Law enforcement officers (including police officers, sheriffs, state troopers, corrections officers, deputies and more) have an incredibly difficult job. Part of that job is the possibility of physical confrontations with aggressive individuals or groups. Very broadly physical confrontations can be divided into two categories... Controlling someone who doesn't want … [Read more...]
Air Chokes vs Blood Chokes – What’s Better?
Even if you're a world class striker, with knockout power in both hands, I would still argue that it's absolutely critical to also master a few reliable chokes from different positions! A properly applied choke can render even a big guy unconscious in about 10 seconds - it's that powerful. And, contrary to what you might think, a choke is actually much safer than a left … [Read more...]
3 Great Examples of Verbal De-Escalation
Here's a great video that I found of Dan Inosanto's earliest students, Tim Tackett, talking about 'verbal jiu-jitsu' at Erik Paulson's gym in California. That might sound boring but it's super-crazy important stuff!! He starts out by telling the story of how an acquaintance of his spent 6 years in jail for throwing a single punch. That punch knocked his opponent out, who … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Defend against the Sucker Punch
In your regular training you may practice all kinds of cool blocks and counters to punches, but what about defending against the punch that you don't see coming? The sucker punch! That's a really tricky, and very scary situation. But there are certain precautions and techniques you can use to minimise the danger from this cowardly ambush scenario. In fact, here are 5 … [Read more...]
Self Defense Tips from a Long Time Bouncer
Doormen and bouncers deal with potential violent confrontations every night they're working, and that makes their experiences and insights super-valuable to the rest of us. In this first instalment of 'Tales from the Door' I pick the brain of my friend, training partner and long-time bouncer Chad Skands. Some of the topics we cover include... Specific strategies to … [Read more...]
Too Deadly for Boxing, MMA and BJJ: Illegal but Effective Combat Sport Techniques
by Jeff Meszaros Many people learn martial arts to learn how to handle themselves in a real fight. But many martial arts are sports and sports have rules while street fights don't. That means many things happen in fights that aren't allowed in certain martial arts. Although it started out as "no-holds-barred", mixed martial arts has rules today. Headbutts, groin … [Read more...]
How Understanding ‘Woofing’ Kept Me Out of A Mexican Prison
There's a concept about human confrontation that I learned many years ago from a book by Marc 'Animal' McYoung. He talked about something called 'woofing', and understanding this has kept me out of quite a few fights (including one that I'll tell you about later in this email). The idea of woofing goes like this... If two dogs are having a dispute then they don't … [Read more...]
The Pre-Emptive Strike in Self Defense
Let’s say you’re in a situation where some big dude is in your face, yelling, screaming, and getting angrier by the second. If things keep on going the way that they’re going then it looks like you’re going to be in a serious fight any second… Here’s the question: should you launch a pre-emptive Pearl Harbor style attack on this guy, taking him out before he actually … [Read more...]
Death After the Knockout (or Beware the Second Hit)
In other articles and videos I've talked about the best ways to knock somebody out. And there’s an old tough guy saying that goes something like this… “If we fight there are only going to be three hits: I hit you, you hit the ground, and the ambulance hits 60.” While that’s a funny thing to growl out in a droll John Wayne accent it also brings up a deadly serious … [Read more...]