Good talk on blocks

[Van Canna]

Survival

This, posted by Kelly Worden should jolt us into reality, as to what "shape" a real encounter might well take for you in the streets:

CAR JACKING-VIOLENT CRIME, VIOLENT REACTIONS!

This posting was offered today on E-Digest, it points out some valid concerns about safety on the Streets and how to deal with a particular issue in a Car Jacking situation,,, Not all scenarios will yield this result but it is worth reading and thinking about...
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Hello people,

I have not posted anything in a while because I have
been on an extended vacation, but I am back now.

I want to discuss the subject of combat arenas.
Most martial artists train in a dojo or dojo-type
environment.

Seldom will you ever face real combat
in such an arena. It is wise to consider, prepare
for and train for all the other types of environments
and arenas you just might be in when faced with actual
combat.

Realistic combat arenas might include:
· Your home
· The workplace
· Parking lots
· Taverns, bars, clubs that you frequent
· Inside a phone booth
· Inside an elevator
· Subways
· Train stations
· Tightly enclosed environments
· Open spaces
· Alleyways
· Inside an automobile

Each of these environments presents unique
opportunities to exploit if you've trained
for them realistically.

[Van Canna]

These are good points by Kelly Worden- http://www.kellyworden.com/about/
He ran the Arnis forum on this site.

The best way to teach self defense is to correlate style concepts and applications to habitual places and acts of violence, like Kelly is pointing out.

[Van Canna]

Kelly Worden

Car Jacking

A student of mine was approached by a car-jacker at
a red light.

The jacker had two associates with him
but only he was wielding a gun. That occurred in what
was considered a bad part of town.

The car-jacker
with the gun stood directly in front of the truck
and ordered my student out of the vehicle.

Analysis of the altercation

My student followed the steps that I teach
below and decided to take what he thought was the
best course of action at the time.

1. Identify the Problem
2. Determine who and what is involved
3. Identify the Primary Motivation
4. Options: What are yours? What are theirs?
5. Take away the Motivation or the Remove the
Problem or threat

The truck was already in drive. He merely took his
foot off the brake and suddenly stepped on the gas
as hard as he could, striking the gun wielding
assailant and running over him with the truck!

When asked what happened to the assailant he could
only reply "I don't know, I just took off!"

Regardless of what you may think about this or how
you feel, the fact is that my student was able to
tell about the encounter. Many victims in similar
situations did not live to tell about it.

I also have a friend who had a girlfriend
who responded in the exact same way.

She did this
only because when the car-jacking attempt happened
she remembered the words of her father who had previously told her "The best weapon that you
have is the car that your are in. If you have the
opportunity to do so, just run over them with the
car."

[Van Canna]

Kelly Worden

You see, people all to often make the often-
fatal mistake of assuming that criminals think
logically.

The logical thing, you might conclude, is
that as long as you give the assailant what he wants
then you will be in no danger.

The reality is that
many muggings and crimes that may be for money or
cars turn violent for no apparent reason whatsoever.

You comply giving the assailant exactly what he wants
and put up no resistance at all and go out of your
way not to antagonize the assailant in any way.

Said
assailant then decides almost as an afterthought to
kill you anyway just for the hell of it.

[Van Canna]

Kelly

You life is
just that meaningless to some. A situation like the
one that these two people faced could have culminated
in a senseless murder even if they had complied and
given up the vehicle.

Peer pressure: There is always a heightened
probability
of a mugging or car-jacking turning violent or even
fatal when you are dealing with several assailants
as opposed to just one.

There is that heightened
element of peer pressure and even a mini-mob
mentality.

[Van Canna]

You may sometimes be able to reason with a single
individual, use combat psychology on them or appeal
to their humanity.

It is much more difficult to deal
with a gang, especially when one of them eggs on
another or dares him to prove that he has the right
stuff and can "smoke" a "vic" just for the hell of
it.

This is a rep-building opportunity. That's what
you're up against people.

Being overly idealistic
about the humanity of criminals can be, and often
is, fatal.

Kelly

[Van Canna]

Did my student want to run over this man?
Of course not! Did he enjoy it? Of course not! He
was a law abiding, tax-paying, working man.

A husband
and a father and a Christian. Did he later regret it?
NO. He did not. Because he knew what many readers may
not know. He knew of the countless examples of similar

situation resulting in murder. He also saw that the
assailants were on foot, only one was brandishing a
weapon (very important) and once he took him out he
would then have time to get away before his associates
could pick up the gun and fire it.

He chose a course of action that these car-
jackers obviously had not contemplated.

When you
boldly
stand in front of a mans truck, demand that he get out
of it and give it to you while brandishing a gun you
must be pretty darn certain that your intended victim
will not run you over.

Kelly

[Van Canna]

You (the criminal) are betting and counting on
your intended victims humanity and love for your life
to outweigh his love for his own.

Unfortunately, all
to often the criminals assumptions are right and the
victim passes up his one good opportunity to
effectively defend himself because he, unlike his
assailant, is not an "animal".

No sir, the intended
victim is a `humanitarian'. My associates assailants
were apparently counting on that type of thinking.

Like I said, criminals use Mental Combat all the time.

They consider your options and anticipate your most
likely response to their actions. This time they bet
wrong.

Kelly

And really, when you think of it, you did not intentionally run the criminal down, you were just trying to get away in a state of panicked fear for your life staring into the barrel of a gun.

So when the police asks you what happened, you must tell the truth...and the truth is you were trying to get away in a state of panic and in fear for your life, you did not intend to run the punk down.

[Van Canna]

What about you? What would you have done? Do what
you must if (God forbid) you are ever in a similar
situation but just understand this,-

-you will be
totally at the mercy of the criminals if you pass
up your one viable options of escape.

And the
newspaper headlines should convince you that many
criminals have no mercy. Remember also, he who
hesitates loses.


You usually do not have time in
any hostile situation to moralize or debate with
yourself about just how far you will go to protect
yourself of someone else. You must resolve those
issues now.

Kelly

The car jacker may order you back into the car after you exit to let him take it...and if you go...you will be taken to the second crime scene and be done for.

[Van Canna]

You must mentally work on developing the
ability to use maximum violence if necessary
without wasting time moralizing about the
consequences. Better to work all of that out now
so that you can act if necessary.

_________________
Kelly S. Worden

[Van Canna]

Ron Klein »

This thread has great advice and examples that I will share with my students. I have a few random thoughts…..

In many dojos, I believe that students fool themselves by identifying with their senior instructors to a degree that mere association somehow conveys superior knowledge and skill.

(I made that error in my early training.) Perhaps such identification is cultivated or at the very least, not discouraged.

Regardless, it is irresponsible and dangerous. Ultimately we are alone when we have to deal with the situations that Kelly Worden describe.

It is the sign of a serious, concerned and dedicated instructor that realizes that he or she will not be standing next to a student in an elevator or sitting next to them during an attempted car jacking.

Talking and discussing the what “ifs” is an interesting exercise, teaching how to respond is another matter best accomplished through scenario training. Couple scenario training with training and more training to identify threats and develop instinctive-controlled responses is extremely vital.

I simply do not have the ability to convey in words the nature of some of the criminals I encountered during my time in the county Prosecutor’s office.

You are absolutely correct: understanding the mind of a human predator is beyond the comprehension of so many of us, I know it is for me.

Need I mention the “fear” a human predator has of a victim who has a “black belt”?

They know most black belts are a joke……..

Your martial arts training climbs to a higher plane when you realize there are those upon whom stuff we do won’t work….need I mention issues with PPCT ????

When a kata is performed it must be done with an assault on the very core of your opponents being-spiritual, mental, and physical. Couple that with pragmatic instruction and a student has a greater chance of standing alone…..

Great post, excellent lessons----- thank you!

Ron

[Van Canna]

When a kata is performed it must be done with an assault on the very core of your opponents being-spiritual, mental, and physical. Couple that with pragmatic instruction and a student has a greater chance of standing alone…..

Great post, excellent lessons----- thank you!

Ron

[Van Canna]

Here is a great post from the arnis forum by Cale Merkley

We can train for almost anything, but one thing that is extremely difficult to prepare yourself for is the overwhelming stress, overpowering mental duress, and sometimes an almost paralyzing sense of fear that stems from the "Fight or Flight" reaction.

When I was just beginning my training in the martial arts, I was held up and mugged by 2 individuals, one of which was brandishing a small hand gun, pointed directly at the side of my head.

A few times, I had rehearsed similar scenarios, but when I was being chased, overtaken, and held at gun point, I could not get passed the mental curtain that overshadowed my mind and the numbing tingle that shivered my spine.

I complied with their wishes, simply because my mind was so clouded that I couldn't think of anything else to do. It was almost 8 years ago, and I still remember how vulnerable and humiliated I felt.

I was lucky, because a month or so later, a person I knew in a situation similar to mine was actually shoot in the head. Only now after 8 years, is he making a semi-recovery from his initial comatose/vegetable-like state.

One thing I try to let my students know is that real world combat situations/criminal scenarios are not like the movies tend to make them out to be. I try to let them in on the thoughts, feelings, and self doubting that will become obstacles to them.

But even that won't prepare them for the real thing, but at least we can give them a heads up that might get them through it unharmed.

[Van Canna]

Self-defense in a hospital

Ever think of how you would manage defending yourself while an in patient at a hospital?

Nothing can happen there, right? Think again...and some of you may have already experienced it.



Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

Study of 920 U.S. Hospitals Finds That Hospitals Tend to be Located

in Areas More Dangerous Than Fast Food and Bank Locations

CAP Index Inc. and the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) today announced the publication of the first major study of its kind, conducted by CAP Index, into threats of violent crime faced by hospitals in the United States.

The study focused on violent crime risks at 920 representative hospitals in the United States. (Violent crimes are defined in this study as rape, robbery, homicide and aggravated assault.) The study's results appear in the summer 2000 edition of the Journal of Healthcare Protection Management, an IAHSS publication.

Key findings include:

-- Almost two-thirds of the hospitals surveyed are in areas

having above-average or average violent crime risk.

-- About 28 percent of fast food restaurants, in comparison, are

located in very high violent crime risk neighborhoods.

-- About 40 percent of banks are in areas of above-average

violent crime risk.

-- About 65 percent of high schools and 50 percent of colleges

are in below-average or average violent crime risk

neighborhoods.

-- Hospitals in the Northeast and Northwest are generally located

in safer neighborhoods than those in the Southwest and

Southeast regions. Hospitals in the Southern states face the

highest levels of violent crime risks.

[Van Canna]

Robert Figlio, Ph.D., CAP chairman and CEO, said: "Violent crime -- from homicide to aggravated assault in the workplace -- is a critical issue for hospitals and their communities. CAP applauds the IAHSS for its support of this important research and for advocating strong, proactive hospital security programs," Figlio said.

"It is sadly ironic to think that patients, staff and visitors can be at greatest risk of being victims of violent crime when they are in healthcare institutions located in areas of higher risk.

Without good security and constant diligence on everyone's part, hospitals can be very dangerous places."