Beware the weapon draw! If you’re on the bottom using your guard in a submission grappling situation then the single worst thing that can happen is that the other guy drops back and locks on a heel hook submission, forcing you to tap out or suffer a potentially serious ankle or knee injury. If you’re using your guard in an MMA situation then the worst thing that can … [Read more...]
BJJ in a Streetfight, the Merciful Option
Adam Nadow is a Machado jiu-jitsu black belt and he was recently attacked in the street by a mentally unstable individual. He used his BJJ training to defend himself and control his attacker until the police arrived. He used a rear naked choke and a bow and arrow lapel choke to control his opponent (and there are people who say that gi-based grappling is irrelevant for self … [Read more...]
Which Martial Art is Best? Why Context Is Everything…
"Which martial art is best?" Ah, the old argument that never dies... I really like what Dan Inosanto told me once. Back when he was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne there was a lot of rivalry between the soldiers who trained in the martial arts. Some thought that boxing was the best, others argued for the supremacy of karate, others for judo, others for … [Read more...]
A 5 Second Self Defense Exercise That Could Save Your Life
STOP what you're doing and try this SUPER-QUICK mental exercise... Imagine you're exactly where you are now (lying in bed, sitting on the bus, working at your desk, whatever)... But now you know for sure that you're about to be attacked! The guy is bigger than you and possibly armed with a knife... For whatever reason, you can't run... You have 5 seconds to get … [Read more...]
Get Your Hands Out of Your Pockets!!!
Today's message is short and really simple, but it's important. And it's a mistake that I see people make all the time... The mistake is walking around with your hands buried in your pocket. If someone decides to attack you when you're like this, with your best weapons sheathed and out of commission, then you're a sitting duck. It's already tough enough to defend … [Read more...]
Improvised Weapons Found in the Street
Wherever you are right now as you're reading this, look up and try to spot three different improvised weapons you could grab if an attack was imminent. Seriously: if you're at home pretend that you've got 5 seconds to get your hands on something because someone's breaking in. What exactly are you going to grab? And if you can't get your hands on that object, what's your … [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...]
Avoiding the Street Ambush
You're walking down the street towards your car and some dude gets gets in your face and starts talking to you. Maybe he's asking for change, wants to know what time it is, or is actually being aggressive. Anyway, if he's in your personal space start trying to figure out if this guy is an actual threat or just an annoyance. And if you think that this could go south then … [Read more...]
How to Spot a Knife Attack Before It Happens
Some dude gets in your face. You're bigger, stronger, and (probably) better trained than your opponent. No problem, you think to yourself. I can take this guy. You parry his first strike, close the distance, and move in ready to drop him. He lands a couple of blows to your ribs, but they aren’t terribly hard. You knee him and he drops, which is when you notice the blood … [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...]
A Killer Car and a Horrifying Lack of Awareness
Here's a real-life situation that I came across in my newsfeed recently. A Porshe and a BMW collide on the street, and the male driver of the Porshe storms out of his car. He circles the BMW while yelling at the female driver... He bangs on her hood with his hands... Then he tries to force open her doors open... Threatening behaviours all round. Next he goes to check … [Read more...]
Awareness – the Single Most Important Factor in Self Defense
There are many different aspects of self defense, including everything from weapons, to striking, to clinching, to wrestling on the ground. But there's one particular aspect to protecting yourself that's hands down more important than all the rest combined... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yR2iVwkCfM It's not your striking. You might have a killer … [Read more...]
Review of “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker
This book has remained one of the most widely read books on violence since it was published more than two decades ago. So why should you read it? Gavin De Becker is one of the leading experts in security and violence prevention in America. No, not just because he has a website that says so. He designed the threat identification system that is currently used in America to … [Read more...]