A Brief Post From My Former Close Combat Instructor

I trained with Carl Cestari from about 2001 until is untimely death in 2007. When it came to no bullshit methods, strategies and tactics for getting out of a bad situation n the real world of violent crime, Carl was in the forefront. The article below is short, but to the point.

 

 “ELBOWS & FISTS”
By: Carl Cestari
My only real input on the various elbow attacks of Muay Thai is to make SURE you
CLOSE your hand into a TIGHT FIST when you use these strikes.

I believe that in the convulsive adrenaline surge of a real balls to the wall street fight
you will DO THIS anyway. You are also PROTECTING your fingers from ANY
"unexpected"(Uncle Murphy) mishap. It really DOESN'T affect the technique. It may seem to reduce speed a bit, BUT, remember that POWER is MORE important than "blazing" speed in a STREETFIGHT.

Also it is EASIER to combine brutal punching attacks with follow-up elbow battering if your hands are already CLOSED.

Your up close and personal arsenal should include:
Head butting.
Chin grinding.
Biting.
Spitting.
Dirty clinch tactics.
Elbows.
Knees.
Stomps.

The Value Of Understanding The Need For Putting The Right Ammunition In Your Handgun

Particularly in a Revolver, ammo selection is key. Chuck Haggard gives a demonstration on which rounds are better or worse in a revolver. Especially in a concealed carry snubnose with a 2"+/- barrel.For those of you who've never heard of Chuck Haggard here's a link.

 https://agiletactical.com/about/

Now, let's all take a serious look at the video.

 

Blackthorn Blog Evening Edition for 10-9-26

 Yeah, I know,  it's a little later than I expected to get this done, but hey, better late than never. Todays video tutorial comes from Thunder Ranch, the school owned and operated by Clint Smith. If you don't know who that is, look it up. 

People these days think that for personal defense you need a hi-capacity semi automatic handgun. The real truth is that the venerable revolver can still get the job done for the average citizen who does not want to make believe that he can be a Tier 1 operator. So take a look at this video and decide for yourself.

 

Friday Morning Humor Edition

 Relax, there'll be another post later today.

 

Scammers Are Getting Better At Targeting Their Victims

 The link below is from Malwarebytes Lab. This is the service I use for my PC and my Laptop. It goes into almost every aspect of how they identify, target, and go after potential victims.

The wonder of modern tech has turned into a free for all that criminals use with unrestrained abandon, while law enforcement and local, state and federal politicians shake their heads and pontificate on the fact that something should be none, but by the time they do it, the criminal scammers have moved on to the next big thing.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

 https://www.malwarebytes.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/Malwarebytes-Scam-Report_Sept-2026.pdf

And Now...Some Humor For A Monday Afternoon

 

The Three Best Parts of Your Body To Use For Self Defense

From the 411 Outdoors Youtube channel, another basic tutorial on techniques that work best at close range (in-fighting) when you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Fighting Dirty From The Netherlands UC Website

 Right up front, I am not a big proponent of biting an attacker. In the age of blood borne pathogens, the last thing I want is the blood of someone with HIV or Hepatitis, or some other infectious disease in my mouth. Furthermore, biting is not a reliable way of ending an altercation. 

Having said that, biting used as a means to help you gain an advantage by way of causing a momentary startle response from an attacker that allows you to escape or transition to a better position or to get to a personal protection device can be achieved by it's use.

 

https://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/search?q=Biting

For further reading you can click the link to a previous Blog post I made back in 2018. Unfortunately all but one of the Youtube videos that were originally linked to the post are no longer there. I believe they were removed a a year or two ago by Youtube  as not being socially acceptable because they were actual videos of real altercations where biting was actually used by one person against another. The one remaining video is of Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfields ear during a boxing match

The video above is available because it is a training video, and not actual footage.

British Comedian Jimmy Carr Defines Communism

 

OC (Pepper) Spray And The Law

 Another video from POM Industries on the legal responsibilities that come with carrying and using OC Spray