The Mindset of Improvised Weapons

Improvised weapons are not objects as much as they are your mindset. Almost anything can be a weapon. I remember reading a case in my criminology class during law school where a pair of panty hose was determined to be a deadly weapon because they were used to strangle a woman. It is not the objects I want to discuss here, but rather the mindset of improvised weapons.

If anything can be a weapon, or at least just about anything, it is up to you to think of how it can be used to defend yourself if needed. Years ago, I read an article by Bradley Steiner where he discussed rolling up a newspaper or magazine to use as a thrusting weapon to an attacker's face or throat. We saw a book slammed into the throat of an attacker in the third Bourne movie with Matt Damon. I've had a steel bucket swung at my head. Many people teach to use keys as weapons.

Before I go further, I want to discuss keys. Don't make a fist with keys sticking out between your knuckles and try to use keys in this manner. IF you have keys, take a key and hold it between your thumb and first finger and use it to scratch the heck out of your attackers face and especially eyes. You don't have to be able to punch, which may hurt your hand, you just have to rip that key across your attacker's eyes savagely in order to stop his attack so you can get to safety.

Didn't Steven Seagal use a credit card to slash an aggressor's eyes in the movie "Glimmer Man?" While I did enjoy Seagal's earlier movies, you don't have to be him or even like him to learn the lesson that credit cards can be effective if raked across an attacker's eyes. Pens and pencils can be stabbing weapons. I remember meeting Jim Bullard, author of "Looking Forward to Being Attacked" one time, and one of the things he said in the talk he gave was if you are attacked you can jam your pen or pencil into the attacker's eye. He went on to say, "don't pull it out, just push it in further and get out of there."

To develop a mindset of improvised weapons, you must look around you periodically and determine how you could use various objects to defend yourself. What things are close by? How could you use them to hurt your attacker? If no one is looking, pick up the object and go through the motions of how you would use it. If you do these mental exercises, you will be that much better prepared to react and use an improvised weapon if you need it.

One step better would be to engage in scenario training where you are attacked and must find and use whatever is available to defend yourself. Training where you are exposed to stressors that create duress is an important factor in self-defense training. If the first time you are ever under duress is during an actual attack, you may not handle the adrenal dump and will find you cannot perform and think as normal. (this is a topic for another time)

If you have the mindset that anything can be used to defend yourself, and you regularly practice and think about how ordinary objects could be used during a violent encounter, you will better prepared to actually use something in a real situation.

So take time now. Look around. How could you use various objects to defend yourself? Use your imagination. Be creative. Think! Like the old Special Forces poster, "Your mind is your greatest weapon." Then take it one step further and do some actual improvised weapon training. Act out scenarios and use whatever's at hand as a weapon.

There is no such thing as a fair fight when you are attacked. Fair is a place you take your prize pig. Fair is for competitions where there are rules. Self-defense is not competition. Self-defense is not fighting. Self-defense is making sure you and your loved ones go home. If attacked, you do whatever you have to do to accomplish that goal. Avoid it first. Run if you can. Attack back savagely if you must go physical. Just remember, you can use what's available. My friend Marc MacYoung likes to say, "You're not an ape, use a tool." Make sure you have the mindset of improvised weapons so that you can use whatever it takes to keep you safe.

Defending Against a Blade

I spent Saturday afternoon in the gym training with my training partner like we do most weekends. We worked on a variety of hapkido and self-defense techniques emphasizing on weapon disarms. In the last few months we have increased our weapon defense work. It was not until Sunday morning that I saw there was yet another knife attack here in Missoula, MT.

Missoula is not that big of a place, and compared to large metropolitan areas, the amount of violence is minimal. However, we do get our share, and Friday night a 19-year-old local man was stabbed multiple times. A 23-year-old Missoula man was arrested early Saturday morning for the alleged stabbings. Police found the victim Friday night and transported him to the hospital where he was being treated for his injuries. The arrested man actually surrendered to detectives at the Missoula Police Department. He was charged with felony assault with a weapon.

Sunday morning, as I read that article in the paper, I thought to myself that it is good that we train for defending against weapons. I don't go to places where knifings happen as much as I used to. Family and work take up my time, and I don't frequent bars and other "hot spots" like I used to. However, violence can and does happen anywhere.

Facing a weapon is scary. It does not matter who you are, a knife or gun has the ability to seriously hurt or kill you very quick. The person wielding the weapon does not have to be good either. Even if they just get lucky, if you're on the receiving end you are hurt or dead. I'm glad I train and practice for meeting a weapon, even if I hope I never have to use these skills. Just in case, I want to be prepared on, as a friend of mine says, "that day."

I have a chapter on knives in one of the books I am working on. The book has been sitting on the shelf for a long time and I'm finally getting back to it to finish it up. (Actually it has been sitting in the computer files, but you know what I mean) Family and life just kept me away from writing for too long. I may also send off an article to Black Belt on knives one of these days in the near future. In those I'll delve deeper into these areas that need to be addressed in your knife training.

First, remember that running away is a valid defense! If you can avoid altercations in the first place, such as not going to areas where they happen, that is best. Next best is to escape and get someplace safe. Run back inside where there are people, etc. A person with a knife can only cut or stab you if you are close to him. Run away! (This is a good defense against guns too, but right now I'm just focusing on knives) I told this to a group at a seminar I was teaching one time and had one person ask, "what if he throws the knife at you?" I illustrated with a training knife that it is pretty hard to hit someone running away by throwing a knife, and if you do hit them the odds of it being a serious injury are low. I've practiced throwing knives over the years, and I've watched others practice at seminars. It is hard enough for people to stick a knife in a stationary target from a known paced out distance. You think an untrained person is going to stick a moving target sprinting away from him? I guess he might, but he might also win a billion dollar lottery the night before and not be out mugging people with a blade too. So remember, running away is a defense!

Second, a disarm does not always mean you have to take the knife away. Stopping the knife from cutting you and then debilitating your attacker by attacking back with your own strikes can essentially be a disarm. Sometimes overwhelming your attacker with your own offensive strikes will stop him from continuing. Once you gain the upper hand, make sure you go hard and far enough that he cannot come back at you. NEVER give someone a second chance, especially with a weapon. Remember, I'm discussing surviving here, and attacks where the person is using deadly force (a knife) and you are allowed to defend yourself. I talk about the legalities of situations in other places, but for purposes here, if attacked with a knife, do what you have to do to survive and NEVER give a person a second chance to hurt or kill you.

Third, keep your training current and realistic. You cannot expect to use a knife technique if the last time you practiced it was at the seminar where you learned it. Nor will you remember it if the last time you performed it was at the test for that particular belt requirement in a traditional martial art. I'm not going to get into the myriad of techniques and debates on those techniques that go on here. I have learned and studied many different techniques and strategies to face knives. Some of these have been in traditional systems. My primary art of hapkido has different knife defense techniques at certain belt levels. Other trainings have come from a variety of resources, some traditional martial art based, others from the realistic self-defense areas. Some defenses I like better than others. Some I've seen are not techniques I would ever try in a real situation. However, the key is to train. Learn the techniques and strategies to face a knife and practice them. Practice them a lot and find out yourself what you can and cannot do when an aggressive partner is trying to shank you with a training knife. Mix things up. Make it more realistic. Not only is this more enjoyable, it is more practical as well.

There are no absolutes. When it comes to facing knifes, "it depends," is about the only answer that is accurate. If the time ever comes where you cannot run away from a knife and you must act, you will do what you do. Right or wrong, good or bad, that is what you will do. To increase your odds of doing something that will save you, train realistically and often. Notice I did not say to increase your odds of doing the "right" thing. Remember, it depends, and there really is no "right" thing. The right thing is anything that keeps you from being hurt or killed and enables you to go home safe that day. I hope you never have to face a knife, but if you do, I sincerely hope you are prepared and are able to get to safety and make it home. Train hard and stay safe.

Restraint and Control Strategies

When you find someone with over thirty years of martial art training and law enforcement experience who can actually TEACH, you should run, walk, crawl to learn from him. Loren Christensen is such an individual, and if you cannot learn from him first hand, his new video set "Restraint and Control Strategies: State-of-the-Art Defensive Tactics for Law Enforcement and Security Professionals," is the next best thing.

In this two-video set, Christensen gives detailed explanation on the techniques and skills that are most effective for real street situations. Besides teaching the viewer how to perform techniques, Christensen explains the concepts behind the techniques and how a police officer, security personal, or just an individual needing to control or restrain someone in a street fight, can use them more effectively in real life encounters. Included in these control techniques on the first tape are the armbar, lower back wrist flex, police wrist flex, bent arm lock, bent arm wrist flex, shoulder lock takedown and the outside twist. Christensen teaches these and their variations from the minimum custody hold to applying them from an attack. Each section has a review segment to aid in actually learning these techniques to use yourself.

In tape two, Christensen gives further excellent instruction on principles that will help save you when things get ugly on the street. He covers principles such as the action-reaction principle; where the head goes, the body will follow; and the distraction principle. He goes into detail on how circles will aid in performing the techniques and generate more power to put a person on the ground. Christensen knows full well that sometimes a technique does not work in the street like planned, so he covers going from technique A to B when things are not working. Being able to change in mid-flow is a valuable skill, and the instruction on these tapes will help you develop your ability to handle these tough situations.

Besides the principles taught in the second tape, many more techniques are shown as well. Christensen covers hair techniques, pressure points, striking techniques, and prone subject techniques so you can control the subject after using one of the numerous takedowns described earlier. I especially enjoyed the fact that Christensen teaches in the tapes, and is more concerned with passing on solid information that will help other officers and individuals in real life encounters, than he is about impressing viewers with his own skills. These are tapes you will learn from, and if you practice what is being taught, your effectiveness and use of techniques will undoubtedly improve.

Even if you are familiar with some of the techniques taught on these tapes, Christensen's detailed instruction is sure to help make them more effective and painful. Whether you are in law enforcement or security, or a martial artist wanting to increase the effectiveness of your joint-locks, these videos are an invaluable addition to any self-defense video library.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author, speaker
Hard-Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks, Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, and The Lock On Joint Locking series

Hook Kick: Achieving Kicking Excellence Vol. 7 - a review

The seventh book of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series has a purple cover and focuses on the hook kick. I mention the purple cover because each of the books in this series has a different colored cover along with the photograph of author Shawn Kovacich illustrating the themed kick by smashing the first letter. Some people have criticized the covers because it is a bit harder to read with the first letter smashed all over the place, but on the shelf you can read the spine just fine, so I don't see a problem.

The book follows the rest of the series by containing chapters on basic anatomy, warm ups, stretching, strength, speed, and power training. These chapters are very basic and give just enough to show the reader some basics, but to prompt the reader to further their studies in these areas.

The bulk of volume seven focuses on the hook kick and ten of its main variations. Just like all of the books in this series, Kovacich included hundreds of photographs and illustrations among the text of this 236 page book. (This includes the index and pages to take notes) No other written text has as much detailed instruction on the hook kick, and I doubt any ever will. This is the definitive written guide on the execution of the hook kick and its variations.

It takes Kovacich thirty-one pages, which includes eighteen pages of full page pictures detailing every part of the kick, and one page of review photographs, to fully describe the execution of the turning hook kick. Kovacich also uses an illustration of a martini glass to help get his instruction on the path of trajectory. Like I said, this is the most detailed instruction on this kick you will find.

Kovacich then teaches ten variations. In these descriptions he uses smaller photographs, but they still illustrate the kicks very well. Each variations includes a pictorial overview and is self contained. I like this feature. If you want to review just one variation, you can go to that section of the book, review that kick, and get to practicing. It is because of this that I believe this to be an excellent resource to have in any martial art library. This is not a book to read cover to cover for enjoyment. It is a reference text to be used to improve your kicking.

The variations include: Step-Back Hook Kick; Spinning Hook Kick; Hop/Slide Forward Hook Kick; Hop/Slide Backward Hook Kick; Front Leg Hook Kick; Back Leg Hook Kick; Switch Hook Kick; Off-Setting Hook Kick; Jump Turning Hook Kick; 540 Degree Jump Turning Hook Kick; and the Spinning Hook Kick with the left leg. (all other kicks are shown with the right leg only)

Besides the martini glass, Kovacich also uses diagrams of a watch face and illustrations of a top to get his points across. He also includes a smorgasbord of "notes" that cover many important points regarding kicking. He also provides some basic training and practice methods and a trouble shooting guide to assist you in gaining the most out of your training and to increase your kicking skills. Like the other books in the series, Kovacich finishes with illustrations of some hook kick applications.

This is an excellent study guide for learning the hook kick. It sands alone for the hook kick, but more importantly is part of a series that has to be the most detailed examination of kicking ever in print. This series is a fantastic resource for all martial artists. Even if your kicking style is a bit different from that of Kovacich's, you will still find instruction that will help you improve and assist in your teaching if you instruct.

If you own the entire series, you will find a little redundancy in the volumes. Those are the chapters I mentioned early on in this review. However, the detailed analysis and descriptions of each of Kovacich's ten primary kicks makes this series the excellent resource it is. I have all ten volumes in my library and am looking forward to the companion volumes Kovacich is working on now to be released in 2009.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer. Alain Also wrote a series of articles called Lessons From The Apprentice.