The Little Black Book of Violence

survive, yet robs you of fine motor control and higher thought processes at the same time. Your animal brain (amygdala) rears up and takes control, making it hard to respond, plan, or think your actions through. Consequently, you need to keep things simple and straightforward in order to be effective.

You must employ techniques that do not require fine motor coordination or complicated thought. These applications must also cause serious damage if you want to stop a determined aggressor who, like yourself, is also hopped up on adrenaline. Last, but not least, the techniques you choose cannot take very long to execute. John Wayne-style roundhouse punches, high kicks, and the like take a circuitous route, hence don’t connect very quickly, at least not when compared to other techniques.

Because it is hard not to telegraph these types of big movements, they are easier for the other guy to see, hence easier for him to counter or block. This is not only bad because it doesn’t work very well, but also because the longer the fight lasts, the better the chances that you will get hurt in the process. It is much better to use low kicks, straight punches, and other applications that hit hard, fast, and immediately.

To this end, we suggest six things you should remember in a fight.

• Don’t kick above the waist.

• Don’t play “tank.”

• Don’t hit with a closed fist… unless you’ve got skills.

• Don’t forget to use your mouth too.

• Don’t play the other guy’s game.

• Don’t use the wrong technique for the situation.

Don’t Kick Above the Waist

Funny things happen when you work stadium security. Way back when Kane was a green belt in karate, he had occasion to attempt to throw a patron out of the stadium for rowdy behavior. That sort of thing happened incessantly, yet this particular occasion was somewhat unique. Kane didn’t know it at the time, but the other guy wasn’t just disruptive and annoying; he was also a black belt in taekwondo.

As they approached the gate, the rowdy suddenly wrapped his brain around what was happening and made up his mind that he wasn’t going to leave quietly. Without warning, he suddenly spun and launched a lightening-fast roundhouse kick at Kane’s head.

Street fighters, gang members, bikers, bouncers, law enforcement officers, and anybody else who settles things with violence has a set of favorite techniques that they will use over and over again. Standardization and simplicity are the hallmarks of a good fighter. These guys use simple, straightforward applications and uncomplicated techniques because they work well under extreme stress. When it works, keep on using it until it is no longer effective. The cost of failure is far too high to attempt complicated things that might not be effective.

Sensing movement, Kane shifted slightly, instinctively scoop blocking the kick. It’s not that he was better or faster than the other guy; he most certainly was not, yet the movement was so broad and telegraphed, and took so long to connect that he was able to intercept the kick successfully. We’re talking fractions of seconds here, yet it was enough, particularly since Kane had been practicing that technique over and over for a couple months prior to the incident while working on advancement requirements toward his next belt test. Since it was ingrained into his muscle memory, his body reacted without much conscious thought.

Once he had captured the other guy’s leg, it was no effort at all to clamp it down onto his shoulder with both hands, holding it in place. He then started walking backwards, dragging the other guy over to a police officer who was stationed at the gate nearby. The officer calmly watched Kane dragging the fan towards him, the former rowdy wincing in pain as his leg and groin were stretched, and hopping along in an attempt to keep up without falling over. As the pair approached, the officer sardonically stated, “Hey, I can come back in a while if you’d like to hurt him some more.” While Kane laughed, the other guy went a little pale.

The guy was underage, but he was not drunk so he was off the hook for that one, but worse things were yet to come. The officer examined the rowdy’s identification. Since he’d seen the kick and knew that most folks couldn’t pull something like that off without practice, it was a logical question to ask about his training. The other guy solemnly answered and that’s where things got ugly.

Given the guy’s black belt, he’d just committed aggravated assault. A kick to the head from a trained martial artist is reasonably likely to cause death or serious physical injury so he was in just as much trouble as he would have been had he pulled a knife or a gun. Fortunately, for everyone involved, the kick hadn’t connected with its intended target. The fan, suddenly contrite, was given a choice: He could tell the officer who his sifu (instructor) was so that his unseemly behavior could be reported to his instructor, or he could be arrested for the assault. Interestingly enough, he selected jail as the safer choice. That says something about the character of his instructor.

Let’s face it, high kicks look really cool. That’s why they are often seen in tournament competitions and movie choreography. Unfortunately, these techniques are simply not practical in most real-world self-defense situations. Unless you are vastly more skilled or a lot faster than your adversary is, high kicks are not going to work.

Self-defense entanglements typically happen fast, furious, and at very close range. Balance and unimpaired movement are paramount when you tie up with an opponent. If you are knocked to the ground, you could easily be injured from the fall. Further, you can get stomped, maimed, or squashed like a bug while lying there momentarily defenseless.

From very close range, you can often strike with your knee as muay Thai practitioners like to do, yet there is not even enough room for a full-on leg strike or kick much of the time. On the other hand, if you land a good shot from your knee and your opponent bends over from the impact you can easily follow through with a kick from the foot, but that is a secondary movement.

Even if there is enough room for a traditional high kick, you still should not attempt to perform it in a street fight. Whenever you raise your foot high into the air, you take more time to strike your opponent, weaken your balance, and very likely open yourself to counterattack. Low kicks to vital or painful areas such as the feet, ankles, or knees on the other hand, are much more effective. They are harder to see and avoid, hence more likely to connect. Further, they do not disrupt your balance very much and can easily be performed in most regular street clothing.

No matter how fast you are, it takes way too long to cover the distance required to execute such maneuvers efficiently. They are relatively easy to anticipate, block, and counter. And they leave you off balance far too long. Kicking below the waist, on the other hand, covers a lot less ground and is, therefore, much faster for you to use. In addition to the benefits of more speed and less distance, low kicks are considerably better at helping you maintain your balance when you throw them. Whenever your foot leaves the ground, you become vulnerable and temporarily rooted to the spot where your support foot rests.

Never try to kick a weapon. That’s another thing that looks great in the movies but that can cost you dearly in the real world. For example, if he’s got a knife it takes only a quick flick of the wrist and you impale yourself on his blade. Unless you’re some kind of super-evolved mutant life form, his hands are faster than your feet.

A great kicking tactic in such encounters is to chop away at your opponent’s knees, shins, ankles, and/or feet. Such attacks are quick and vicious. They are difficult to see, even harder to avoid, and cause significant physiological damage with minimal effort. Kane, who has had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage tears in both knees, will be among the first to tell you that damage to a knee is debilitating.

Unless you are vastly more skilled or a lot faster than your adversary is, high kicks are not going to work. Don’t kick above the waist in a real fight.

Once you have entangled an opponent’s feet with your low kicks, you will have a much better chance of landing upper body blows with your hand strikes. If you really want to kick him in the head, wait until you’ve