Good talk on blocks

[Van Canna]

MikeK »

Good reasons to be aware that one size doesn't fit all. We may view those cues as the fight is on, but it could just be posturing. On the other hand if you're used to the posturing you may misread the cues that the fight is about to happen, or trigger a fight response in the other guy.

[Van Canna]

Tournament ‘fighting’ competition is certainly not ‘self defense’ and it is not ‘fighting’ per se.

It may be a game of ‘tag’ but there are different ‘tag’ experiences…

At the Mattson Academy we were weaned on full contact slamming. We had a stream of visitors wanting to take us on and out. I mentioned Moto and Taro, among the many, Japanese collegiate champions...who trained under serious tournament/dojo ‘rules’ i.e., you get knocked out and bleed all over the floor…you must crawl out of the ring on your own.

Taking them on in Gem’s dojo was interesting to say the least.

Misconceptions about the old tournaments abound…

The ones of the 60s_ were fighting ‘point’ matches but some of these no contact fights were heavier handed than later full contact.

Once upon a time many of the people in karate were fighters, Mike Stone, Joe Lewis, Howard Jackson, Jeff Smith, Jim Harrison and many others who when they fought in a karate tournament had the respect AND FEAR of their opponents, because they really fought, not just played tag_ where sweeps and takedowns followed up with attacks were allowed.

No contact "yeah right" _ in those days, there were not as many fancy techniques. But the techniques were totally realistic!


The people mentioned so far, were not known for controlling their technique. Very few if any were. Chuck Norris destroyed Moto in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden with vicious kicks that had him down for the count.

Unless you were there it is hard to understand.

We may want to ask Bob Campbell about his ‘tag’ match with Ed Daniels 6’ 7” [the king Kong of karate] at one point Bob was knocked out of the ring flying through the judges and tables and chairs for about 15 feet. But he did get up and returned to the fight.

Most famous were the Calif. New York and Texas boys, it was a free for all!

The early NYC events were controlled by the likes of Masters, Peter Urban, Muang Gyi, Don Nagle, Gary Alexander, George Caufield, Tadashi Nakamura and Henry Cho. It took guts to just enter those ‘games’ _

There were also the Madison Square riot_ the race riots of Sunnyside Gardens, where Peter Urban, had to start shooting into the air to get everyone’s attention. Masters Al Gotay and Johnny Kuhl carried their service revolvers at events.


Those ‘tag’ matches developed a tough mental attitude and provided some inclination of what they could expect in street defense. It also developed timing _ rhythm _ distancing, and self-confidence.

It is disappointing to see some of the comments about the Kyokushin clip. We must be able to tell the difference between training and fighting. Those two guys in the clip are hard men.


One learns to ignore pain by being exposed to it. The guys in the first clip are taking lots of shots to the liver, floating ribs; solar plexus etc. and they don’t even flinch

[Van Canna]

Reading Behavioral Intent

Darren Laur »


1. The brain has been “hard-wired” to deal with the emotion of fear/violence

2. One pathway is known as the “high road” in which action can be based on conscious will and thought. This pathway appears to take effect during “progressive” types of fear stimuli. Here a combatives student will be able to apply stimulus/response type training using the OODA model having regards to gross motor skills and Hick’s Law

3. A second pathway is known as the “low road” which is triggered by a spontaneous/ unexpected attack. Here, the brain will take control of the body with an immediate “protective reflex” (downloaded directly to the brain stem where all of our reflexive responses to danger are stored), which will override any system of combat that bases its ability on “cognitively” applying a physical response. This is especially true if the trained response is not congruent with the “protective reflex” (this is exactly what I observed in the 1992 video study that I conducted and mentioned earlier in this article)


When it comes to Threat Pattern Recognition, it is important to note that there are two different threat patterns to be aware of that are, in my opinion, very closely related to the “high road” and “low road” fear response that I have called:


1. High emotional arousal patterns (low road), and


2. Low emotional arousal patterns (high road)


I discussed ritualized combative signs that fell under three specific categories:


1. Assault Not Imminent But Possible

2. Assault is Imminent

3. Signs of submission

Darren

[Van Canna]

Darren laur>>

The Tell:

A fellow police officer that I know in Ontario, was able to identify a subject who was carrying a concealed illegal firearm in a shoulder holster under his jacket, by the way he was periodically (and likely unconsciously) moving the arm in which the firearm was hanging under. My friend was able to notice this because he did the same thing when he carried. This in my opinion is a really good example of low emotional threat pattern recognition. Some other tells could include:

- How is the person carrying a visible weapon such as a knife. Is it a clip-it type knife that blends in color to the garment being worn by the potential threat? Is it a knife (such as a Buck knife) that is kept in a pouch, but the pouch is carried upside down to allow the force of gravity to deploy the knife into the hand quickly, once unsnapped, with very little arm movement; a favorite of some outlaw motor cycle gangs.

- Is the movement of a person’s body (especially hands and arms), consistent with the pre-deployment of a weapon, be it concealed or visible?


While working narcotics enforcement (especially form covert observation posts), I would often use pattern recognition “tells” that were consistent with those who were dealing at the street level; such as head and eye movement, positioning to sell their product, the short walk and talks, which would allow me to concentrate my observations on “primary” targets to watch more closely.

Darren

[Van Canna]

Darren Laur »

The two goals of this article were:

1) To once again bring to light the high emotional patterns of ritualized combat that are often very visible overt precursors to a physical attack, and

2) To become more aware of the low emotional/behavioral patterns of the experienced attacker, who uses the element of the surprise ambush to their tactical advantage for a committed covert attack.


Threat pattern recognition, and early threat recognition skills, during the awareness phase, are the first steps in staying safe, and can play a very important role in reading behavioral intent.

This process can then allow one to utilize avoidance/escape/evasion strategies, or to engage a threat either non-verbally, verbally, and/or physically (including the pre-deployment of a weapon on your part) prior to an actual physical attack by the threat faced.

Darren

[Van Canna]

2Green »

"Shows that even a BULLET isn't always reliable, thats what astounds me the most."

Aahmed
---------------------------------------------------
This doesn't surprise me at all. There are numerous accounts of people who are shot, or worse, continuing to fight.

Only structural bio-mechanical damage can ( in my opinion) actually prevent an attacker from continuing an assault.

Pain and other "compliance" techniques simply don't work reliably.

Just two weeks ago, I saw a drunken patron thrown out through a door by the bouncers so hard that his head bounced off the pavement. He got back up and tried to get back into the bar.

The bouncers then wrestled him to the ground while one of them applied a brutal armbar/wrist lock while the others pummeled him.
Then they let him go and backed off.

He literally sprang back to his feet laughing, and said "Ha! Who's next?!"

No structural damage, therefore he could continue to engage.
If his knee had been broken or other structural damage had been inflicted, he would simply have been bio-mechanically unable to stand and fight.

The bouncers were not entitled to go this far, so all the damage they were able to enforce had basically no effect, other than entertainment for the drunk. He was still structurally sound, so still in the game.

This is to me the BIG LESSON of Karate.

You have to be able to physically BREAK your attacker to stop him reliably, because the psychological "break" is a myth these days.

It's all about destroying structure, and hey, if the odd nerve-strike lands in the right place, well, bonus.

I'll put my money on the broken bones.

~N~

[Van Canna]

Willy »

I was looking at these today. It sometimes doesn’t bother a drugged up dude or an extremely committed individual. Looks like in the majority of cases you can bank on two things:

1) The average person will have problems functioning.

2) Your so called friends will have lots of laughs at your expense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4U-6VF66NU&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7pGlDD ... ed&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmENP-T1 ... ed&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udx3vVow ... ed&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OxnXVQJ ... ed&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVST1Ku_rzE&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBGxShRJ ... ted&search

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziRWjT8F ... ed&search=


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP0Byua1 ... ed&search=


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWpBmHPd ... ed&search=

Re: The original clip of the police officer with the pea shooter….see Neil’s comments on biomechanical advantage. Hey if you have the best ninja sword in the world and just cut his toe off you will pay as well.

If your going to shot a monster make sure you choose a round to do the job. Most forces go with a 40 or 45 these days. A little 9mm should be for teaching the kids how to pop holes in paper. Hunt elephants with elephant guns. Larger rounds and higher velocities are required to stop the EBG. Rip a hole in the beast don’t poke a wee leak in him.

[Van Canna]

Street Medicine

By Gabe Suarez

1) MOVE TO COVER
- Actively seek cover or create distance in order to carry-out rule “3”
- Never take your eyes off the threat

2) REMAIN IN THE FIGHT
- Check Weapon / function / reload, confirm good solid grip
- STAY MOBILE

3) CONDUCT A QUICK SELF ASSESSMENT
- You’ve been shot / stabbed, you know your hit, a gun shot or stab wound is NOT going to disable you (mindset)

4) IMPLEMENT THE PROPER FIRST AID MEASURES
- Bleeding Control (TQ possibly)

5) REMEMBER TO SIMPLY CALL FOR HELP
- squad radio
- cell phone
- lung power

6) CONDUCT A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF YOUR WEAPON OR ANY AVAILABLE WEAPONS
- Access gear status more completely
- Rounds available, back-up weapons

7) BE AWARE OF POSSIBLE/IMPENDING LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND PLAN FOR SAME
- Do you have a Plan to break contact due to severity of injury?

MENTAL CONDITIONING IS PIVOTAL TO YOUR SURVIVAL
- Have a Plan and have rehearsed possible scenarios
- There is no reason to be down and out post-injury (mindset)

We all know that a large part of our survival during violent encounters depends on having a plan. A plan is just a general guideline that we use to maneuver ourselves during which may be times of stress or complexity.

A plan helps us keep things simple and helps us stay focused. Everyone is different, has different skill levels, different concerns, and different beliefs so each plan must be tweaked to fit our personal situation.

At times it’s even quite practical to have a plan “B” that can be put into effect should initial attempts fail.

McDevitt’s SIMPLE RULES OF SELF RESCUE are based on research into officer survival and input from law enforcement officers, military special operators, and the backbone of America, armed civilians. Use the rules as a basis for your own plan.

[Van Canna]

Darren laur>>

What was most interesting in this research study, was the fact that they found the use of feet resulted in the greatest injury severity, when compared to the use of other blunt objects, and that sharp object (edged weapons) was the next most likely to result in severe injury. To me this is another reason why one cannot stay on the ground given the probability of being kicked or stomped by your attacker or their friends.


Specific to knives, I attempted to locate research specific to:


1. At what point did the offender have their weapon deployed, and

2. What kind of occurrence rate is there for knife to knife encounters


Unfortunately I could not find any Peer reviewed research on these two topics, but I did just recently read a book by James Lafond called, “The Logic of Steel, a Fighters View of Blade and Shank Encounters 2001”. Based upon a large number of interviews (1000 separate acts of violence), the author created something that he called a “Violence Index”.

Although not a peer reviewed scientific study, Lafond does offer some retrospective empirical/anecdotal research that is of some interest and does correspond with some of the above noted research:

§ 59% of incidents occur outside
§ 59% of incident occurred after dark
§ 69% of incidents were described as an attack rather than a consensual fight
§ 53% involved alcohol or drugs
§ 25% of violence resulted in at least one party being knocked out
§ 63% of violent acts were resolved in less than 10 seconds
§ 25% of violent acts lasted from 10 seconds to 1 minute
§ 13% lasted more than a minute
§ 57% of aggressions were successful, 32% by knockout
§ 13% of defences were successful, 50% by knockout
§ 32% of aggressors were armed
§ 8% of defenders were armed
§ 7% of aggressors required medical attention
§ 28% of defenders required medical attention
§ 1% of aggressors died
§ 4% of aggressors died


Specific to incidents of weapon use per 1000 acts reviewed:

§ Edged weapons 11%
§ Firearms 10%
§ Clubs, rocks, sticks 8%


According to LaFond, in most edged weapon attacks, the attacker already had their weapon deployed, and the vast majority of attacks lasted less than 10 seconds. This supports the fact that unless the fighter (defender) already has their knife pre-deployed prior to engagement, the defender will have very little time to deploy their own weapon.

This fact is also compounded when you also factor in Survival Stress Reaction, retrieving a holstered or pocketed knife, combined with the attacker’s already violent engagement.


Specific to knife-to-knife encounters, LaFond reported that this type of occurrence in extremely rare.

[Van Canna]

Darren Laur »

I believe that most of those who will sexually assault women will use the fact that the woman either knows, loves, or trusts them to their advantage. If a woman has "feelings" about their attacker, then they will be less likely to be as ruthless as they will need to be when it comes to protecting themselves.

Teaching women, and men, to de-humanize or "ghost" their threat is an important self protection attribute than needs to be trained and harnessed by all.

I also see this here at the school when training students. When a student is working with a partner they know in Neural Based Training (ie put a known face to a known threat) combative intensity goes down. But once they are reminded to "ghost" the threat (de-humanize) then combative intensity goes way way up.

Darren

[Van Canna]

Darren Laur>>

Profile of Violent Victimization Incidents:

· Victims are most often victimized in commercial establishments or public institutions

· Excluding spousal violence, violent crimes were most likely to occur in a commercial place or public institution (38%). In particular, 14% of all violent incidents took place in an office, factory, store, shopping mall, 12% in a bar or restaurant, 7% in schools, and 5% in hospitals.

· In addition to being the most common location for violent victimization, commercial establishments were often the victim’s place of work (43%)

· Public places such as sidewalks, street and highways accounted for 9%, parking garages or parking lots 3%, rural areas or parks 3%, public transportation 2%

· 19% of violent crimes took place either in or outside the victims home

· Robbery most often took place on the street, 43%

· Both physical (39%) and sexual assaults (49%) were most likely to occur in commercial establishments.

· The most common commercial establishment where sexual assault occurred was a bar or restaurant (20%) or an office building, factory, store or shopping mall (19%)

· Physical assault took place most often in commercial establishments such as office buildings, factory, store or shopping mall (14%) followed by a bar or restaurant (11%)

· One quarter of violent crimes involved the use of a weapon

· Robberies were most likely to involve a weapon (45%), physical assaults (29%) sexual assaults (9%)

· Overall, knives were twice as likely to be used in a violent crime, as were guns (6% versus 3%). Other weapons recorded included bottles, bats, sticks, and rocks (17%)

· In 52% of violent incidents either alcohol or drugs played a role

· Most violent crimes involved a male acting alone (76%), while in about one in five crime incidents more than one accused was involved (22%). Of the three types of violent crimes, robberies were most likely to involve more than one accused (39%)

· Among the 76% of violent incidents in which one accused was involved, the vast majority of accused were male (87%) and this remained true for the three types of violent crimes, ranging from 86% of physical assaults to 91% of sexual assaults

· The majority of accused acting alone tend to be young, with one-half between the ages of 18-34 years

· Half of violent crimes are committed some someone known to the victim (51%). Strangers accounted for 44%. A small proportion (5%) of incidents were committed by a family member, however, this analysis excludes spousal violence.

· 25% of violent incidents result in victim being injured

Darren

[Van Canna]

As We Train
What do we need to know_



POSTURING (P)

Posturing is a system of body language designed to avoid physical conflict. It is made up of a mixture of facial expressions, body positioning/movement and verbal directions.

Some of these can be seen at a distance, but as the distance closes the posturing become more extreme. Just as animals strut and bellow, so do humans, all designed to intimidate an opponent in order to avoid a fight, to gain dominance over an opponent without coming to blows.

These can range from “hard” stares to body positioning to pushing and shoving. However, if these postures are ignored or not placated then the fight might begin in earnest. The ritual can be broken down into four stages:

Selection ~ an opponent is selected and visual and/or verbal challenges are issued.

Posturing 1 ~ intimidation by size and voice, strutting and bellowing.

Posturing 2 ~ not always seen, but intimidation by strength.

Action ~ this might be fight, flight or disengage, dependent on how the cues are received and what cues are given off by the opponent.

There is no guarantee of how long it will take for a person to move from posturing to action, but this ritual is always followed except in a few cases.

Narcotics, alcohol and mental health may well negate the use of posturing as the “higher” brain functions are affected.

If a person is well versed in conflict, they may avoid these rituals altogether, such as experienced fighters and criminals. In these cases we must look to the biological signs.

[Van Canna]

The aggressive (fight) cues can be identified as:

Squaring off, usually accompanied by wide arm gestures, this is to make the attacker look larger. (P)

Loud, verbal abuse and challenges used to directly intimidate. As aggressive tendencies increase, the level of language reduces to monosyllabic responses.

The questioning style is indicative to the issue of a challenge e.g. “Well?” “So?” “Eh?” “And?”*1 (P), then later (P)(B)

Pushing/shoving to intimidate as a display of strength as well as size*1(P)

Bared teeth, usually with the lips tight to the teeth and the corners of the mouth pushed forward. (P)

Furrowed eyebrows to protect the eyes. *4 (P)

Chin tucked towards chest to protect the throat. (P)

Staring intently at specific area of the body a result of tunnel vision but also an indication to where a person intends to attack. (B)

White face (as blood drains away towards muscles)*2(P)

Red face *2(P)

Clenching of fists.(P)(B)

Leaning in. A state of preparation to launch forwards. *1(P)(B)

Forward motion. A forward motion will precede just about every attack. Interestingly backward motion can also be seen, but it is usually another posturing movement, for intimidation. (P)(B)

[Van Canna]

The Fear (flight) cues can be identified as:

Muscle twitching/shaking/tightening.(B)

Shaky voice.(B)

Flushed face*2 (B)

Furtive eye movements as if looking for an escape route.(P)

Distractive movements*3(B)

Staring intently,a result of tunnel vision, focusing on the perceived threat.(B)

Eye brows raised*4(P)(B)

Bared teeth, but with the corners of the mouth pulled back. (B)

Hands splayed in front of the body, as if to ward of a threat (P)

Freezing. This is known to occur in states of extreme fear. Animals use it as a defence mechanism against predators who hunt primarily by sight. (P)(B)

Retreat or body movements indicating a desire to disengage, such as turning the body away.

[Van Canna]

Other cues in both categories are:

Increase in breathing and heart rate.

Digestive system is affected. On the one hand the sympathetic response
causes a restriction, the parasympathetic release. This is why some feel the need to vomit, urinate or defecate when stress, a sign of the internal conflict between these two systems.


Impaired vision ~ the loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision).

Impaired hearing ~ nothing but a high pitched ringing can be heard (auditory exclusion), this is due to the blood vessels in the ear dilating. May also be brought on be cognitive dissonance.

Dry mouth

Sweating

Cognitive dissonance ~ this is where small details are focused on and the “bigger picture” is forgotten.

In extreme states the “higher” functions of the brain appear to be restricted. Speaking becomes difficult either the voice is shaky or the words are monosyllabic.

Time slows ~ events seem to occur in slow motion (tachypsychia).