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The Defend University Newsletter for August 2002 In this issue: Terrorist Attack Warning Terrorist Attack Warning The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center has issued a warning of potential al-Qaeda threats to U.S. infrastructure for August. The warning reads: "The United States Government has received information of undetermined reliability regarding potential terrorist plots during the first half of August against bridges and nuclear power stations. The means of attack may involve suicide-bombers and other methods of explosives delivery, including explosive laden ships." The Homeland Security Advisory System Threat Level remains at Yellow (elevated). _____________________________ How
Will I Know How to React? This is a common question that I get from people all over. I think it stems naturally from fear -- fear of the unknown, fear of pain, fear of embarrassment, and fear of death. It might also be the cousin of the question, "what if I act like a coward when a self-defense situation happens for real?" You might have been training for some time or you might have just begun to train. But that old question continues to nag at you. Don't
worry anymore, I have the answer -- you will react in the manner in which your brain says is the best. Your
brain is a powerful computer. It matches similar experiences you've had in
the past and looks for
the best option. Normally it does not intentionally pick the worst option.
It wants to pick the best that it knows at the time. For example, if you are being punched by someone (your brain is experiencing pain signals from the body) it rightly concludes that you must remove your body from that experience so the pain will stop. If you have very little experience or training in personal combat and you simply don't know what to do or you cannot effectively escape the blows, your brain gets you out of the way by simply shutting down. You get punched, your brain doesn't know what to do so it shuts down -- knock out. It's like blowing a circuit breaker. Your brain is experiencing more pain and stress than it can handle and it shuts down to protect you. Whoops. As you lie unconscious, you are unable to defend yourself and you're likely to be stomped into a small spot on the curb. Thanks a lot brain! Train your brain The
key, then, is to train
your brain. Give it some options. Remember, you will react like you've been
trained to react. So you want to get the best training available
so your brain will have intelligent, viable options available. And, you
want to train your brain so that it will be able to select the best options
under stress. Be careful here. Think about what you want to train for. Your instruction should match your goals. For example, in one police academy field problem, cadets are told that a bad guy has run into a blind alley that has no way out. It is dark, you do not have a flashlight, and there are numerous places for the bad guy to hide. Invariably cadets take it upon themselves to enter the alley in active pursuit of the bad guy. Wrong. The correct answer to the problem is to take up a position at the entry of the alley to keep the suspect contained and wait for backup, preferably backup with a flashlight. Or here's another one. You are at your girlfriend's parent's house for a dinner party. Another guest, a former football player, is becoming increasingly intoxicated as the night wears on. For some reason he takes a certain dislike to you and starts to become belligerent. You avoid him most of the night, but finally he corners you in the kitchen and it becomes obvious that he is trying to pick a fight. He pushes you and then grabs your wrist. What do are you supposed to do now? Side kick his knee in? Palm heel his nasal bone back into his brain? [Just kidding, I hope everyone knows that you cannot shove someone's nasal bone into their brain.] Of course not, you need some options that allow you to defend yourself in this situation. We jokingly call techniques that you would have to use in this situation the "drunk brother-in-law techniques". My point is that you want to consider what range of self-defense options you are realistically considering. If you are an average person looking to defend yourself from street criminals, you don't really need to be spending time practicing sentry neutralization techniques. If you've been in martial arts for a while, you might need to consider how far away your training has taken you from the self-defense goals you had originally. Surprisingly, I've talked with a fairly advanced martial arts student who was stupefied when he was grabbed by the hair during a fight. He spent most of his training time on the "do" or art part of his martial art and not so much time on the "jitsu" or combat applications of his martial art. All of us should be training against common attacks like headlocks, sucker punches, tackles, hair grabs, lapel grabs, kicks, sticks, knives and guns. Look
for concepts rather than rote memorization. We have certain
"techniques" in our training that aren't really techniques at all.
They are concepts that employ principles for those times when you don't know
what to do. You might be attacked in a manner or method in which
you've never prepared or seen. You should have a method of protection that
takes this into consideration. Your training should employ a good number of repetitions over several sessions to allowing you to "groove" your response. (Go here for an article about the number of repetitions and self-defense). And your training should periodically revisit the scenarios so that you can keep your options fresh. Some instructors and programs employ super realistic training like working in and around cars, outside, and deliberate disorientation devices such as strobe lights, fog, and loud music. For tactical exercises, some of the best training employs simunitions or paintball guns to add to the realism. Your training should involve contact and movement with other bodies. If you train primarily in the air or on the bag, you are in for a huge surprise. This doesn't mean that you have to kill each other in training. You can use drills, body armor and good sense to stay off the injured reserve list. You only get better if you train, and you can't train if you are hurt. Since
we keep our self-defense at the forefront of our workouts, I
can't remember the last time I got the "how will I know?" question
from our own students. We
have people who tell us all the time that their real fights felt, "just
like class". Some report that their fights were actually easier than
class because the attackers made all the mistakes that beginners make. You
will react like you've trained to react. So train smart and train
realistically. Company Offers International Phone Package Now you don't have to be out of touch when you are traveling abroad. Air Security International and Cellhire USA LLC can supply you with one phone, one phone number and a complete accessory kit that will work where you travel. The service uses communications satellites to connect the calls. No word on the cost. For more information regarding Cellhire services or to arrange a rental email cellphone@airsecurity.com or call Todd Smith at (713) 430-7300. _____________________________________ Rationalizing
with the Irrational I
don’t cover the psychological aspects of crime or attack too much anymore.
I used to think that the more I could know about the “enemy”, the
better prepared I would be. Unfortunately,
I’ve concluded that I do not have the professional capacity nor the time to
try and reason with an attacker that is completely unreasonable or to understand
an enemy that is completely defies any kind of understanding. In other words, there are so many wacked-out people in the world that are doing wacked-out things, I can't prepare for all of the contingencies. How do you rationalize:
Something that is probably closer to something you might have experienced is this scenario...you notice that someone seems to be staring at you. You look around and don't see anyone else.. the guy is staring at you. You break eye contact, but when you look up again, he is still staring at you. You don't know the guy from Adam, but he strides up to you, puffs out his chest and says, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" Okay, now you are in a fight and you have no rational explanation for it. You are trying to talk your way out of it. Still the guy wants to fight. What do you do? (Find out the answer next month). A turning point for me came after a very bizarre slow-speed pursuit of a guy in a parking lot. We were the second car in the "chase" and we cut off the parking lot forcing the guy to turn around only to find that the other exit was blocked by another patrol car. The guy finally stopped and the officer in the first car had him out and was interviewing him. The district sergeant arrived on the scene and was taking in the problem. The sergeant's patience finally gave out and he scolded the interviewing officer, "He can't answer your questions, he's drunk! You are wasting your time trying to make sense of his actions". It hit me -- I was wasting my time trying to make sense of situations which, by definition, made no sense. You are wasting your time trying to rationalize irrational behavior. You are probably a nice person. You have nice friends and a nice family. Don't try to figure out why some idiot wants to attack you. You only have two concerns when dealing with someone who is violent -- you are either fighting or not. Think about how liberating that is. You don't have to worry about it any longer. You are either fighting or you are not fighting. Two choices. Easy. If the guy attacks you, you are fighting. If he doesn't, you're not fighting. (For a method to determine when the fight is on, go here.) Now I don't waste my time trying to reason with people who just are not capable of reason. Gotcha!
Con Man Can’t Hide in Hawaii
Two lessons to
be learned here: if you are a crook, you will be eventually found and, you can
“con” your way into important political positions. FDA
OKs 'Rape Drug' for Narcolepsy
WASHINGTON
(AP) - The notorious date-rape drug GHB won government approval to treat a
rare but dangerous complication of the sleep disorder narcolepsy - but it will
be sold under some of the most severe restrictions ever imposed on a medicine.
The Food and Drug Administration approval puts the chemical in a peculiar
position. Throughout the 1990s, the government cracked down on illegal use of
GHB - abused as a party drug, sex and athletic enhancer and, because it can
knock people out, a date-rape drug. Several dozen deaths are blamed on the
chemical's abuse. ____________________________________ What’s with all the kidnappings? Elizabeth
Smart According
to Justice Department figures, about 800,000 children disappear each year in
the USA
. Most are runaways or are taken by parents or relatives and returned safely.
About 1% are abducted by strangers, says Jenni
Thompson of the Polly Klaas Foundation, named for
a 12-year-old Does that really mean that 8,000 kids per year are snatched by strangers? Even if the number is 800, that is too horrific to consider. There are evil people out there, protect your family. _____________________________ Subscribers! Now you have access to the entire archive of past Defend University newsletters. Click here for the archives. Have a self-defense question? Take a look at the past questions asked of Defend University or send us your particular question at bparker@defendu.com. Train now like your life depended on it -- someday it might. Brad Parker
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