Benjamins Yarn

Can you imagine Bruce Lee with a gun?

Me neither.

Truth is, there’s very little about Bruce Lee’s view on guns. He was more focused on using his body, other weapons, and his mind to win and dominate fights.

But here’s the rub:

If you want to give yourself the highest chance of survival in a violent situation you should at least familiarize yourself with the basics of firearms. Even if you are someone who doesn’t want to have a gun, use a gun or even look at a gun.

Why?

Because — and this happens all the time to people who never thought it would — you never know when you will have to use a neighbor’s, or one that you’ve just wrestled out of the hands of an attacker.

This is a very common scenario, actually. You just never know when you are going to be thrust into a situation where you will have to use someone else’s firearm to save your own life.

For example…

Imagine you are fighting some thug and you manage to disarm him. He gets up and pulls a long, blood stained knife and starts coming at you.. You have the gun pointed at him and have maybe five seconds to use it.

Do you know where the safety is on it? Do you know how to quickly turn off the safety if it is on? Is the gun cocked? Are there any bullets in it? If so how many? Do you know how to check?

For some people, these are simple questions. For others — especially people who are deathly afraid of guns, or hate them and have never really considered they may need to use one some day — these are just a few things to consider learning about.

Basically, different distances between you and your assailant will require different strategy and techniques. There are 3 ranges: Long range (least common), middle range and close range(the most common).

Long range is when you or your assailant cannot launch an attack without first moving forward. Thus, this shows that it is not easy to attack successfully at this range. Chances are your assailant is not going to start attacking you from this range. As I’ve said before, most of times they will only attack when you are at least in the middle range without any warning as this gives them a better chance to control you. Nevertheless, you will still need to have some basic self-defense techniques to be able to protect yourself in any range.

Middle range is the distance whereby both of you are able to kick each other without taking an extra step forward. At this range, both of you are able not reach each other with a punch without taking a hop or a step forward. This range is generally more dangerous than long range. You have to pay extra attention to his legs in this case to watch out for any kicks.

Close range is the distance where both of you can easily punch each other. Grappling is also involved at this range. As such, this range is the most dangerous since size and strength begin to matters more. This is the range that you need to avoid as much as possible as the chance of injuries increases threefold. Well that is why I’m going to teach you more techniques in this particular range. We are going to focus a lot in this area, as this is the most crucial area. Every move counts so you would want to make them count. This is simple because all rape occurs in close range. Your ability to grapple and fight on the ground is of great importance. That is why even though you may be a black belt in Taekwondo, when you go to the ground, it is a different story altogether. Your skill in kicking is diminished the moment you are lying on the floor. Many people will say, “Well, I can punch or kick the assailant first before he is able to come close me”.

Let me tell you the reasons why such a thought is seriously flawed. Firstly, it is unlikely that you are able to hit an assailant who is most probably going to be bigger and stronger. This is because in such a state of panic, your fear will blur your accuracy. To strike a full-grown man and make him collapse in an instant, require you to be extremely accurate in hitting the right target with the correct amount of force. Are you REALLY confident in doing that? How many strikes do you think you need to collapse a man? Yes sure, a powerful front snap kick at the groin will simply bring ANY guy to the ground and make him wailing pathetically but WHAT IF you miss? Ahah! That is why you seriously need to learn some basic groundwork and grappling skills - no matter what! Well, the other day, I was reading a newspaper article about a Malaysian Chinese lady who was brutally raped and then murdered. She had a black belt in Taekwondo. After the accused gave a detailed account on how the horrible crime, the questions that was ringing on mind was “She had a Black belt but why dun she put on a fight? Why did it seem so simple for him? Can’t she at least use one of those fanciful kicks? After all, she has a black belt.” It boils down to a few reasons.

Firstly, by having a black belt in a martial art that emphasizes on kicking does not really train her on defending herself on the ground. Yes, the assailant did have a gun with him. However, it is quite impossible to rape someone with a gun in the hand. The best moment she can counterattack is too strike back the moment the correct opportunity arises. Later, in the book, I will teach you how to recognize those opportunities. This incident showed that a woman’s chance to defend herself against rape depends highly on her ability to fight on the ground not her kicking abilities. That counts for nothing when adrenaline is rushing through your body and your focus will be affected consequently. I am not trying to ask you to stop practicing Taekwondo if you have start training. Taekwondo helps to build your confidence and fitness but it does not really train you to fight on the ground. Punching on the ground is not so effective - remember that. What you need is specific techniques to focus on as well as an effective strategy for you to follow.

(Above is just an excerpt from a chapter of the popular book
“Effective Self Defense Against Rape in 10 Days”. To download
the complete chapter of the book for FREE, you can go to
http://www.womenself-defense.com)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ahmad Mutammim is a recognized authority in
the Self-defense industry. He has a Black belt in Taekwondo and
is also trained in other Martial Arts such as Judo and Silat. He
has fight experiences in street encounters and is also a former
police officer in the Singapore Police Force. His self-defense
book, which is a must-have for all ladies looking for sufficient
knowledge of defending against rape, can be found at:

http://www.womenself-defense.com

Copyright 2006 Ahmad Mutammim. Please feel free to pass this
article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or
newsletter. It’s a shareware article.

Confidence

Confidence and ego are not necessarily the same, nor are they mutually exclusive. One must have confidence to work toward one’s dreams. However, one must not let accomplishment inflate the ego. The ego consumes entirely and clouds the mind. It drives one’s mind higher into the sky and farther from reality. Clouds and life have a tendency to rain. When this happens, your fire will be dampened, you will fall back to earth, and you will feel pain and remorse. Your clouded head will rain tears. However, rain and tears are part of a growing process. Yet, one must not allow oneself to drown in remorse. One must search for the truth of why one did not succeed, how one let oneself be so blind. That is the not-so-subtle difference between ego and confidence. Never forget this, or you will be reminded of it. Also, it is better to be reminded of it in the training hall than in life.

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Dedication

Dedication is need to walk the unending path to perfection. One must continually seek truth, in every thing. Narrow and hard is the way of truth, but great are the rewards at the end.

My path is found on the battleground of life serving my Lord and Savior. I am far from perfection, but I believe He is leading me all the way. If Christ is not your Truth, I can not hold it against you. I am only another human being on the road of life.The most I can do is help others the best I know how. Consider all this carefully before making a decision. Remember caution in all decisions, for you will need dedication to see you through to the end of where they lead you.

Never forget this, or you will be reminded of it. Also, better to be reminded of it in the training hall than the battleground of life.

Owen Johnston lives and teaches Wado ryu Karate in Lake City, South Carolina. He enjoys reading, writing, training, and spending time with his fiance. Please visit the Johnston Wado ryu Karate page for more information about the author’s Wado ryu Karate school.

Frequently, I get asked about certifications, systems or methods. We made a decision a long time ago of purposely staying away from things like this.

Obviously, it’s a no-brainer, money maker and it’s not that I don’t want to make money; but our purpose was to give you real training on the real stuff. Certifications and acronyms lead to a false sense of security and there’s a fine line between sense of accomplishment and sense of security.

Personally, no matter how many black belts and “certifications” I have- I can always find people 10 feet outside my dojo who could care less. That and 5 bucks can get you a venti, no caff, half caff, caramel mochachinno deluxe, no whip of course.

I may be beating a dead horse….. but its about the TRAINING. Training and practice is what counts. Now ITS NOT YOUR FAULT that you search for this stuff. You have been conditioned with certifications, acronyms black belt clubs and all that. The only thing that’s good for is padding your resume. We “ain’t” about that. If you want something to hang on your wall- buy a mirror and take a long hard look in it. If you like what you see and you are true to your training - that’s what matters.

We have been thinking of “naming” the system. Carl thought of this, I didn’t. It’s going to be called:

Fierce Unarmed Combat Karate Instinctive Training.

You figure it out.

Copyright 2003 www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com ©

Damian Ross is the owner of Zenshin and instructor of Tekkenryu jujutsu and Kodokan Judo. He started competing in the combative sport of wrestling in 1975 at the age of 7 and began his study of Asian martial arts with Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do at the age of 16 in 1984. In 1989, Shinan Cestari gave a seminar at Sensei Ross’s dojo. Sensei Ross has trained under Shinan Cestari’s direction ever since. In addition to Tekkenryu Jujutsu, Judo and Tae Kwon Do, Sensei Ross has also studied Bando. Sensei Ross continues his study of Judo under the direction of 8th degree black belt Yoshisada Yonezuka and Tekkenryu Jujutsu under it’s founder, Carl Cestari. Below are is a list of some of his title ranks
Yodan (fourth degree black belt) Tekkenryu Jujutsu under Carl Cestari
Shodan (First degree black belt) Kodokan Judo under Yoshisada Yonezuka
Varsity Wrestling Lehigh University under Thad Turner
2nd Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do