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Weapons & Combat & Self Defense

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19:59 / 08.03.05

I've only been mugged once, and what I did was utter a scream of which I'm quite proud. My ears hurt for a good hour afterward, and my mom's ears rang for several minutes (she was inside the house).

It wasn't an attack, really. I've only ever been physically threatened by people I knew well, and it's made me so berserk there's never been any question of technique. I suppose part of physical training is to teach you to retain some presence of mind?

20:18 / 08.03.05

I suppose part of physical training is to teach you to retain some presence of mind?

In my experience, martial arts training just means that when you flail violently about, you flail violently about well.

farseer /pokes out an i

18:57 / 09.03.05

Sax You're not the only one who carries a firearm. I've been trying to persuade some of my friends to get CCL, but overall they're a bunch of slacker hippies. (No offense intended.)

Strix Your 11 steps are great, and close to some advice I've given in the past.

Nick Nice! Personally, I'd roll up a copy of TANK. A bit heaftier =)

Sekhmet You're only going to know what you're forged of if you test it. You know folks who are into street fighting? Who are willing to get their brawl on a few times so you can practice? Take 'em up on it. Hold back on eyes/genitals, and they might go another round with you for practice. The biggest thing to get over is the fear of being hit, hard.

I'm an Aikidoka, but I went through several martial arts before I arrived there, including Wing Chun and Jujitsu. I think that Wing Chun was prolly the most street-fightery. I *did* use a lot of my previous Aikido training while practicing Wing Chun, and there was more then once when a hijiatosh or makiatosh surprised my Uke and I made out like a bandit.

It's always best to 'control the first move.' As in, don't walk down the dark alleyways that you can hear faint growling and other strange noises from. When you go into a new place, make a mental note of the exits. Or, look like a person- as others have said- that is not an easy victim. Best way to survive a fight is to avoid getting into one- even if that means "backing down" and letting the aggressor have their ego trip. But sometimes there comes a time when you have to either fight or run. And if you don't run regularly and are in shape, you aren't going to be able to run far.

That being said, most fights (esp. between 'the untrained') do end up on the ground, so a bit o' time spent grappling in wrestling or jujitsu might go a long way.

But I've saved my best bit o' advice for last: DON'T PANIC.

18:47 / 10.03.05

But I've saved my best bit o' advice for last: DON'T PANIC.

That should be on the top of my list. Very good advice. Part of that is remembering to breathe. It reminds me of some helpful tips from a pro-sex work organization that I think would be helpful for anyone, really. I can't find these tips on their website, so am paraphrasing from the pamphlet they give out to sex workers.

* Your body is your best line of defence.

* Breathe deeply. Breathe so you don't freeze up. Breathe so you can figure out what to do.

* Don't think about what you have stuck, think about what you have free.

* Make yourself heard. Don't be afraid to yell. It gives you strength, it surprises your attacker, and it attracts attention to you.

* Use everything you have to defend yourself with, your body, purse, a book, keys...and don't be afraid of missing your target.

* Think about hitting twice!

* Adrenaline is your magic potion! It can increase your strength up to 7 times.

* Have confidence and defend yourself.

* Society doesn't teach us to recognize our own strength. We are really much more powerful than we seem. We are all, capable of anything.

I did revise it a bit to be more appropriate for here, but I think this advice is easy to follow and is not gender-relative or trade-relative.

19:53 / 10.03.05

While not really practical, I find this article on the art of defending oneself with a walking stick amusing.

20:26 / 10.03.05

"Adrenaline is your magic potion! It can increase your strength up to 7 times."

But it can also make your body lock up, or turn you into a panicked, flailing idiot. And this is where martial arts and/or combative self defense training can definitely benefit you: you won't be surprised and overwhelmed by the adrenal dump, and even if your brain runs off to hide in a corner you can still (hopefully) rely on your training and muscle memory to pull you through the next seconds.

Breathing is indeed crucial, but this too has to become ingrained beforehand; you won't have time to consciously relax and focus on your breathing once the shit hits the fan.

"I suppose part of physical training is to teach you to retain some presence of mind?"
"In my experience, martial arts training just means that when you flail violently about, you flail violently about well."

Well... yeah, something like that

20:45 / 10.03.05

Ghostwheel, you are most definately correct. I didn't write what I transcribed in my last post, but the author of it makes breathing their very first point. Without breathing properly the adrenaline rush is not very helpful and can just lead to more complications.

Breathing is so important! (Can I make a more obvious understatement!?)

Lekvar, those images from the link you gave are just simply amusing.

20:47 / 10.03.05

...their very first point

At least they did on the pamphlet and I wrote it a bit out of order.

22:28 / 10.03.05

Sorry I'm late. Surely the only sensible response to violence is moral pressure (Haus) combined with radical social change toward a system whereby men carry quarterstaffs and women carry shotguns (Leap), a kind of enlightened left wing anarchy enforced by personal virtue and martial arts. What could be clearer?

IRL JtB's street fighting advice (far above) is practical, as is some advice from my uncle (an ex-army ex-mercenary who lives in Brixton) who said "Only carry a knife if you're prepared to stab somebody" to which I add 'and are prepared to suffer the consequences'. Avoid dangerous situations is my advice.

22:33 / 10.03.05

Oh yeah, and high initiative rolls, mithril armour and a +4 axe for the tight spots when diplomacy fails- or a lightsabre. Or magic...

00:29 / 11.03.05

There is no excuse for violence,...

Except for when there is, and there are many conditions that I would think that it would be appropriate, but I just go through my days praying to god that I never come acrossed one of those times.

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