| |||||||||||
|
The Defend University Newsletter for July 2002 In this issue: LAX shootout offers self-defense lessons ____________________________ "Restricting liberty in hopes of rendering bad people harmless comes at the price of incapacitating good people and rendering them helpless. Liberty does not guarantee safety. If safety is what you want, you will continually forgo more and more liberty." Jeff Snyder ________________________ LAX shootout offers self-defense lessons Tragically, two innocent people are killed by some psycho at the Los Angeles Airport on Independence Day. How can you protect yourself if something like this happens to you? _________________________
El Al guard receives praise: just one example of Israeli
expertise Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres praised "the swift reaction and the
courage" of El Al agents in Los
Angeles. El
Al is widely regarded as the best protected airline in the world, but also one
of the most threatened. From the late 1960s into the 1980s, El Al planes and
passengers were subjected to shooting attacks, hijacking and bombing attempts. The
airline's formidable security includes armed guards at check-in, on-board
marshals and extensive searches of luggage. Passengers are told to arrive three
hours ahead of flights to make time for the security checks. Israeli
security know-how has been very much in demand in the United States, especially
since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Most of the Israelis marketing the expertise have served in the
Israeli army or security services. Some highlights of El Al security exploits:
_________________________ Security guard makes awesome shot on attacker trying to bomb Tel Aviv night clubA Palestinian militant drove a bomb-laden car at high speed toward a Tel Aviv night club, but a security guard shot him dead before he could set off the explosives. The guard who shot the assailant, Eli Federman, 36, saw a car turn sharply and race toward the club. He opened fire and hit the man, who started falling out of the car, setting off a blast. "Then I fired the rest of the bullets into his head," killing him, he said. One other person, a bystander, was wounded by a fragment from the explosive. Talk about being on your toes! Here is an example of someone who is unconsciously competent with their weapon. Federman's skill probably saved countless lives. I don't want to begin sounding like a walking endorsement for Israeli security forces, but damn, these guys are good. ______________________ Beware of buying too much gun Respected firearms expert Ken Hackathorn has said, "After over a decade of use, the good and bad of the .40 S&W is pretty well known. Does it work? Yes. Is it as effective or equal to the .45 ACP? No. Is your 9mm obsolete? Hardly. Pick your self-defense sidearm based upon what works best for you, not what someone else tells you is popular." And make sure the grips are not too large for your hands. Some might feel great with a two hand grip, but in my personal experience you will spend as much time using a one-handed grip on your gun as a two handed grip. ______________________________________ Shooting with flashlights can be an accident waiting to happen I'm hearing reports that police officers and others have experienced accidental discharges of their firearms when using various techniques involving flashlights. Some of the techniques with the smaller flashlights use grips that manipulate the flashlight while getting the support hand on the pistol. There has been at least one report of the butt of the small flashlight pushing on the trigger of one officer's handgun while he was using a particular method of holding the flashlight. The discharge came when the officer was holding the flashlight like a cigar while using both hands on the pistol. Even with standard flashlights, the sympathetic grip reflex causes problems. When you squeeze the flashlight to turn it on, you have a tendency to squeeze the trigger with your other hand. Conversely, I've seen tons of officers unintentionally let their flashlights go dark when they release the trigger of their shooting hand, they release the button of their flashlight with their non-shooting hand. It's tough to make your hands do two completely different actions, especially when they entail fine motor skills and you are under stress. Keep your finger off of the trigger and straight along the frame while you are solving the problem. If you have not shot with a flashlight, I STRONGLY suggest you do so as soon as possible. Even if you are a fairly accomplished shooter, you will be in for a rude awakening. Practice shooting in the dark with your flashlight. I don't care what method you use to hold it -- FBI, Harries, Ayoob, Chapman -- just get competent with one method so you can count on it when the chips are down. _____________________________________ How Good is your Opponent? "When I conduct training, I always ask my students, 'How good is your opponent?' The correct answer? He's as good or better than you. You are, at the least, fighting your mirror image. The classic military blunder is to underestimate your adversary. You must understand he could put you down in heartbeat if you give him -- or her -- the opportunity." Ken J. Good _____________________________________ Inmate rearrest rate climbs, rise reverses trend of 1980sMore former state inmates are getting arrested again after being released from prison than a decade ago, the Justice Department has reported. Convicted car thieves and burglars were more likely to be rearrested than those who had served time for murder or sexual assault. Younger people and those with longer criminal records also were more likely to be arrested again. "Many states are being pressured to relax or abandon their habitual criminal sentencing laws," said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a pro-law enforcement organization in Sacramento, Calif. "This report shows that would be exactly the wrong approach." My point is that many -- if not most -- criminals continue with their chosen profession. You need to prepare yourself and continue your vigilance. ________________________________ Cop videotaped punching kid in face: Does your system work on controls vs. hitting?
Here we go again. The
Inglewood police officer who was videotaped as he slammed a handcuffed teenager onto a car
and punched him in the face is, predictably in hot water. The
tape shows Officer Jeremy Morse smashing Donovan Jackson, 16, into a
car, then striking him in the face during an arrest Saturday at a gas station.
Two other officers appear to intervene, with at least one trying to pull away
the first officer's arm. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- you will fight like you've trained. And if you've trained primarily in the striking arts, guess what, your first reaction will be to strike.
In the continuum of force, there is a component that is known variously as "light physical force", "soft hands" or "compliance techniques". This level is always below that of the force that entails hitting, striking, or kicking.
I grew up as a striker, so I'm always fond of it. But by necessity, I have devoted the last 8 years of my training to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu which has really opened the options available to me.
Do yourself a favor and cross train in some sort of grappling art or one that incorporates a serious amount of joint manipulation, throws, locks and holds.
________________________ "In a stranger-rape situation, if he allows you to see his face, you get his name, or you can somehow otherwise identify your attacker, and he knows it, it’s all the more important to get away from him, even if he has a knife and you are risking injury. Because unless he’s quite inexperienced, he’s likely to kill you to leave no witnesses." __________________________ Criminals:
you can run, but you can't hide with
'Mr. Potato Head' The photographic database and facial recognition systems, called Crime Capture and CrimeWeb, allow investigators to pick different types of facial features to search databases for criminals. The
software from ImageWare Systems Inc. replaces the paper records that can often
take days or weeks to find or send to other agencies. Officials
around the The
photos, combined with fingerprints, names and other personal information, are
aggregated into a database that can be accessed by other law enforcers. The
database is easily searchable, allowing officials to quickly find faces that
are similar to a witness' description. For example, officials in
The
system also can help identify cars, allowing officials to search on different
makes, models and types and even add dents and pin stripes. In
the United States, about 900 police departments, including in New York and Los
Angeles, and federal agencies such as the FBI use ImageWare technology. In
Las
Vegas,
officials use the system to automate background checks for 250,000 casino
workers, while the state of _____________________ Street robbery and violent crime soar in LondonIt's a sad thing to see -- levels of street robbery soared by 28 percent last year in London according to new figures. In my experience, you could always count on being safe in London. Theft was rampant, but violent crime was very, very low. Now all that is changing. Government reports show that violent crime, murder and burglary were also up. Data for crime recorded by police in England and Wales between April 2001 and April 2002 showed street crime surging by 28 percent, violent crime rising by 11 percent, house burglary up seven percent and murder up four percent. Sex crime levels rose in total by 11 percent, with incest up 16 percent, rape against women up 14 percent and rape against men up 11 percent. For those of you in the UK looking for training, contact my friend Liz Clark through her Web site at http://www.womens-selfdefence.co.uk. Even if you are a male, Liz and her husband run with the best self-defense instructors in the county, so contact her with any self-defence questions you might have. ____________________________ 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
|
|
|
