This is outside of my normal post but near and dear to my heart. Let me explain. When I was young man I often had to escort patrons of the bar I worked outside. Often they did not willingly go. I had to call the cops at time for an assist but back then cops did not have tasers in their arsenal.  The only non-lethal weapons the cops had at the time was their version of club (a type of tongfa) and mace.

Back then if you did not follow the cop’s directions – they had to get up close to you to use non-lethal weapons. This did not always go well for the cops as in the case of Sagon Penn. In that highly charged San Diego incident where a suspect allegedly was being treated bad – the suspect did not allow himself to be arrested, grabbed the cops gun and shot the officer and civilian.  So in that context I will talk about how dangerous a cop’s job is from a self defense point of view and explore the current use of tasers.

I used to think that being a police officer would be a great job and although I heard it was dangerous – I assumed because police carried guns – it really was safe. Then as a teenager I studied karate and was amazed at the damage a trained fighter could do in a short amount of time. I started to fight tournaments and work the door as a bouncer and finally realized how lucky I was that no police agency ever hired me.

Lessons I learned:

• There is no for sure safe and legal way one officer and take one non-compliant person into custody.
• Inside of critical distance – the first one that moves and piles on – is usually the winner.
• Cops are taught to treat people fairly and legally.
• The only safe way (to the cop) to take someone into custody is to incapacitate them (knock them out, zap them, group attack them).
• It is safer to have multiple cops on scene to arrest a suspect so if something goes wrong – they can all help out.

I grew up watching Karate and Kung Fu movies and watching Boxing matches on TV. You see the fledgling full-contact Karate was not televised. So I was left with watching something on TV and then trying it with my friends. Never mind I did not really know what I was doing – most of the Karate/Kung Fu was bunk. Alas I was soon to discover that professional Wrestling was a bunch of hogwash too! So maybe Robin could take Kato? Well hmmm….

In this post I’ll zoom past my childhood un (or mis)-understanding of TV fighting as it relates to real self defense and speak about real self-defense moves as I have used in real fights (while working as a door man in my youthful 20′s).

My Dad popped my bubble about Batman and Robin. He said anyone could see them pulling their arms back and could smack them before they could even punch. I vainly tried to defend Batman but after my Dad showed me the old One-Two punch combo… I understood that TV fighting was probably all for show.

That was a tough lesson to swallow because later when the Kung Fu TV series came on – some of it looked like it might work. So I started to explore Karate schools/instructors… at first most of them showed kicks and punches but when I tried to use them in a sparring match – I got hit as much as I hit back.

Thankfully that is when I started taking lessons at a real Karate/Kung Fu school – Tracy’s Karate. You see when I took my first few lessons – my instructor, Dick Willett told me that I knew most of the kicks and punches already but I had no strategy. He said he would show me not only how to connect but how to avoid getting hit back!

I soon learned that all of the TV/movie fighting used real kicks and punches but only applied the flashy techniques. The ones that would not work mostly in a real fight but looked cool. Kind of like that offensive spinning outside crescent kick Billy Jack did to the main thug in his movie. That would never work against any proficient karate or kung fu practitioner. A good fighter would either step away (you would have plenty of time) or smack him in the kidneys or such… either way the telegraphed spinning kick that the idiot turned his back on you – would fail.

So fast forward to today. I’m a black belt in his 50′s that understand strategy. I am no where near the shape I was in my 20′s but thankfully fights only last a minute or less for real unless the fighters are totally incompetent (or you really are fighting  the cream of the crop that decided that a decent life was not worth living – decided to be a criminal). You see bad guys are like the rest of the population. Very few of them make it to the top and become good fighters. Too much work for fellas that like to take short-cuts in life.

So one more thing before I give you the techniques that really work. There are a lot of valid was to skin a cat (sorry any cat lovers – read peel a banana)! The all work but I only fight the way that works for me. So while I will state what works and why – don’t take that as me saying nothing else works… I just don’t favor it maybe if it for other valid approaches.

Here goes – Distance is critical. How far you are from your opponent. If you are in kicking range and not doing anything – you can be kicked before you can get out of the way from a good kicker. If you are inside of punching range – you can get hit before you can even block it or get out of the way from a puncher that understands initial movement.

So any technique that starts with he grabs you from behind, your arm or he is throwing a kick or punch… that is a comedy of errors! You gave up your primary weapon – CRITICAL DISTANCE!!!

That is not to say there are not things that can be done if someone is inside your critical distance (kicking/punching range) but you only have a chance if your attacker is totally inept!

For instance – a robber comes up and points a gun at you from 5 feet away. He is outside your critical distance so you cannot do much before he could pull the trigger (unless he is a bad shot) but say you fake fear and he gets overconfident – approaches you and you fear for your life. You could slap the gun out of the way and attack (keeping the nozzle of the gun away from you).

The reason that would work is his reaction time is no match for your initial movement (isolating every part of your body except for the initial hand/arm movement). That’s another fallacy I see in movies all of the time – a murderer gets right next to the victim and the victim does not have the training or realize he can hit the gun before it can shoot.

So you see distance is everything. Assuming you keep the distance until you are attacking (or running) – you have a good chance.

I mentioned initial movement – Bruce Lee taught that – it is how he was able to hit people first. Joe Lewis brought that to the Tracy’s organization – it is how Tracy’s fighters were so good back in the day. Not many understood critical distance and initial movement.

So say you keep the distance – cannot really safely get away and have to fight back. If you keep the distance and uses hand or foot attacks with initial movement – any attack will work. You can use your favorite attack if you set it up like I described. There is no more guess work on what works – only practice your attacks with the first initial movement – bridging the gap to get inside your opponents distance when you are ready. If you attack does not work – abort outside of the distance and try again.

Then the fight is a chess match – with the first successful attack (and subsequent pile-on) as the winning strategy!

The beauty with this winning strategy is you get hit less (if you get hit – you were sleeping and let your opponent inside of your distance without a counter or side step).

If you hit your opponent and you do not get hit back – I don’t know about you but that sounds like something I want to do.

So no magic – just sound strategy. Go out and practice your critical distance and initial movement Grasshopper. If you do not understand what I’m talking about – seek out an instructor/school that understands these methods.

And as always – if you like different strategies – there are others that can work – I just don’t like them. Good luck!

As you all know that read this blog entitled, “MySelfDefenseBlog” I mostly speak for the underdog in society – the ones that criminals try to take advantage. I also support guns/laws that regulate guns so long as they make sense. This is why this case has been so hard for me. Here is the NY Times verdict piece.

The thing is whenever someone enters into an confrontation with another – things can go south fast. That is why I hated working as a bouncer at a bar. I was representing the bar when I had to throw drunk and unruly patrons out! I got in about one hundred fights in the two years I did that. One time when I was chasing a couple of pranksters down the street – a wise old black man watching the parking lot next door stopped me on the way back and gave me some sage advice. More on that but in this post I want to address the real issue I see – not the verdict but how people are treated based on the legal system in a state from my perception.

In California, in most counties, one does not have the right to carry a concealed weapon (county Sheriff’s do not approve the permit). That means only the criminals have guns. So for most folks in California – where you live makes a difference. If you go to the poor section of town at night – that’s where drive by shootings occur. So for most folks – Crime is rare. One just has to be prudent later in life. Don’t do the bars and drunken open parties but rather hang out with your friends. I tell you this because except for the young and dumb (my acronym for youth), most people have no problem staying out of trouble.

All people are vulnerable that have kids… you know the young and dumb. No matter how much a parent tells the kid how to stay out of trouble – they are old and do not understand as much as their friends know. Any if they get hurt – their parents, friends, and acquaintances also get hurt!

So what I am leading up to is in California – issues like happen in Texas and Florida would not happen because unless someone breaks into your house – you cannot legally shoot them in most cases.

California also has the reasonable man standard. If in the opinion of the cops, jury – the person acted reasonably outside of their home and had to take a life – they can be acquitted of any crime.

However if the person did not act reasonably – that person will be held by the cops and convicted for the crime if everything goes right.

In my own personal experience – I’ve had to beat up many people that tried to hit me first. This was back in the days with no cell phone camera’s (heck – no cell phones). So the winner is the only one that could tell a story. Back then any of the people I was trying to knock out because they started it – would have gladly shot me if they had a gun I am guessing. In every case as I was throwing someone out of the bar and they attacked me and I turned the tables on them (remember about 100 times) – I could have been killed I reckon.

How about morally? If their are no witnesses – only the two combatants know what happened. Morally a person ought to take every measure to first avoid a fight and if they have to fight – quickly end it with any means needed. Yes I still believe in self defense and I know how easily it is to hurt a person. But if you do not at the very least incapacitate your opponent – he can rally and take you out!

Regarding the Martin/Zimmerman case – I have no idea if the verdict is just – just as I guess the jury does not. Juries base their decision on the laws.

What I will say is Florida and Texas ought to have laws that require that the victims do everything they can to avoid an altercation before resorting to self defense.

About that wise parking lot attendant – he told me that even total jerks have a mother, father, brother, sister, wife, husband, sons, or daughters, friends and lovers that will miss them. If you don’t think much of the jerk in front of you – remember you will be hurting a lot more people than just him if you end up hurting him.

What do you think?

Well let me tell you that I have always thought fighting was a state of mind (at least in part) because if you are a fighter and someone attacks you – you generally react!

Well in this case the woman hauled off and slugged her attacker (since pointing the knife at her was an attack) and kept slugging! Well let me tell you that this would not have been surprising from a guy but it was quite refreshing to see a woman so confident in her abilities to turn the tables on the attacker.

One thing to realize – woman and men have the same tools but women can be faster (not as much muscle mass and more limber) than men. So if they are also confident they can go toe to toe initially with most men and then cut out.

When I was 155 pounds I learned how to fight against 220 pound black belts (they were the Thursday night animals that the karate school), I had to do plenty of blitz attacks and then get out of dodge on a different angle (so they could not follow so easily). That is how a woman can blitz a man especially since most men believe that women cannot fight.

Anyway in this case, Leah Peisner came out ok and her attacker ran off!

When I was a kid I remember wondering what was best, wrestling or boxing. At the time I thought boxing was the best but when karate became popular in the 60′s – the argument became boxing or karate! Well fast forward past the 90′s (was a very confused time) and now if you ask any kid… they will no longer say jiu-jitsu but mma! Why to a teenaged kid that would not even watch a boxing match – MMA is king!

So why am I not impressed with the flavor of the day? I am not out to challenge anyone or trying to get an accomplished martial artist in judo, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, or boxing to come over the dark side. But what I do want to do in this post is to examine how effective various martial arts would be in a real fight for an average guy/gal that has a couple of years experience under his/her belt.

I also want to look at some other factors such as the point of each martial art… you know what is it good for anyway? Don’t get mad but if your martial art has lots of rules that don’t easily transition to a real fight – what good is it in a fight (unless you are a world class fighter – then it makes no difference what you learn… it will all work)?

Let’s look at boxing, wrestling, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido and karate (including kung fu with karate as both are similar) in light of how easy is it to learn, what is the goal of the martial art, and does it work in a fight for most people (is it effective in most situations?). Then I’ll look at karate and kung fu in general terms because our stuff is not immune to my criteria (80% of karate and kung fu as it is taught would not work well in a real fight).

Now that I have made a lot of friends and I don’t think I’ve excluded anyone I would like commenters to keep your responsive civil and to the points. I will not post personal attacks but please feel free to civilly disagree and make your points. I will be happy to respond comments.

Boxing is fairly easy to learn the basics but really hard to do it right. One has to get into great physical shape to excel in this sport. The goal of boxing is to win on the street or in the ring with one’s punches. All other strikes are illegal. I do not think boxing would work very well unless you were a good boxer in a fight with someone else that did not want to do anything but punches. Boxing can work in a mass attack if he can avoid the ground so I give boxing two kicks (out of five).

Wrestling is taught in school for most males at some point so there are many good basic wrestlers (as I would categorize myself). Again wrestling like boxing takes a lot of conditioning if one wants to excel at wrestling. The goal of wrestling is mostly sport as it has no defenses against striking unless the wrestler learns additional skills. While the UFC is awash in wrestlers that have transitioned to fighting, the average wrestler can win most fights if he can take the fight to the ground. As most untrained fighters have no defense against ground fighters – wrestling can be effective sometimes. However one cannot easily defend against a mass attack nor avoid a bystander punting a goal at wrestler on the ground so I would give wrestling one kick on my scale.

Muay Thai is a sport that is not easy to learn because of the conditioning. While muay thai does strike with hands, elbows, knees, and feet – the rules do not favor fighting as the groin is not open. I would say that muay thai does come closer to an effective method of fighting because it would work well against a mass attack so long as the fighter does not get taken to the ground. Because of the major conditioning of body parts (deadening the shins for instance) I would only give muay thai three kicks on my scale.

I’m going to lump in jiu-jitsu, judo, and aikido together as one came from the other and share many common moves. While it is true that judo is more dependent on transitional moves (getting the opponent to the ground), jiu-jitsu is more of a ground fighting method and aikido mostly uses ones attack against the attacker, none of these are easy to use and are not really striking martial arts. Practitioners would have to learn striking to effectively survive a real fight with no rules. I am grossly oversimplifying here but my point is still valid. I would say that none of these styles would come out well against a mass attack. So based on the complexity of learning and the lack of striking – I can only give these styles one kick on my scale.

Now let’s look at karate and kung fu as it is taught. No paneca here either. While karate can be a good fighting style – as it is taught it does not have the conditioning of many type of fighting – it is for the common man (read person). Karate learning styles can be easier than most styles as it does not take more than a couple of years to be proficient for most people. Karate can work if a student was taught by a proficient teacher. Karate/kung fu works well against mass attacks if the student is any good. Before I assign karate/kung fu a kick scale consider the types of schools and ways to teaching.

• Some karate/kung fu styles do not allow sparring.
• Some karate/kung fu styles teach non-contact sparring.
• Some karate/kung fu styles teach semi-contact sparring.
• Some karate/kung fu styles teach the equivalent of kick boxing.
• Some karate/kung fu styles are old school – meaning no gloves and flat feet.
• Some karate/kung fu styles are more modern and use pads and move around.
• Some karate/kung fu styles have open groin shots in semi-contact.
• Some karate/kung fu styles give more points for kicks and flying kicks than for punches.
• Some karate/kung fu styles emphasize more conditioning than fighting (karate aerobics).
• Some karate/kung fu styles’ instructors have never been in a real fight.

So let me opine about karate/kung fu styles and weed the 80% of karate that does not work.

If the style does not sparring or uses non-contact sparing I give that style one kick on my scale.

If the style does not have groin shots or gives more points (in training) for kicks or flying kicks than punches – I give that style one kick.

If the style is for yuppies wanting to get into shape (karate aerobics) I give that style no kicks.

If the style teaches kick boxing but no groin shots – I give that three kicks.

If you instructor tells you he thinks it will work if he ever had to get into a fight (meaning he does not know) – Run from that school. Why pay money for something the instructor does not believe in?

If the style allows groin shots in sparring, uses hand/food pads of some kind, moves around, uses semi-contact (can get hard at top levels), the instructor is confident and has fought before, counts the same for a kick or punch… the student has a chance…  that is only about 20% of the schools out there.

Lineage means nothing unless it works. All of the black belts, trophy’s, free karate babysitting services and such are just meaningless unless a student and learn how to fight pretty good in a couple of years.

So if you find a good school as I have outlined – I would give that school four kicks – on a five kick scale? Why not five kicks? That is up to the student. I cannot guess how hard the student wants it.

So I want to clarify I do not dislike other styles and I think very highly of them. And I think most any style can be very effective against most attacks – all I reviewed here is if a person only had a couple of years to invest – what would he or she need to learn to fight back!

I am interested in your opinion – please let me know your thoughts!

On the face of it – What? Am I a masochist? Do I like pain? What the heck am I talking about getting hit? Well to a non-fighter – it might seem strange but when I sparr… one of the things I really enjoy is getting the crap beat out of me in an initial exchange!!!

Backing up a bit – fighting is call an art. One past instructor told me fighting was a way of communication. Kind of a dance between partners. Well to use that metaphor – when you are attacked with everything but the kitchen sink and you are not really ready… there is nothing quite like that to wake you up!

In this post I will talk about how getting hit is good for the learning process and I would say a necessary part of the training process (if one is to excel). But first watch some MMA come backs for your viewing pleasure.

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I remember many times going into Thursday night sparring and got hit hard – I instantly had a choice to make – did I want to take it or dish it out… if I wanted to dish it out – I had to weather the storm somehow and strike back!

It seems like a simple thing now but it is not if you can take the other guy that is important but if you can take the other guys best shot and come back and take him that makes you tough!

While I admit it is not smart to take the other guy’s “best shot” – it is importaint that you learn to take a punch or you will never be a fighter.

One time when I was attempting to sell life insurance to a young couple – they learned that I was a black belt and wanted to know more. So I started telling them how every once and a while I needed to get hit. They did not understand. I tried to explain how it made me feel alive!!!

When I was a young black belt – if I was given the company of a young woman or getting into a good fight as a choice – fighting always won out.

Part of the learning process is while you are fighting – if you get tagged by a good shot that you cannot defend against – you have to learn how to handle that attack. I used to dream about getting hit after a night of sparring – where my subconsious was trying to work out how to defend that attack.

I recall asking my instructor, Dick Willett one time how to avoid getting smacked on the way in – when I was throwing a lunch punch to the body (I was great at body shots – but got tagged with a head shot sometimes)… he told me to duck my head after I started my punch. I practiced that punch and got good at it… not getting tagged on the way in.

Have you ever lived near the beach and got used to jumping into the water every week? While I did as a teenager to the point when I moved to the desert – I had to drive to San Diego once a week to go body surfing at least once a week!

Fighting is kind of like that – if you ever were a good fighter – you need to do it now and then – even if you are not as good as you used to be – but you need the feeling of putting all of your chips on the line to see if you still have what it takes to overcome your opponents attacks and win the day!

So how can pain be good? Pain is a indicator that for me wakes me up to excel to the challenge. One time I was fighting at the studio for some testing – what I don’t recall and Todd (the head instructor) asked me if I wanted head hear – as a salty old dog, I said no. After the first minute the guy I was fighting lit me up with head shots – more of a boxing attack. I weathered the storm and woke up – started incorporating more movement and upped the pace to increase my attacks to keep my opponent honest. Boy I loved that fight!

So while I do not enjoy feeling pain – it does make me feel alive and in a fight – it helps me rise to the occasion. I’m not sure everyone enjoys fighting like I do  – It has been years since my prime and although I do not think it likely I will ever fight in a real self-defense situation again in my lifetime – I hope I get the chance (understand hoping does not matter – I cannot make it happen) to beat off an attacker again… I cannot think of a better form of enjoyment – even now.

Yes I guess I am a glutton of punishment.

The news has been full of knife attacks and even the TSA has been considering letting people fly with small pocket knives. It is even scarier to some so removed from fighting or using hand tools that in my estimation I think most people think that a knife attack is not survivable!

I would like to make the point that as in any other kind of attack (read club, gun, baseball bat, hand to hand or whatever) – they are all serious. You can get hurt if you are not a trained fighter. Heck even if you are a trained fighter – you can get hurt.

In this post I’ll evaluate the obvious (to me) about knife attacks (or really any attack – they are all the same from a self defense point of view). But first review this video for a realistic overview.

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Wow that first video with the cop shooting point blank at the guy with the knife and he missed? Most people would never think it would be possible to miss at that range – but as you saw it happens.

The rest of the videos should show you that your best defense is to lean how to fight. But say you learn how to fight – what are your chances?

First off a knife, gun, bat, rocks or whatever gives the attacker an advantage he thinks. And correctly most people that are not trained fighters have not ever come up against a weapon or multiple attackers – would not know how to fight back.

But say you are a trained fighter – are you going to give up because some guy is going to try and kill you? That would be a forgone conclusion that many that are attacked face every day. But that does not have to be the case.

If you like I did – immerse yourself in learning self-defense or fighting arts for several years – if you take to it you tend to learn how to overcome obstacles including ways to face weapon attacks. Really what do you have to lose?

For me a knife attack puts the attacker at a disadvantage. He does not know I’m a trained fighter as I’m not a braggart (I guess other than when I blog) – all he knows is I am a middle-aged man that does not look too intimidating.

So the guy does not want to rob me but wants to slash me – that means I have to defend myself… no other choice (letting the guy stab me is not a reasonable choice – he might kill me).

The first thing to realize – he is depending on his knife – whereas I have at the very least two hands, two elbows, two knees, two feet, teeth (I could go on). However you were trained to fight – it is time to kick in your defense… no rules (that attacker does not have any) but use whatever is at your disposal to mitigate the attack and use all of your tools against his one knife (weapon attackers tend to use the weapon – ignore the rest of their limbs).

So unbeknownst to the attacker – you have superior firepower if you don’t lose your cool. The big thing is to fight the way you train… if you like to fight inside – do it. If like me you like to fight on the outside – do that.

Remember the attacker is banking on his weapon scaring you so if you don’t lose your cool – you should do ok.

So what weapons have I defended against? Knives, clubs, pool cues, tall bar glasses projectiles, tree branches, and at least three of these times against more than one attacker at a time.

I’m nothing special – just a guy that has trained in my youth and enjoyed learning how to defend myself!

Please do not think that I am saying anything is easy – it is not but it is fun to learn how to do something you like… it does not matter if it is boxing, karate, judo, wrestling, or whatever – just so you enjoy it and train for that odd day with the rules of society breakdown.

So I hope many of you are like I have been – ready for whatever the world throws at you.