The bad news for parents is the child abductor is out there.  Out there in big numbers.  The good news is, with the help of you, the parent actively working as their Safety Coach, the great majority of children (96%) can stop the Chicken Hawk – the cowardly child molester – in his tracks, or at least cause him to break off his attack and drive off empty-handed.

This I say boldly because I know the Chicken Hawk from too many years working the streets as a state parole agent.  The Chicken Hawk is cowardly on one hand but extremely dangerous on the other.  Dangerous because he chooses only prey who are smaller, weaker, and, if possible, more frightened than he.  He is deadly because he possesses no soul.  He is a total psychopath with absolutely no concern for the feelings, the safety, even the life of a small, beautiful child.  His only thought is of and for himself.

The Chicken Hawk is a cold blooded sociopath who chooses his prey methodically,.  calculatingly.  This is a game to him and he has the unnerving patience to play the game for months, tracking, profiling and abducting just one chosen victim.  Even when he attacks, it is rarely rash and impulsive.  Even then he has a set up where he can test his prey, set the prey up by gaining his or her trust, and, then and only then, when the child is ready, does he strike, catching the child off guard and hitting the kid with blinding speed, carrying him or her off before the child can make a move.

The moment that every Chicken Hawk lives for and prepares months for is that instant when he sees the shock hit the child, witnesses the paralysis that freezes the child’s entire body just before he tosses the child into his car or van and drives away from the initial crime scene and heads to the isolated secondary scene.  A house, apartment, section of woods or lonely grove minutes or hours away.

You might be thinking, Um, Thanks, Hammer.  Thanks for all the Bad News.  What can I possibly teach my child to stop this type of predator in his tracks?  To which I reply – Plenty.  You can teach them plenty.  And most of the strategies are based on the hated Chicken Hawk’s personality profile:

The Chicken Hawk

• He is not looking for a fight. 
• He is looking for a mild, meek, compliant child.
• He abducts through intimdation in most cases, not physical force.
• He does not want to physically harm, injure or kill the child in the initial crime scene. 
• He is a coward, an opportunist waiting for the moment the child is alone, weak, distracted.
• The Chicken Hawk has a pre-planned scenario or script.  The longer the script is allowed to play out by the child, the bolder, more confident he becomes.
• Speed and Invisibility are the Chicken Hawk’s greatest friends.  He needs to get the child out of that child’s milieu and into his as quickly as possible and with as little notice by witnesses as possible.
• The Ideal Abduction Scenario is:  A lone child in an isolated area who acts “normal,” is quiet, un-aggressive, who can be snatched quickly without drawing attention.
• The Worst Case Scenario (where the potential kidnapper will most likely break off his attack and go elsewhere) is:  The intended victim is with another child(ren).  When that child spots the Chicken Hawk he makes direct eye contact, moves to gain distance, screams or makes noise otherwise, points at the Bad Guy, demands to know “What do you want?  Get Back!” and uses barricades (tables, chairs, benches, garbage cans, trees, picnic tables, cars, et al.) to create distance as well as a barrier.
• The last type of child the abductor will profile and choose as a victim is a kid who Acts Crazy.  “Crazy” children can scare off a potential abductor for any one of a zillion reasons, but the fact is they are unpredictable, possibly dangerous, and have unlimited potential to screw up any kind of predetermined abduction plans (Note:  I am not saying your child has to BE crazy.  He/she just needs to ACT crazy, like rolling on the ground as if his/her shirt is on fire, screaming, pointing, grabbing a branch off the ground and wielkding it like a weapon).

Parents:  As your child’s Safety Coach, here is your assignment.  Accepting what I have written in the above passages, what can you teach your child in the way of preventive measures to maximize his or her chances of escaping and evading an abduction attempt?

In Part II I will delve specifically into several Escape and Evasion Strategies for your child, like:

• Improvised Weapons.
• The Element of Surprise.
• Waiting For the Best Time To Counterattack.
• Delaying the Bad Guy in the Initial Crime Scene.
• Simple, effective strikes and gouges against vulnerable, primary targets.
• Escape and Evasion tactics that REALLY WORK at the initial crime scene, just outside the Bad Guy’s Car and Inside the Car!

By Hammer

I Dont’ Know if I have any steady readers, but, if you happen to be one, you have noticed that I haven’t been posting in a while.  For the last couple months I’ve been on The Road conducting back-to-back-to back PPCT (Pressure Point Control Tactics) Instructor Certification Trainings for law enforcement officers

 from State College, Pa. to Bryan, Texas, to Charlotte, North Carolina and, now, Reading, Pa.  While I am sure my global positioning is not why you are reading this, I thought maybe you would be interested in some SSPS - Super Secret Police Shit -  which I shared with some of my classes in Spontaneous Knife Defense (SKD), Ground Avoidance and Ground Escapes (GAGE), Defensive Tactics (DT) Violent Patient Management (VPM) and others.  Who knows?  Might save your butt some starless night in any one of a number of attack situations.

EDGED WEAPONS

My SKD program is simple and  realistic.  There are plenty of sexier trainings out there, folks, but edged weapon attacks are grisly, heart-freezing events, and, if the attacker has a plan and knows what he (or, she) is doing, you had better do something - like right the heck now -  otherwise fear will immobilize you.  I’ve been there and if you don’t respond immediately, you will be cemented to the ground.  And, trust me, epoxied to the deck is not where you want to be when the Bad Guy has a knife.

First, a few things about an edged weapons (knife) attack:

Ø       Almost every attack will be preceded with a distraction.   A distraction can be almost anything, including asking a question that will cause you to look away or to “go into your brain” to think of your reply.  A handshake, or just extending one hand toward you while flicking a razor in a blur into your wrist or forearm to cause a gush of blood designed to freeze you.  A harsh psychological wound. 

Ø       The intent of every edged weapon attacker are twofold:  (1)  To close the distance and (2) to penetrate a vital organ (heart, stomach, sub clavian (inside the clavicles, under the armpit), radial and carotid arteries). 

Ø       The Bad Guy/Gal - at least the dangerously skilled knife fighters - has a definite strategy aimed at, in my estimation, playing a merciless cat and mouse game with his or her victim.  The attack can begin with several maddening Flick Attacks, directed to the wrists and forearms to cause superficial wounds and bleeding to psychologically freeze the victim and/.or to cause him or her to grab the bleeding wound with his or her free hand, thereby opening him/her up for the next attack, usually a series of lightning fast slashes followed by a thrust or three, delivered like a punch into the vital target.  The Thrust of all the knife strokes is the most deadly.

Ø       The thing to remember here, though, is it all started with the element of surprise and a flick, which, while painful , is relatively benign.  Surprise plus speed equals the Freeze Factor equals serious injury or death.  The key is to Do Something ASAP and to Reverse The Elements on the Bad Guy.  Once uncertainty and fear takes over and the heart rate spikes from 80 BPM to well over 220, our Sympathetic Nervous System will flood our Central Nervous System with stress hormones and we will freeze in abject fear.

SOME SIMPLE SURVIVAL STRATEGIES

1.       THE 4 A’S.  Always be aware, assess our surroundings and others in the surroundings, anticipate, meaning have some idea in your mind what you would do if you were approached and/or attacked, and take action immediately when your gut instincts tell you something is wrong.

2.       BY “TAKE ACTION,” I mean one or more of the following acts designed to kick start your motor skills and break the Freeze/Fear Factor:

Ø       Breathe Don’t Freeze.  Our brain needs oxygenated blood in order to do what it has to do.

Ø       Disengage Quickly:  Remember:  the attacker must close the distance before he can use the weapon.  Distance Is Our Friend. 

Ø       Move Diagonally:  Most victims try to disengage by moving straight back.  Fact - an attacker can easily out run you moving forward as you run backwards.  Plus, you will most likely trip, and, if you don’t trip, you will definitely be off-balance when the attacker does catch you.  Use a neat J-Step or simply move diagonally.

Ø       USE BARRICADES IN THE ENVIRONMENT TO GAIN TIME AND SPACE ADVANTAGES:  This requires you to be alerts and aware of your surroundings.  Sadly, most of us are oblivious as to what surrounds us that can save our lives.  Use a chair, table, car, garbage can, door, desk, pole, et al. to make it hard for the attacker to get to us directly.  Doing this might short circuit the attacker’s thought process, also. 

Ø       THROW AN OBJECT(S) THE ATTACKER’S FEET, ET AL.  Throw whatever you have in your hands or near you at the attacker (this is a great strategy if you have distance on your side.  If the attack is spontaneous and at close quarters, we will have to rely on our personal weapons to save our lives (another blog perhaps)  I have delayed and eventually escaped an attack long enough to draw a firearm by throwing chair - one after the other - at an edged weapon attacker’s (sharpened screwdriver) feet.

Ø       A WOUNDED ATTACKER IS NO ATTACKER AT ALL:  I know this is easier said than done, but I know several people - none skilled martial artists or known warriors, but each and every one of them possessing that Warrior Mental Attitude filled with determination and grit - that understood my above Fighting Arts Premise and have turned the element of surprise against the Bad Guy and, immediately upon suspecting that the person in front of them - going by understanding body language and by trusting their gut instincts - had an edged weapon and was about to attack = have struck like a cobra BEFORE the attack even begun, both short-circuiting and fracturing the attacker’s plans and confidence.

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NEXT POSTING:  Strategies to prevent being taken to the ground.  Strategies to recover, even if taken to the ground.

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BY HAMMER

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Guess I have preached a lot about the element of surprise in many of my posts. There’s a good reason for that, of course. people close their eyes, hold their breath and either pray the attacker goes away, or flail away pathetically at the attacker.

More likely than not, the Bad Guy will try to distract you before he attacks you. He wants to attack you as your thoughts are fragmented and you are looking away at either your watch (”You know what time it is, Lady?”) or a peripheral object (”Excuse me, Lady, you know where the bus stops?”). Next step is he will grab you and grab you quickly and expect you to freeze. I advocate a state of readiness when you know the man is approaching you and that gut feeling hits you that something is not right. Prepare a good verbal response, prepare a good physical response and will yourself to carry it out.

HERE IS THE ALL-IMPORTANT HOW-TO-WIN PART. RULE 1: Take what the Bad Guy gives you. If he grabs both your hands or grabs one hand with both his hands, you know that he has given you everything! He cannot punch or block with either hand, so every target is open. If he grabs you with one hand, over half of his targets are open and you can anticipate he will slap or punch with that hand.

· Let’s say the Bad Guy is a belligerent drunk, a-hole who suddenly transitions from a desultory conversation into a full scale attack where he closes the distance, grabs you and pulls you in. Take what the moron has opened up for you, I say, so, act compliant and even allow your arms to rest near his chest and pretend you are hugging him. Now, turn the surprise on him and quickly drive both hands through the open space around his armpits, lock your hands behind him, and dive in. I guarantee the attacker will be surprised, his thought process fragmented, and he will be weakened. You can headbutt his nose several times, probably breaking it. Simultaneously, you can knee him in his groin by driving it straight up like you are in a marching band. Quickly follow up with other strikes. Now, disengage, escape and get help.

o The Bad Guy has encroached on your PSZ (Personal Safe Zone) despite your protests and now he is in the process of intimidating you. Your instincts are throbbing, telling you something bad is about to go down, and, as much as you would love to ignore them you know you cannot. You also believe that if you tried to turn and run, he would be on you quickly and things would get much worse quickly. Here is what I would love you to do: Adopt what I call the Praying Mantis Stance by forming a steeple with your fingers in front of your chin (looks like you are begging him for mercy) and ask him to let you go, which he most likely will not do (Hey, if he does, then go). This should invoke a false sense of security in him and cause him to relax his guard. When this happens, drive your right arm and elbow as hard as you can into his face, making sure to pivot your hips and use your body weight. The elbow is our strongest striking area on our body. It is very hard, very durable and a good strike with it can be a dead bang knockout blow. To perform this knockout strike from the Praying Mantis Stance, imagine taking your “prayerful hands” and driving them toward your left shoulder and allowing that elbow to rotate from next to your floating rib cage horizontally through the attacker’s face. Perform this move in slow motion by yourself using an imaginary or real target or with a partner either holding a pillow (target) or making his or her shoulder as a target. Practice the shoulder strike in slow motion, also, making sure that you rotate your hips and shoulders but only hitting your partner’s face with a very light touch drill. Of course, practicing this strike under the supervision of a good instructor using strike pads and Red Man Gear would be ideal.

· BACKHAND ELBOW HOOK STRIKE: Going back to the above scenario, you have fooled the attacker with the deceptive Praying Mantis Stance and have drilled him on his chin with a good horizontal elbow. Chances are, though, he will still be up. Groggy, but up. Since you are in position with your right hand touching the top of your left shoulder and your sharp elbow poised near his face, drive that (right) elbow as hard as you can back toward his face (a gorgeous Backward Elbow Strike) and drive the sharp point into his jaw, cheek or chin. Thing is, he will have recoiled from the original strike and his face will have turned that way.

· DESCENDING DROP-ELBOW STRIKE: Remember: Always think in terms of follow-up and multiplicity, which is what we are about to do now. You have hurt him with your two elbow strikes and instinctively his head has dropped toward his chest. If that is what this Bad Guy has given you, then take it and beat him into submission with it, I always say. As his head drops, the back of his head and the top of his spine becomes a tantalizing target. Form a loose fist and hold it above your right ear (if you are a left-hander, then it would be your left ear and your left fist) and drive your strong elbow straight down into that target, throwing your weight behind the strike.

· ASCENDING KNEE STRIKE: In my perfect (training) world, the Bad Guy is almost out on his feet and after delivering the descending elbow, you grab his head with both hands and push it toward the ground while driving your strong-side knee hard straight up into his face, By holding it with your hands, you have created counter pressure to make the knee strike twice as powerful and effective.

· ROLL THE BAD GUY AWAY AND ESCAPE, IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO,

THE HAMMER

TIME for some tough talk about seriously hurting another human being.  Up until now, these postings have explored issues surrounding avoidance and prevention, which is 95% of successful self defense for women, perhaps 90% of self defense for men.

BUT NOW you have been cautious, employed “soft eyes,” even used distance and assertive language, but, still, the huge, belligerent drunk growls and rushes into your personal safe zone (psz) and now his hands are on you and you know he is so much stronger than you.

What do you do next?

IF YOU are like 9 out of 10 victims, you hold your breath and freeze.  You try to formulate a countermeasure, but your mind scours your Short Term Memory for a plan of action but there isn’t one because a plan is only effective if it is done before a critical incident.

You snap out of it about two seconds into the assault, but the drunk’s confidence has escalated because of your passivity and he is choking you with one hand and opening the door to his van with the other and you feel yourself too tired, too numb to even try to defend yourself now and you are giving up, silently praying that somehow he will show mercy on you, even though you keep hearing that mantra in your head:  “Never ever go with him.  If you do, you will never, ever return.”

BUT THEN, maybe you are a man, woman, or teenager who has trained in one of the Martial or Fighting Arts.  Maybe you, like me, are committed to becoming violence when abject violence is the only thing that can save you.  It is what I call The Greatest Blow On Earth, capable of leveling the playing field, of Blowing the Bad Guy Away.

THE GREATEST Blow on Earth involves a chain of actions linked together by Surprise, Speed, Power and Location.  The Survivor Philosophy is Two Eyes For An Eye.  After all, the stupid drunk asshole grabbed hold of you  I urge you, the intended victim, (The Survivor) to disintegrate any thoughts of regret about what you must do, which is, frankly, to destroy one or all of the assailant’s Primary Targets.  After all, the Bad Guy’s hands are latched onto your chest, so his hands are not hitting you and they aren’t able to block the eyes, throat, groin and/or knees.  The Survivor also understands the mentality of the attacker and when the Bad Guy pulls you in,you use the Bad Guy’s power to propel you into his personal safe zone.  From close quarters you can do many,many bad things to the assailant and there is very little he can do about it, at least for the initial few seconds.

COMMIT yourself to the tactics of multiplicity and follow-up, once you are inside his safe zone.  That means hit as hard as you can in vulnerable areas that will do some damage.  Do not stop until you can safely disengage.  Christopher Pagotto, a MMA competitor with whom I work out from time to time, suggests that anyone fighting a serious battle for his or her life should think in orbits.    He explains:

“Instead of singular and linear strikes to a target followed by returning the hands to the guard position only to repeat the stroke, I believe in smooth looping and straight punches, but let’s add another element.  Any sub-targets in the lane or zone of the primary target should be destroyed or at least struck on the orbit home.”

Pagotto demonstrated his orbit philosophy by driving a looping right fist “into” my right forehead (a touch drill which landed like a feather, thank goodness) and, then, as the punch returned on its path, he deftly clapped a Palm Heel (touch drill) into my right ear.

“Heck, Hammer, Pagotto concluded, “the thing is to hit as many targets as possible in as few strokes as possible.  Here we have a nice hook to the temple.  You got the Bad Guy reeling a bit, but he’s not out. Next thing he knows, his ear is ringing and his balance is messed up.  Follow up with an elbow or a kick and the clown is down.”

Next Posting:  More Scenarios and Survival Strategies.

By Hammer

MY ORIGINAL TITLE for this posting was something like “When Predators Attack,” and what you are about to read does apply to predators, but from time our actions can influence ordinary people - humans like you and me - to become aggressive and sometimes even attack violently.  I have also learned that our words and actions can often delay or even completely eliminate the possibility of an attack, which, of course, is why I am writing this.

Under The Influence

According to George Thompson, founder of Verbal Judo, Inc., it is axiomatic that the person you are dealing with is under the influence of elements and conditions you may or may not be aware of.  These conditions create a condition of temporary mental in-balance, that, if I wished to deescalate that person, I really needed to take into consideration.  My philosophy was that I needed to think and act for that person as if it were 12-hours in the future and that person was no longer under the influence of:

• Humiliation (Humiliation is the only one of these influences that cross every single culture).
• Embarrassment
• Shame.
• Guilt.
• Hatred of Authority.
• Misinformation.
• Drugs and/or alcohol.
• Rage.
• Anger.
• Fear.
• Cultural Insensitivity.
• Racism.
• Ignorance.
• Pain.
• Suicidal ideation.
• Disrespect ( A Trigger For Many People from many variegated cultures)
• Peer Pressure.
• The Audience.

There are many more influences, but in this limited posting, I need to move on.  The important thing about the other person being under the influence is what may trigger an attack in one person (who is brain damaged and takes your neutral words and interprets them as racist or humiliating, for example) may have no impact on another person, or vice versa.  Understanding this should influence you to treat others with respect (we need to show respect whether we feel respect or not), to empathize, and to keep our body language non-threatening.

JACA

Gavin DeBecker proposed in his seminal work The Gift Of Fear that the factors within this acronym spelled out the reason most people attack other people.  My experience bears this out.  When I teach my Advanced De-Escalation Techniques course I use JACA as a paradigm for not only learning why others might attack us, but as a model on how to prevent being attacked.

Justification.

Alternatives.

Consequences, and

Ability.

Briefly put, DeBecker proposed that a person needed one or all of the above conditions to attack.  The more of the conditions that exist is any situation, the more the chance of an attack.  So it goes that, if you really piss someone off by humiliating him in front of an audience, from whom he hopes to maintain a semblance of respect, you have presented that individual with massive justification to open up a can of Whup Ass on you.

Add to that the fact that the temporarily brain damaged person perceives that he has no options or alternatives to a violent attack, and I guarantee aggression is what is coming.  Unless, of course, the person perceives that the consequences for an assault would be greater than the rush he would get from kicking you ass.  For many people, the fear of the consequences will delay or stop an immediate assault. However, my thought is that once a person feels he is justified and he has exhausted all alternatives to violence, any fears of consequences dissolve, especially if the final factor exists.  Ability.

If the temporarily brain damaged stranger, co-worker, student, patient, supervisor, or whoever has been triggered by the sense of justification, the exhaustion of all pro-social alternatives to violence, has begun to disregard the consequences of an assault, the only thing that can stop him is the perception that he does not have the ability to successfully carry out this attack!  Of course, this is why I think it is important to have at least a fundamental set of skills or abilities that you can attain through one of my Violent Patient Management, Disruptive Student Management, Sexual Harassment Assault and Rape Prevention programs.

THE 3 P’S

The great Tony Blauer,  of SPEAR System fame, offers that all attacks have the Three P’s in common:  All attacks occur in the Present, they are all Passionate, and, when it comes down to it, they are all Personal.  “Tell me something I don’t know,” you might be muttering as you read that, but it does have significance relative to understanding how to deter or delay any kind of physical attack.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE 3-P’S AND JACA

• Be Nice.  De-escalating a Bad Guy, I always say, is an unnatural act.  The more angry you feel, the nicer you must become.  The other person may be trying to trigger you into justifying an assault.  Especially in front of an audience, Refuse To Justify.
• Give Good Alternatives To Violence:  All people like to be in control of their own fate.  Nine out of 10 aggressive people will become cooperative if you explain to them what it is you wish them to do, ask instead of demand, and if you give them viable alternatives.  That is a fact.
• Remind the person about the consequences of violence.
• Make the person believe you have the ability to ward off any attack.  How do you do that?
  1. Mirror Calm.
  2. Mirror Confidence.
  3. Control Your Personal Space.
  4. Establish Command Presence (more on how you can create and establish Command Presence and garner the other person’s respect by how you deport yourself in a future Blog).
• Redirect the person’s anger “out of the present.”
• Use the “Rule Of Minus-One” to reduce tension.  Often, by simply talking slower, using “softer” terms, and lowering the intensity of your (body language and spoken language) presence at least one degree below that of the other person/environment, etc., you can reverse the aggression in the environment.  Another element of “Minus-1″ is that you allow time to elapse, also a huge reductive factor.
• Professional Over Personal Face.  Do not take verbal attacks personally. Hard to do, but, believe me, necessary.  If you are an authority figure, deflect the verbal arrows, take a deep breath and follow-up only with professional language and actions.

By Hammer

BASICALLY, there are three types of motor skills you could rely on in any life or death struggle against a half-crazed, determined and probably experienced assailant.  There is only one that is ideal for anyone - be that person a novice woman or a combat tested warrior - and that is Gross Motor Skills. 

The two other motor skill types are Fine and Complex Motor Skills.  The reliance on either Fine or Complex Motor Skills could become almost catastrophic for anyone in a fight for his or her life once the Sympathetic Nervous System activates and floods the body with stress hormones (Cortisol, et al.).  Briefly, Fine Motor Skills involve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.  When SNS activates, blood flows away from the extremities (hands and fingers) and pools in large muscle groups (Fight or Flight Syndrome) to empower a “victim” to either charge toward an assailant or take flight away with greater speed and power.  Relative to Complex Motor Skills, Survival Stress (SNS) impedes a person from performing almost any act that involves three independent body parts working in tandem on any type of complex martial arts move (flying kicks; spinning moves; wrist locks; complicated takedowns; esoteric strikes, kicks and blocks).  By the time a “victim” reaches a resting heart rate of about 145 BPM his or her ability to use either Fine or Complex Motor Skills are gone.

NOT ONLY that, but, at about 175 BPM, which I must add, in a serious self defense situation, will be reached within 1 ½ to 2 seconds, the “victim” will also experience the following catastrophic dysfunction:

• Visual Dysfunctions, including a loss of over 70% of peripheral vision (Tunnel Vision), loss of night vision; inability to focus and a loss of near vision (anything inside 4′).
• An inability to concentrate.  If you have no survival plan at the moment you are attack, you will be without a survival plan.  Period.  You will be unable to make decisions, communicate, and, more likely than not, you will-
• Experience irrational behavior, meaning, you will freeze in place, or perform another type of self-destructive act of submission, including running around aimlessly, screaming (what I call the “Powerless Victim Scream”), both of which spends valuable energy, and, worse, Triggers the Predatory Instinct in the assailant.

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS, on the other hand, are at the heart of any Survival Motor Skills Training Program (defined as any preemptive motor skill designed to preserve human life).  These are simple and symmetrical techniques composed of easy-to-perform and retain push/pull skills.  Gross Motor Skills, as a matter of fact, are the only motor skill classification that actually increases in power and efficiency as your heart rate escalates beyond 175 BPM.  The reason for this can be found in the actual description of the blocks, strikes and moves themselves. 

BEING simple push-pull movements, GMS are analogous to weight lifting.  Let’s use the act of bench pressing as an example.  In order to push an Olympic Bar stacked with hundreds of pounds of plates, one does not need to think (The automatic, non-cerebral nature of bench pressing is exactly what my Fighting Arts programs have in mind when designing programs around GMS), but only to move his hands and arms in a steady motion from high to low to high again.  If the lifter has a spotter, more likely than not, the spotter - especially if the lifter is trying to move heavy weight - will be screaming, cajoling, even trying to enrage the lifter to add stress and, at the same time, increase the lifter’s heart rate.  You see, the more the stress, the better Gross Motor Skills work.

A BALANCE BEAM GYMNAST, on the other hand, relies on a combination of Fine and Complex Motor Skills.  What do you think his or her coach will have the gymnast do in preparation for the Balance Beam competition?  That’s right.  The gymnast will be in a quiet environment, visualizing her upcoming event, breathing deeply, and slowly but surely decreasing his/her heart rate into the optimal resting heart rate (between 115 and 145 BPM.  The lower the heart rate the better.

SOME GROSS MOTOR SKILL STRIKES

IN the next few blogs we will discuss some effective Gross Motor Skills that can be effective under any kind of “combat-stress” situation.  But, for now, here are a few easy to perform GMS punches, strikes and kicks.

• The Palm Heel Strike.  Probably the most effective GMS of them all.  The PHS can be used from almost any stance or positions and it almost always surprises the bad guy.  When you are pondering a puzzle of some sort, you take one hand - probably your dominant one - and gently press it against your temple.  Feel how hard the heel of that hand is.  Now, hold both hands out in front of you, palms away, fingers loose.  Even though this gesture is recognized (by the bad guy) as “you don’t have to worry about any trouble from me-” you can easily, quickly and powerfully, drive from that Compliance Position hard into the assailant’s face.  Just drive into it with your legs, hips and upper body behind the Palm Heel and you have a formidable strike.
• The Head Butt.  What could be easier and more automatic ( natural)  than driving your temple straight down or slightly up into either the “triangle” above the assailant’s eyes, or, probably more effectively, his nose?
• The Front Kick.  I describe the Front Kick as the identical motion one would use to kick open a screen door when his or her hands are full.  Just Scoot-Stick and Disengage is the mantra here.  Scoot your strong-side foot close to the ground and drive either your instep or (curled-up toe hard into the Superficial Nerve Motor Point, located behind the tongue of the bad guy’s shoe.  Make sure to “hit and stick” on the target to deliver more power.  This is a proven Motor Dysfunction technique that goes back to ancient China.  The Israeli Army perfected it and uses it on Dynamic Building Entries. 

We will discuss these and other effective strikes and kicks in the next Blog.

Stay Real. 

Hammer.

 Self examination, they say, is a wonderful thing.  I’ve done my share; and I invite you to take a minute or three and ask yourself the same essential question I asked myself a few years back after I had nearly taken a thug apart after he threatened me and drove his index finger into my chest:  Am I a violent person.

Introspection rarely goes well for me.  I know I have some sort of ADD thing going; but when it comes to violence, I am all ears.  I was raised by decent, hard-working parents, people who abhorred violence in any of its forms.  People who had been hurt by violence in their youth and from time to time after.  I remembered my mother praising me several times because I was a good boy, a child who would never hurt another soul.

So, it was with some discomfort that I came to the conclusion that not only am I a violent person, but, more importantly, when the opportunity arises, I Am Violence,  And, it is not that I betrayed my mother’s belief in me.  I served in the Marines, completed college and graduate school with honors, and retired after 36 years as a peace officer with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, earning several meritorious awards and distinctions along the way.  Not bragging, but, point is, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, one can be a gainfully employed member of society, a person who loves and cares for his family and others, but be Spinal Tuned For Unhesitant and Automatic Violence when faced with Pure Evil, a predator with no respect for society, one who seeks weak victims.

Characteristics Of Violence Personified

• Spinal Tuned for Violence.  Meaning, my first countermeasure against an aggressor does not occur to me as the threat begins to unravel.  I have visualized what I would do far ahead of time and I am always observing the environment and people around me, looking for subtle changes, etc.  I often ask myself “What if?”  What would I do if this or that person does that?  I am planning my moves in my mind as the suspicious person approaches, and I am seeking out Primary and Secondary Targets I will destroy.  When the person passes by harmlessly, I dismiss those thoughts of violence and move on. 
• First Touch Is A Trigger.  I know that the non-violent person (Joe or Jane Citizen) will almost always freeze when first touched by an aggressor (9 out of 10).  The predator also knows this and it is that look of frozen fear that turns him on so.  I am Violence because Violence is exactly what I need to be when I am faced with Evil.  I use the persona of violence, first of all, to discourage being grabbed in the first place, but, if touched, I will counterattack with blinding speed.
• Explosiveness.  When you enjoy something, or, in this case, are something, you wrap yourself in it totally.  You let it permeate you.  Like art.  So, when I am violence, I explode into the counterattack.
• Give and Take.  A trainer of mine once told me:  Hammer, everyone has a (fight) plan, until they get hit, that is.  And he was right.  John Hall, the founder of Kid Escape, Bully Escape and Date Escape, says that self defense is not an injury-free sport.  Point is, if you find yourself in a knife fight, expect to get cut.  In a gun fight, expect to get shot.  And, in a fist fight, not only expect to be hit, but wrap yourself up in it.  Take a deep breath and keep firing away.  Self Defense and the Street Attack for a predator are mostly posturing and the psychology of intimidation.  Turn the tables and communicate “Hey, punk, is that all you got?” even though the punch might have shook your world.  Refuse to quit!
• Take It To the Next Level:  I want to be the one firing the first flurry of shots into the Bad Guy’s vulnerable targets, but fights don’t always work out like that.  So, here is an idea that I guarntee will change the psychology of the exchange.  You get hit in the nose or mouth and blood is sripping down your face.  You have two choices:  Get scared and shrink with fear, or allow adrenaline to get you fired, make you twice as strong (Adrenaline Dump).  Now, do what a famous warrior-friend of mine did.  Reach up and scoop up some of the blood and put it in your mouth.  Taste it.  Say:  “Hmm, First Blood, huh?  Well, now it’s my turn—”

I hope, if you choose to do a little introspection , you discover the nucleus of violence somewhere inside.  It is there inside us all.  All you need to do is find a way to allow yourself to permeate that nucleus if and when the need arises.  Maybe, your nucleus is not the same as mine.  In a way, I hope that is true about you.  My nucleus glows dangerously orange, and even throbs every now and then.  Too many years on the mean streets of Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Easton and other sweltering jungles of violence.  Probably seen too many things I can’t forget.

But, the key is to be comfortable with that atavistic part of you.  That violent part of you that you can become in that one moment in the heat of the night when you are all alone and the wolf comes to your door.

Next post:  The Survival Motor Skills you will need to prevail.

Hammer

 Self examination, they say, is a wonderful thing.  I’ve done my share; and I invite you to take a minute or three and ask yourself the same essential question I asked myself a few years back after I had nearly taken a thug apart after he threatened me and drove his index finger into my chest:  Am I a violent person.

Introspection rarely does well for me.  I know I have some sort of ADD thing going; but when it comes to violence, I am all ears.  I was raised my decent, hard-working parents, people who abhorred violence in any of its forms.  People who had been hurt by violence in their youth and from time to time after.  I remembered my mother praising me several times because I was a good boy, a child who would never hurt another soul.

So, it was with some discomfort when I came to the conclusion that not only am I a violent person, but, more importantly, when the opportunity arises, I Am Violence,  And, it is not that I betrayed my mother’s belief in me.  I served in the Marines, completed college and graduate school with honors, and retired after 36 years as a peace officer with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, earning several meritorious awards and distinctions along the way.  Mot bragging, but, point is, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, one can be a gainfully employed member of society, a person who loves and cares for his family and others, but be Spinal Tuned For Unhesitant and Automatic Violence when faced with one of the “Two Percenters” who have no respect for society and who walk among us seeking out victims.

Characteristics Of Violence Personified

• Spinal Tuned for Violence.  Meaning, my first countermeasure against an aggressor does not occur to me as the threat begins to unravel.  I have visualized what I would do far ahead of time and I am always observing the environment and people around me, looking for subtle changes, etc.  I often ask myself “What if?”  What would I do if this or that person does that?  I am planning my moves in my mind as the suspicious person approaches, and I am seeking out Primary and Secondary Targets I will destroy.  When the person passes by harmlessly, I dismiss those thoughts of violence and move on. 
• First Touch Is A Trigger.  I know that the non-violent person (Joe or Jane Citizen) will almost always freeze when first touched by an aggressor (9 out of 10).  The predator also knows this and it is that look of frozen fear that turns him on so.  I am Violence because Violence is exactly what I need to be when I am faced with Evil.  I use the persona of violence, first of all, to discourage being grabbed in the first place, but, if touched, I will counterattack with blinding speed.
• Explosiveness.  When you enjoy something, or, in this case, are something, you wrap yourself in it totally.  You let it permeate you.  Like art.  So, when I am violence, I explode into the counterattack.
• Give and Take.  A trainer of mine once told me:  Hammer, everyone has a (fight) plan, until they get hit, that is.  And he was right.  John Hall, the founder of Kid Escape, Bully Escape and Date Escape, says that self defense is not an injury-free sport.  Point is, if you find yourself in a knife fight, expect to get cut.  In a gun fight, expect to get shot.  And, in a fist fight, not only expect to be hit, but wrap yourself up in it.  Take a deep breath and keep firing away.  Self Defense and the Street Attack for a predator are mostly posturing and the psychology of intimidation.  Turn the tables and communicate “Hey, punk, is that all you got?” even though the punch might have shook your world.  Refuse to quit!

I hope, if you choose to do a little introspection that you discover the nucleus of violence somewhere inside.  It is there inside us all.  All you need to do is find a way to allow yourself to permeate that nucleus if and when the need arises.  Maybe, your nucleus is not the same as mine.  In a way, I hope that is true about you.  My nucleus glows dangerously orange, and even throbs every now and then.  Too many years on the mean streets of Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Easton and other sweltering jungles of violence.  Probably seen too many things I can’t forget.

But, the key is to be comfortable with that atavistic part of you.  That violent part of you that you can become in that one moment in the heat of the night when you are all alone and the wolf comes to your door.

Next post:  The Survival Motor Skills you will need to prevail.

Hammer

I ADMIT, there is a perverse and counter-intuitive relationship in all of my Fighting Arts (Self Defense For Women; Escape and Evasion For Children; COMET-Kids (for teens); Self Defense For Seniors and Bully-Be-Gone classes) programs I conduct out of the local community college and school sites.  By perverse and counter intuitive, I mean that I know for a fact that 98% of successful self defense for women, teens, children and seniors is prevention and awareness; yet in my classes about 98% is hands-on Fighting Arts , leaving almost no time for crucial Techniques Of Avoidance.  You could say, then, with little argument from me, that I am not really teaching the True Secrets To Survival.

WHY?  AVOIDANCE AINT SEXY.  Nobody, it is apparent, wants to waste his or her time sitting and listening to a litany of axioms about awareness, assessment, anticipation, avoidance and a Shakespearian drama full of other principles when they could be on their feet, blocking, punching and falling to the mat and grappling.  Women and children are the first to walk out of my trainings, which is ironic, really, since avoidance and prevention are their best bets for life preservation.

TECHNIQUES OF AVOIDANCE

INSTEAD of a litany of avoidance techniques and principles, I am going to limit my list of Avoidance Techniques to just a few critical skills and elements that can influence an attacker to eliminate you as a target and move on to another victim.  As cold and heartless as the concept of the Bad Guy moving on to another victim instead or yourself sounds, it is still Survival of the Fittest.  It has been for eons and will continue to be long after I am gone.

1. Look Like a Tough Target.  Get fit and stay fit.  See my previous two postings on a Fighting Arts-Specific Workout Program.  Develop confidence and/or act confident when you are in public.  Stride and look around.  Develop an appropriate Assertive Personality, which means to communicate to a potential attacker that you are aware of him without purposely antagonizing him with challenging and profane language.  Send he primary message that you are not a Free Lunch or easy mark!  Avoid the Passive and Aggressive Personalities.  Peruse some of my other postings for more tips on being a Tough Target.
2. EYE CONTACT is terribly important for successfully avoiding an attack.  I am going to move past this issue for now, but I will return to it at the end of this posting with some crucial details.
3. CONTROL YOUR SPACE.  A bad guy will test you by moving in and out of your PSZ (Personal Safe Zone).  A good rule of thumb is to never allow another person inside your PSZ without your permission.  Anyone violating your PSZ is showing Spatial Disrespect and it is hard for me to come up with a reason why a bad guy would do that unless it is a Prelim To An Attack.  Stop the BG with good verbal directions and by taking a diagonal step (J-Step) with your hands palms out and up near your chest and moving them back and forth (Compliance Position, but we are preparing for a Surprise Palm Heel Strike, if the need arises).
4. VERBAL DIRECTIONS.  What you say and how you say it are crucial.  Be firm yet relatively polite with an inflexible no at the onset of testing.  Upon his or her refusal (Spatial Disrespect), though, your hands go into a Fighting Position, your power leg drops back as you J-Step away.  “Get back. Get back now!”
5. BREATHE DON’T FREEZE!  Remember to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth to initiate your Fight or Flight Response.  I actually teach a CAT Technique (Combat Adrenal Technique) where the person exaggerates his or her exhalations through the mouth so they are loud enough for any attacker in hiding to hear.  The dual benefit is that the Good Guy (student) adrenalizes him or herself instead of freezing with fear and the potential attacker doesn’t attack because attackers are basically cowards who would rather attack a meek, quiet, shy person than an individual who is pumped up, striding and making loud noises.

EYE CONTACT

FROM a Bad Guy’s prospective, the ideal victim is a girl, boy, man or woman who presents minimum eye contact. The less the better.  One might think, then, that, from the Good Guy’s prospective, the more direct eye contact the better.  Not quite.  The truth is  somewhere in between. 

Avoiding Eye Contact, or looking away triggers the predatory instinct in the Bad Guy.  Read Lt. Colonel David Grossman’s On Killing to learn more, but, the fact is, by trying to ignore the Bad Guy with the hopes he will simply go away, you will invoke this Predator Prey Principle and will actually invite a far more violent attack than you could have ever anticipated with “good” eye contact.  Direct Eye Contact, or staring down the potential attacker, is much better, but in too many instances direct eye contact was taken as a challenge and the Bad Guy (abductor, sexual predator, date rapist, criminal) responded by attacking.

MY PREFERRED EYE CONTACT training paradigm has always been the Triangle or Soft Eyes (Chinese Model) Approach.  I teach my Triangle Method to both law enforcement and civilians, advocating that they draw an imaginary triangle, the tip of which touches the potential attacker’s nose and the base of which extends from the person’s left bicep to his or her right bicep.  That way my students are not locked into the subject’s eyes, yet the student will be able to see any movements of the subject’s arms and hands.  A potential victim can become a real victim if he or she ignores the subject’s hands.  Remember:  a subject’s hands are what can kill or injure, not his or her eyes!

FINALLY, our eyes, or perceptual senses, are the origin of an amazing sensory cycle where we first perceive a threat, then analyze and evaluate that threat, before formulating a strategic response so we can initiate a motor response that can save our butts.  Avoiding eye contact, then, can have catastrophic consequences because, when the attack does come to us, we experience what is known as a Catastrophe Event, meaning simply that, because we were not able to perceive, analyze and formulate a strategy, more likely than not we will freeze in place, panic, go into shock, or any number of reactions that not only invite a violent and merciless attack, but, when the attack comes, disable us from fighting back effectively and saving ourselves.

By Hammer

I AM ASKED about the role of fitness in self defense and subject control almost every time I conduct a law enforcement (subject control) or citizen (self defense) training.  Truth is, I believe there are  several issues more important than fitness; and I think I have discussed many of these in past blogs, including, but not limited to:

• Willingness to fight (even over the ability to fight).
• Heart.  The true fighting spirit.  Courage, in other words.
• The Survival Psyche, or mind-set.  What many call Mental Conditioning or Spinal Tuning one’s mind and Central Nervous System to be aware of potential danger, to assess potential attackers and oneself and to anticipate - have a plan of action, and - this is crucial - to be (willing and) able to carry out this plan with “SPEED.”
• S.P.E.E.D.  The ability to improvise under survival stress by doing the unexpected (Surprise),acting decisively and quickly (Speed) while delivering strikes and countermeasures with Power and Explosiveness in order to allow one to Escape and Evade the attack by using Distance.

 The SPEED Fitness Program

I forget who said fatigue makes cowards of us all, but the words ring true to anyone who has been in a serious fight or critical incident and has hit The Wall.  You feel drained, weak, ready to give up.  Too many of us do give up.  This is where Survival Fitness can save your life.  A Survival or Fighting-Specific Fitness or Training Program can and will build up what I call a Heavy Survival Envelope that one can keep pushing so that in a life or death (fighting) situation, he or she will be able to call on crucial life preserving energy reserves in order to stay in the fight longer and with a higher level of confidence. 

DO NOT under value confidence.  The higher one’s confidence, the less chance one has of going into a semi-debilitating state of SNS activation.  Confidence also overcomes the energy sapping phenomenon of fear, and, subsequently one will be able to perform survival motor skills quicker and with more power (S.P.E.E.D.).

A person committed to developing speed, power, explosiveness, the ability to escape and evade by gaining distance should rely on a regimen that includes:

• Nutrition involving a mixture of carbs (slow burning), fats, proteins and proper hydration (water).  Proteins are a group of amino acids that maintain and build muscle used as energy sources during time of (survival) stress.  Proteins also increase mental performance.  Fats are a primary source of energy for the body and a transporter of amino acids.  In future blogs, I will get into more detail regarding nutrition, hydration and their role in the Fighting Arts.
• The 3 Energy Systems:  Our bodies rely primarily on three fuel or energy systems to perform high-intensity acts, such as fighting for one’s life. 
  1. The ATP/PC System.  The Adenosine Triphosphate/Phosphocreatine consists of small energy bundles that are stored in our muscles.  This system is what we primarily rely on when we are involved in high (survival) stress activities such as survival (self defense) fighting.  When the ATP/PC System is engaged, one is able to perform at 100% of his/her maximum output for only 10 to 15 seconds, tops.  After 10-15 seconds, a person fighting for his or her life can expect as much as a 45-50% decrease in maximum output. 
  2. The Lactic Acid and Aerobic Energy Systems.  Once the ATP/PC Energy system is depleted, the fighter relies on an the Lactic Acid System, which provides an intermediate energy system that can last from 15 seconds up to 90-seconds, where the fighter will be able to fight at about 35% of max.output.  The Aerobic Energy System is the final dominant system and it provides another several minutes of fuel, but the fighter will now be struggling to fight at 30% of maximum output.

• A Fighting-Specific Program. 

Ø       Mix a Combination of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Exercises (Aerobic) into your program.  More on this in the next blog, but, in the program I use and also suggest for my readers uses exercises that build our Fast Tic Nerves which are so crucial for the speed, power and explosiveness needed for survival fighting. 

1.        Work sprints, variables and fartlecking into your routine.  Spin Routines on the bike.  Speed routines instead of an easy running pace, such as my old LSD (Long, slow distance) regimens when I ran marathons.

2.        Cross-Train your aerobics.  Running, biking, hills, flats, etc.

Ø       Develop an Anaerobic Weight Lifting Routine.  Strength conditioning is crucial to the fighting arts.  Strength, power, speed, confidence.  Also, don’t discount the fact that one looks more formidable after only a few months of this type of program.  In the next blog I will get into some specifics about my program and others I know.  A couple more things:  By building one’s explosiveness, one will feel - as I do - untapped power surging through his or her veins, arteries, muscles, limbs.  Not only that, one will be able to withstand more strikes and blows in a fight without sustaining serious, debilitating injury or trauma.  I suggest a weight lifting cycle featuring a complimentary series of strength and power exercises with little rest in between to develop that (SPEED) speed, power and explosiveness so critical to self defense.  More about this cycle in my next posting.

Ø       BE A ROCK.  No kidding, folks, tune in for the next blog and I will turn you on to the fighting-specific type of program for which you may have been forever searching.  I will say it again:  I kid you not.  I have been in scores, maybe hundreds of fights and, although I would admit that I have never been a great fighter, I am virtually unstoppable.  Hit me, kick me, drive a two-by-four as hard as you can across my chest (Okay.  Hit me in the head and I slow down considerably), and I keep on coming.  It is all in your mind, your heart and your Fighting Arts-Specific Fitness Program.

Next Blog:  Details and specifics about my Survival Fitness Program.

Harry Hammer

SSPEED -A Dynamic Self Defense Equation Against Bullies and Other Predators.

IF YOU have been following my posts, you are familiar with my Tough Target Techniques for avoiding (evading) an attack by a bully, or, in the case of women, a stalker/ predator.  The important thing is, if possible, to evade the attacker without having to fight.  Preparation, Planning, Practice and Prevention - The 4 P’s of the Fighting Arts - comprise about 95 to 98% of successful self defense. 

OF COURSE, we all know that is not always possible.  Predators (for the sake of this post, I will restrict “predators” to bullies and male attackers of girls and women) almost always “tune up” for attacks through Verbal Testing.  Michael Pace, a highly respected self defense expert, agrees, noting that “the preliminary for an attack is The Interview - the threats, questions, insults and/or the ‘woofing—”  Most attacks start off with a “verbal assault because the predator wants to find out what he or she is up against - an easy target or someone who will give him or her a real fight.  A Target Person (TP) who ignores these threats, insults, or questions”will open the door for an immediate physical attack.”

S.S.P.E.E.D TO THE

RESCUE:

MICHAEL PACE calls it “Faked Compliance,” and I call it Feeding the Beast.  Call it what you like, but by faking compliance we are feeding the beast’s expectations.  He is verbally accosting the victim and his/her Tough Target words and body language have not deterred him, so when he grabs the TP (Target Person), he is relaxed, overconfident and certain that the TP is a “free lunch,” or an easy target. 

WHAT FOLLOWS is the SSPEED Counterattack Plan:

1. The Predator grabs the TP by the collar & shakes the “victim.”
2. Upon First Touch (by the Bad Guy) the TP raises both hands higher than the attacker’s, palms out, shaking them side to side in a “please don’t hurt me,” gesture and even says “please don’t hurt me!”  This is Faked Compliance or Feeding The Beast’s Expectation at its best.
3. The Bad Guy - expectations fulfilled - gains confidence in his assault’s inevitable success -moves closer, determined to throttle the victim.
4. At this point - which is First Touch by the attacker- the Target Person (TP) should Explode forward, driving both hands from their “Compliant Position” into the Bully/Predator’s face, striking hard and often quickly (Speed), connecting unexpectedly (Surprise) using quick Palm Heel Strikes to the most painful, vulnerable targets - the nose, eyes, mouth - and/or, combining the very hard heel of each hand with slashing fingertips and nails (to be used for Deadly Attacks only/attacks by bullies are not usually lethal in nature) strikes to the chin and/or nose followed up with eye strikes and gouges.
5. Palm Heel Strikes are ideal for quick (speed) surprise strikes to the face because one can hit from wherever the hands are without changing one’s hand position, plus, the heel of the palm provides a hard and powerful striking area which is both easy with which to strike and a injury-friendly area, even for a novice fighter.
6. If the attacker has grabbed the TP with both hands, there is no earthly way he or she can block these strikes.  Even if  there is one hand free to block, though,  I say go ahead and rain the bully with a storm of strikes - one strike will never ever do the job - until the threat is over.  And, as the bully lets go to protect his vital targets, I guarantee other targets will open.  I say, do it.  Hit them and hit them hard.

S.S.P.E.E.D:  Breaking It Down:

Speed:     Although Power is important in knocking out an attacker, getting to a target first is essential to winning.  There are aspects to speed that I will address is another posting, in this scenario, speed is manifested by striking with the hands exactly where the Bully sees them in the Compliant/Begging For Mercy Position.  In other words, strike from that position without telegraphing the punch by drawing back either hand, which would effectivelt destroy the element of surprise.   

Surprise: The element of surprise is the key to a successful counterattack.  The TP has set up the bully by using the “Compliant Position” and the predator has “taken the bait.”  In my Self Defense classes, the Palm Heel Strikes are Stunning Techniques, and Stuns are described as the “stimulation of overwhelming sensory input that is sudden, intense and unexpected–”  Simply put, this means that the delivering a cluster of speedy strikes to open, vulnerable targets will weaken a bully/predator through a devastating series of Mental Stuns that effectively weakens the attacker, destroys his or her (false) confidence and opens up vulnerable targets.                 

Power:  More on how to create and sustain pure Power in one’s techniques in the next posting.

Explode:  Explosiveness differs from Power in many important ways.  Look for another posting

Escape :  I will address crucial E & E strategies in another posting, also.

Dynamic:  I had to come up with a concept to complete my catchy “SSPEED” acronym.  Being Dynamic, though, means, once a TP is approached, accosted verbally, and set up for an attack, he or she must be Willing (being willing is as imporatnt as, maybe more important than, being able) to carry out the SSPEED Plan of Action with 110% commitment.

HARRY HAMMER