Self-Defense Issues: How are Your Grappling Skills?

In a recent video, a Chik-fil-A employee courageously jumps in to save a woman from a carjacking attempt.

In the video you can see the employee drag the carjacker POS from the car and then subdue him with a choke until the carjacker surrenders.

Regardless if you carry any type of weapon on your person for self-defense, you should always have a toolbox of empty-hand skills.

Some of the most basic and practical skills to have are Choke/Submission techniques from Brazilian Ju-Jitsu.

1. Rear Naked Choke

2. Guillotine Choke

3. Arm Triangle Choke (Anaconda, D’Arce Choke)

4. Triangle Choke

5. Side Choke

 

There are also a SHIT TON of Clothing Choke holds that can be very useful, in particular the T-Shirt and Hoodie Choke.

 

 

You can never have enough empty hand skills folks!

Personally I think Street Combatives/Boxing combined with cherry picked techniques from all the major disciplines: Muay-Thai, BJJ, Krav-Maga and Kali offer the Armed Civilian the best chance, but as with everything in life, find what works for you and TRAIN HARD!

I highly recommend Southnarc (Shivworks) for Realistic Street Fighting Training.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

The Default Position and Taking a Punch

From the Archives, 2013

If you want to be prepared to defend yourself realistically on the street, you are going to have to prepare RIGHT NOW in a controlled training environment, how you can both GUARD against getting knocked out and at the same time, take a PUNCH and keep fighting. Regardless, if you are talking about knife, stick or gun, Hardcore Combatives or BJJ Grappling, at the root of all of it is the word FIGHT…and out there on the street it could be a FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!

The “Default” Position

One of the fundamentals of fighting, regardless of style, is knowing how to DEFEND YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES. Remembering the awesome Boxing movie “Million Dollar Baby”; this was the fundamental that Clint Eastwood time and time again tried to drill into Maggie, and in the end, it was failing to heed this fundamental that got her.

The CO has to understand, Murphy’s Law is in effect 24/7/365 on the street, punches will be flying and can come out of nowhere, from one or multiple opponents. Even with the right guard technique, no matter which one you prescribe, the inevitability of getting hit is there, the Default Position just guarantees a degree of “damage control” to keep you in the fight.

 

The LOGIC is simple: You get Knocked Out, the game is over!

A word about the on-going debate in the Combatives community about the Natural Instinctive Flinch Response vs a trained “Default” Position. On this subject I tend to agree with Southnarc who stated “I don’t think that you can ever truly; totally over-ride the natural flinch response if you are taken completely by surprise.” The key as I see it, is to as much as possible, integrate those instinctive responses with a simple guard that protects you from getting knocked out and/or knocked over. I consider this concept an essential part of the Combative Continuum, as It carries right over into combative stick/knife and shooting as well; work with what your body does naturally as much as possible.

Where most people go wrong in their Combatives training as I see it, is they try and invent ways to AVOID getting hit, instead of training to GUARD, absorb the strikes and finish the fight (destroy the opponent). Now I am not saying go out there and offer your face as an easy target, by all means, Keep up your guard, move and strike… but in any fight, despite your best efforts, you are most likely going to take a punch..that’s the name of the game, the KEY is to NOT get Knocked Out by using a Default Guard which protects those sensitive areas which when struck hard enough, can “knock you out” and render you UNCONSCIOUS:

•  Hinges of the jaw

•  Temples

•  Sides of the neck.

A Simple concept really, but isn’t it the simplest things that often give people the most problems?

No need to try and re-invent the wheel!

 

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

 

Self-Defense Behind the Wheel of Your Car

Self-Defense Behind the Wheel of Your Car

 

Decent primer on a subject I hope you are devoting some live fire/force-on-force training to every month since besides your home and workplace, your vehicle is where you spend a large majority of your time.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

 

ECQ In Fight Weapon Access

If you carry a handgun for self-defense and do not routinely pressure test IN FIGHT Weapon Access with Force-on-Force drills, you are cutting yourself short in being prepared for a real world encounter on the mean streets.

Most FIGHTS on the street are at EXTREME CLOSE QUARTER (ECQ) distances, ie “Bad Breath Distance”.

IMO next to Kelly Mccann, Craig Williams aka “Southnarc” has some of the best training around on Combative Handgun.

Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!

Awareness and Managing Unknown Contacts: Before a Harsh Word or a Gun

“A good self-defense course should begin with not letting it get shitty.”

Gun Guys need to learn 3 Words in order to have a more stress free life: Avoidance, Deterrence, De-Escalation.

Gun Culture 2.0

One of the most annoying and offensive criticisms I hear of Gun Culture 2.0 is that defensive gun owners are itchin’ for a fight and prefer to shoot first and ask questions later. Of course, there are irresponsible individuals in any group, like the “good guy with a gun” near me who recently shot at an Edible Arrangements driver who was making a gift delivery at his home.

But this is not the core of individuals I have met in my journey through gun culture, and certainly doesn’t represent anything I have seen in the mainstream gun training community. (Full disclosure: I do not hang out with internet commandos, so I cannot speak to that cadre.)

To borrow from Michael Bane, from whom I also took the concept of Gun Culture 2.0, many times (most often?) awareness and avoidance are your best defense. This reality is an important…

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