The question of whether someone should comply with a demand to go to a second location or try to escape when threatened by a Predator with a weapon is quite common. The scenario is usually some version of the following: You are approached by Predator with a weapon who is a stranger (NOTE: If the … [Read more…]
Justified and justifiable are not always the same thing. In 1992, the Oregonian surveyed Portland Police officers. One of the details: In the four years before the survey, 86% said they could have fired with full legal justification but chose not to. There are some implications of that– for every 28 shootings, officers bet their … [Read more…]
One of the things from Violence Dynamics in Minnesota. The drop-step is everywhere. Not going to go into too much detail on what the drop step is. You can read that here. Just the basic Dempsey drop step generates enormous power. But it also increases speed. Gravity is faster than you. And, if you can … [Read more…]
Read this first, if you haven’t already. It’s the basics of how I teach power generation. The drop-step falls under the category of power stealing. It is very simple. It is also counter-intuitive and violates a lot of what martial artists are taught from day one. The drop-step is as simple as falling. Ernie described … [Read more…]
Power generation is one of the big mysteries. It seems that every time I get a handle on it, feel confident that I can explain what makes a hard hit hard, how to wallop somebody good, some joker comes along and shows me an entirely new way to hit hard. Over the years I’ve worked … [Read more…]
My standard for any combative motion, for a long time, has been the Golden Move: Every single motion should: Injure the threat Protect yourself Improve your position Worsen the threat’s position That’s every single motion. Because it is easier to teach, many martial artists learned to strike (injure the threat) or unbalance (worsen the threat’s … [Read more…]
I’m going to start by quoting Chris Rock’s “How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By The Police.” That is ‘Cause everyone knows if the police have to chase you, they’re bringing an ass beating with them.’ Join me in a little reality break here. You are in proximity of a bunch of young aggressive … [Read more…]
In speaking of “In the Name of Self-Defense: What it Costs. When it’s worth it,” Anthony M. mentioned that his firearms instructors talked about the “Combat Triad consisting of Marksmanship, Gunhandling, and Mindset.” My response: Good model there. Dropping into a similar mode I’ll say there are three important aspects of mindset (not only three, … [Read more…]
Remember the whole tool vs. weapon discussion? Here’s something else to pay attention to. Blades designed to have stabbing application — whether dagger or knife — have hand stops. Usually in the form of cross guards. Oddly enough while this does protect the hand of the person holding the knife. It’s not against an incoming … [Read more…]
“Cheat from the start” – Clint Overland We do almost everything in boxes, in tight little scripts. This type of problem is solved this way. That type of problem is solved differently. We are habitual thinkers. Most of the time, if we do break out of one box, it is just to step into a … [Read more…]