Balrog
Master of Arts
We know that the best way to defend yourself is to be confident and to control your environment by not putting yourself into a potentially dangerous situation. We also know that the best physical defense is to run like hell.
Having said that, let's visualize a scenario where the bad guy has gotten to us and we have to physically defend ourselves against an attack. I don't want to go into a discussion of reaction time, confidence in training, etc. - I'll leave those for another thread. What I want to talk about in this one is the concept that ALL of self-defense can be broken down into four basic steps:
1. Distract
2. Release
3. Stun
4. Run
Here's a scenario. This is the abduction of Carly Brucia, who was raped and murdered in 2004 by her abductor. Watch the video first. Note at the end, the abductor has her by one arm and is dragging her. This is one of the most common attack scenarios as reported by the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics.
What if she had had self-defense training? How could these four steps have worked?
Distract - her attacker's focus is on his grip holding her arm. As soon as he grabbed her and before he started dragging her, she could have done several things, the first of which would have been to start yelling at the top of her lungs. She might have slapped his face or kicked him. Either one would be enough to distract him and break his focus off his grip, which would have loosened.
Release - the weak link release. A sharp pull up (or down) depending on hand orientation against the thumb will free the hand. And yes, small kids can do that to adults; it's one of the first things my junior students learn. I'm a pretty big guy and they think it's neat as pins when they pop their arm out of my hand.
Stun - optional depending on circumstance. She might have gotten off a kick to the common peroneal or a finger to an eye, something that would physically prevent him chasing her.
Run - mandatory. Run to a public place, yelling all the time.
Self-defense is as much psychology as it is action. If one understands the attacker's point of view and focus, one can more easily defend against an attack.
Comments?
Having said that, let's visualize a scenario where the bad guy has gotten to us and we have to physically defend ourselves against an attack. I don't want to go into a discussion of reaction time, confidence in training, etc. - I'll leave those for another thread. What I want to talk about in this one is the concept that ALL of self-defense can be broken down into four basic steps:
1. Distract
2. Release
3. Stun
4. Run
Here's a scenario. This is the abduction of Carly Brucia, who was raped and murdered in 2004 by her abductor. Watch the video first. Note at the end, the abductor has her by one arm and is dragging her. This is one of the most common attack scenarios as reported by the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics.
What if she had had self-defense training? How could these four steps have worked?
Distract - her attacker's focus is on his grip holding her arm. As soon as he grabbed her and before he started dragging her, she could have done several things, the first of which would have been to start yelling at the top of her lungs. She might have slapped his face or kicked him. Either one would be enough to distract him and break his focus off his grip, which would have loosened.
Release - the weak link release. A sharp pull up (or down) depending on hand orientation against the thumb will free the hand. And yes, small kids can do that to adults; it's one of the first things my junior students learn. I'm a pretty big guy and they think it's neat as pins when they pop their arm out of my hand.
Stun - optional depending on circumstance. She might have gotten off a kick to the common peroneal or a finger to an eye, something that would physically prevent him chasing her.
Run - mandatory. Run to a public place, yelling all the time.
Self-defense is as much psychology as it is action. If one understands the attacker's point of view and focus, one can more easily defend against an attack.
Comments?