Originally posted by howardr
I just had another thought on this. Your concerns are one of the reasons (out of many) that I think Dr. Chapel's approach to Kenpo is highly valuable. Try explaining to the nice officer why you killed a man who put his hand on your shoulder by chopping him in the throat (Sword & Hammer). In my view, a systematic approach to self-defense should amply consider the legal (and moral) consequences of employing said defenses. Otherwise, is it really "self-defense?" Yeah, you might have survived the moment but now you are in jail and you've lost all of your assets. So, in the end you really haven't defended yourself all that well.
Yeah, you're right on that one. Regarding the chop to the throat. The majority of Kenpo techs. all contain devastating moves...kick to the groin, hit to the neck,eye...and the list goes on and on. Sure, people sit there and say that you can adjust the techs. to meet the situation. Ok. So take lone kimono. Do you need to break the guys arm or can you just do an armlock?? Heres a question to ask yourself. How many times to you actually do that in your training. What I'm referring to is the controlling moves, or do you just go with the tech. as its written? I feel that its important to have a good background in locking and controlling tehcs. Not every situation is gonna warrant a hit to the throat, but if the locks are not something that you do on a regualr basis, chances are, that you're not gonna be thinking about that. Instead, you'll be thinking of that eye gouge, arm break, etc. I crosstrain in Arnis, which I feel gives me a much better understanding of the locks. Therefore, I think that I would have a much easier time adjusting the tech to fit the situation. And no, I'm NOT saying that everybody should run out and learn Arnis or start to CT. Just thought I'd throw that in before someone misunderstands what I'm saying!!!!!!
Just a thought.
Mike