A handgun can definitely make you safer but it can just as easily put you and your family at risk.  The average handgun owner who bought a handgun for home protection has shot only 30 rounds from the box of 50 that came with the gun the day they got it and haven’t touched it since.  If we are to have a handgun in the home for protection we have a major, major responsibility.  Anyone who owns one needs to be an expert with it.  They need to have gone through safety classes, put hundreds (if not thousands) of rounds through it and know the gun inside and out.  It needs to be stored where a child cannot get to it.  Not hidden, stored.  A child can find anything hidden and they will go through your bedroom sooner or later out of curiosity (a shock to some parents).  Most safes and lock boxes will keep children from the handgun but, unfortunately, make it difficult for you to get to if needed for protection.  Anything with a combination or key will be very hard to access when you have experienced the adrenalin “dump” because fine motor skills go to pot (See our past blog on the dump).  What I recommend is a safe made by Gun Vault.  It has a cut out for your fingers where you just press the buttons that you have pre-set.  Press the buttons to access several times a day to get muscle memory for when you really need access.

 Many handguns have been used against their owner by the bad guy.  If you have a handgun you must absolutely mind set what you will do in any situation (see our past mind setting blog).  You must set in your head when and under what circumstances you will fire the handgun.  If you cannot pull the trigger and shoot another human, don’t have a handgun.  When the scumbag figures out that you can’t shoot him he will then take the gun from you and a very bad situation will get worse!  Again, mind setting and planning is of paramount importance.

 Handgun ownership is an individual’s decision.  Nobody can decide for you.  If you do decide to own one be smart about it.  Become an expert on the handgun that you purchase and know exactly how, and under what circumstances, you will use it.  Take the time for mind setting and pre planning or the very thing that you bought to be safer will make you much less safe and can even lead to tragedy.

There are things worth risking life and limb for.  It seems that most of America doesn’t want to risk anything for anyone.  In SGT Strong’s book he talks about a woman who was abducted and tortured for weeks.  She escaped once from the scumbag’s car on a highway as she was being moved.  She ran down the highway and he chased her, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back to the car.  Not only did nobody stop to help, nobody even called the police!  There are times to intervene…but it is dangerous to do so.  I’m not talking about standing up for a lady’s honor in a bar because some biker slapped her on the rear.  You aren’t the protector of the world.  However, if someone is being seriously injured, even if a stranger, it is probably time to jump in. 

When you do have to intervene, there are things to keep in mind.

1)      Just like with self protection when it is go time you go with all you have.  You go extreme and you go ballistic.  If you think that your response may be too extreme you shouldn’t be intervening.  Keep the pressure on and go until you and whoever you are helping are safe.  This is usually when the scumbag is knocked unconscious!  We aren’t looking to restrain or put in a “come along” type of joint lock.  If that is all that needs done nobody was in very much danger.  What are you going to do after you have them in a joint lock….walk them to the courthouse?  What do you do when his buddy shows up, let go and have two to worry about?  Unless you are law enforcement, a bouncer or a school teacher don’t “control” with a joint lock!  Do major damage with the goal being get the heck out of there.

2)      Keep the attacker in sight but don’t have tunnel vision.  It makes sense not to take your eyes off of the threat.  Watch his hands, are they going to his pocket for a weapon (keep in mind that every scumbag carries at least a blade)?  Is he heading for the pool cues?  Does he appear to know how to fight?  Although you have to watch him you can’t have tunnel vision and see only him.  Everyone, even scumbags, have buddies.  When you jump in they will jump you.  Again, go hard with the goal being to get yourself and the victim out of there.

3)      Be safe.  Anything goes.  If you are in a fight to save a life (and it’s yours that you are trying to save as well when you insert yourself into the problem) anything goes.  If the situation calls for it hit them with the car you are driving.  Pick up a brick.  Use whatever you can get your hands on.  Again, if you think what you are doing may be too extreme, the situation wasn’t bad enough to put yourself into.

When you have no choice but to put yourself into a bad situation to save another; be smart about it.  Look at the threat as targets.  If you look only at targets it doesn’t matter how big they are, how mean they look or even what they are doing to you.  You see targets that need hit…and hit them as hard as you can.  Remember to constantly be looking to disengage and get yourself and the person you are helping to safety.  BE SAFE!

Thanks!

“Self defense is a short list of techniques that may get you out alive when you’re already screwed”

“If it’s complicated it’s not self defense”

Krav Maga is simple.  Simple to learn, simple to remember, simple techniques….so the philosophy is pretty simple to grasp!  When it comes to self defense there are just a few things to keep in mind.  1) If somebody needs hit they need hit as hard as you possibly can!  Teddy Roosevelt said something to the effect that “it is a sin to hit softly.  Don’t hit at all if possible but if you must hit, hit with all your might”.  We agree.  We spend a lot of time in class working on striking.  We want everyone, no matter their size, to have knockout power.  We train for knockout power but we don’t take it for granted so….2) if someone needs hit once, they need hit many, many times.  The thought here is if someone needed hit they were a threat to us.  One strike may not have neutralized the threat.  The threat needs pounded until it is no longer a threat.  3) Don’t stop hitting until you are safe.  We are safe when they are unconscious.  We can never pause to see if we’re being effective.  Pausing is a break and recovery time for the bad guy.

The philosophy of our Krav Maga techniques (choke defenses, headlock defense, etc) are pretty simple as well.  1) Get rid of the danger.  If a choke is on we have very little time before it will damage our trachea.  A learned motion is always slower than a natural motion, this is why Krav Maga uses natural body motions.  In the case of a choke there is pain on our throat so our hands are moving to the pain automatically.  This is why we use the “pluck” technique.  Our hands are doing the defense before we even know someone is there.  2) Always use a simultaneous counter attack.  In that choke defense scenario we may pluck the attacker’s hands off but then what?  He puts them back on us, hits us or draws a knife.  This is why as we are plucking the choke we are sending a front kick at the same time.  An attacker doesn’t choke with his legs crossed, he is asking for this groin kick!  3) Go off like a bomb!  Maybe the groin kick devastated the attacker, maybe not.  We aren’t going to wait to see.  After the groin kick we send an elbow as we land forward then we grab hold and knee and front kick the bad guy into oblivion. 

Really the philosophy of Krav Maga can be summed up in two words.  BE SAFE.  When people hear that I teach Krav Maga they say “oh, that brutal stuff”.  I always say “not brutal, effective”.   I don’t see it as brutal.  I didn’t start the attack.  When someone wants to hurt you or your family what is “brutal”?  Everything goes and anything less won’t keep you safe.  So….BE SAFE!

When Israel became a nation in 1947 he was so highly thought of that he was put in charge of the Israeli defense forces’ hand to hand combat.  Problems that Imi had that are great for us today were that he had all types of people.  If you were in Israel at that time you were in the IDF.  He taught both men and women ages 18-55,  He had everybody – non-athletes, overweight people, etc.  so you’ll see no jump, spin, flying anything in Krav Maga,  It’s things anyone can do like a lot of groin kicks!  Imi had to teach things that didn’t rely on brute strength or size because he has small women to train.  It had to be easy to learn and easy to remember because he had them for such a short time to train.  If you know anything about Israel, it had to be effective.  Krav Maga isn’t a Martial Art where things are done because of tradition.  Israel doesn’t care about tradition, they care about survival.  If something comes along easier to learn or more effective they’ll jump to that technique in a heart beat. If you know anything about Israel you’ll know that  Krav Maga is probably the most battle tested defense system in the world.  It has been used to save lives countless times.  Thanks Imi!!

There are many talented martial artists.  I know of Tai Chi masters who could whip 99.9% of us.  I especially admire BJJ.  Those guys are the most in shape, best conditioned people I know.  If my son was to do a martial art I would want him in BJJ.  But….BJJ’s philosophy is to patiently control an opponent until they can be submitted.  Add a second attacker, a knife, etc. and that philosophy isn’t self defense.  I have often said if masters from other systems came into my gym and challenged me in front of my students most would probably kick my butt and make me look stupid.  However (and this is self defense) if that same guy was in my house and going to hurt my family I would come from behind, break a chair over the back of his head and then take one of the broken shards and see how far into his throat I could ram it.  I would not lose.  Krav Maga is doing what it takes to be safe, and refusing to quit.  

Martial arts are great for kids.  Martial arts are great exercise, great stress relief, great for socializing and meeting other good, hard working people.  When a traditional martial art calls itself the ultimate in self defense is when I have a problem with it.  All martial arts were designed to overcome the problems that the founder was facing.  Some martial arts were designed for the battlefield, some for unarmed peasants to overcome soldiers wearing armor, some for using anything found in nature to make a weapon of, etc.  I spent countless hours in my traditional martial art in a front stance only to discover that it was designed for balance when fighting on board of ships, and even more hours in a horse stance to discover that it was for peasants who were too poor to own a horse to practice for the cavalry!  Krav Maga was designed by the Israeli Defense Forces to keep people alive in modern times against enemies with handguns, rifles, knives, sticks, throwing fists, throwing knees, choking them, grabbing their hair, etc., etc.   We have a friend from another system whom we train with who just doesn’t like Krav Maga.  He over thinks everything and wants pressure points, joint locks, etc.  What he does is better than Krav Maga….for him.  He doesn’t get that he is an unusual person who wants to spend hundreds of hours a year for many years getting proficient.  He loves working on the stuff.  Krav Maga is only concerned with getting people as safe as possible as quickly as possible.  Are we the best at knife defenses?  Maybe not but instead of spending hundreds of hours getting awesome at a knife defense only to have a handgun shoved in our face we want to learn enough of a knife defense to keep us safe and alive and then move quickly to learning the defenses to the other hundreds of ways a person can be attacked.  I think most martial artists will admit that if someone takes their art for three months and quits that they aren’t very good and won’t be able to defend themselves very well.  Three months in Krav Maga gets a person almost ready to be tested into level 2…and you are pretty darn good when you get that far. 

Most martial arts made sense in their place in history or are now being designed by one man for modern problems.  These that rely on one “founder” worry me.  Techniques are designed in a gym with students as the attackers.  I have seen a system that taught a straight knife defense as a crescent kick to the knife and a back kick to the attacker (you better have a quick crescent and a devastating back kick!!).  I have also seen a system where the founder taught his students a handgun disarm that consisted of doing a forward roll towards the gunman and then coming up from under the gun and twisting it away (with his students mesmerized at his awesome technique…scarey!!).  A handgun defense that looks like it should work, and works with simunition guns, is being taught as gospel.  Has the founder ever had someone try to shoot them, stab them, bash their head in with a brick?  Krav Maga was designed by an entire Military.  The bullshit didn’t make it through because there is no Grand Poobah who has an ego….there is only keeping people alive, period.  When I hear someone say they have a way better handgun defense than what Krav Maga has I laugh.  If it were easy to learn, easy to remember and effective it would be Krav Maga, we would have stolen it already.  We don’t have a system that has to guard its traditions. We’ll switch to another technique in an instance if it works better.  Keeping people alive and safe is all it’s about.

A lot of systems work for the head instructor.  I can think of several systems where the head instructor is awesome and totally unbeatable (he’d kick my butt!) but the question is can that same system work as well for a 100 pound unathletic female as it does the six foot two, two hundred fifty pound instructor?  In Krav Maga any technique that we use or add has that exact filter to get through.  Will it work for our smallest, weakest practitioner?  

A lot of martial arts are technique based while Krav Maga is philosophy based.  For example, when a knife is coming towards our mid section we want to deflect it, counter at the same time if possible and then either get the heck out of there or beat the idiot senseless.  The traditional martial art I took had of 30 different techniques for a straight knife stab.  Hick’s law states that when we have more than one choice it takes time to decide between them.  How much time do you have when a knife is being thrust into your gut?  Another problem is a lot of techniques have many steps.  If in practice I always must do A through F I get lost in real life when it derails at step C.  One other big problem I have with martial arts and real violence is students buying into what they are taught and having it be bad training and getting them hurt.  SGT Rory Miller in his great book Meditations on Violence talks about the time he visited a martial arts school and was sparring with one of the black belts.  He got punched in the nose and threw a technique back at the black belt.  The black belt stopped and bawled him out saying that they train realistically and that if he broke Rory’s nose the fight would be over.  Rory told the black belt that he has had his nose broken from a punch three times in his life and it never ended the fight, that he did indeed go after the puncher harder!  If that black belt is ever in a real fight he’ll deliver a nose punch that he was taught would devastate the other guy, stop fighting, and get creamed!

MMA?  These guys have the Krav Maga philosophy for training.  Be ready for anything.  If you are great on the ground but are facing a stand up guy or vice versa you are in trouble.  It makes sense to be good no matter where the fight is.  The UFC has taught us that there is no unbeatable martial art but that you have to be good at several.  The main problem with MMA training is that it is for sport.  One of my instructors carries around the rules for MMA in his bag and when someone asks him what we do in Krav Maga he shows them the rules and tells them “We want to do everything that is illegal in MMA fighting”.  We want to bite, head butt, poke eyes, kick to the groin, etc.   These are illegal in MMA because they cause damage.  Causing damage is what we want to do in self defense.  Really, self protection and self defense in MMA would be to bring a knife with you into the ring, to hit him from behind before the bell or to know that your fight is Saturday afternoon but find your opponent on Thursday morning, bring some friends with ball bats, and have at him.  I certainly don’t condone this but the point is a fair fight means your tactics suck!!

Again, we are not bashing any other system.  We just believe that when it comes to self defense people need to think about what real violence is.  Flashy techniques, training incorrectly, training for situations that no longer exist and complicated moves get people hurt.  Our main rule in Krav Maga is BE SAFE.

Home intrusions have a higher rate of serious injury and murder than any other crime.  Armed robberies have a 10% serious injury or murder rate, for example, while home invasions have a 35% rate.  Home invasions mostly follow the same pattern.  It’s as if these scum get together and exchange depraved ideas!  It starts off with “do as I say or I’ll blow your (child, spouse, etc’s) head off!”  They then tie the adult males up (often making one of the victims go after rope, electric cords, objects to use as weapons, etc.) before tying up the rest of the family.   This is almost always followed by torture and sadism.  The women will be raped and brutalized.   This will go on for hours as the scumbags have seclusion which gives them time.  When they leave it is often not before killing everyone.  In 1991 there were nearly half a million home invasions nationwide, it is worse today.

The predators burst in, sneak in a window, etc. or use a ruse to gain entrance.  Almost 100% of these predators are career criminals.  With isolation comes control and these crimes almost always go from robbery to terrorism and sadism.  This is a most serious, horrible situation.   First and foremost look around your home.  Decide how anyone can get in and rectify the situation.  Set rules with the family about locking doors behind them, not answering to anyone they don’t know, etc.  If you decide to have a gun in the home remember that they aren’t magic.  Someone who merely has a gun in the home and never trained with it quite often has the gun used against them.  The whole family MUST be trained well in their use.  As we said in previous blogs, as soon as you realize the bad guy is there you go off on him with all the rage you can muster.  Fight as if your life depends on it until he has been taken out.

What is the best thing you can do to prepare for such a horrendous event?  Home invader drills!  We practice home fire drils with our kids, we must also prepare and practice a plan for home invaders.  Kids are more resolute than we think.  This won’t really scare them if handled matter of factly.  Let them know that there are bad guys out there and if one is ever in the house here is what we do!  The intruder will almost always try to subdue the adult males first.  Let everyone else know that they are to make noise, bust out windows and above all…get out.  Do not listen to a word the predator is saying but scatter and go get help.  If even one person is out the predator now has to make a decision about how much time he has before police arrive.  SGT Strong makes the point that it is very, very hard to leave a family member in danger but the danger they are in for the few minutes before the criminal must flee is miniscule when compared with the danger of the entire family being taken captive. 

Why Krav?  We learn to attack when faced with danger.  This becomes our first reaction.  We pride ourselves on teaching not only techniques but situational awareness as well.  Our drills help us to mind set and think in advance about what we are going to do in any situation.

The recidivists do not look at consequences.  Jail doesn’t scare them.  They live for today because they really don’t expect to live a very long life.  Prison is a stop to get medical care, food and shelter.  They will continue their victimizing in jail, it’s just a change of scenery to them with a new victim pool.   This criminal’s sense of right and wrong is grossly distorted.  There is no remorse, no regret and no hesitation to use violence as and end to a means.

He is an expert with words.  He can lie so sincerely that his own mother would believe him!  We expect people to be reasonable like we are.  We expect people to be truthful like we are.  When the predator is telling us to obey him and he won’t hurt us it causes us to not spring into action because we reason that if we do what he says he will keep his word.  The predator knows this, he knows what works.  Always remember, if he had any humanity, would have any remorse, had any good in him at all, he wouldn’t be committing a crime against you in the first place.

Predators are very patient to get what they want.  They will wait and attack from the greatest advantage they can find.  They will set up this advantage one of two ways.  The first way is by absolute surprise.  You weren’t paying attention and were somewhere secluded from others.  He was waiting with his weapon, handcuffs, van, etc.  He was planning while you were totally unaware.  The second way is to use charm and then surprise.  The predator charms his way close to you, into your house, near your car…and then attacks you.  Please remember that charm isn’t something we are born with.  We can be born a happy person.  We can be born a serious person.  We can be born a quiet person.  Nobody is born a charming person!  Charm is something that someone has had to work on.  Charm is an act! 

Most Scumbags were raised in horrible situations.  They weren’t loved or nurtured, were abused, had a rough life.  This makes the bleeding hearts want to “educate and rehabilitate them”.  These people can’t be helped and don’t want help.  They hate life and hate you.  They don’t think you should have a happy life because they didn’t.  Stanton Samenow in his book Inside the Criminal Mind makes the point that no matter how the predator was made once he is created he remains a predator and no rehabilitation will change this personality trait.  Personally, I don’t care about their bad life.  That’s a sad attitude but my role in life is to care about my family.  There is no feeling bad for someone who wants to hurt my family.  They don’t look at us as human so if attacked don’t look at them as human.  Look at them as a horrible animal that needs your all out effort to destroy.  Don’t listen to a word coming out of their mouths, don’ t be tied up or moved.  Don’t hesitate.  When confronted go off as soon as you know what is happening and go off with all of your might!

Why Krav?  Because there are people out there like this!

-93% of rapists who break into homes grab a knife from the intended victim’s kitchen

-80% of men involved in general attacks on women (muggings, robberies, beatings) don’t use a weapon, 80% of men involved in attacks on men do use a weapon.

-A study of intended rape victims found that of the 51% who fought back there was only a 2% increase in injury level compared to those who did not resist.

-80% of rape victims are between the ages of 16 and 24.

-80% of crime happens at work, at home or on pathways between the two (as well as pathways for exercise, etc.).

Statistics are good to know but don’t do us a lot of good.  Even those who avoid being in the majority categories of any of these statistics can be attacked.  The main thing I want to get burned into your mind today has to do with the secondary crime scene.  The secondary crime scene is anywhere the Scumbag is moving you.  This can be around a corner, behind a building or into his car to travel 100’s of miles away.  If a piece of Human Garbage is going to hurt you in public for not obeying him what can the outcome possibly be when he has you in an isolated spot?  The perpetrator of rape and torture needs time and seclusion to fulfill his plans.  Nearly 100% of all murdered rape victims were in an isolated spot (home or apartment) or moved to an isolated spot.

There are two horrible mistakes that women too often make when face to face with a criminal.  The first is believing him when he says things like “Come with me and I won’t hurt you”.  The other is waiting for the right moment to make their move.  On the first point, the bad guy knows you want to believe him when he says those kind of things.  This is why he has perfected lying.  This works for him.  On the second point there will be no perfect (or even good) time to resist.  More important than anything else for your safety is the fact that you must go off with rage and total commitment the second you realize what is going on.  From Strong on Defense by SGT Sanford Strong “Time works against you.  Don’t cede control, even if you think it’s only temporary.  (If you don’t try to escape right away) you are much less likely to escape at all.”

Most women who successfully fight off a rapist or killer, according to studies, all did the same four things.  1) they reacted immediately,  2) they resisted with rage,  3) they refused to be moved to a secondary crime scene and 4) they refused to give up, even when injured.

Our first option is always to run.  Even if he has a weapon, run!  This should always be our “flinch” reaction and be our first response.  Be aware and observe wherever you are.  The sooner you see him the more distance you have.  Distance is our friend.  Be aware of exits, where other people are, etc. at all times.  Realize that if you walk in on something bad going down the way you got in is usually the fastest way out. Sometimes hiding is an option.   Fighting is last on the list.  Men are generally larger and stronger than women.  When a woman decides to fight back it has to be an all out effort with the main goal being escape.  In most cases there is no amount of force that you can use to discourage a male attacker, he must be incapacitated. 

In summary;  Don’t ever allow yourself to be moved to a secondary crime scene.  Don’t wait to resist.  Resist the second you realize he means you harm and go off with all the hate and rage that you can muster!  Don’t listen to what he is saying, concentrate only on escape.  Run when it’s an option.  Always be aware of your surroundings.  

Be Safe!

Martial arts for women’s self defense?  Choose wisely.  Most martial arts are a piece of the puzzle.  They were developed by their originators to overcome specific problems.  There is a martial art that was developed for warriors on a battlefield who find themselves without a weapon, there is one that was developed for unarmed peasants to be able to use farm implements against mounted and armored soldiers, etc.  True story:  I was a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo.  During my martial arts career I spent hundreds of hours practicing techniques in a horse stance (a mild squat).  When I found out that the history of taekwondo’s horse stance was so that peasants who couldn’t afford horses could still pretend that they were on a horse and practice the techniques in hope of joining the military someday…..i was torqued at all that wasted time!!  There are few martial arts that were designed for a woman to fight off an assault as their main emphasis.  Furthermore, the most common way for a rapist to move a female from public to a secondary crime scene is to show a weapon and demand she obey.  Would one of the militaristic martial arts which demand “yes, sir” and obedience every time the “Master” gives a command be good training for women in the real world?

There are so many “experts” in the field of self defense for women that it is easy to be confused.  Do not ever go against your own common sense or experience on the word of an “expert” or with the majority’s opinion.  Back in the 60’s an “expert” was telling women to carry around large hat pins to defend themselves.  One poor older lady had her purse snatched and as the criminal was turning to run with the purse she remembered that expert advice and took out her pin and stabbed him with it.  He promptly turned around and punched her in the face, breaking her jaw.  Some advice!!

Whatever system or techniques are learned it all comes down to attitude.  SGT  Sanford Strong in his book Strong on Defense (a must read for women’s self defense) flatly states “Surviving violence is all about mental toughness.”  He goes on to talk about mind setting and accepting that you will be injured (past blog topics) “Break fear and fight back by 1) deciding what you fear most, injury or being controlled by the criminal.  Accept injury as the price you pay to escape.  2) mind set and visualize ahead of time.  Focus on escape, not on what he is saying or doing.”

Why Krav?  Krav Maga doesn’t blow smoke about it’s practitioners not being hurt or having “never fail” techniques.  We mind set in our class drills preparing for violence.  We make you exhausted and mentally tired during our drills to duplicate fear and pain.  We teach techniques that will give you a fighting chance but mainly we teach attitude!!  Swing for the fences, the bad guy is going down, I don’t stop til you’re unconscious ATTITUDE!!