MSDA student knife fight story...

[Tim Mousel]

One of my former long time students, Daniel Arola was jumped several years ago by a bunch of skin heads and put his kali & jkd training to use. You can read his experience here:

Daniels Blog

Tim
PS - If you're offended by profanity, don't read it!

[Tom Yum]

I've met him before. He likes to work his kicks on the hanging dummy, then switches up to his rattan sticks. Seems like a pretty cool dude.

Thanks for the testimony, Tim.

[Britt]

Was Daniel the guy who used to teach your Kali classes a couple of years ago?

[kaliace]

I was wondering if any legal ramifications came down on this gentleman. I am all for "sticking" in the self defense that was described, but I always like to hear about the fallout from using that kind of force. Each state is different so any light you can share with that would be greatly appreciated.

Again, before I get torn apart here, I applaud his use of force. The Mental focus he had not to go lethal was also impressive.

Respectfully,
Michael G Olive

[danjuandesiga]

I was wondering if any legal ramifications came down on this gentleman. I am all for "sticking" in the self defense that was described, but I always like to hear about the fallout from using that kind of force. Each state is different so any light you can share with that would be greatly appreciated.

Again, before I get torn apart here, I applaud his use of force. The Mental focus he had not to go lethal was also impressive.

Respectfully,
Michael G Olive

Thanks Mike.
There's a follow-up on the blog concerning the legal consequence of the brawl typed up just today upon editing it.

-Daniel Arola

[johnj]

Thanks for sharing the unfortunate incident. Glad you got out alive. You fought educated and smart. And regardless of the adrenalin induced state, you still managed to balance your strategy and stay out of jail. Hays off to you!

JohnJ

[danjuandesiga]

Thanks for sharing the unfortunate incident. Glad you got out alive. You fought educated and smart. And regardless of the adrenalin induced state, you still managed to balance your strategy and stay out of jail. Hays off to you!
JohnJ

Thanks for your feedback, John.
As for the state I was in during the brawl, it seemed to me that time had slowed down for me at an extremely considerable rate and I found myself eating up every single moment like I was able to choose where and when to make my next cut. Unbelievable as it sounds, that is really how it was like during that whole time. It was a blessing to me, and I made it out of there alive as I determined it to be.

Actually, I did end up in jail that night. I typed up a follow-up just yesterday in my blog about how I ended up getting arrested. I did not get arrested for defending myself. It was from slicing one of the staff at the nightclub that jumped in against me who thought he could take on this Filipino with his knife. I ended up getting charged for "simple assault" against one of the club's employees. Later on in court, he dropped the charges.

Daniel Arola

[kaliace]

Thanks for your feedback, John.
As for the state I was in during the brawl, it seemed to me that time had slowed down for me at an extremely considerable rate and I found myself eating up every single moment like I was able to choose where and when to make my next cut. Unbelievable as it sounds, that is really how it was like during that whole time. It was a blessing to me, and I made it out of there alive as I determined it to be.

Actually, I did end up in jail that night. I typed up a follow-up just yesterday in my blog about how I ended up getting arrested. I did not get arrested for defending myself. It was from slicing one of the staff at the nightclub that jumped in against me who thought he could take on this Filipino with his knife. I ended up getting charged for "simple assault" against one of the club's employees. Later on in court, he dropped the charges.

Daniel Arola

Thank you for the insight. I am glad you made out alright.

Respectfully
Michael G Olive

[doubleouch]

Daniel,
I'm glad your OK and I'm sure you did nothing to provoke the incident. But, I took some different lessons from your post.
First, hanging out and drinking at a bar with a skinhead who has many emenies is not a good idea. Especially if it is a bar where other skinheads hang out.
Second, if you feel something is about to go down it's probably not a good idea to stick yourself in the middle of it and hope for the best. Maybe you should look for a back door, or alert the bar manager to the situation, or call the cops etc.
Third, it was very lucky that no one got seriously hurt. You could have easily hurt the bartender badly and you would now be behind bars telling your story.
Fourth, you could have easily been shot by the cops.
All in all I'd say you made some bad decisions and got very lucky. I'm glad it turned out well for you.

[bgill]

Good to see the Kali training worked for you. In retrospect would you say that staying at the top of the patio would have been a better position should they have attacked - they would probably have to be funneled at the steps to get to you. Man I have to find a good folder.

And to doubleouch, shit happens, what's the point of living your life like Ned Flanders. If his boy is a former, emphasis on former, Nazi then why not hang out with him now that he isn't one. The second point I would agree with, the rest are just inane.

[danjuandesiga]

Daniel,
I'm glad your OK and I'm sure you did nothing to provoke the incident. But, I took some different lessons from your post.

First, hanging out and drinking at a bar with a skinhead who has many emenies is not a good idea. Especially if it is a bar where other skinheads hang out..

Skinhead or not, he was still my friend.

[/QUOTE]Second, if you feel something is about to go down it's probably not a good idea to stick yourself in the middle of it and hope for the best. Maybe you should look for a back door, or alert the bar manager to the situation, or call the cops etc..[/QUOTE]

Everyone in the establishment knew what was about to go down that night. It was anticipated. Firstly, the patio area also had a back gate area which was the reason why we were there in the first place. Secondly, getting shanked inside the club where it's dark inside was not a very inviting idea. Many innocent bystanders could have been seriously hurt. Being in the patio area had it's advantages. Besides, the patio area was lit.


.[/QUOTE]Third, it was very lucky that no one got seriously hurt. You could have easily hurt the bartender badly and you would now be behind bars telling your story..[/QUOTE]

The ones that did not make it to jail ended up in the hospital badly cut, bleeding and wounded where I made my cuts very close to some major vital areas letting each of them know I could have cut them there if I really wanted. My buddy Kelly made it home alive.

[/QUOTE]Fourth, you could have easily been shot by the cops..[/QUOTE]

Agreed. Even they themselves told me minutes later that they were impressed how quickly I acted upon seeing them after kicking the gate wide open.

[/QUOTE]All in all I'd say you made some bad decisions and got very lucky. I'm glad it turned out well for you.[/QUOTE]

Like bgill said, "sh!t happens"

[Sun_Helmet]

Hello Daniel,

Good post. You did what you had to do with the circumstances that was dealt to you. There are so many variables that can be second guessed, but you took a feeder stance and attacked the attackers. That is to be commended.

I do think that you are selling yourself short - you DID consider the vital areas and used it in this andrenalized state. Knowing the vital areas is not always about targeting them when the opportunities are there, perfect example is that you went after the hamstrings when you could easily have gone for a killshot like the femorals. That's your training kicking in. Well done.

Vital target acquisition training is essential because you have to know what NOT to hit, as well as when to escalate the response.

regards,
--Rafael--
Sayoc Kali

[danjuandesiga]

Hello Daniel,

Good post. You did what you had to do with the circumstances that was dealt to you. There are so many variables that can be second guessed, but you took a feeder stance and attacked the attackers. That is to be commended.

I do think that you are selling yourself short - you DID consider the vital areas and used it in this andrenalized state. Knowing the vital areas is not always about targeting them when the opportunities are there, perfect example is that you went after the hamstrings when you could easily have gone for a killshot like the femorals. That's your training kicking in. Well done.

Vital target acquisition training is essential because you have to know what NOT to hit, as well as when to escalate the response.

regards,
--Rafael--
Sayoc Kali

Thanks, Tuhon Rafael.

-Daniel Arola
DAMAG INC