Welcome to 2016! I hope everyone’s holidays were fun, and more importantly, safe. I imagine that some readers who bounce at bars and clubs or work in security had to utilize some effective applications of the arts on New Year’s Eve—that’s just the nature of the beast. Maybe others have the type of family get-together that requires the same—but that’s none of my business. Hopefully nothing got too out of hand and everyone’s year is off to a great start.
As we expand our focus in 2016, I’ll pick up on where I left off in last year’s article Self Defense and Jiu Jitsu 2.0 and discuss a particular technique that is a very successful go-to for controlling a number of sketchy real world situations. Specifically, these are confrontational situations that are much more common than an all-out fight for our lives, and may require a level of restraint over pure violence.
To be clear, I am all for the efficacy of the full on violent crush-the-throat, rake-the-eyes, knee-the-groin, beat down and stomp-the-head response taught in many early Krav Maga classes. This type of response is designed to completely neutralize and destroy an attacker that is threatening your life or severe bodily harm, brandishing a weapon (without the option to simply get away), or putting you in a situation that could include more than one attacker (a danger multiplier for sure). Self defense in life threatening situations is the true “no holds barred”. There are no rules. You stay alive and you render the threat incapable of continued attack.
Hopefully many of us will avoid such high-intensity situations in our lives. I recommend being thoroughly prepared, but I live life by the adage “it is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”. What is much more common is an aggressive and confrontational situation (which is certainly a very real threat even when intentions are not as serious as above), but is one which can be de-escalated before it reaches the level of destructive violence. The best way to de-escalate physically, provided it is already too late to avoid a physical confrontation altogether, is to act first, but it is not always to strike first.
Be Cool
Let me explain; since, at first, this may seem counter intuitive to many self defense teachings. You may recall in the December article Self Defense and Jiu Jitsu 2.0 I stated that some important concepts in self defense are awareness, demeanor, range, mobility, restraint, and the element of surprise. By properly training a variety of self defense responses, we can act more appropriately to the situation at hand. Becoming highly familiar with the physical concepts of combat, we are more likely to be aware, keep a calmer demeanor and be able to utilize the element of surprise by acting first and in the most appropriate manner.
Take a look at THIS VIDEO CLIP and notice that while there appeared to be a threatening confrontation and the young man or teenager might be justifiably in danger, he is clearly the first to strike aggressively and make physical contact. In this instance, I suspect the whole incident ended here. How might this play out in a court if the non-physical aggressor were to have fallen and hit the back of his head on the floor causing brain trauma that left him comatose or otherwise debilitated for life? What would the witnesses say if it ended in fatal head trauma? These things happen. Many times these things can be avoided.
So, when is some level of restraint most appropriate? Quite frankly, a lot of the time. However, that is not exactly (or only) what I meant by the concept of restraint. The concept has both a physical and a mental aspect to it. Physically, I am talking about our ability to restrain our attacker, or our attacker’s ability to restrain us. Mentally we are considering the amount of restraint to apply or not to apply in our response. Furthermore, the concept includes the full spectrum of possibilities across both aspects and as they relate to each other. Physically this could range from having no level of restraint over an attacker, to complete restraint rendering them incapable of attack, to our attacker being able to restrain us. Mentally this could range from avoiding a physical engagement at all, to an all out lack of restraint (in a fight for our lives). The relationship may be dependent on how the events unfold. What may have started as a minor threat could become a major threat if an aggressor manages to restrain us with a hold that leaves us more vulnerable. Okay, it can get complicated. I have a tendency to sit around thinking about these things ad nauseam, but understanding this may be very worthwhile.
US Marine Corps (USMC) Recruits from 1st Battalion demonstrate the proper technique for a figure four choke hold while participating in the first phase of their Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) training, held aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), Parris Island, South Carolina (SC). (USMC PHOTO BY SSGT JOHN A. LEE II 050330-M-4213L-055)
“Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences”
There can be very serious ramifications for reacting inappropriately versus responding in an appropriate manner. These ramifications may be legal, monetarily crippling, damaging to a career, destructive to a family, detrimental to your mental state, or some combination of. Responding violently to a confrontation that was scary may not always be the way to go. Yes, many tell me that they would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6, but I would just as soon avoid both situations.
This is not basic self defense, this is high level self defense. Basic self defense is escaping a bigger stronger attacker in an unknown set of circumstances with an unknown or heightened level of danger. In these cases, it should be easy to justify even completely unrestrained responses, with the exception of rendering the attacker helpless and then continuing to inflict serious or fatal damage beyond reason. For those of us who study the arts and are perhaps not automatically in imminent danger just because some guest at a party, or a drunk patron at a bar wants to mouth off, or any situation that may appear to witnesses (regardless of how it started) to be less one-sided, it is worth considering.
Take a look at this legal blog (especially the mentions of recalling events by bystanders and noncombatants) to see how what may have started with you “in the right” could end up with you in the courtroom. Notice also how the majority of bar fights and party fights are broken up rather quickly, they do not often escalate into a melee of multiple attackers. Responding too violently to situations that are unlikely to meet life-or-death circumstances, or be recounted as such by available witnesses, should not be your only answer.
For many of these same reasons, law enforcement is taught to Subdue, Control, and Arrest a resisting suspect over a striking focused beat down that can be caught (in or out of context) by the nearest iPhone. Let’s agree that at the very least, it would do our own conscience some good to act in a similar mindset unless the level of danger or unknowns dictates otherwise (and there are plenty of reasons it might). So, with this mindset, what type of techniques do I like? I like techniques that provide an element of surprise to gain the upper hand, can work on a slightly larger or stronger aggressor, remain upright or postured properly to quickly get to my feet, have an extreme level of physical control or restraint (to manage the threat, surroundings, and escalation of threat), and include the choice to de-escalate if reasonable and safe, or escalate to the highest level, if necessary. As an added note, I also like techniques that can account for situations where even solid and multiple strikes may be ineffective (attackers with mental disorders, on drugs, etc).
With that I offer today’s video and the step-by-step breakdown below. This technique can be combined with some variations of strikes (depending on the level of the threat) as a very effective self defense method across a number of situations. It is especially effective in situations where violent destruction may be above and beyond the appropriate response, and certainly not worth the potential consequence.
Step-by-Step:
- Aggressor reaches out to grab or push
- Immediately deflect (as needed) and quickly position opponent’s extended arm for an arm drag using cross-body tricep control
- Cut corner while using arm drag to twist opponent’s body, ideally stuffing opponent’s arm tight to body and wrapping with free arm in seatbelt control setup, securing wrist control with hand that performed the arm drag on the opponent’s trapped arm
- Tip: keep head tucked low and to trapped arm side of opponent, chin down ear to opponent’s back or just behind trapped shoulder to avoid potential for back elbows or over the shoulder punches
- Release control with arm wrapped around opponent’s controlled arm and quickly shoot over opponent’s trapped arm shoulder securing opponent’s neck for rear naked choke setup
- Immediately or simultaneously place same-side hook to break opponent’s posture or climb up as needed for proper choke setup
- Tip: another option is to chop opponent’s leg with a hard downward stomp (heel-in, toes angled out) just below and behind the knee. This is especially effective if opponent’s height, size, or strength is of notable concern
- Now tuck head position tight to opposite side of opponent’s head, adding controlling pressure and minimizing potential of being hit
- Once choking arm is in place, release wrist control on originally stuffed arm and switch to wrist control of opponent’s same-side arm
- Finish by securing full Rear Naked Choke control (Cobra style/bicep grip) and pressure head forward with hand wrapped behind opponents head.
Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_naked_choke
The post Acting First Instead of Striking First: Self Defense Situations that Call for Restraint appeared first on Science Of Skill.