Defend University Newsletter Feb 2002

In this issue:

Hockey Dad’s Sentence Offers Lessons
Stash Cash in Your Car
Airport Burglary Ring Busted
Attention Criminals
Despite Comical Criminals, Avoid Crime Magnets
Resist Your Inclination to Retreat in a Straight Line
Sorry, Wrong Brad Parker
Britain, Australia top U.S. in violent crime
Hard Challenge Signals Resistance and Gauges Start of Fight

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Hockey Dad’s Sentence Offers Lessons

If you haven’t heard, Thomas Junta has been sentenced to twice the minimum sentence guidelines for killing Michael Costin in a brawl at a suburban Boston ice rink in July 2000. Costin was about 100 pounds lighter than the 275-pound truck driver.

A Massachusetts jury convicted Junta on Jan. 11 of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. The judge said there were some aggravating circumstances in the case, namely that the beating death of Costin was witnessed by children, including the children of both men.

The jury admitted it was a case of mutual combat, but what swung the jury was Junta's general out of control fury (pushing his way back into the arena with such force that it left a bruise on the female manager's arm) AND that Junta had the opportunity to stop the beating when the deceased could no longer resist -- especially when people were screaming "YOU'RE KILLING HIM".

A couple of points here:

1. When you are mounted, to witnesses YOU are the aggressor;
2. You should train to include some submissions or immobilization techniques in your arsenal;
3. Juries tend to frown on battering someone with your fists repeatedly in the head area when they cannot respond.

It is not uncommon for people to die after they've been punched. (Most of the times it's when you punch someone and, in their drunken stupor, they fall over and crack their head on the pavement). In these cases, the aggressor almost always is found guilty of manslaughter.

Something to think about if your techniques consists only of striking.

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DO NOT BECOME A VICTIM – JOIN THE WAR AGAINST CRIME!

We offer pepper spray, animal repellent, stun guns, advanced Air Taser guns and laser sight modules, PLUS hidden and surveillance cameras.

Wouldn’t you like to know what the babysitter is doing when you are not there?

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Stash Cash in Your Car

It seems like money is only a problem when you don’t have any.

Cash seems to make a number of problems look smaller when you have it. Offering a tip to a gas station attendant closing for the night might let you fill up your tank when you desperately need it. The rural garage might not take a personal check and there probably won’t be an ATM around.

Stash money in your car somewhere for emergencies. I can’t tell you what you might need it for, but it sure comes in handy when something out of the ordinary happens. I keep mine in my battle bag inside my trunk.

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Airport Burglary Ring Busted

Speaking of keeping your valuables in your trunk, a car burglary ring has been broken up at a major U.S. metropolitan airport (I don’t think it has been released publicly, so the city will remain unnamed).

Back in January of 2001, I mentioned in the Defend University newsletter that airport car burglars were breaking into cars and stealing the garage door openers. With your address from the car’s registration, the burglars then paid a visit to your house while you were away on business or holiday.

It turns out (at this particular airport anyway) that the ring was made up of young men who were employed by the airport to transport travelers by wheelchair around the concourses. Think about what a perfect cover that is for these criminals. They have access to all areas of the terminals and are routinely going out to the parking lots and back. A position like this tends to be the kind of job, like a janitor, that becomes "invisible" to most people. You get so used to seeing these guys around the airport and parking lots that you don’t pay any attention to them.

Ironically, I have one source that said some of these same guys also filled in at the security checkpoints for the final wanding of passengers.

Put all your stuff into your trunk. While some cars can have their trunks accessible from inside the passenger compartment, it is worthwhile to keep all your junk (including your garage door opener and your registration) in the trunk just to keep down the interest from burglars. If your trunk can only be unlocked with your key, then you are in good shape. Just make sure you put your documents and opener in the trunk. Remember, the nasty part about this is that they are NOT interested in stealing your car, they just get the opener and your address from your glovebox or visor. So all your car theft deterrents and wheel locking devices still work because they don’t take the car, but your house is empty when you get back.

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Attention Criminals

If you have just robbed a bank, murdered your spouse or are transporting drugs in your car AND you are pulled over by the police I would advise that you put your hands up and comply with their orders.

Don’t reach for your gun, reach for your cell phone, or reach for your wallet. Don’t act bizarre and ignore the cops’ orders.

You’ll end up like the late Adan (spelling correct) Sandoval, a 20 year old bank robber who passed the teller a note demanding 100s or he would shoot her in the face. He fled in a stolen Land Rover which became stuck after plowing through two chain link fences. Sandoval was killed by five police officers who opened fire on Sandoval, hitting him 30 times. (One officer alone emptied his magazine of 16 rounds, which accounted for the high number of shots fired.) Sandoval repeatedly ignored police orders, and repeated reached down for a black object which officers thought was a gun. Turned out to be a cell phone. I wonder who he thought he should call?

Sandoval, who tested positive for methamphetamines, had been in trouble with the law before, but his family described him as a good, loving kid. "It's a terrible thing they've done to my son," Eva Sandoval said. "If he was doing something bad, that's what jail is for."

First of all, a 20 year old is not a kid. For most purposes, that ends when you are 18. And, if your 20 year old is robbing banks, threatening to shoot a teller in the face, and being a meth head, you’d better make them sit in time out!

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Despite Comical Criminals, Avoid Crime Magnets

Sometimes we ask ourselves why criminals choose to live a thug’s life. In my experience it usually revolves around supporting a drug habit. But in some cases, it’s probably because they are too dumb to try anything else.

Take the case of Michael Anthone Jacobs, 18, who is facing charges of armed robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, criminal damage and aggravated robbery. Police arrested Jacobs recently in connection with three armed robberies that were so botched they are almost comical.

Jacobs’ first robbery was a Walgreens Drugstore. Apparently, that first job went so well that later the same day, Jacobs robbed another Walgreens, but he dropped his gun on the way out and broke it.

Three days later Jacobs approached a cashier at a grocery store with three candy bars and handed her $20. When the clerk opened the drawer, Jacobs tried using pepper spray on her, but the clerk put the money in the drawer and closed it before anything could be taken. The pepper spray prompted Jacobs to have an asthma attack and he had to stop and use his inhaler, losing the partner he was doing the robbery with. When Jacobs ran from the store to make his getaway, he found the keys were locked inside his rental car. He smashed a window with a rock and drove away, but he forgot to turn on his headlights.

A police officer pulled over Jacobs for driving with no headlights and subsequently linked him to the robbery while writing the citation.

The only thing NOT comical about these robberies is that, like the vast majority of robbers, Jacobs was armed (the pepper spray still counts as a non-lethal weapon, but I’m more concerned with the first two robberies that involved a handgun). In the "old" days, armed robbers usually left clerks and citizens untouched after getting the loot. Now it seems that more armed robberies deteriorate into a homicide scene when the criminals shoot the clerks even when the poor person offered no resistance. Or the thugs shoot innocent citizens who happen to walk into the scene. There is plenty of discussion amongst law enforcement officers about being caught in one of these robbery situations when off duty or in plain clothes. Some of the older officers indicate that they used to think that they would simply comply during the robbery UNLESS the criminals started to pat down the victims. Now, some of these same officers are saying they would be prepared to resist from the start of the robbery because of the criminal’s propensity to shoot witnesses.

The bottom line is to be EXTREMELY careful when you are going to areas that are known for armed robberies. Convenience stores (or more affectionately known as "Stop n’ Robs"), liquor stores, drug stores, fast food restaurants, gas stations…in my experience these stores are virtual crime magnets, especially late at night. Take a moment before you walk in and look through the windows to see if there is anything unusual going on. Do a quick scan when you enter the store. Be aware of what’s happening and avoid the situation in the first place. If something starts to happen, FLEE IMMEDIATELY! If you’ve ever seen surveillance videos of robberies in progress there are often citizens in the store who continue to stand around even during the most heinous crimes. Make a quick tactical retreat out of the store. If you can’t get out of the store, get as far back in the store as possible away from the problem.

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Resist Your Inclination to Retreat in a Straight Line

As part of the fight or flight instinct that we all have, there will be an irresistible urge to back away from an attacker in a straight line. You are virtually hard wired to do this.

Studies (documented by Bruce Siddle) show that your brain craves more information about a problem so it wants you to widen your visual field to be able to collect more data. You begin backing up to create this wider field for your eyes.

Gunfight and fight participants report that they begin to anticipate getting hit, even wondering what it will feel like. The body wants to create as much distance from this anticipated pain as possible so it begins moving away from the source.

I’ve continually worked to incorporate strategies and methods into our training and courses that take advantage of our instinctual moves rather than fight them. However, this particular instinct can get you killed, you MUST train to overcome this.

You’ve probably seen this or encountered this instinct when you are sparring or doing kumite in competition. You tend to attack forward and retreat backward, like fencers lunging in and out.

The problem is critical in a fight because your attacker can advance faster than you can retreat. It becomes absolutely life threatening in a gunfight because you cannot retreat faster than a bullet. (I’ve got plenty of video of gunfights and virtually ALL the participants are backing up and shooting at the same time).

Most gunfights happen within what’s called "the hole" (contact distance to six feet). There is a formula that for every foot you add in distance outside of the hole, your chances of getting hit go down. That’s great, but the bad guy’s bullets are going in a straight line and I can’t count on him being a lousy shot.

So, the obvious answer is that you have to learn how to retreat off the line of attack. In other words, a train is coming down the tracks…step off the tracks!

I like to coach our fighters to circle away from the opponent’s power side. In a gunfight you might circle toward the power side, checking the opponent’s gun arm so he can’t follow your movement with his own gun.

Now don’t just read this newsletter and say, "yeah, that makes sense" or "yeah, I know that" and don’t practice. You must train with the concept all the time. You have to train SO much that it overcomes your natural instinct to back up.

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Sorry, Wrong Brad Parker

I had a Defend U. visitor contact me the other day with news that his firewall blocked access to the Defend U. Web site at work. He received a message saying that the site contained sex, nudity and adult content.

Strange. Turns out that there is a Brad Parker who produces sexually explicit comics, so apparently the firewall was blocking any site that had "Brad Parker" attached to it. Sorry, I don’t have a side job in the adult comic book publishing industry…

But it does bring up a point. Some filters might block access to the site because of the use of words like "rape", "sexual assault", etc. I might have to limit the use of those terms so as not to have the content incorrectly indexed by search engines.

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Britain, Australia top U.S. in violent crime

Despite what we’ve heard for years from gun control and anti-self-defense advocates, an international study says citizens of Britain and Australia are more likely to be victimized by violent crime than their cousins in the U.S.

The International Crime Victims Survey, conducted by Leiden University in Holland, found that Australia ranked highest for violent crime in the industrialized nations and that England and Wales ranked second overall. Twenty-six percent of English citizens -- roughly one-quarter of the population -- have been victimized by violent crime. Australia led the list with more than 30 percent of its population victimized.

The United States didn't even make the "top 10" list of industrialized nations whose citizens were victimized by crime.

WND reported that, although lawmakers responsible for passing the ban promised a safer country, the nation's crime statistics tell a different story:

Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent. Assaults are up 8.6 percent.

Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent.

In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent.

In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily.

I reported in earlier newsletters that frequent targets for home invasions now in Australia are the elderly.

However, a glaring point in this study is that the U.S. murder rate is still about 7 times higher than in comparable countries.

Social scientists quoted in a Wall Street Journal story about the study said that for years Britain’s crime rate was low because of early and stern intervention with juvenile offenders. The resulting increase in crime has come with the increasing laxness in dealing with criminal youths. The decrease in the U.S. crime rates has come with increasing and predictable punishment for criminals.

Apparently, the record prison population is the price the U.S. had to pay to begin getting a grip on exploding crime rates in the 70s and 80s.

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Hard Challenge Signals Resistance and Gauges Start of Fight

I’ve received a number of questions regarding the hard challenge from the Rape Escape Level 1 video. This is where a person has approached you and has ignored your soft challenge. You step back and raise both hands, arms outstretched, palms facing the opponent. You verbalize at the same time, "Stop! Leave me alone!" or "You’re not going to hurt me, are you?"

I advocate that a woman escalate to the hard challenge position, even IF she decides for some reason that she is either unwilling or unable to resist further.

This hard challenge position is also the same posture we teach for all our personal protection and combat self-defense courses. I like it for a number of reasons:

1. When you step back and get your hands up, YOU are controlling the distance, not him;
2. You’ve put him on notice that you are willing to resist. Studies have shown that half of all potential rapists break off their attack if the defender even indicates a willingness to resist. Think about that, if you even ACT like you are going to resist, you have just increased your chances of success by 50%;
3. With your hands up, you’ve marked a boundary that tends to keep an opponent further away;
4. Witnesses can instantly identify that there is a problem (this won’t assure that you will get help from anyone). It’s obvious from your posture who is the good guy and who is the bad guy;
5. You have kept your weapons in between you and the opponent. Your front hand is a good gauge of distance (watch Royce Gracie use his front hand during any of his UFC matches). Plus, it is like a trip wire, when you can touch him with your front hand, you can touch him with your rear hand. That means a palm heel thrust to the chin is a prime technique when he continues forward;
6. When you have your hands up and keep them in line, protecting your centerline, you force the opponent to either swing around your hands or to grab or move your hands. In the Rape Escape series, there are a couple of easy solutions for when the guy grabs the woman’s hands…depending on whether you want to leave the area or stay where you are. Against the hit, it is significantly easier to block a swing coming in a circular fashion around your hands than it is to block a punch straight up the middle.

It is also a great method to gauge when the fight has started. This is an area that we’ve seen a lot of students have trouble with. Someone approaches you or some words are exchanged. It might be temporarily confusing, do you assume that this isn’t really a fight or do you leap forward and rip his throat out? The question comes up over and over, "I think I know WHAT to do, but I’m not sure WHEN to do it". When you use this hard challenge method, you know when to do it. The bad guy tells you when the fight has started.

Here’s how. He comes up to you, typically engaging you in conversation ("interviewing" you to see if you will be a good victim). You maintain eye contact (but you are not Mad Dogging him) and move away or to the side. Depending on the situation, you verbalize (the soft challenge). He persists in aggressive behavior. You step back (or to the side forcing him to face you with his next move) and get your hands up and verbalize with the hard challenge.

Now it’s up to him. His next move tells you whether you are fighting or not. If he stays in his spot, no matter what he says or how loudly he says it, you are not fighting. If he makes a move toward you, you’re fighting.

One caveat here. Just because the guy did not make a move on you at this time, get your stuff together and make a tactical exit. He might be getting his courage up to go through with it, his buddies might be goading him to fight or he might be getting a weapon out of his car. If I’m in an altercation, no matter where, I quickly make a move to leave if the guy (or guys) are staying. If they leave, I wait around for a long time, but not until closing time. AND I make sure I don’t get jumped in the car park.

I’ve recently learned that Geoff Thompson uses a similar method and calls it "the fence". Having seen Mr. Thompson demonstrate it, he uses it in a more subtle and sometimes deceptive manner. As I see it, he keeps his hands in between him and the opponent at all times, but moves them around as if he was gesturing and, luring the opponent into a false sense of security or using a sort of distraction technique, then cracks the guy with a punch to the jaw for the knockout.

You always have the option of deescalating the conflict at anytime from this position. If the attacker doesn’t make a move toward you, there’s no fight and you can continue to disengage. Since most of human perception is biased by what we see rather than what we hear, witnesses almost universally see you as the defender and the other guy as the aggressor.

Try it in your training or your role playing.

You have one life, fight for it!

Brad Parker

Defend University/Women’s Self-Defense Institute