Venom Ponders : Why does the fool not fear a man who takes a few steps back while in battle ? For when the monkey goes looking for trouble, the deadliest of the cobras charge only when cornered.
I had this interesting, albeit funny I should admit, talk on self defense in the Bangalore BarCamp last weekend. It went admittedly much better than I expected . Nor did I expect such a crowd. The presentation was impromptu and extremely informal so I have my concerns about the take away for people joining in late . May be I will try much better next time and get it more hard hitting . I was able to churn up a few interests and got people from a completely non martial arts background listening to what I had to say and I thought that was good enough for me .
Self defense for people in metropolitan cities have been of high concern. As the metro culture grows, so does the murky underworld hell bent on exploiting the new amount of monetary resources. We may not encounter such a situation every day in our lives but times may change and luck may run out and everyone should know as to how to get out of such a situation .
Four cardinal rules of self defense :
- Block the first assault
- Hit a couple of fatal/near fatal blows
- Scream
- Run for life.
These rules are to be applied in that order. Yes. Block the first assault comes before hitting the opponent. Never try to mess a situation where you can slip out of . One can live with a hurt ego . Permanently damaged arms and legs are worse. These tactics should ONLY be used when in a situation that is already messed up and when there is no other way to go but to turn around and bite back . Pun intended here as Bruce Lee said that there is nothing stopping you from biting,poking and using your nails on your way out of a pinhold as life comes first and then alone comes discipline . That realization forms the essence of Jeet Kune Do.
The standard goon approach is the use of rush and psychological pressure to get the job done. They will not carefully gauge the situation and get to you in a preplanned technical maneuver. More often than not, they rush in . In such a situation , the upper block with a small modification is most effective . Blocking out the intruder as in the picture ( from a very useful site : http://www.lyon-karate.com) but with legs bentdown so as to block out the incoming chest rather than the punch will effectively thwart off the assault. This can simultaneously be used with the yoko geri or the side kick aimed to the knee to shatter his knee.
If the attacker makes a surprise attack from behind then thrusting the elbow into his abdomen will due to reflex action make him bend forward. Then using the elbow on the now exposed back should do the trick and ward him off.
The second step is to use a couple of fatal/near fatal moves , one of which is already mentioned as the attach to the knee because the knee is the part of the body which comes first when an attacker charges. Punching to the vital points can effectively get the attacker genuinely scared of your skill irrespective of your size/height/personality . The vital points being :
- Groin
- Solar plexus
- Eyes
The third and fourth parts are the most important. Never assume that you are Jet Li to take on ten baddies all by yourself. Screaming for help is a necessity as someone helpful might turn out . If not, punch or kick a couple of times as mentioned and then run for life. Run like hell for retreat is a wise man’s way of survival .
Stay safe. Never try to get into trouble. Bu when you do get into such a situation, do not let them take away from you which took you hours or days of hard work to accumulate . Live life with self respect and dignity for that is the only way to lead a good life.
Khudahafeez
Kaashif
