HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

Anyone Who Believes Russia Is The Biggest Threat in The World Today, Is A Fucking Moron

China has been the problem for years, is still the problem and will be the biggest problem going into the future.

They're just quieter about how they go about expansion and takeovers

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3605624

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Things In Brazil Will Soon Be Heating Up For Both The Police And The Criminals

The Body Counts will soon be rising.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/license-to-kill-policing-to-get-a-trial-run-in-rio-de-janeiro#gs.9MrfOdM

On Drones and Disruption From John Robb At Global Guerillas

It's been awhile since I did a Blog Post on Drones. This article from John Robb USAF Lt. Col. (Retired) is just another example of how some cheap, easy to obtain technology can cause millions of dollars in disrpution without even killing anyone or damaging any property.


Dec 20 at 1:10pm
Disruption, Drones, and Airports

Yesterday, on the 19th of December at 9 PM GMT, a drone overflight shut down Gatwick airport, the UK's second busiest airport, stranding tens of thousands of holiday travellers.


Six additional overflights between 9:15 PM and midnight kept it closed.

A planned 4:30 AM opening was cancelled by another overflight at 3:45. Regular overflights at 7, 9, noon, and 3PM has kept it closed all day, causing the cancellation 760 flights and stranding 110,000 travellers.

The police are now deploying snipers, jamming equipment, and a laser sniper system (2 mi range) to destroy the drone if it appears again.

This is a good example of what is possible with low cost and low risk systems disruption. Some additional thinking:


Cost of drones: ~ $100. Disruption value: ~$40-60 million (110,000 x $400 per ticket). ROI = $500,000 for every $ invested

Method of attack: simple runway/terminal overflights. Easiest to plan/accomplish.

Timing of overflights maximized impact. Initial flurry of overflights demonstrated it was a serious threat. Infrequent but constant overflights showed the threat was still present. No rapid return to business as usual possible.

Here's some thinking on the countermeasures being deployed the authorities and how they can be overcome.


Snipers/Laser. One counter to this: vary the location of the overflight in order make it harder to preposition. If the drone is shot down, the easy counter is to send a second drone (and a third, etc.). They are inexpensive and easy to replace.

Jamming systems. Most recreational drone pilots use a control system to 'fly' the drone. If so, jamming would be effective. Easy counter: let the drone fly itself. A set pattern, either via GPS or time/distance calculations.

Searching for the pilot. Helicopters with infrared and vehicle homing in on the signal. Counter (slightly more complex to the others): set up multiple drones to take off and fly a pattern on their own either via remote Internet activation or via timed release.

Now This Woman Knows How To Make The Best Of A Gun BuyBack Program

Seriously, this is a Smart woman!

https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/19/baltimores-gun-buyback-program-is-insane

The Future of Worldwide Gun Control...

....is pretty much going nowhere according to numerous indicators.

Tell people they can't buy something legally, hell, they'll just make it themselves or pay someone to do it under the table.

I believe the expression is 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention'.

https://reason.com/archives/2018/11/29/when-governments-restrict-guns-people-ma

Are People Getting Weaker In The Digital Age?

I found the following article pretty interesting. In particular, the part at the end about the fact tghat while lifespans are increasing, general health is not.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/raising-the-american-weakling

So Banning Firearms in The U.K. Reduces Violent Crime....Not

And someone needs to tell them that making sharp, pointy objects illegal is pretty much a fruitless endeavor as well.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/knife-crime-epidemic-sweeping-across-the-uk-sees-no-end-in-sight

How A Well Dressed Gentleman Carried And Used His .45 Colt Revolver in 1918

The below scan is from the Volume XLII, Number 6, December, 1918 issue of Outdoor Life. You'll notice the gentlemen in the photos display several types of Colt Revolvers as well as varying ways to carry and use them.
Both Single and Double revolvers are show as well pairing with a knife, how to push a companion out of the way of danger, as well several locations for carrying and using your knee as a brace to steady your aim.

As with the 'Self Defense in the Street' manual by Renaud that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, people in the early 20th century were far more aware of practical methods of protecting themselves from criminals than we would like to think.



Remember to click on the image to increase the viewing size. Make sure you read the dialog at the bottom of the pictures.

On The Subject Of Unarmed Knife Defenses

I'm a fan of Rory Miller's material. About a year ago he quit posting at his Chiron Blog and pretty much moved on to bigger and better forms of Social Media. While scanning through some of his older Blog posts I found the one I've linked to below. it's right in line with my own thoughts on the subject of defending yourself against a knifer when you're unarmed.

Frankly, as the years have passed and I've seen or tried a boatload of empty handed knife defenses I've come to an inescapable conclusion.

They all suck.

Miller's Blog Post, which BTW is 11 years old, does a nice job of summing things up in a nutshell.

http://chirontraining.blogspot.com/2007/09/why-i-dont-pretend-to-teach-knife.html

My Take On The Whole Inner Child Thing

The Snowflake Mentality "What Kind of A Person Carries a Knife?"

The kind who actually works for a living and doesn't live in a fantasy Virtual Reality world.

http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/10/24/the-kind-of-men-who-carry-pocketknives/?fbclid=IwAR1-oCL0xezkVjDC3iEwfzn-DbkrQHF_VfveLwjYAThbXTq9aUML-nXSYhw

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's hoping everybody is enjoying their Holiday Bird!!

Want to Learn Something New? Read An Old Book

I recently reviewed the English translation of Jean-Joseph Renaud's Manual 'Defense In The Street'. Over the course of many years worth of looking at manuals on Self Defense, Sport Martial Arts, Combatives, etc., I have noticed a trend that is undeniable. Despite many peoples claiming to have come up with a new 'technique' or 'tactic', the truth is there is very little new under the sun.

Especially when it comes to unarmed fighting.

Whether someone came across it and decided to try it out to see if it had merit, or it just came out one day in a training session and it worked and they thought they had come up with something original is immaterial.
The fact remains that no matter what anybody thinks, the old saying holds true.

Sooner or later, everything old is new again.

As an example I'm putting up two images. You should recognize the tactic immediately. It's called 'The Fence' and it was brought out by Geoff Thompson in I believe the late 1980's.

The Fence - Geoff Thompson




And here we Jean-Joseph Renaud's version......from 1912, 70 years earlier.



To be clear, I am not making this comparison to slam Geoff Thompson in any way. It is simply my way of saying that you should not just discard something, whether it a handsaw for a sawz-all, a paint brush for a paint-sprayer, or a revolver for a semi-auto just because it appears to be the 'next big thing' being hyped in the current advertising cycle.

Combatives And The Use of Foul Tactics - Part 1 - Biting

A lot of self defense programs, especially the MMA based ones, have an ongoing complaint about the use of ‘Foul Tactics’ and how the Combatives based programs talk about those tactics like a magic wand. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to address these issues in a rational manner.

Now to a degree, their claims are legitimate. There are far too many yahoos running around the internet with claims of “I’ll just bite the guy to get him off me” or “I’ll fish-hook him to control him”, and the old “I’ll just poke him in the eye”. A lot of guys making these claims and putting up bad videos on Youtube, Vimeo, Liveleak, etc. do nothing but make themselve look stupid and Combatives in general look bad.

There’s no denying that.

However on the other side of the coin I could also just put up the list of techniques that are banned by the UFC, Bellator Fighting, and a host of other professional MMA Combat Sports businesses/organizations. But I’m sure everyone reading this can easily Google that information.

So, where does that leave us? As with most issues of this nature, the answer is most likely to be found somewhere in between. For the first installment of these articles I will be addressing the issue of biting.

A few weeks ago I came across a couple of videos on Youtube narrated by a guy who was also addressing the question of whether or not biting was a viable way to win a fight, particularly in the street. The guy showed 2 video incidents where a bite was used in a street fight. While both bites did an appreciable amount of damage, the biter wound up losing, while the guys who got bitten didn't realize the extent of the damage until after the fight. The presenter talking about these two altercations said after searching the internet he had found and watched numerous other videos and the result was usually the same.

He stated that while he had also found and watched videos where the guy getting bitten freaked out and wound up losing, it was not in the majority of the fights. The fact is that while the biters did manage to inflict subatntial damage on their opponents, it only rarely ended the altercation.

I'll let you guys watch and draw your own conclusions.






One of the things that stood out to me in both these videos, and which I have observed in other videos of street assaults (not all the time mind you) where other techniques other than biting were used, was how the recipient did not cave, run away or roll up in a ball calling for his mother. However I have seen numerous incidents where the recipient was shocked or startled for just a moment before he resumed his attack.

This brings me to where I will say that my Combatives instructor, the late Carl Cestari, always made it clear that when using these “Foul Tactics”, you should not depend on them to be fight stoppers. The point was that you had found yourself in a bad situation and using one of these techniques was your only option, and that the point was to create a momentary break in your opponents assault so that you might gain the space to transition to another, more effective technique or escape long enough to gain some distance.

After watching street attack videos for quite a few years now I have to say that it's amazing to me how many times I've seen someone on a Youtube or Liveleak video gain a momentary advantage over their attacker and then fail to capitalize on it. Whether from lack of skill, strength, conditioning, or simply the willingness to do what was necessary, they wasted an opportunity to prevail in a violent confrontation.

Above I showed you the two videos of the failure of the bite to stop an assault, now I’ll show you the classic video of a case where a bite stopped a trained athlete in his tracks and screwed up the results of a multi-million dollar boxing match.





Now in the case of the Tyson vs Holyfield video I think one of the reasons that the bite worked so well was because it was a sporting event, and Holyfield was stunned by the fact that he was bitten. This would be as opposed to a predatory attack in the street where both parties are in survival mode and both believe that their lives are in danger, not just facing the loss of some money and professional prestige.

So, to wrap this Blog Post up, in my opinion, while biting is an option that can be used to possibly help you break away from an attacker and give you time to either escape or mount a counter attack, it cannot and should not be relied upon to end a violent attack in the streets.

Venezuela Moves To Increase Social Stranglehold Amid Increasing Ties to China

With their economy faltering, social unrest spilling out into the streets, and over 1 million people (10% of the total population) fleeing the country Presidente Maduro and his Socialist regime are turning to China for help. A couple of months ago a Chine Navy Hospital ship made a visit to show support and there are indications of China looking to offer help with their faltering oil industry.

Now, it appears that Venezuela will be issuing new ID Smart cards that will be used for everything including voting, and getting services from the government. These cards will allow the current government to institute the same Social Credit system that China began using a bout a year ago. By tracking your activities they can punish you by denying services such as access to jobs, transportation, and by encouraging your friends and relatives to shun you for fear of retaliation against them.

It become more obvious all the time that China has big plans for Venezuela as a base of operations for the expansion of their plans to become an even greater player on the world stage than they already are. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing Chinese warships in such places as Puerto Cabello, the largest port city in Venezuela. As well as merchant vessels as part of their One Belt, One Road long range plan to dominate the worlds commercial logistics business.

Interesting times indeed.

https://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-id-card-tracks-citizens-like-china-2018-11

And In Jolly Olde London

Where things are supposedly so safe because, well, there's gun control after all......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/13/londons-homicide-rate-hits-grim-milestone-spate-bloodshed/

'Self Defense In The Street' (Defense Dans LaRue) by Jean-Joseph Renaud - A Review

The first time I saw a copy of ‘Defense Danse LaRue’ was around 2001. It was sent to me as a PDF from a friend. I have to admit I wasn’t impressed with it. Firstly it was in French. Secondly the organization of the Illustrations and Photos seemed to be haphazard. Earlier this year while surfing through Amazon.com I found a Kindle version available in an English translation. The translation was done by Milo Thurston and Phil Crawley. Both names I remembered from various Western Martial Arts forums back in the early 2000's.

I will say right up front, I can only describe what they’ve done is a first rate job. This English translation now shows me what a gem I’ve been neglecting. Now that I’m not doing some half-assed translation of bits and pieces by using free translation site on the Internet, I can see why that even today, 106 years after it’s publication in 1912, this book is still relevant today.

The author was a proponent of what some would call MMA, but others would call a well rounded Combatives system. In this manual he discusses standup fighting to include English style boxing, French Savate (as it applied to the street, not French Boxe-Francaise), and grappling based primarily around Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. He also covers stick fighting (with a cane), knife fighting, and firearms.

As far as actual techniques go by way of striking he favored English Boxing over his native Boxe-Francaise and his two favored strikes were the hook and the uppercut. On the other side of the equation, while he did not advocate the jab and the cross, he did stress training to defend against them. As well, he also recommended the Edge of Hand blow and the Palm Heel. Another item he stressed was that to end an assault in a quick and decisive manner your blows need to be more than just painful, they have to be powerful enough to do damage and incapacitate your attacker.

Where kicking was concerned, he advocated low kicks, waistline and below. The Coup de Pied Bas an example. This concept being well accepted in modern day self defense scenarios. Another thing he emphasized was to always wear a “sturdy pair of shoes” when going out. For anybody who has ever trained with Carl Cestari or Craig Gemeiner of Savate Australia for examples, this is something that is commonly advocated. Kicking someone with a pair workboots, or stiff soled oxfords will always provide better results than when wearing a pir of Crocs or flip-flops.

As to the grappling aspect of his manual, Mr. Renaud was obviously a big fan of Jiu-Jitsu which had made it’s way to the Western European nations in the previous decade or so. He discuses throws, trips, submissions (standing and grounded) in great detail. He covered a substantial number of techniques and while he equivocally stresses the need for learning Jiu-Jitsu, he however equally admonishes at the same time that you should not intentionally go to the ground for two reasons. His first for not doing so is that your opponent, even if unskilled may resort to “foul” tactics such as eye gouging, fish hooking, biting, or pulling a weapon. The second being that most criminal assailants do not work alone, and so you may find yourself being assaulted by a second or third criminal.

Hmmm..., where have we heard this before?

The sections on weapons are relatively short. His take on the use of the cane is not exceptionally favorable. He feels it’s best use is against a group in the street where you have room to maneuver. He keeps the strikes simple and advocates against the Moulinets used in the La Canne schools. One interesting thing though is when he talks about dropping your whole bodyweight into your strikes to make them more powerful. The description he gives is essentially Dempsey’s falling step.

For knifework he there’s nothing fancy or earth-shattering here. However one point of note is how he stresses that you should always try to integrate strikes with your off-hand and kicks wherever possible.

Shades of Pentecost’s ‘Put Em Down, Take Em Out’.

On using the handgun his advice is once again an indication that really is nothing new under the sun. He favored the revolver over the automatic without a doubt, however we must keep the times in context. This book was written in 1912 and automatics were few and far between, and not as reliable as the current crop available these days. He advocates what was for all intents and purposes. Point Shooting, and says that training to hit targets at known distances was unproductive. The longest distance he felt that you needed to practice at was “three to four metres” (10 to 12 feet), otherwise keep it closer.

He even advocates obtaining a hammerless revolver so that you can carry it in your coat pocket and be able to fire it without having to pull it out.

Allow me to repeat, this book was written in 1912.

There were other bits and pieces that you still hear today coming from people that think/act like they have personally discovered these nuggets of wisdom. Such things as use deception, surprise, strike first, the person who strikes first usually wins. No one system is better than the other, Combat Sports are not applicable to self defense, you should practice against people who use a different style than you. Do you actually see your assailant going for a wepaon?, then “Foul his draw”. Does he have a beard of substantial length?, grab it and start jerking his head around. Throw dirt or coins in his eyes, etc. He even shows a technique to help you maintain distance that looks like it came straight out of Geoff Thompsons ‘The Fence’.

And I’m just barely scratching the surface

Taking into account the time period that it was written in, this book was way ahead of it’s time in terms of dealing with the numerous aspects of self defense as it applied to large cities/urban centers in the emerging modern world. The Kindle version is available for $9.95 and the print copy is available from Lulu.com for $20.56 + shipping and handling. My only complaint about the Kindle edition is with the illustrations and photos. While you can enlarge most of them, the quality/size is still less than optimal. In the print edition this is not an issue. Also, the print edition is spiral bound so it can be opened and laid flat, precluding ever having to worry about the binding. Again, I would like to thank Milo Thurston and Phil Crawley for making this classic self defense book available to a wider range of readers. From both a practical and historical perspective this book is well worth the price.

Whitey Bulger gets Whacked

James "Whitey" Bulger, king of the Irish Mob in Boston through the 70's and 80's and FBI Informant (who evaded the Law for 16 years until being caught in 2011 and convicted on multiple felonies including murder in 2013) was killed in a West Virginia Federal Penitentiary yesterday.

In the facility less than one day he was found beaten to death with his eyes gouged and his tongue cut up (an attempt having been made to cut it out). Those two specific injuries typical of punishment for a "rat" as a result of his informing on the Italian Mob (as well as others) that led to the Italian Mob in Boston being badly damaged.

Criminal mastermind, cold blooded psychopath, FBI informant.

Good riddance.

http://www.tmz.com/2018/10/31/whitey-bulger-attack-tongue-cut-eye-gouging-mob-hit/

More on Combatives Training - Use Of The BOB Training Dummy

More on Combatives Training - Use Of The BOB Training Dummy
In a recent Previous Blog Post;

http://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2018/06/combatives-and-use-of-force-on-force.html

I talked about the value of adding Force On Force to your Combatives training. I also talked about drilling with partners, and on BOB training dummies.

The BOB training dummy gets a lot of bad press from other self defense styles. I'm going to save myself some typing time by referencing an article from another website. It's concise and to the point, and gives all the reasons why a BOB training dummy makes a practical addition to the striking portions your training program whatever style it may be.

I'd also like to point out that whenever some style other than Combatives decides to deride the BOB Dummy, they never seem to criticize training with the heavy bag. Not to mention that you will find a BOB or Spar-Pro training dummy in virtually every MMA gym around.

If anybody has a reason for why that is, feel free to let me know.

http://themartialist.net/is-it-stupid-to-train-on-a-body-opponent-bag-bob

Review - Close Shaves: The Complete Book Of Razor Fighting by Bradley Steiner

CLOSE SHAVES: The Complete Book Of Razor Fighting
Loompanic Press Pub. 1979

I already owned 'No Second Chance', and 'Subway Survival', so when the chance came to pick up Close Shaves second hand for less than $6.00, I went for it. I had hesitated for several years to pick this book up. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of straight razors as defensive weapons. It's not the 1930's anymore and there are more practical personal defense weapons out there.
But it was Bradley Steiner originally writing the Personal Security column at Guns & Ammo magazine that first got me started on the road to Combatives and practical self defense, as well as a few other people I know, so I figured it was time to take a look

In my opinion, CLOSE SHAVES did NOT convince me that razors are great self-defense weapons. However, having read the book I am convinced that it is a well written KNIFE "fighting" book along the lines of Pentecosts' "Put em' Down, Take em' Out".

Steiner's primary reasons for suggesting the razor for self-defense are, basically, razors are light, small, easy to carry, inexpensive, fast to deploy, and can be opened with one hand.
Has anybody noticed that I have just defined your average modern day one hand opening 'tactical' folder?

(NOTE: I have truly come to hate the use of the word tactical for one-hand opening folders as well as pretty much everything else. It has become nothing more than an excuse, in this particular case, to overcharge people for pocketknives with an extra feature)

Steiner does not attempt to say that razors are equal to or better than a full-sized fixed blade combat knife. He does not advocate getting into a "razor fight". His basic premise is that as long as you're paying attention to your surroundings, and see trouble coming down the road, you can quickly deploy your edged weapon and have it ready for when the defecation hits the oscillation.

His tactics with the razor are simple, direct, and to a large degree rely on deception, and a pre-emptive sneak attack. Precisely the sort of tactics needed when using a small edged weapon such as a 'tactical folder' with a 3" to 4" blade. As a matter of fact, the modern locking folder has become the natural successor to the razor simply because it meets all the criteria mentioned above, AND it has a lock and is therefore far less likely to come back and injure you, the user. Several of the grip methods he shows put the Razor, in my opinion, in an unstable postion in your hand. One of his tactics, a recurring theme even in his unarmed combat manuals, is throwing something into your assailants eyes prior to initiating your attack.

In conclusion, I think that CLOSE SHAVES is a viable book for someone looking for a few practical tactics and techniques to build a simple repertoire of knife handling/using skills that rely on surprise, deception, and gross motor skills.

Overall, a book worth adding to your library, as long as you don't overpay for it.

NOTE: This is a slightly edited version of a review that I originally wrote for James Sass's old Close Combat board, dated 2-14-02

The Future of Low Level Warfare and The Involvement of Criminal Cartels

The website is Foreignpolicy.com. They limit the amount of articles you can read per month for free. If you want to subscribe (personally, I don't myself)the cost is $9.00 per month. I've found the articles to be well written and relatively non-partisan. This one caught my eye and I thought it would of interest to whoever out there reads my Blog.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/21/the-coming-crime-wars/

Trump Gets More Judicial Picks Through The Senate

He now has 99 judges appointed to the bench since he assumed office. This is really playing the long game.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/11/senate-confirms-15-trump-judicial-nominees/

Another Reason Trump is Smarter Than The Clintons

So Called Combatives Instructors And Real Hypocrisy

There was a recent Blog post by an instructor who use the word Combatives in the name of his website/business, but his program revolves almost completely around BJJ and Boxing. Essentially it's MMA based. The subject of his post concerned what he called the Hypocrisy of Combatives and other RBSD practitioners about issue of how you shouldn't go to the ground in a street encounter.

Although what really annoyed him was how they only warn of the danger of doing that in unarmed encounters, but somehow never talk about it to complain about people in gunfights not being concerned about a bad guys friends or partners coming to the rescue of their fellow bad guy.

Now he put out some convoluted explanation of how the one related to the other about how you always have to be aware of other potential threats when engaged in a fight armed or otherwise, but it really just came off kind of lame. The apples and oranges analogy comes to mind.
He put out the usual misquote about the whole going to the ground issue of "Combatives guys say never go to the ground", when the actual statement is "never go to the ground intentionally if you can help it, but if you do wind up on the ground then disengage as quickly as possible and get back on your feet".

Now to help prove his point he put up two videos. One was of a fight in a Las Vegas restaurant involving one patron using his grappling skills to subdue a belligerent drunk who was threatening the wait staff. The other involved to female store owners who used a handgun to fight off an armed robber. Now I will be the first to admit that luck and intestinal fortitude has as much to do with their success as their tactics and extremely sloppy skill at arms.

However the ground grappling incident in Vegas was another matter entirely. The Grappler involved was the UFC icon Matt Serra. The video provided by the Blog author showed Serra having already pinned the "bad guy" in the mount, and laughing about the whole thing until security showed up and took over. What the Blog author failed to mention was that there was another video that clearly showed that Mr. Serra understood that in the real world, before you get into a physical altercation with someone it pays to be sure of the situation.

The other video I speak of showed Mr. Serra sitting at a table a few feet away from the "bad guy" who was about 50lbs lighter, obviously drunk, and that his only companion or buddy was an unconscious and apparently also drunk female. The video also proved that Mr. Serra was not alone and also had at least one male friend with him. Now I'm not taking anything away from Matt Serra's abilities, his record speaks for itself, but it was pretty obvious that taking the belligerent drunk to the ground and restraining him was not going to present any real threat.

Yes, anything can happen, but the odds of this going wrong were not very high. Below is a link to a news article showing both videos;

http://www.ktvu.com/news/ufc-fighter-matt-serra-subdues-drunk-at-las-vegas-restaurant


Now the Blog author chose to show the Las Vegas video but he chose to happily pontificate about how there were hundreds of other videos on Youtube that clearly showed many cases of Grapplers going to the ground, winning, and not being subjected to a boot party by friends of his attacker. And I will agree that those videos do most certainly exist.

However there are also an extensive number of videos on Youtube showing when Grapplers went to the ground and wound up regretting it. Although admittedly finding them is not as easy as typing in "JJ practitioner wins fight". Not a lot of videos are described as "Grappler goes to the ground, starts winning and gets kicked to death by the losing guys friends". Now just as the other Blog author did, I will not attempt to list an untold number of Youtube videos proving my point, however I will link to what I feel is a sufficient number to prove that these incidents do happen, and not just once in a million times.

Before I link the videos let me just conclude by saying that as regards "Hypocrisy", Methinks the other Blog Author (whose name I will not mention and to whom I will not give any advertising for his website) doth protest too loudly.

Snowflake Teacher in Utah Gets Smacked Down for Violating Students 2nd Amendment Rights

Arrogant and stupid, a perfect set of characteristics for a modern day University Teachers Assistant.

Just not in Utah.

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/08/utah-second-amendment-zone/

Associated Press Admits In School Hardening Article That School Shooting Numbers Are Not An Epidemic

In A Time article (linked to within the link I'm posting below) they put the Number of School Shootings at 290 since 2013. However the FBI Statistics indicate the real number is 35. Still too high, but it shows the lies that the Mike Bloombergs funded 'Everytown For Gun Safety' organization are willing to spread to push their agenda.

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/10/ap-admits-school-shootings-uncommon/

Kavanaugh ConfIrmed

Chuck Schumer, Corey Booker, Kamala Harris and several others in the Democratic Party must be banging their heads on the wall asking what the Hell happened.

https://www.apnews.com/8234f0b8a6194d8b89ff79f9b0c94f35/Kavanaugh-is-confirmed:-Senate-Oks-Supreme-Court-nominee

Another Reason Combatives Get A Bad Name

Once again, Christophe Clugston, the "Einstein" of the Combatives world provides more fodder for the MMA crowd to bash Combatives instructors. I've discussed Mr. Comrhac Bas, oh excuse me, it's Mr. Combat-Judo these days, in an earlier Blog Post;

Why Combatives Gets A Bad Reputation

Now, as if that Youtube video wasn't telling enough, Mr. Clugston has added to his reputation by showing that not only is he an embarrassment to the Combatives field, but also to the mathematics world.

How so you ask? Allow me to explain.

At his Combat-Judo site he has an attached Blog. At this Blog he has an article entitled "In the USA alone there is a murder every 60 seconds–yes, every minute someone is killed."

Okay, now being a person whose line of work involved the use of math every day I thought that his number seemed a little out of whack. So I did the math myself.

1 murder per minute x 60 min = 60 murders per hour.
60 murders per hour x 24 hrs = 1440 murders per day.
1440 murders per day x 365 days = 525,600 murders per year.

Now 525,600 murders per year sounded just a bit on the high side to me, ahem. So I did a quick search and found
that for the last full year that the FBI had issued it's final numbers (2016) the actual number of Homicides was 17,250.

Now I understand that a little bit of hype is to be expected in most business endeavors, but seriously WTF???

Now don't take my word for it people, just go here;
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/murder

So remember people, Chris Clugston is a a man whose Combatives skills are exceeded only by his Mathematical abilities!

Oh yeah............

China Does It Again

When the fuck will the assholes that run this country and the rest of the world finally recognize and acknowledge the fact that Russia is no longer the primary threat in the world, it's CHINA.

The following article just points out the stupidity of buying electronics manufactured by the Chinese. As I wrote in two earlier posts

https://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2017/12/drones-made-in-china-digital-info-being.html

http://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2017/08/this-is-what-happens-when-you-outsource.html

This latest exposure of Chinese technological espionage is just another example of the rampant stupidity of both our own Government as well as that of the largest American based Tech giants.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

Chinese Made Military Gear Replacing American Made Equipment

As the U.S. cuts off nations that have been deemed unfriendly to American interests or for Human Rights violations, the Chinese Military Technology industry has moved rapidly to fill the gap. It's another example of their ever expanding and evolving presence in the both global economics and military expansion.

While some asshats in the U.S. and around the world continue to tout Russia as the primary threat to the free world, China has steadily upgraded their capabilities and reach. Between continuing the expansion of their Naval Forces by having achieved 40% of their goal of fielding 5 Carrier Battle Groups by 2025, as well as making overtures to the crumbling government of Venezuela (gee, you think maybe they're looking for a good deal on oil as well as a friendly harbor or two that will allow a Chinese Naval Presence in the South Atlantic?) they are becoming more overt about their intentions.

But most of the world just buries it's head in the sand. The following article is just another example of China expanding it's base by building relationships and increasing market share for their products, military or otherwise.

https://apnews.com/1da29d68e3cc47b58631768c1dcfa445

On The Subject Of Proper Training

The Surveillance State is Alive and Well

You can't trust anything these days no matter how innocuous;



https://qz.com/1400791/that-road-sign-telling-you-how-fast-youre-driving-may-be-part-of-a-us-government-surveillance-network/

The Use of The Weaponization of Drones Will NOT Be Going Away Any Time Soon

It's just going to keep getting worse.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-official-says-its-unprepared-to-counter-threat-of-drones/

The Future of Air Warfare is Upon Us

And that future is apparently going to involve less manned aircraft.

As technology moves forward and the uses to which a drone can be put expands you can bet your ass that the number of manned combat aircraft will decrease. Drones cost way less than a fighter aircraft (and my guess is that even an F-16 or F-35 will cost less without having to configure it to accommodate a human pilot) as well as the reduced cost of not having to train fighter pilots will merely make it easier to convince the powers that be (as well as the bean counters) that unmanned fighter aircraft are the way to go. Especially as it reduces the potential loss of an American life.

There are downsides to this, but I won't even bother to list them because my opinion doesn't mean squat. Time and technology will continue to march on regardless of what people like me think.

And so it goes


Unmanned Drone Air to Air Kill

Review - Basic Manual Of Knife Fighting by William Cassidy

Originally published by Paladin Press in 1978, and recently reisssued, the book purports to be the style of knifefighting taught by W.E. Fairbairn to the SMP as well as the OSS and SOE during WW2.

Somehow, I don't see any Police Force (even the Shanghai Municipal Police during the 20s and 30s) teaching their men how to "knife fight".
As for the contents of the manual itself, I will gladly state that there is nothing wrong, stupid or flashy about what it teaches. Basic cuts and thrusts, footwrk, grips, vital targets etc. All are quite simple, direct and, dare I say it.. correct!

There are however several points that must be made. Most important of all is simply that this book is really nothing more than a basic compilation of the knife methodology shown in Fairbairns GET TOUGH and Rex Applegates KILL OR GET KILLED. It even looks like Mr. Cassidy got a look at Applegates BOOK OF DOUBLE EDGED KNIFE FIGHTING years before it was even published by Paladin!
He even appears to have taken several illustrations (line drawings) from the above mentioned books.

The book is 40 pages long, but could easily have been done in 20 if the illustrations had been put on the same pages with the written material.
So, to conclude, am I saying that you shouldn't buy this book? Actually, not at all. If you don't currently have the books I referenced above, and would like to get the knife fighting methods in them for a bargain price (the book is currently retailing for a mere $6.00) then by all means, buy it.

But if you already do own the books that Mr. Cassidy "borrowed" from, then don't bother.
Because there's nothing in it that you haven't seen before.

Another Great Image That Would Make A Good Logo

W.E. Fairbairn with a Thompson SMG. A combination you can't beat with a stick!

Book Review - The Yawara Stick For Self Defense by George Wallace.

Not a lot is known about George Wallace. In the early 70's he wrote several small yet very practical Manuals about Self Defense. The subjects included the use of Sticks, Batons, and Knives. There were several books about different aspects of Stickfighting and the Yawara (or pocket stick) was one of them.

That book is the subject of this review. In a time when more localities are restricting or even banning the carry of purpose designed tools of Self Defense, the ability to improvise with common articles for protecting yourself from criminal assault is something that more people should be aware of. The Yawara stick has been both maligned as ineffective, and touted as being better than a .357 Magnum.

The reality is that, as with any other tool, it's effectiveness lies somewhere in between, and this little manual gives a practical account of it's actual abilities and how to put them to use.

THE YAWARA STICK FOR SELF DEFENSE
by George B. Wallace

In the early 1970's, George B. Wallace wrote a series of small, pamphlet-sized manuals on Self Defense. They were simple, no-frills affairs that covered straight forward, direct methods of Self Defense that could be learned by the average person without the need of years of study and practice. They covered the subjects of Unarmed Combat, Knife Fighting, Stick Fighting (two volumes), and the subject of this review, the Yawara Stick. Very little is known about Mr. Wallace himself, although it has been suggested that he was a student of the late Bruce Tegner.

Call it the the Yawara, Kubotan, Koga, Koppo, Olisi Palad, whatever you will, the pocket stick cannot be beat for simplicity, economy, accessability, or ease of learning. It’s also a personal favorite of mine.

The book starts off with some basic, common-sense information about self defense in general, and then goes on to cover a little history about the Yawara. The next few sections describe typical Yawara construction and dimensions. Essentially, any short, solid cylindrical object in the 5" to 6" length with a diameter of ½" to 1" will fit the bill. Mr Wallace devotes several pages to improvised Yawara-type weapons such as (but not limited to) a pen, a ruler, or a small flashlight.

Moving quickly along, he goes on to cover proper grip and targets on the human body that are the most vulnerable to Yawara strikes. One of the things that I like most about this manual is that, unlike most other books and/or tapes on the Yawara stick, Mr Wallace focuses solely on striking with the Yawara, and does not even mention using it for joint-locks or pain-compliance techniques. For me personally, one of the beauties of the Yawara is that if you have practiced basic hand to hand Combatives, and are familiar with hammerfist or edge of hand blows, the Yawara is just an extension or enhancement of these basic, proven strikes.



The manual continues on with specific scenarios in which the Yawara can be used. Defenses are covered against boxer type attacks, bull-rushes, kicks, clubs, and knives. One of the more noteworthy points he brings up is the integration of using your Yawara stick with your empty hand skills. Such as using your off-hand, or more importantly, using low-line kicks to help defeat your attacker. He also covers two areas that are usually never found in any of the other reference material on this subject.

Firstly, he talks briefly about practicing your draw. Every other manual I have seen on the use of the Yawara always shows the person using it as already having it in their hand. Mr Wallace recommends carrying it in the same (hopefully accessible) spot on a regular basis so that you won’t fumble for it if you have to get to it in a hurry. Secondly he covers what should be a no-brainer for any hand-held weapons use, but I have never seen it mentioned in any book or tape on the subject of Yawara or Pocket-Stick use.

Grip training!

Mr Wallace devotes several pages to improving your grip so that you can deliver strong, effective blows with the Yawara without having to worry about the stick either flying out of your hand, or just sliding through it and thereby reducing the effectiveness of the blows. The number one thing he suggests is simply taking tour Yawara and striking a wooden board with force so that you can learn to maintain a strong hold, and deliver strong, forceful blows.

Over the years I have read or viewed close to a dozen different books and tapes on the subject of Yawara/Pocket-Sticks, but in my opinion “The Yawara Stick For Self Defense” by George B Wallace is simply the best, most well rounded and practical manual on the subject that has ever been published. Out of print now for almost 50 years, it is VERY hard to find, and despite being only 32 pages long, it usually commands a fairly high, but not outlandish price. Accordingly, if anyone reading this review should ever come across a copy, I would strongly recommend that you try to pick it up.

You won’t be disappointed.

Oh Yeah......

Review of Steve Maxwell Gracie Self Defense Jiu JItsu Seminar

The review below is from a seminar I attended in May of 2016. I originally wrote it for a small forum I belong to. Lately I have made a decision to start putting up some of my other articles, reviews, etc., on the Blog for general perusal by the public.

I'm putting this one up as a sort of follow up to my Blog post about how some instructors whose self defense programs have previously been based heavily on their students becoming near full time BJJ students, but have recently realized that not everybody looking for some sort of self defense training are actually interested in the Martial Arts per se. In short, they are not looking for a new addition to their lifestyle.

Some people are, but from my observations over the years after being involved in Shotokan Karate, Muy Thai, Doce Pares Escrima and Combatives, some people do develop an interest. However a very large percentage do not.

Having said all that, time to get to the review.

********************************************************************************

Steve Maxwell Gracie Jiu Jitsu Self Defense Seminar
5-1-16

So May 1st, I drove into Brooklyn for a 3 hour "Brazillian" Jiu Jitsu seminar with Steve Maxwell. This was not your sport or MMA oriented type of seminar. This was the original self defense material that the Gracies originally taught when they came up to the US. This was supposed to be stand-up and grounded defenses. However due to the fact that Mr. Maxwell felt the matting in the gym was inadequate and that there might be injuries he decided to just do all stand-up.

Considering my shitty lower back, I was actually quite happy with his decision.

To get right to the point, the material he showed was quite in line with older style Jiu Jitsu techniques along the lines of what I had been trained in for years by the late Carl Cestari, as well as material from older Jiu Jitsu manuals. The escapes from wrist grabs, throat/collar grabs, two hand chokes both against the wall and free-standing, etc. were in some cases slightly different from what I had previously trained, but they were close enough for me to have no trouble keeping up. The biggest difference was in the area of mindset/mentality in that where I had been trained to be quick to use strikes to injure my attacker, these older style methods were geared more to just getting the guy off you while doing a minimum of damage.This isn't to say that some of the techniques didn't involve strikes, because they did. It's just that there wasn't quite as much emphasis as I was normally used to.

One of the hardest parts for me, considering my age and chronic injuries, were the drills for getting up off the floor. They were similar to what Carl and Clint have shown for years. One of the drills involved delivering a kick to your attackers knee and then getting up. The difference was that Steve Maxwell had us using the leg closer to the ground for the kick instead of the top leg. When asked about it he explained that the thinking was that because the top leg was higher off the ground it would be easier for your attacker to catch it or knock it out of the way because he wouldn't have to bend over as far to grab or deflect it.

Overall I enjoyed the seminar and got a chance to work some material that I hadn’t had the opportunity to practice at a seminar for a few years. In the 3 hours I was there I got to do plenty of drilling on the material he showed. The price was only $80 because it was basically a 1/2 day event and I feel it was well worth it. Steve Maxwell in person is exactly like he is on his DVD's. Friendly, personable and a good instructor. An interesting thing I think I should mention is that Steve actually lamented the fact that the most BJJ schools weren't teaching the actual original Self Defense material these days and were concentrating too much on the BJJ Sport competition and MMA programs.

My only complaint is that my hips and glutes were not happy for the next few days. However that really just shows what parts of my body aren't getting worked out the way they need to be. Oddly enough though my lower back hardly bothered me at all.

All in all, a good day of worthwhile training.

Components Of A Criminal Assault

* There is usually the presence of disproportionate armament and unequal initiative. This means that the bad guys have more (or better) weapons than their victims, and they have the advantage of knowing when the assault is going to take place.

* Criminals are not interested in a contest of skill, they’re interested in getting paid. If criminals wanted a challenge, they’d start a business, join the military, or become professional athletes. They will almost always be lazy enough to not want a job, yet sociopathic enough to be willing to hurt you and take whatever you possess if you present a soft enough target.

* They understand the value of an ambush. Successful violent criminals do not telegraph their intent. By the time they show their intent, you’re already getting a gun pressed to your head, a blade placed on your neck, or your teeth knocked down your throat.

* Employing a firearm on your part, early enough in the encounter, can be a deterrent. This goes to the aforementioned “wanting to get paid”. For a criminal, getting shot does not constitute a good days work. For the intended victim, this means being aware enough to realize what’s about to happen as early as possible in the encounter.

* Criminals have to get close enough to you to employ whatever their particular choice of physical intimidation in order to take your goods. Generally speaking, most handgun schools will give lip service to the fact that you can’t get mugged from across the street. However they will then proceed to conduct shooting drills at ranges of anywhere from three to seven yards and believe it is a reasonable method of training for an actual situation. The truth unfortunately is that most attacks will occur at conversational distances of 3 feet or less.

* There is usually more than one assailant. Criminals may be bad guys and not rocket scientists, but they certainly understand the value of strength in numbers. Multiple assailants are always bad news.

* Last but not least, there will almost always be a weapon involved. Whether it is a gun, a knife, or a beer bottle, you can expect something will be used to either put a hole in you or beat you down.

Levi-Strauss Jumps On The Anti-Gun Bandwagon

Who gives a fuck? I stopped buying their overpriced, poorly (no longer) Made in America jeans years ago.

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/09/levi-strauss-anti-gun/

Andrew 'Angry Eyes' Cuomo Violates Federal Law And Gets A Pass Because, Well, He's a Governor

And believes 'ignorance of the law' is a valid excuse.

For Him at any rate, but not for approximately 6,000 New Yorkers who get arrested for having regular pocket knives that he, and NYC Attorney General Cy Vance Jr., think should be classified as 'Gravity Knives'.

Despite a bill to repeal the law that has passed both houses of the State Legislature twice, with almost unanimous support, he has refused to sign it into law. And neither time did they have the balls to override his veto.

And now he has the unmitigated gall to talk about any politicians who oppose him as as violating the Rule of Law'.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/14/cuomo-accepts-the-ignorance-excuse-now-that-hes-the-perp/

Only In 21st Century Eco-Friendly, Liberal America

seriously, you can't make this shit up.......

More Trouble At Facebook

And there are probably a lot more employees who are keeping their mouths shut for fear of losing their jobs or having their career paths sidelined.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/technology/inside-facebook-employees-political-bias.html

Low Tech Drone Catcher

It's even environmentally safe!

Plagiarism In The Self Defense Instruction World

From some people you kind of expect it, but when it comes from a well known name in the field, it's just that much more disheartening.

The following post came from a thread I started in a forum that I run. It happened in 2016 so it may come off as old news, but considering some things I've seen in the advertising and teaching end of some instructors lately I felt it was relevant enough to put here on the Blog.

**************************************************************************************

From Tony Blauers FB Page, June 20, 2016

"In a Fight, it's not who's right that matters, it's who's left." (highlighted italics are mine)

The harsh reality is that your personal safety, your ability to detect, defuse or defend yourself rests on your shoulders. The standardized martial art and DT programs taught to most people just don't have the depth needed to handle the real-world violent confrontations of today.

Did that piss you off? It shouldn't. This isn't a biased opinion. This is merely a fact & the evidence is every bodycam or CCTV of real violence. Don't be pissed off at me, be pissed off at the bad-guys!

Your safety, like your fitness, is up to you. You either want to win your next fight or you don't. Our system will make you safer, sooner.

**************************************************************************************

Now where have we seen that first line statement before?

Does the content of those few sentences ring a familiar bell?

**************************************************************************************

Here's another use of the quote, this time from the Tonyblauerblog

http://tonyblauerblog.com/2009/01/23/its-not-whos-right-its-whos-left/

Part of our research is the conversion of the flinch and not the flinch itself. It’s a big area of confusion. You usually get that confusion from people who have an unconscious or conscious investment in how they look, not how they do. If you look at the PDF files on our website for the new training centre the slogan is “It’s not who’s right, it’s who’s left.”

**************************************************************************************


It's Not a Matter of Who is Right.....

by Carl Cestari (2003)

"People here may belittle sports arts...."

Who?

Almost EVERY "combatives" man of any note CAME from a combative sports
background. Boxing, wrestling, judo. WEF and O'Neill (SIXTH DAN-Kodokan Judo-
personal student of Uchijima Sensei, a NEWAZA LEGEND) are PRIME examples of
this.

What a 20 or 25 year old young buck and what a middle aged
businessman seek to get out of their training are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.

As far as the "effectiveness" of ANY technique, well a FIGHT is a FIGHT. I know a guy
who got his head split open from a blow with a lead pipe. Know what? HE STILL beat
the shit out of the TWO assholes. SO WHAT?

You FIGHT like hell until either YOU'RE DONE or HE'S DONE.

AND why is it so hard to "get" that "close combat" is far MORE than "ax hands" and
"tiger's claws". It's ANYTHING THAT WORKS. Cracking someones "egg" with a
blackjack is close combat. "Kneecapping" some asshole with a bat or ax-handle is close
combat. Working some street punk over with "knucks" or "sap" gloves is close combat.
Using a shiv, push dagger, or a friggin' ball point pen is close combat. A steaming hot
cup of coffee right in the mug is CLOSE COMBAT.

I "know" guys who have DECADES of training in sporting combatives. YEARS of
competitive experience and TONS of knowledge. KNOW WHAT? Screw with them and
the LAST thing they are gonna think about is ANY "unarmed" mano a mano response.

As far as "building" attributes? OF COURSE! Athletics in GENERAL build many fine
and useful attributes. BUT....I know of MANY instances were individulas with NO
athletic background AT ALL have overcome TREMENDOUS odds. I have also
witnessed "champions" who were hell on wheels in the ring, and on the mat FOLD like
the proverbial "cheap suit" when the rubber met the road for real. SO WHAT?

But here's the REAL issue at the bottom of this ongoing debate.

Someone who has spent years training in "karate" has invested time, money, and maybe
blood sweat and tears in his pursuit. He WANTS to believe that what he has invested so
much in will WORK. Same for Kung Fu. Same for Aikido. Same for BJJ. Same for
Boxing. Same for Wrestling. Same for Judo. Same for Savate. Same for FMA. SAME
FOR ANY ENDEAVOR.

But that ONLY makes sense in the PARAMETERS of that SPECIFIC endeavor.
Competitive Judoka expect to compete within the well defined "rules" of THAT
endeavor. They DO NOT expect to enter a shiai and be knifed in the guts by the other
competitor. A boxer enters the ring and expects to fight under the agreed rules of the
boxing commission. He DOES NOT expect to be shot dead from across the ring by his
opponent.

Let's say you're a top level collegiate wrestler. By circumstances beyond your control(real
life does that) you have to face several desperate well armed foes. You're given a
"choice". Attempt to use your wrestling skills at which you are VERY GOOD, or grab a
12 gauge riot shotgun.

Now let's say you're at a relatives wedding. The booze is flowing pretty good and Uncle
Vinny gets a little out of control. Same choice as above. Use your wrestling skills to
restrain old Uncle Vinny or grab the riot gun?

I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS about "style", "system", or any of that CRAP. WHY?
Because ALL I AM INTERESTED IN is what will SAVE MY ASS in the real world,
when it's for all the marbles. I have spent YEARS in Judo, I get attacked for REAL and I
grab a brick and pound the skel into mush. DAMN! I didn't get to use my Judo! OR....I
get grabbed from behind and manage to toss the skel to the ground with O-Goshi, THEN
I finish him with the brick. SO WHAT?

If a "tiger's claw" works GREAT! If "hadaka jime" works GREAT! If a kick to the balls
works GREAT! If a takedown works GREAT! If running the bastards down with my car
works GREAT!

Anyone out there "getting" this! IT AIN'T ABOUT what is or isn't "BETTER" or more
"EFFECTIVE". ANYTHING THAT SAVES YOUR ASS IS GOOD!

It's NOT a matter of who is "right", only of who is "left"!

Carl

More Bad News For Social Media

When you start losing the young people, the advertisers start to get nervous.

Works for me!

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/29/teens-desert-social-media

Even George Orwell Understood

Click on the image to enlarge it so you can read the quote;

Violence is Not Always The Answer, But.......

I'd Love to Use This Logo...

...but it belongs to the Art of Manliness website.

It is cool though ;-)

Combatives and Other Peoples Learning Curves

For years a lot of Self Defense instructors complained that Combatives had little or no grappling in their curriculum, that it left a gap, potentially fatal, in your self defense skills. As I have mentioned before, those claims were overblown and less than truthful. Carl Cestari never said "Don't ever go to the ground". He said "don't go to the ground if you can avoid it, and if you do wind up on the ground, get up as soon as you can".

Not exactly an ambiguous statement.

He taught escapes from stand-up grips and holds, he taught breakfalls, he taught how to fight on your back if your attacker was still on his feet and trying to get to you, he taught escapes from holds on the ground, and the best ways he knew from his own Judo & Jiu Jitsu background on how to disengage and get back on your feet.

He also understood that technical grappling skills were more complicated than striking techniques were, that they took longer to learn and required more commitment than a lot of students were willing to put into learning.

That was 15 years ago.

Now apparently another Self Defense instructor is finally learning the same thing. This instructor, whose name I will not give and whose website I will not give any advertising to, has finally come to the conclusion that (and I will paraphrase here) 'he gets it, he and other instructors tried to turn everybody into BJJ devotees, that a large percentage of his students have families, jobs, limited time, and can't hit the dojo and roll multiple days a week'.

In short, he has realized that people wanted to learn some practical self defense and not become BJJ Black belts.

Accordingly he has come up with a new course that he feels will fix that. He has a catchy name for it, but for the sake of this article I will just refer to it as 'Minimalist Jitsu'.

Now what does this course consist of?

Glad you asked!

- Breakfalls -
- Technical Stand-Up -
- Standing Up Against Pressure -
- Protecting Yourself On The Ground When The Other Guy Doesn't Want you To Get Up -
- Fighting Back When You Can't Get Up -

Now just in case any of that doesn't look familiar, I will refer you back to the second paragraph of this article. Take a second and see what I mean.

Ahh, looking a bit more familiar now?

As I alluded to in the Title of this Blog Post, some people just have slower learning curves.

Martial Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

The NYPD Says Goodbye to the .38 Revolver for Good

I didn't even know anybody was still using them.



https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/05/30/nypd-officers-trade-in-revolvers-for-semi-automatic-guns#

The Essentials of A Well Rounded Combatives System - Part Two

In my Blog Post of Aug 13 I talked about what should constitute a well rounded combatives program. I also somewhat addressed the fact that a lot of people criticize the fact that there was no grappling. This criticism was, in various ways, especially directed at the late Carl Cestari.
It’s true that he did not emphasize most ground grappling, but there were several reasons behind this.

One of the foremost being that if you’re on the ground tied up with someone, there is always the chance that he may have friends who will happily put their bbots to you. Some self defense instructors will cherry pick videos where two people go to the ground and nobody jumps in. However it doesn’t take much effort to find an assortment of videos where the opposite is true and people get stomped by friends of the person they’re grappling with on the ground.

Another reason why Carl Cestari didn’t emphasize any grappling other than some stand-up techniques and escapes was that over his years of teaching he realized a simple fact. Grappling techniques are, without a doubt, more technically oriented than striking techniques. Accordingly, more time, effort and physical conditioning is involved in learning those methods. As a result fewer students were willing to make the commitment to do so.

It should come as no surprise in the 21st century, where instant gratification is expected by so many people, that putting in the time involved to learn these methods was not too high on most peoples priority list.

Mr. Cestari held a 1st Degree Black Belt in Judo and a 5th Degree Black Belt in JiuJitsu. So when detractors of Combatives talk about him not having the knowledge to teach grappling, well frankly, I’ll let you wonder what’s going through their minds.

Having gotten all that out of the way I’ll now introduce the material below. These were two connected articles written Carl in around the 2002-2003 period. The first part is an excerpt ffrom the Program of Instruction given to H2H instructors by W.E. Fairbairn. That is followed by what Carl Cestari considered to be the techniques/methods, whichever term you prefer, most useful for defending yourself from a criminal attack.

I hope that anybody reading this Blog Post will be able to gain some insight into the mindset and attitude behind the training of soldiers in both WW2 and the PostWar period, and how that trianing can still be relevant in the 21st Century.

Note: Italicized comments in the first section are comments by Carl Cestari

Essentials

Excerpted from ‘Close Combat - Notes for Instructors’
By W.E. Fairbairn

Part "B"

UNARMED

(For those who have been FOOLISH and caught UNARMED)

Method No. 1 - "Edge of Hand Blows"

Fingers and thumb straight out. Strike with little-finger edge of hand.

Points of Attack: Forearm bone, wrist, side of neck, one inch below adams apple,
back of neck, etc.

Method No. 2 - "Chin-Jab"

This is a close-in blow and must be given with all possible force in an upward
direction.

Points of Attack: Up under the chin with the heel of the hand and fingers extended to
reach the eyes.

Method N0. 3 - "Tigers Claw"

Into the eyes and face with a piston-like forward jab. Fingers bent like a tiger's
claw. Weight of body to be behind the blow with no "telegraphing" of the intention to
strike.

This is the most effective hand blow ever worked out. It has the advantage of three
inches additional length as compared to a "straight" left and can be achieved with
lightening like speed.

It is a complete answer to any attempt at a frontal attack and permits one to deal
effectively with one's opponent before he is really dangerous.

Method No. 4 - "Kicking"

Method of kicking: Turn right foot sideways to the left and kick forward. Make
contact on the shin-bone with the outside edge of the sole of the boot. Follow
through by transferring the weight of your body from the left to the right foot and
smash down with your boot on to the small bones of opponent's foot.

Special Notes:

1. Any student who thoroughly masters the three hand blows and the method of
kicking (no matter what his strength or build may be) will be able to effectively deal
with any un-armed opponent.

2. All these methods are ATTACKING, not DEFENSIVE and should be applied in
conjunction with each other.

Fairbairn on strategy/tactics/mind-set:

"........unfair and unethical methods of fighting in which acts of artifice, force,
vehemence, and shock are of major importance and in which all earmarks of the
concepts of fair-play and good sportsmanship must be eliminated."

(I wonder how many will break open the old Webster to define the above?)

Considering the trend on many posts, i.e, non-essentials, nonsense, agendas, more
nonsense, "pointless" arguments, etc. I feel that presenting the above is a waste of
time for the most part. However, there are a few that will benefit from it.

You see the above few paragraphs virtually gives everything you really need and
answers almost any question, IF (and this is a big IF) one possesses the true
wherewithal to really "get" it.

If I sound mildly disgusted, well I am.

There is a wealth of REAL knowledge to be mined here offered by some very
serious dedicated men. A lot of the bantering sounds like a bunch of schoolgirls!
James is gracious to a fault in NOT taking a sharp sickle to separate the wheat from
the chaff.

I would make a civil statement about "offending" list members, but I seriously
doubt many will ACTUALLY READ THIS!




“ESSENTIALS.............Part 2”
By Carl Cestari

Well here's a different approach.

Let's put the "shopping" lists on the back-burner for a moment, cut to heart of the
matter and ask the FIRST logical question, WHY?

ALWAYS seek out the BIGGEST BANG for the BUCK! See if this is logical;

Edge of Hand:
Can be used literally from ankle to temple with effect. Can be used against a
STANDING, stooped, or grounded assailant (whatever position). Can be used
around a 360 degree circumference, with little re-positioning. Is effective as a
"defensive" manuever as well as an offensive attack. Can be used while grappling
standing or on the ground, from a seated position and of course from standing.
When trained PROPERLY can deliver very fast trip hammer blows. Can be used
against armed assault, as well as unarmed. Force can be moderated to damage, stun,
break bones, cause a KO, and kill, if need be. Little chance of damage to the hand.
Can be delivered with VERY HARD impact even when a good foundation is
impossible AND even when YOU are being driven backward. Virtually a
COMPLETE system unto it's own.

Chin-Jab:
EXCELLENT maneuver at close quarters. Can be used as a hard shove or as a
vicious blow, both are followed up by eye gouging. Very good in close confines were
the "double slam" effect can be useful, you slam home a Chin-Jab and drive said
assailants head HARD into a solid surface or a sharp edge. Can be used singularly
or again in fast multiple hits with either a single hand or in combination. Can be
used in many directions IMMEDIATELY with POWER and with a MINIMUM of
telegraphed intent.

Tigers Claw:
A COMBINATION heel hand smash AND eye gouge. A distance weapon that can
be used as a fast stunning "lead" OR as a power shot. It does NOT need "specific"
targeting. The claw hand slams into the face and then drives through with the
clawed spread fingers. By a simple twist of the body can be delivered to the front or
either flank. Is simply an EXTENSION of the Chin-Jab for longer range. Can be
used in devastating combinations.

The Boot Kick:
This should not have been referenced as a low "side-kick". It's NOT. Hard to
describe BUT easy to learn. WEF termed this kick with the outside edge of boot as
the "flick" kick. Simple, NON telegraphed and very damaging. This can be used at
distance as a "kick" or at close quarters as a ripping shin scrape and smash. We
train this with a specific footwork sequence as well as "wagon wheel" style, either as
the "hub" kicking out in eight directions or as the "rim" moving circularly and
kicking in at the hub. There are MANY, MANY mis-conceptions about how this kick is
executed and how effective it can be against a VARIETY of unarmed and armed
assaults. It is also a "defense" AND an "attack".

ALL of the ABOVE constitute a COMPLETE method of unarmed combat. And
that is NO shit! You LEARN the maneuvers separately, but the GOAL is to
FIGHT with them, just the same way a boxer learns his basics and THEN learns to
FIGHT with them.

I would have added the knee smash in this because it WORKS perfectly with ALL
of the above, but I believe that the outline comes from WEF's syllabus for the OSS,
and he did NOT include the knee in the final outline, but does reference it in the
technical descriptions.

These were NOT just a handful of maneuvers lumped together for the hell of it.
WEF had a "method", a DEFINITIVE method of how these maneuvers are USED
IN A REAL FIGHT.

That is the part that MOST are MISSING! They see these maneuvers as an
unrelated "hodge podge". This is NOT the case.

O'Neill preferred different methods -including finger jab type blows (though
WEF's 1915 SMP manual DOES include the "finger jab"), smashing back knuckles
and PRODIGIOUS use of the elbows and knees, as well as several kicks. O'Neill
ALSO taught this as a SYSTEM, not as a handful of "do this" or "do that". He also
taught doubled forearm blows at GRAPPLING range, NOT as a "defense" against
blows as some have suggested.

So let's review: Edge of Hand/Chin-Jab/Tigers Claw/Boot Kick. FOUR simple
direct and EFFECTIVE methods that can be used against virtually ANY type of
unarmed attack from standing to rolling in the mud, while seated, while being off
balanced and driven backwards, against an assailant in virtually ANY position and
in a 360 degree sphere. Also can be effective against a number of armed attacks,
and can be very effective against multiple assailants (if one UNDERSTANDS
the proper method of use).

E.A. Sykes used what basically was a "combination" of the two as well as teaching
fundamental boxing blows to vulnerable targets.

Well that lays out the WHY and fulfills our "BIG BANG" mandate.

That's about as logical and pragmatic as I can get. We really DON'T just pull this
stuff out of our ass, REALLY we DON'T. We've given it just a wee bit of thought.

Like most things in life, it starts by asking the right questions FIRST.

Has Tacticool Gone Too Far??

I'm thinking........Yeah.

The Essentials of a Well Rounded Combatives System - Part One

A lot has been said about Combatives over the years about the fact it's not complete. You will hear comments such as; "what do you do if you can't pre-empt?" "There is no grappling/ground game." People have misquoted the late Carl Cestari as saying "never go to the ground" when what he actually said was "don't intentionally or willingly go to the ground if you can avoid doing so" and "if you do wind up on the ground, attempt to disengage and get back up as soon as you can"

Below is an article/template by Carl Cestari of what Close Combat is and/or should be.


CLOSE COMBAT FIGHTING
Copyright @ Carl Cestari


REALLY being able to FIGHT with "Close Combat" techniques means exactly THAT..................BEING ABLE TO FIGHT!

So what "standard" can be used to develop the mandated attacks and methods?

Can we agree on this: The ability to attack the enemy with a BARRAGE of HARD, FAST, DAMAGING blows and kicks that can be USED convulsively, instinctively and that attack ALL body areas and from any and ALL varied angles while combined with evasive body shifting and footwork. Accuracy is also important, BUT blows that can DAMAGE almost ANY part of the body are to be preferred over those that NEED specific targeting.

If we agree on the above as our "template" of effective fighting methods, what methods fit the bill best?

PUNCHING: Fist blows that can be straight, overhand, hooking and uppercuts. These blows can be thrown from anywhere and in any angle of trajectory. They can be thrown in a BARRAGE of combinations and can be aimed at many body areas. Proper strengthening and conditioning (which should be DONE anyway) can turn the FISTS into VERY POTENT STRIKING TOOLS.

Punching meets the above criteria.

EDGE OF HAND BLOWS: Again these can be USED anywhere on the BODY & LIMBS with damaging effect. They can be used in any manner needed, hence the Chinese term "Thousand Hand Blow". The Edge of Hand is very hard to injure even when struck against bone. Hatchet like blows can be delivered from a variety of angles and targeted almost ANYWHERE on the body.

Edge of Hand meets the above criteria.

ELBOW JABS & SMASHES: The elbow ALSO can be used in a WIDE variety of attacks. It can jab, smash, hook, back smash, drop, rise etc. It can be devastating to almost ANY part of the body. It can be used with speed and pop or driven in with two hands reinforcing, smashing and crushing. VERY difficult to defend against and virtually the BEST weapon for in-close work.

Elbows meet the above criteria.

LOWER BODY ATTACKS: These THREE are the primary ones to TRAIN and used MOST effectively as stated above -

1. KNEE - Can be used as an UPWARD smash, a DIRECT INWARD thrust, in a roundhouse or hooking manner, and in a "dropping" single and double crushing attack to a downed enemy. Knees can be DEVASTATING to almost ANY body area.

2. THE FRONT KICK - Using the ball, toe, or instep of the boot. Can be directed from the shins to the head (depending on position of enemy). Its simple, easily trained and instinctive. With heavy footwear this kick is a KILLER. It can damage shins, kneecaps, testicles, and other bones (pubic/ribs/sternum).

3. THE STOMP - Using the heel of the boot this stomping kick is a "natural". It can be employed to an assailant in front, to the side, or to the rear. It can be used close in when grappling or used unexpectedly from a distance.

So there is the "FIGHTING SYSTEM" out line. The punch, the edge of hand, the elbow, the knee, the front kick, the stomp. SIX methods that I would train and use in a real FIGHT, NOT a pre-emptive "sneak" attack or other first strike scenarios, but in a REAL tooth and claw FIGHT.

The other mainstays are GREAT for when they CAN be used. But they are LIMITED to specific scenarios and specific TARGETS!

GRAPPLING -

FIVE chokeholds/strangles.
FOUR specific head twist takedowns
FIVE throwing/takedown methods.
SEVEN arm-bar/joint breaks.

That's the CORE system for REAL FIGHTING. Six upper and lower body striking and kicking methods and twenty-one combat grappling methods. Everything else - clawing, gouging, crushing, ripping, butting and biting are ancillary to the core system. The other attacks like the tigers claw, chin-jab, ear box, rock crusher, cradle blow, etc. are SPECIFIC methods of attack that are limited in use by the NATURE of their method. These methods of attack can be used as THE OPPORTUNITY presents itself. The FIGHTING methods can be used whenever YOU want to use them.

An example: To effectively USE the "chin-jab" your enemy must "give" you a clear and unimpeded "path" to the point of his chin. However, if I just start SMASHING at him with multiple hard driving elbow blows I don't give a damn what he does or what's "open" he's going to be in a world of shit from jump street. See the difference?

Does this make sense?

Fighting an ACTIVELY aggressive enemy will require DIFFERENT tactics and methods as opposed to ATTACKING an enemy PRIOR to full-blown practice FIGHTING.

BOTH approaches need to be studied thoroughly, understood fully and PRACTICED to the point of INSTINCT.

OVER emphasis on the pre-emptive OR on the active FIGHT will render you woefully lacking when the other method is mandated.

HIT FIRST when YOU CAN, WIN THE FIGHT by whatever MEANS when YOU CANNOT!

Just like I preach about GUNFIGHTING...There is the REACTIVE and the PROACTIVE. Either YOU start the shit or the other bastard starts the SHIT. Each requires different SKILLS, and if you plan to SURVIVE you had BETTER understand BOTH and be able to DEAL with BOTH!

This line of strategy and tactics applies to ANY weapon, as well as to unarmed combat.

The Impending Fall of The Social Media Giants.

First Mark Fuckerberg loses 119 Billiaon dollars in one day, a worlds record in the history ofmthe Stock Market. This is immediately followed by the fact that Facebook usage in the last 2 years has dropped from 8.5 billion daily page-views to 4.7 billion.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-facebook-worst-trading-day-20180726-story.html

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/youtube-to-soon-overtake-facebook-as-second-most-visited-site-analysis-fin/529706/



Twitter has suspended 70 million fake accounts which has brought the wrath of advertisers down on their heads as the advertisers start complaining that the have been paying ad rates to reach millions of Twitter users who don't really exist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/technology/twitter-fake-followers.html



And now Youtube is under fire for fake page-views that again are pissing off advertisers who feel that they've been ripped off. Not to mention how some uploaded videos have only gone viral because somebody paid a tech-nerd to put all the robot page hits on the video page.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/11/technology/youtube-fake-view-sellers.html

These fucking Social Media pages rose to prominence, took in hundreds of Billions of dollars, have turned people into digital zombies, have fucked with the news cycle, and incited more shitstorms than Global Warming is supposedly responsible for.

But their greed and arrogance are about to hit them where it hurts. Right in the pocketbooks as teenagers abandon them daily and move on to the next big thing.

Fuck em' all, I won't miss them.

Aggressive Forward Drive and it's Use in Combatives

This article was originally written in 2002, and is copyrighted to the estate of Carl Cestari.


The Aggressive Forward Drive

by Carl Cestari 3-25-2002

There has been some discussion concerning the Aggressive Forward Drive, it's use and lack thereof.

What hasn't been fully addressed is the why.

Here are the reasons why this maneuver is so all-important.

1) This method of close combat is based wholly on aggression. Fairbairn fully emphasized that these are methods of ATTACK-OFFENSE and not DEFENSE. Lyle L. Shook in his 1968 manual on self-defense titled "ATTACK" put it quite well.........."You MUST carry the ATTACK to the ATTACKER".

2) The constant forward drive allows you to use full bodyweight and momentum behind each attacking method.

3) It forces the assailant off balance and into a "defensive" posture and attitude. It forces the assailant to move into unseen/unknown quarters, i.e. backwards. Obvious tactical advantage for you. You can see were you're going - he can't.

4) It fosters an aggressive offensive spirit! By the very nature of the physical movement you help develop the proper aggressive mind-set and offensive spirit.

5) You are more difficult to knock down or to take to the ground. This is NOT "sport", restricted by rules or parameters of constraint.

6) Is a "built in" hedge against multiple assailants. You are NOT a sitting duck. By constant aggressive movement, other assailants will be playing "catch up". Always having to adjust and set themselves against an ever-moving target.

7) Allows for immediate "E & E". You are already in motion, so maneuvering for escape and evasion tactics is far easier. It gets you out of "tight" confined spots.

8) For police and military personnel who are burdened with tactical loads this forward aggressive movement is an AID and not a hindrance to movement in a close quarters battle when weighed down with equipment.

A proven maxim of war is - "always take ground". The inclusion of the forward drive is perhaps the best method for seizing and maintaining the initiative in close combat. It is also almost always overlooked.

Carl