So how do we prepare to defend against such an attack?  Many will have you believe that it is only through extreme high-speed/high-pressure scenario training that replicates – as near as possible – the real event. 

The first thing to consider here is why certain people perform well under pressure, while others do not.  The key to understanding this lies in how they learned the skills to react to a crisis situation in the first place.

Although we may learn fast, most people simply do not learn well under super high pressure situations.  Throw someone who can’t swim into the deep end of a swimming pool and under the certain conditions it may give them the inner strength and power to swim to safety.  The participant adapts quickly and somehow learns to swim out of trouble.

But…he will never become a good swimmer!  The crude technique that he used to rescue himself becomes a fixed response and it becomes too difficult to learn better ways of swimming after that experience.  Sadly, if faced with a real crisis he may die if he cannot improvise and adapt to different situations such as swimming long distances and/or treading the water until help arrives.

Dr. Edward C. Tolan, psychologist and expert in behavioural psychology from the University of California said that when learning to survive we form “cognitive survival maps” of the environment while you are internalising what you are actually learning.  If the motivation becomes too intense – too soon – the learning outcome becomes narrow and restrictive.  If the learning sequence doesn’t have too much chaos attached to it, then the outcome of the map you create becomes more broad and generic.

When there is too much balls-to-the-wall action while learning something new this forms what is called “over-motivation.”  Basically what happens as a result is that you end up learning only one way of solving a problem.  In the future, if this one set way becomes countered, you will fail to respond with alternative routes.  This narrow and restricted “cognitive survival map” creates a single cut-and-dry preconceived response and hinders your ability to react and improvise spontaneously to a new situation. 

Practicing without pressure and slowly building up the intensity in a gradual progression is the key to learning more efficiently and being able to perform better whilst in the heat of combat.  Too much pressure or “over-motivation” in the beginning stages of the learning process actually hinders growth and greatly reduces your options for success when the spit hits the fan. 

Joe

FREE CQC Magazines by Hock Hochheim

For those of you who are interested, you can download these CQC magazines for FREE by clicking on this link!  The magazine (CQC) was published by Hock Hochheim for years and they are chock-full of life saving information.  I hope you enjoy these while they remain up for instant download.  Please don’t forget that you can train with Hock in-person by attending one of his many seminars world-wide.  Hock does some 40 seminars per year and will be in the UK December 4th & 5th (Sat & Sun), 2010.

Click Here to Reserve Your Space for the UK Seminar!

Click Here for Hock’s International Seminar Schedule!

Hock Hochheim and Joe Hubbard teaching SO-19 and British Air Marshalls

 

“Ever wonder why Hock has about 40 seminars a year in 9 different countries for the last 14 years? With little to almost no advertising? Why he sees over 1,500 citizens, cops and soldiers each year? How and why is he still around, still thriving while others come, go and disappear? One answer is simple – his unique approach and his pragmatic, event-based, practical, tactical material.”

A Message from Hock…

A model, a mission statement since I gave birth in 1996 to this congress of systems and ideas was to “bridge the gap between the military, the police, the martial artist and the aware citizen.” Each group knows things about fighting that the other doesn’t.

A lot has happened that inception in 1996. I have taught and worked with many experts worldwide. I have learned and experimented a lot with about 40 seminars a year in 9 different countries as far away as South Africa, Australia, the Philippines, Europe…

I am constantly on the hunt for pragmatic, tactical and practical material to improve training and performance. Your performance. This is all about you, your shape, your size, your age, your strength. You. I am here to inspire not confine you into some cookie-cutter, one-size -fits-all myth.

All fights and combat are highly, highly situational. We live in a mixed weapon’s world and a mixed peoples world with rules of engagement and use of force issues. It’s complicated, but often can be simplified within the right enlightened framework.

I have crafted this special, critical framework that offers basic, advanced and expertise physical and psychological skills that work for citizens, the military and the police. When you strip it all down to the bare essence of combat, you find the real truth for all. All we need to do next is customize some of the “before, during and after” steps to gear it for each group as needed. Mixed weapon fighting in standing, kneeling, seated and on the ground. A seamless blend. You fight where you fight.

Hand, stick, knife, gun. These are the categories of combat in the modern world of close quarter conflict. Depending upon the person or the country, I do hear people wishing to “take a pass” on a category. “Oh, I don’t like guns.” Or, “I’ll never have a knife.” Aside from the facts that all kitchens and restaurants are chock full of knives, someone simply cannot neglect or ignore any one category. Knowledge of survival mandates your familiarity with each subject. You are all-in or you are all-out! Like it or not.

We fight enemy soldiers and criminals. They use these things against us. We counter their threats and attacks. They welcome our fear, our misunderstandings, our timidity and our ignorance. They thrive and breed in your reluctance and hesitation. “

Don’t miss the rare opportunity to train and learn from one of the world’s foremost close quarter combat trainers.

Who: Hock Hochheim

What: UK Close Quarter Combat Seminar 

When: Sat & Sun (1100-1700) December 4 & 5, 2010 

Where: Crawley, Wet Sussex (near Gatwick Airport)

How Much: £130 (for 2-days)

To reserve your place click here now!

Still Have Questions?

 Contact Joe Hubbard (Chief Instructor Scientific Fighting Congress UK):

functionalfighting@blueyonder.co.uk or 0789 444 6794

Antwerp, Belgium

Saturday and Sunday November 13 & 14, 2010

You Will Learn:

• Your best option tactics for surviving a knife attack
• The 3 places a criminal hides a knife that nobody tells you about
• How to execute a knife disarm on the street effectively
• How to detect your opponent is carrying a knife before he attacks
• Speed of reaction quick draws drills & counters
• Grip manipulation drills and street application scenarios
• The 4-Knife Assault Tools and how to use them in a real fight
• The only 3-ranges that you need to know in a knife fight
• How to counter the criminal’s set ups & dirty tricks
• Knife Ground Fighting: counter 90% of a grappler’s arsenal immediately
• How to blend your slashing, stabbing, hacking and pummelling with your unarmed skills
• Tactical combat folder deployment and strategy
• The only 2-types of knife fights and how to counter them fast
• And so, much more that you really can’t afford to miss this seminar!

***Additional Training***  

Interested people that would like to get involved with additional Private Training Sessions or Close Protection Officer Training please request additional information upon booking.

 To reserve your spot now contact:

Didier Coppens:  xtremecombatsports@hotmail.com

The subject of disarming a weapon from a motivated attacker is controversial at the best of times.  Nevertheless, disarms need to be addressed as a counter weapon option that lies deep within a string of combative counter assault moves.  While many martial arts and self defence instructors will espouse that disarms don’t work, it is important to understand that in the real world they do have their place and time.  It is also paramount to point out that there is a continuum of danger that spans between static and dynamic threats.  Understanding these threats will increase your opportunity to counter attack an impact weapon assault exponentially. 

The Five Ways of Disarming

Let’s outline the basics of disarming any impact weapon, such as a stick, baton, metal pipe or baseball bat.

1. Verbal Disarms

This option often gets left behind in many programs, but talking your way out of trouble goes way back to the dawn of human conflict.  I don’t want to get sidetracked here and explore the psychology involved in talking someone down.  The main focus is just being aware of the justification, alternatives, capability and outcome of the situation.  You have to think about these points from both yours and his perspective and this has to be assessed quickly.  There is an experience factor here that enables success more readily in the heat of the moment.

        2.  Attacking the Weapon Bearing Limb

Often referred to as “Defanging the Snake” in many Filipino systems, attacking the weapon bearing limb is exactly what it says on the tin.  From an unarmed versus the impact weapon perspective, this tactic works better during a static threat.  However, understanding the concept of destroying the limb that holds the weapon is another vital link in disarming success in the chaos of “all-in” fighting.  Remember most disarms will NOT be the first event in the chain of combative movements.  As your opponent becomes significantly diminished, the probability factor rises with a successful disarm as a part of that flow.

        3.   Arm Wrap Traps

Closing the gap and wrapping the arm which is wielding the weapon serious impairs the movement and torque needed for the impact weapon to cause damage.  You can wrap up an arm by clockwise or counter clockwise motion with either arm, from both an inside or outside spacial relationship to your opponent.

       4.  Arm Wrapping the Stick

Wrapping the stick is often referred to as the Snake Disarm.  This is where you encircle your arm at the point where the impact weapon meets the gripping hand.  Again, you have both clockwise and counter clockwise options with either arm.

     5.  Grabbing the Stick

From close quarter range grabbing the impact weapon becomes more and more probable because of the effect of smothering the weapon bearing limb.  This causes a hindrance of motion from your opponent which decreases the arc of delivery enabling you to seize control of the weapon itself.  If the tip of the weapon is pointing upwards, attacking the weapon bearing limb in a downward fashion with a forearm strike tends to release the weapon.  This is what is commonly called the Strip & Keep.  Conversely, if the tip of the weapon is pointing downwards, you would release the weapon by striking the weapon bearing limb in a ballistic upwards motion.

Unfortunately, weapon disarms tend to be associated exclusively with esoteric martial arts systems- namely Filipino.  We all tend to link these types of techniques with the likes of the late Professor Remy Presas, Edgar Sulite or Dan Inosanto.  Because of this nexus, many modern day martial arts and/or self defence instructors will tell you that this information is a waste of time.  Please do not listen to them!  I have heard many instructors claim that disarms are a fantasy; when in reality the only fantasy is stating the opportunity for a disarm will never ever happen.  Learn these basic techniques and then plug them into real-world scenarios.  Don’t leave your muscle memory empty.

Until next time…

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe

The unassuming simple stick is one of the oldest weapons known to mankind.  It’s impossible to determine exactly when it came into existence as a weapon, but visions of early man with a stick in his hand stalking his prey come to mind.  With this said baseball bats, metal pipes and other impact weapons still pose a very real threat in this day and age and must be included to any counter weapons program offered by reputable combatives, self defense, reality based, self protection and street survival systems alike.

Worst Case Scenario

It has to be said that defending yourself against somebody who is swinging a baseball bat should be avoided at all costs.  Your preliminary detection skills should hopefully point out the danger indicators involved way before you find yourself in this unfortunate situation.  Make no mistake about it- if you are forced to defend yourself against somebody with an impact weapon, then you are in a “worst case scenario” situation!  Get out of there at all costs, but wait…what if you can’t get out?  What if you just find yourself in that late phase position with no quick escape?  Hopefully this will provide you with an outline of a few simple tricks to create as much “damage limitation” as possible! 

Beware of the Extension- It’s the Extension That Will Kill You!

From the user’s standpoint it is the extension that is created by having an impact weapon in your hand such as a metal pipe or stick that proves to be advantageous in keeping your opponent/opponents at bay.  This “extension” also allows for full power distribution of strikes to be delivered with maximum efficiency.  With this in mind, defending against an attacker with a club can prove to be a disastrous event if you choose to stay out in long range attempting to randomly defend yourself while your attacker is given carte blanche to carry out a turkey shoot.  (Note: For the uninitiated a “Turkey Shoot” is an allegory for something that is easily accomplished)

Close the Gap

By closing the gap and entering into close quarter range you will be able to quash your attacker’s powerbase.  However, with little to no training, this tactic is easier said than done.  A great way to perfect your entries is by having your training partner swing their impact weapon in a figure 8 pattern or slash Xs in a stationary position.  You want to position yourself just outside of the swinging stick.  This is a timing drill where you need to pay attention when to rush in.  You basically have two options: rush to the outside of your opponent or rush to the inside.  To enter successfully to the outside you have to time your entry to happen immediately after he swings a forehand strike.  Similarly, to enter to the inside, time your entry just after he has swung a backhand strike.  Once you get the timing aspect of this drill together have your training partner gradually walk forward while he is slashing Xs in your direction.  Now you will have to use a little more effort to judge the spacial relationship between you and your opponent while he is attacking you.  After you are comfortable with this stage start to increase to intensity to where, eventually, you are both moving around dynamically.  Next step?  Keep increasing the intensity; add protective gear to experience contact.  All in all, this one drill done properly will take about six months of development to internalize the merits of the drill.  Good luck!

Until next time…

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe

In this next instalment, I am going to introduce takedowns into this combat matrix.  Once you have stunned your opponent considerably, you must now deal with the diminished enemy by putting him down and neutralising the threat.

The four most probable ways to take your opponent down successfully are:

1. Battering Takedown
2. Rear Leg Trip
3. Rear Pull Down
4. Single / Double Leg Tackle

* There are many more possible ways to take your opponent down.  The choices listed above are the “core” basics.

Hock Hochheim demonstrating a takedown with an inserted knee

For the sake of a quick explanation, the Battering Takedown is exactly what it says on the tin- you just beat the man to the ground.  A successful delivery system for such an effective tactic is multiple hammer fist and/or forearm strikes in succession until he is down.  The Rear Leg trip is a staple of most combatives systems and is acquired by getting your lead leg behind his lead leg and then reaping your leg backwards as you drive his head forward and down.  The Rear Pull Down is attained from behind the adversary, gripping under his chin, tilting his head back and then pulling straight down to the ground.  The single and double leg tackles are best executed from a late phase counter when he has knocked you to the ground and then tries to attack by kicking you.  From this grounded position, you need to secure your hands behind his ankles and then drive your shoulder forwards into the opponent’s shins, just below his knees.

Once your opponent is dropped, you must choose from four fight finishing missions.  What you select will depend on the moral, legal, ethical and use of force implications. 

The Four Main Strategic Choices are:

1. Control & Contain
2. Disable
3. Unconsciousness
4. Death

Remember, as long as he has a knife in his hands, he is an armed opponent!

The Four Main Tactical Choices are:

1. Submission Finish
2. Striking Finish
3. Knee Dropping Finish
4. Foot Stomping Finish

Please take note that this is a continuum that directly relates to the threat of the situation you are facing.  Sometimes we have to just control our opponent, but if our survival becomes tenuous then we have to up the stakes exponentially in order to survive the encounter.

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe

– General H. Norman Schwarzkopf addressing the Joint Chiefs of Staff just before Desert Storm

You have managed to control and contain the weapon bearing limb.  The split second you have secured the arm, you fire off a vicious low-line kick to disrupt your adversary’s balance and re-ground instantly.  Then, you begin to let loose with a series of dynamic strikes to a primary target, usually the head or the neck to stun and diminish your enemy senseless. 

Bash the neck. Hit him in the throat.  Shatter the jaw.  Decimate the nose.  You are in fear of your life and he is trying to kill you!  To survive the attack, you must stop the attacker now.  If one vicious strike doesn’t work, then you must attack, attack, attack, attack and destroy every step of the way until your opponent is neutralised!

Two very important issues to consider about the above scenario:

1. Control and containing the weapon bearing limb may not be the first event of the contact phase.  As your attacker threatens you with a knife, the first event could have been that you threw a cup of coffee in his face and then controlled the weapon bearing limb.  You could have evaded a slash or stab using footwork and then follow up with an attack to the eyes.  From there, this gives you the opportunity to enter and control the weapon bearing arm while he is sufficiently distracted.
2. Use of force dictates that if your attacker drops his weapon and/or submits to you within this process, you are – by law – obligated to alter your mindset into finishing the scenario with less-than-lethal tactics.  If your opponent still has a hold of the weapon and you honestly feel that your life is in imminent danger, you must adopt an immediate attack state-of-mind in order to survive such a violent knife encounter until your opponent is neutralised sufficiently in order for you to facilitate a safe escape.

Until next time…

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe

So many topics of conversation relating to countering a knife attack is argued about and debated constantly and the subject of controlling the weapon bearing limb is definitely at the top of the list.  A key issue to consider is first defining the scenario that you may find yourself in- is it a dynamic attack or is it static?  If it is a dynamic attack, the first event will probably not be controlling the weapon bearing limb, but if it is static, it very well could be. 

Everything is Situational and Positional!

Some self defence sources proclaim that it is simply too dangerous or impossible to gain control over the knife wielding limb, yet I personally know a woman who survived a brutal knife attack by controlling the weapon bearing arm and then viciously biting her attacker until she managed to pull the knife free and used it as a bargaining chip for her escape.  She ended up getting some wounds on her hands instead of being permanently scared on her face, or worse- being killed, but… she survived the incident. 

Advising anyone who has been grabbed and then repeatedly stabbed or cut that they should not waste their time attempting to stop and control the weapon bearing limb is a BIG mistake.  More than likely that is exactly how they survived!  When faced with a life threatening situation, it clearly becomes instinctive to stop the weapon which is coming in to gut or slice you into tiny strips.  A mature and enlightened instructor will take and build upon these instincts with a series of skill developing drills, progressively leading the student into a lexicon of scenarios against a gradually to fully resisting opponent.  Succinctly put, people forced to fight back in a knife confrontation and brainwashed into not controlling the weapon bearing limb, suffer from a serious and dangerous handicap for survival.

A key formula for surviving a knife attack is to clear the blade and control it as quickly as possible and neutralise the threat.  The more skilled the knife attacker is, the harder it will be.  We can take refuge in the fact that most people who attack others with knives are not trained.  This is not to say that they are not dangerous, but nevertheless not trained.  Regardless of which type of fighter you are faced with, it is safe to say that the longer the weapon’s edge and tip remain free to whiz around and slice you up like a razor blade, the more damage it will do.

Is this a difficult technique to learn?  That would depend on the speed, skill and endurance of the attacker.  Remember, knife survivors are often injured and wounded several times and still fight on and survive.  This is usually accomplished by controlling the weapon bearing limb at some point during the assault creating an opportunity for survival.  Yes, it can be difficult.  That is why you must practice.  Nobody said it was going to be easy!

We haven’t talked about counterattacking yet.  We’ll do that next time.

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe

If you can walk and run; are familiar with common ball sports or even possess a modicum of agility, then you already know some functional fighting footwork.  Mobility in combat is a vital attribute that is often taken for granted.  Defending against an edged weapon attack will often rely on developing two major sub-attributes of mobility:

1.            Footwork: using the space available in which to move with your feet

2.            Evasion: the ability to get out of the way of the knife attack using your body mechanics 

With solid footwork, you can evade an attacker without the fear of tripping over obstacles only when the altercation takes place in a wide open flat area, which is extremely rare.  But inside a house, a store, an office, a cave, a tunnel, a small room, or on rugged, uneven outdoor terrain, relying on sport footwork alone – so often prescribed by naïve and inexperienced defensive tactics instructors as some kind of catch-all countermeasure to a knife attack – is extremely overrated. 

Too much martial arts/sports fighting footwork training is limited to little more than a few boxing ring steps.  Functional fighting footwork in real world combat is more like running an obstacle course on broken or uneven terrain combined with famous boxing moves like the “step & slide” and the “push shuffle step.” 

Please be advised: before you enter into any area always scan your environment to learn the layout, the exit points and the obstacles that may get in your way. 

Here are the Big Ten moves for developing Functional Footwork:

Functional Footwork Tip #1): Step & Slide

Functional Footwork Tip #2): Push Shuffle

Functional Footwork Tip #3): Pendulum Skip Step

Functional Footwork Tip #4): Walking

Functional Footwork Tip #5): Running

Functional Footwork Tip #6): Moving On the Plus (+) Sign

Functional Footwork Tip #7): Moving On the X

Functional Footwork Tip #8): Moving On the Triangle

Functional Footwork Tip #9): Moving On the Circle

Functional Footwork Tip #10): Putting It All Together: The Combat Obstacle Course

Here are five helpful footwork rules to remember:

Functional Footwork Rule #1):  Your feet never want to be too close to each other or too far away from each other; also, avoid crossing your feet over one another.   Keep them about shoulders width apart.  Remember, I am talking about your shoulder’s not Arnold Schwarzenegger’s.

Functional Footwork Rule #2):  With any stepping motion, always lead with the foot that defines the direction in which you are moving.  For example, if you are moving forward, your lead foot moves first.  If you are moving backwards, your rear foot moves first.

Functional Footwork Rule #3):  With any lunging motion, always push with the opposite foot related to the direction you are moving.  For example, if you are lunging forward, you would push off with your rear foot.  If your lunge backwards, you push off with your lead foot.

Functional Footwork Rule #4):  When you put all of the elements together, you just have to flow.  You footwork should resemble hard-core racquetball (not squash) or basketball; lots of start/stop motions with faking one way and going the other.

Functional Footwork Rule #5):  Once you enter make sure that you maintain forward pressure.

Until next time…

Dedicated to YOUR Survival

Joe