MORE Evidence Of What Happens (And Of What REALLY WORKS) In The Real World

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – June 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


(The following incident was brought to our attention by one of our upper level Black Belts, Greg Anderson. We are happy to pass it — and the message that, following the description of the event, enumerates what the incident teaches — along to our visitors.)

JUST married, 29 year old Nicole Emerson and her bridegroom — coming straight from their wedding ceremony — decided to stop off for a drink in what is normally an upper class establishment in Louisville, Kentucky.

Upon entering the place three sewer animals begin directing suggestive and insulting remarks to the newlyweds. Wisely ignoring the lice, the couple proceed to order their drinks.

The scum continues to push and to prod and to harass the couple verbally, finally driving Nicole’s husband as far as he could be pushed. He arises from his seat and proceeds to confront the group of troublemakers. Acting like the pack of mindless hyena they are, the three creatures proceed to jump the husband. They smash him to the floor and proceed — gang style — to beat the man.

Perceiving (correctly) the potentially deadly attack on her husband, 110 pound Nicole springs into action immediately. Seizing a bottle she proceeds to attack the predators and to repeatedly beat the miserable cowards across their heads and faces. When the smoke clears, two of the dirtbags are hospitalized (one, we were delighted to hear, requiring upwards of 70 stitches! GO GIRL!), and the third was simply neutralized — unfortunately not severely enough to require hospitalization or a body bag, but sufficiently to cause him to cease his attack on Nicole’s husband.

Little Nicole, distraught and horrified after the near-murder of her husband, is subsequently arrested and, according to the news report on WLKY.COM, potentially faces three second degree assault charges.

[Bloggers Note: It has since come to light that the three assailants in this incident were in fact three of Louisville's finest, odd duty, intoxicated and drinking in the establishment.]

WARNING!: STAY AWAY FROM LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. THAT CITY HAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH IT POLICE OFFICERS’ JUDGMENT AND — PERHAPS — THEIR UNDERLYING ETHICS AND CHARACTER, AS WELL! It seems to us that acting in defense of the life and limb of one’s spouse when one’s spouse is attacked by three men justifies the use of deadly force, since three assailants against one is a deadly attack. Need we add that grabbing a bottle to assist one’s actions against the three attackers only makes good, common sense — unless one has a firearm to use! Most especially when one is a 110 pound female, it is all too obvious that resorting to any kind of weapon in defense against even a single grown male assailant is not only "justified" — it is a virtual necessity!

Now let us consider some LESSONS regarding real world violence and handling it, that may be extrapolated from an analysis of that awful incident:

• It is wise not to go into bars
Not that you do not have a perfect "right" to go wherever you please; common sense tells us that the kinds of characters that one is likely to encounter where liquor is served are more likely to be unsavory than those one encounters in a public library, a nice restaurant, etc.

• Whenever it is possible to do so, it is wisest to leave any place where troublesome individuals seem to be congregating
Once again, we do not say that one should "have to leave a place where one has every right to be" just because some human garbage happens to be there, too. However, it is SMART to do so — so as to avoid trouble. Thus, while we appreciate that the husband in the incident described was certainly justified in being angry, we’d have advised the couple to leave, rather than to confront the lice that were bothering them.

• In the real world you may well find yourself being targeted by violent types, regardless of your own behavior or intentions
Good people do not provoke trouble. And too many good people believe that that is sufficient to keep trouble out of their lives. "I don’t go to those places", or "I don’t get into fights", etc. are statements that certainly express common sense and good judgment on the part of the speaker, but they in no way indicate that the speaker will not suffer an extralegal attack! Do not deceive yourself. Trouble can come to you regardless of how sensibly you live, and how much you avoid behaving in a provocative manner.

• Never respond to mere verbal provocation
This can be difficult, but it is good advice. If, instead of responding to some foul-mouth piece of garbage you go to condition orange, and attempt to leave the area, you will either — a) avoid a violent incident, or b) be prepared, and enjoy the complete element of surprise when you act in self-defense, should taking such action become necessary despite your attempt to avoid trouble. Also, you more firmly establish your "mantle of innocence" in the eyes of the law if you physically retreat without a verbal response, and find that you must defend yourself against one or more who COME AFTER YOU.

• Violent troublemakers always resort to foul and unfair tactics (the very FIRST of which is initiating violence in the first place!), and they generally attack in numbers when going after a lone individual
When you are attacked you are at WAR. Show no mercy, compassion, restraint, forbearance, or reluctance to DO ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP YOUR ATTACKER(S)! It is not a sport or a game, and it is to the battle skills that one would employ against an enemy in hand-to-hand military combat in war, that one must resort. Never give an attacker a break. Never hold back. Go after your enemy(ies) like a wild animal.

• Effective defense requires immediate and aggressive action
Here you can see — in the real life incident described — that even a diminutive woman who does not hesitate and who attacks with ruthless fury, can defeat the odds!

• Use a weapon if at all possible against your attacker, or use anything at hand as a weapon — and to hell with whether the attacker is or is not armed, himself
There is no reason to abide by any rules or ethical principles whenever you must defend yourself against unavoidable, potentially life-threatening attack. Take every advantage that you can, and attack without mercy. Use sporting techniques and competition or antiquated classical methodology and you are sunk. Can you imagine the result of the incident described if Nicole (or even her husband!) had attempted a "defense" by grappling and pinning the attackers in submission holds?

• Be ruthless! Go for the enemy’s weakest target areas and do so with your most powerful and destructive weapons — natural, manufactured, or improvised!
Nicole smashed the dirtbags viciously across their faces and heads with the bottle that she grabbed, and thank goodness she did so! Had she attempted to hit them across their arms or their legs, etc. in an effort to ―try a lesser degree of force, and see if that will suffice‖ it is probable that her husband would have been killed. Wisely, correctly, and intuitively, she smashed for their vulnerable facial and head targets — and despite the enormous numeric advantage of the assailants, and the obvious superiority of their individual strength levels (superior to Nicole’s) the little girl was successful!

• Size and strength are not always decisive factors, since even in a worst case scenario, a sufficiently vicious, ruthless, aggressive, and unhesitant individual can prevail
Yes — size, strength, and numbers do always factor in, in any combative engagement. But none of those factors are invariably decisive. No situation is completely hopeless unless you give up.

• Multiple attackers can be defeated by a single individual. Period.
Clearly the ridiculous idea of utilizing sporting or competition methods when engaged in close combat must be dismissed from consideration. But COMBAT techniques, tactics, and attitude constitute a different story! Use them, and use them in an unhesitant, spirited, relentless manner, and you can shift the odds in even the most desperate situation.

• Keep on attacking, and attacking, and attacking, until the enemy has been neutralized
Note that little Nicole kept her onslaught going. She gave no opportunity to those three potential murderers to get set, to retaliate, or to continue focusing on their murderous attack on her husband. Intuitively, through sheer desperation, this little girl hit upon the all-important principle of unrelenting attack, until the emergency has been resolved.— and she succeeded in saving her husband’s life.

We hope that what we have just presented is of value to YOU, and that — should any violent emergency come your way — it contributes to your ability to save your life and the lives of all whom you hold dear.