of the monkeys out and placed a new monkey in the cage. The new monkey looked up and saw the bananas and ascended the latter. Zap…the monkeys again were electrocuted. Again a monkey was taken out and a new one was placed in. And the whole routine was repeated.

After a 100 or so revolutions and long after all the original monkeys were gone, one of the new monkeys started up the latter. Chaos broke out, screaming and in a frenzy the other monkeys jump the newbie and beat the living shit out of him. Bruised and bleeding the new monkey looked up and asked one of the other monkeys “Why did you do that?” The queried monkey answered “I don’t know that’s the way it’s always been done.”

The moral of the story is, many folks when it comes to their training, are just spanking their monkey and they don’t even know why.

These stats are taken from a number of sources but mostly form some criminology courses I took in college as well as a friend and mentor of mine who is a professor of criminology (PhD). I don’t have my text books sitting here in front of me so I cannot reference it here at the moment. This also has come from observations through personal experience, friends in law enforcement I have talked to, from folks who have shared their stories, and media (news, etc). The “42%” weapons usage in stranger rape was taken from the national statistics on crime (FBI). I use a lot of states from those folks.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm

I bet this sets of some alarms. Remember, trust those alarms and act. Act can be multiple strategies from avoiding a certain area, changing direction, verbal deflection, to using violence if necessary (as well as others).

In most situations where folks walk up to me to ask for the time or for change, etc, they get a “Sorry I can’t help you” as I continue on my way (without stopping to talk and of course I give a glance over my shoulder to see if he/they are following). It’s better to be perceived as rude than be a victim.

Remember, if the approach is truly innocent the reaction is often “You fucking (fill in the blank adjective)”. However, that is better than being forced into a trunk of a car, etc. Remember, our goal is to “fail” the interview process.

Her are some suggestions that may help depending on the circumstances, time, and distance:

1) Politely- “Sir, can you please keep your distance”?
2) Next, more forceful- “Hey listen, I don’t know you or what you want, and so I need you to step back”!
3) If that doesn’t work, loud and rudely- say “Back Off!”
4) Finally, if time/distance permits “Leave me alone, or I will have to use force!” And be prepared to back it up.
5) Action- withdraw immediately, if you cannot retreat safely, draw a weapon and use force!

*Always be aware of accomplices. Make sure your body language backs up you verbal language.

Important notes:

Maneuver away from any potential threat.

Verbal deflection “sorry I can’t help you” or “Stop, don’t come any closer” and keep moving is vitally important. The “Reactionary gap” is probably the single most important thing you can do in this situation. By making distance it disturbs his timing, distancing, and opportunity to act before you can react.

If he continues to close or does not comply with your request to “Stop, don’t come any closer” this tells you this is not an “Innocent Approach” he has crossed the line in the sand you have drawn and your choices at this point are to run, fight, or comply.

Never go between or through that which can be gone around, meaning do not enter into an area or space that is ripe for ambush. “Do Not” go between two approaching persons who are suspect or where there are people strung along a wall, path, or hallway. Round your corners, keep a safe distance from parked cars, doorways, dumpsters, and shrubs.

Always pay attention to what’s going on around you if approached from the front maintain a gap and pay attention for accomplices approaching from the oblique or rear.

Keys to verbology:

1) First and foremost, know your boundaries.
2) Be assertive, stay calm and communicate them clearly.
3) “Say it like you mean it”, your non-verbal language needs to match your verbal language. Communication is 80% non-verbal.
4) Make eye contact, be firm, use strong tone (not aggressive), and positive body posture and use words such as “NO’ and “I”, etc.

There is no perfect way (as far as I know anyway).

Again always keep your head on a swivel. Assess in the direction you are going (and not just what’s immediately in front you but also further away if possible) as well pay attention to your flanks and the rear. If something tells you there is something wrong or out of place (a pattern perhaps or intuition) listen to it and “act”.

If a situation arises that set off my radar I will change direction and ready a weapon, this weapon maybe OC spray, a pen (ball point pen) knife, or my CCW. I will not brandish it I will palm it in my pocket, fold my other arm over the top, hide it under a bag (grocery bag), magazine, or package, etc, or blade it behind my leg (a behind the ass low ready). But if movement, verbal deflection, and my commands are not complied with…then my weapon will come out (or if I am attacked in the process I will immediately use my weapons). If my opponent/s does not immediately stop his advance then he will be met with force. If my movements or commands work than nobody is the wiser. The idea is always be prepared with a back up plan including force.

__________________
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G. Gordon Liddy

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

NOBAMA!

Sagacious Lu

This just made my day Lots of good points all over in this thread for that matter.

__________________

treelizard

How would you propose one go about testing a system in the real world outside of the gym?

I mean you've written that pre-fight awareness of pre-incident indicators, risk reduction, etc. is important, and I think the majority of fights can be deterred by avoidance/awareness.

Are you proposing instructors TRY to get in fights to "prove" that their art works on the street?

I'm still not sure what it proves, really, just because something works one time doesn't mean it'll work every time.

I agree with you that the way something is supposed to work and the way it actually works are two different things, but I'm not clear as to how much of a difference that might make in class.

I'm trying to think of a good analogy... Hmmm, okay. I used to sleep on roofs when I was homeless, because it was safer than the street and most BGs won't climb on roofs. There's a lot of things one needs to keep in mind when sleeping on roofs... Make sure the roof is secure, don't step on any wiring, STFU and don't make any noise, be aware of your surroundings. If I was to sit someone down and tell them this, or if someone who'd *heard* about it but never actually done it (but has, maybe, seen diagrams of roofs, is aware of potential situations from reading and talking to others, etc.) it would be a pretty similar lecture, and the student wouldn't understand any of it anyway until they actually do it.

And if someone brings something from their own experience into a class, how is this useful if all these people with their own experience are saying different things? Like, one guy with street experience may say not to ever kick on the street, and another guy with street experience might say to kick on the street, and the only thing I know is that kicking worked for one of them and not for the other. And I won't know if it'll work for me unless I try it on the street. And since I try to AVOID fights, I'm not going to try to get in one to test it out.

In addition, I guess speaking for myself, every instructor I've ever trained with was taller and bigger than me and most were guys. A lot of what works for them on the street likely won't work for me on the street. They'll have to use their imagination to adapt things for me, or help me adapt them for myself is more likely, and sometimes I think I'd get more out of working with someone my size to understand what works for them, even if they've never had street experience... Make sense?

***

As far as the "good guy" approach, it's just that I've noticed when I'm with friends that they can usu. get the guy to go away without him screaming obscenities. Though I just realized today that it's maybe because they are playing good cop to my bad cop.

It was good to read your comments because it's all stuff I'm already doing. The two things that have come up for me lately is what to do if I'm getting out of or into my car or house.

Walking out of my car into my house

PROS
Many more weapons in my house
More proveable that he's a bad guy if he's breaking and entering
Phone in the house to call the cops
I can be reasonably assured if I lock my door that I will know it if he or his friends are about to make an entrance

CONS
Now the BG knows where I live
Also he has access to my car that I just parked

I think the pros outweigh the cons, but I bet there's more things I'm not thinking of.

Once when I was getting followed and I was on foot and about a half mile from my house, I just pounded on my friend's door that was right where I was and asked him if I could stay there for a while. But how often is that an option?

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