Use your verbal skills and tone of voice to talk an aggressor out of attacking you or otherwise get him to back down. Even when you cannot de-escalate a pending conflict through verbal skills, you may still be able to use your words as a psychological weapon to momentarily confuse or disrupt an opponent, giving yourself an opportunity to act. Your voice is a very important weapon in your self-defense arsenal. Don’t forget to use it. Furthermore, be wary when the other guy tries to do the same thing back to you.
Many confrontations can be resolved without violence. Even when it becomes necessary to go hands on, it is important to exercise a judicious level of force sufficient to control the other guy without overreacting. An excessive response can make you the bad guy in the eyes of the law. Force options you might select from include (1) presence, (2) voice, (3) empty-hand restraint, (4) non-lethal force, and, ultimately, (5) lethal force. The first two options can prevent violence before it begins, the third may be used proactively as an opponent prepares to strike, and the last two take place after you have already been attacked.
3. Empty-hand restraint
Restraint, disarm, and control techniques can be employed to keep an aggressor from hurting you and/or themselves until law enforcement professionals arrive. You will generally want to respond with a slightly greater degree of force than is used against you. Pulling a weapon on an unarmed attacker, for example, almost always makes you the bad guy.
Beware of chokes and other violent-looking responses. Pins, locks, arm bars, and similar control techniques are preferable if you can apply them safely and effectively. Be very cautious of going to the ground unless you are absolutely sure that your attacker acted alone and does not have friends who might take advantage of your vulnerability to attack though.
Pinning or holding down the drunken uncle at a family gathering might work very effectively, while the same tactics used on an adversary in a crowded bar will almost certainly not. If you do use a restraint technique, try to hold the other guy face down so that he had less chance of fighting free. Sports like judo require that you pin your opponent face up, giving him a sporting chance, something that’s bound to go poorly on the street.
4. Non-lethal force
Non-lethal force is the next step up on the force continuum. This includes striking, kicking, and a whole bunch of other martial arts techniques that cause damage to your opponent. Such strikes should be aimed at non- vital areas of the body. An elbow or knee to the gut is unlikely to kill your adversary while the very same blow to his head could easily result in serious injuries, brain damage, or even death. Certain weapons such as
If restraint techniques do not work or will put you in danger because your assailant is armed, much bigger than you are, or there is more than one of them, you may have to escalate directly to this level should other options fail. Hit-and-run tactics such as kicking the knee or stomping the foot may slow your adversary down sufficiently to let you get away without needing to seriously damage him.
5. Lethal force
The final level is lethal force. This includes both martial arts applications applied to vital areas of the body that can cause significant damage such as strikes to the head or solar plexus. In some cases, chokes may be considered lethal force too. Similarly, deployment of various lethal weapons such as knives, guns, bludgeons, and the like may also be called for. This level should be avoided unless there is no other way to escape a violent encounter unscathed.
When lethal force is warranted your life is at stake. Consequently, all bets are off. Chances are good that someone won’t be walking away from these types of encounters so they must be taken very seriously. You must be mentally and physically prepared to do whatever it takes to survive (see “The Will to Kill” in Appendix C for more information).
Is it really better to be judged by twelve than carried by six? Some self-defense experts throw around the phrase, “It’s better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.” We do not advocate that sentiment because we feel that it trivializes the seriousness of violent confrontations. Never forget that if you are found guilty in a jury trial, you will be spending a whole lot of quality time in a confined environment with unpredictable, dangerous neighbors who may be less than friendly when you interact with them. You may also suffer consequences with others in the community, facing challenges from family, friends, employers, and those you wish to interact positively with on a daily basis.
Bad things can happen when you fight for your life, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fight for everything you’re worth if it gets to that point. Under no circumstances should you let fear of legal consequences keep you from living through a violent encounter, particularly against an armed assailant. If you don’t survive, everything else is meaningless.
To pass Taser certification, you must be zapped in training. The paramedics are laughing because she let out an uncharacteristically foul expletive before succumbing to the voltage.
Most confrontations can be resolved without violence. Even when it becomes necessary to go hands on, it is important to exercise a judicious level of force sufficient to control the other guy without overreacting. Use only as much force as the situation warrants.
Know How to Wrangle Drunks
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
If his rhythm is disorganized, or if he has fallen into evasive or retreating attitudes, we must crush him straightaway.
Not all encounters are deadly. In fact, a few can even be downright comical. Wrangling drunks, for example, is typically light years apart from tangling with armed assailants. It is important to be able to respond appropriately across the entire continuum of violence as we have outlined in the previous section. Since many violent encounters are facilitated by alcohol-induced impairment, we’ll spend a little time examining how to deal with such situations.
Under no circumstances should you let fear of legal consequences keep you from living through a violent encounter, particularly against an armed assailant. If you don’t survive, everything else is meaningless.
For your amusement we’ll begin with the following true story that was contributed by our friend and fellow martial artist Dave Organ. This incident took place in June 2007. While it is positively humorous, at least in retrospect, there are important lessons that can be gleaned from the event too, which is, of course, why we have included it here.
While my diplomatic skills are good, I don’t have a lot of experience negotiating with ambassadors from planet Tequila. Drunks, even ones with all the power and grace of an anemic octopus, can be difficult to
