You Must Have Unarmed Combat Ability

© COPYRIGHT 2011 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – January 2011 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

www.americancombato.com
www.seattlecombatives.com

THERE are those who love firearms (“gun nuts”). There are those who love
knives. Both interest groups enjoy an abundance of monthly periodicals that cater
to their interests, just as “martial arts” aficionados enjoy a ton of monthly appearing mainstream “literature” (albeit 99% of which is of highly questionable value, if not outright bullshit — precisely as is true in the case of 99% of that which appears in the gun and knife rags!), Oddly enough, the overwhelming majority of those in any of those three categories think of their little niche as exclusive, and they disdain involvement in and mastery of that which the other categories offer.

Fatal mistake, as far as practical defense and actual combative preparedness is
concerned.

This much is true: There are times when you need a firearm; times when you need
a knife; and times when you must rely upon your bare hands. If you are thoroughly prepared and competent in but a single approach to individual combat, then you are two thirds unprepared! (We should also consider the stick in our discussion, as stick work is certainly essential in the individual’s total scheme of defensive preparation. And we might thus legitimately assert that by possessing expertise in but one of four necessary areas of training you are three quarters unprepared). You hopefully get the drift of where we’re going with this.

Combat handguns, shotguns, and shoulder weapons certainly occupy an important
place in self-defense training. So do knives and stick implements. However, good
as any particular fashioned and manufactured weapon may be, it is not only
inappropriate to resort to the use of weaponry in all instances, it is often not possible. Those who spend time practicing quick draw at the range because they wish to be able to speedily access a sidearm in a close quarters crisis when, say, they are suddenly jumped in a street attack, have no idea of what real world violence entails, and what — realistically — they will be able to do about it, if it comes unexpectedly to them.

It takes a relatively long time to execute a “quick draw” from a maximum
concealment holster that is worn under normal daily attire (quite possibly attire
that includes a coat), as opposed to simply driving a powerful leg-breaking kick
into an assailant, or chopping him across the carotid artery! More: While you are
attempting to execute that quick draw, your attacker (or attackers) will — a) Have a great opportunity to seize, punch, and beat you into unconsciousness, and b) Be made plainly aware that you are armed, and no doubt will take that gun away from you, either while in the process of carrying out, or shortly after accomplishing “a”.

We have seen and heard of absolutely ridiculous “techniques” being taught — using folding knives (and in the case of law enforcement officers, their
“expandable batons”) — where, having been seized from behind in a mugger’s
strangle, the defender acquires his weapon(!) and executes some technique against
his attacker that frees him from the hold. Again — unarmed action is the only speedy action that stands a chance of being speedy enough in such a situation . . . (unless of course the “attacker” is a practice partner) to actually work. One’s concealed weapon — or one’s holstered sidearm, if one is a uniformed officer — cannot be brought into play quickly enough. That mugger will have snapped you backward and perhaps choked you out before you can even get your folding knife or expandable baton in hand!

We are 100% in favor of the use of modern weapons in personal defense and close
combat. We regard weapons as integral to the overall program that we ourself
teach, and this has always been the case. But make no mistake about it, weapons are not enough.

You must have unarmed combat ability.

Often, in situations where you are not only justified but well advised to access, say, a loaded handgun, you will be unable to do so until and unless you secure sufficient distance, time, and space. Well executed blows of the hands and feet, and practiced maneuvering that works in hand-to-hand situations will enable you to do this — and will enable you to save your life and quite possibly the lives of others. Your “target” in a close quarters combat situation will not be a cardboard outline, conveniently placed ten to 30 feet away, in broad daylight, giving you time to prepare ahead of time for the event, and giving you plenty of distance, time, and space right now to enable you to draw from your range rig, and place two neat holes in the kill zone. Get real.

Gun trumps knife, right? We have heard potbellied, beer-drinking, gun buff
“yahoos” who “roll their own” in their garages assert that, in a situation where a punk pulled a knife they’d “just shoot him”. Really? You think so? Well, if you had a handgun positioned and leveled at the “punk”, and if you were all set to pull the trigger, and if that “punk” was perhaps 25 to 30 feet away, and had not yet drawn his knife, but was seen by you in time to be undertaking to do just that . . . maybe you could “just shoot him”. But in the real world, if you lack unarmed combat skills, any determined would-be killer will get you first. He will get in close and he will have stabbed and slashed you ten times before you can even think of reaching for that holstered sidearm under your jacket.

Not that you could be certain of defending yourself adequately even if you were an unarmed combat expert. The knife attacker still has a great advantage. But if your body is trained to move correctly and to make ferocious and immediate use of your natural weapons, you stand a chance of surviving.

Real world, people; real world.

And the idiocy that is advanced as “self-defense use of the folding knife” would
be comical, if it were not presented seriously, and in a tone that suggests the
advocate of this crap is some kind of “combat expert”!

Yes, certainly a stoutly constructed folding knife can be an excellent weapon in a
defensive emergency. However, it is nowhere near as effective a weapon as a fixed
blade combat knife, and all of those who believe that their “combat folders” make them bad news for muggers are fools.

It takes time to access and then open a folding knife. Time is what you have
precious little of in any violent emergency, and “going for your folding knife”
sets you up exactly as going for your holstered handgun does, in any predicament
where you are attacked by one or more street bacteria up close. And face it: This is how it generally happens.

Again, unarmed skills are instantly available, and will clear the way for your being able to access that folder. What’s more, hitting your attacker — jabbing, smashing, and pounding him real hard in his vulnerable target areas — with the ends of your closed folding knife in hand is often the best preliminary tactic that allows you the time to open the folder, in the first place. Unarmed combat training teaches you how and where to hit your attacker with that closed folding knife, and this is important.

Few weapons are as effective for practical defense as a good, strong walking stick
(or, for a police officer, a simple hardwood baton — NOT one of those damn “expandable” pieces of s—t that deserves to be discarded along with pepper spray and mace). Still, one might find that an attacker seizes one’s walking stick (or baton), and a struggle ensues in which unarmed combat skills will prove essential for achieving dominance over the aggressor.

Quality training in unarmed close combat provides the key foundational elements
for success in all close combat — armed included:

√ It teaches you to have self-confidence (as opposed to confidence in a hand held
weapon).

√ It teaches you how to move, position yourself, and interface with potential and
actual troublemakers.

√ It teaches you how to strike and how to kick, and it trains you in the enemy’s
vital target areas . . . areas as susceptible to weapon as to unarmed trauma.

√ It teaches you attitude and mindset, without which no weapon on earth is of any value; and with which, even some random object-at-hand will serve well and lethally in a dangerous emergency.

√ It trains you in general self-defense tactics and strategy, in the principles of
protection, and in the realities of close-in individual battle.

√ It enjoins you to establish a serious routine of personal physical training, so as
to get and stay fit, strong, conditioned, ready, and confident that you are able to
meet whatever comes.

The modern student of self-defense, as we have been emphasizing since the late
1960’s, needs unarmed and armed modern combat skills in order to be a rounded, balanced, ready-for-anything combatant.

The word to all of you weapons buffs: If you keep those weapons for self-defense, then make certain you’ve got a solid capability with unarmed combat to
bolster and to back up their use!