How is your edged weapon training coming along?

Author:  Odhinn Kohout

My Instructors and I train weekly. We make videos of our training and take lots of pictures to see how we are progressing and to think outside the box. We have come up with a great deal of material simply by training on a regular basis. How else are you going to know if what you are learning from whomever or whatever school will work unless you constantly test it out. We also train with aluminum blades to ensure a sense of realism instead of rubber or plastic training blades.  How your mind imprints information is crucial to your retention and it MUST be as close…to the real thing as possible. When your training partner pulls a metal blade on you SEE the flash of metal as the knife comes in on you which should cause a “trained” response.Knife defense is not progressing within the law enforcement community. It is either skimmed over or not addressed at all in favor of litigation based issues rather than those concerning crucial Officer safety. Training needs to start with the Instructors and NOT the students. I know many Instructors who are very passionate about what they do and seek out advanced training on their own as it is not provided within their Agency. There are also Instructors who are resistant to change and are very content teaching the same old program for 20 years because “change” means that they will forced out of their comfort zone.

 

   

Don’t settle for sub-par defensive tactics whether you are in the Military or Police fields. Ask a lot of questions in class as it will reveal a great deal about who is teaching you and their character. I ask my students to bombard me with any questions they have on every course we teach as a company. If you are telling them to place their feet a certain way and you are called on it…then you had better have a firm grasp of balance and principles of triangulation or you may find yourself embarrassed by an experienced student.

Knife defense is one of the most difficult subjects that there is because it deals with lethal force issues, reactionary gap principles, elevated heart rate and it’s effect on motor-function, fear, your partners safety, weapon transitioning, empty hands tactics, securing a weapon hand, hostage scenarios etc. and etc…

     

MAKE some time with your students on your next class and listen to their fears and concerns about learning some knife defense. We owe it as Instructors to our front-line Officers.

Be safe Guys!

STARTLED FLINCH/TAKEDOWN VARIATION-1

Author: Odhinn Kohout

A great deal has been written about how the body reacts from both a cognitive and bio-mechanical standpoint when it is attacked.

Our (UZIEL) take on this is based on many years of teaching and researching this complicated issue.

1.       The “reflexive” response is different from a “reactive” response as the later can be changed through high-stress inoculated training into a “conditioned response to stimuli in particular, fear. Some people do not like to use the term “fear” as they are the 1% who doesn’t experience it (sarcasm) but for the rest of use mortals…it is important to understand it and combine its effects into our CQC training to produce a professional program which has predicable results and therefore will work for field applications (combat).

2.       The sympathetic nervous systems function is to elevate the heart rate (among other things) in conjunction with an autonomic response which is bad for the Officer in terms of using complex “moves” which rely on complex or fine motor-skills. This also inhibits vision (tunnel), hearing (exclusion) and reasoning (cognitive function) in its wake.

The first picture shows a sudden attack on the Officer in which he flinches and raises both his arms to protect himself and defend against punches. From the flinch you see how the right ear of the Attacker is secured and brought in tight by pulling in your elbow. At the same time the bicep of the Badguy is being pushed back.

 

This push/pull action is very effective at taking down a violent person. Grabbing the ear and pulling the elbow in actually secures the neck of the Attacker on an angle down towards his left shoulder making it very difficult to counter as he is also dealing with the opposing and opposite vector of force PUSHING him into the rotational direction of the takedown.

 

 

 Many advanced indigenous edged weapon systems and ancient wrestling from the time of the Gladiators figured out the physics of these leverages a long time ago so there is no point in reinventing wheel. It works because it has been used in battle for many thousands of years.

Give a try in your next practice and remember to look after your training partner’s safety.

Be safe gentlemen!

Getting up off the ground without “the Guard”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

I am not a proponent of the guard for Military/Police so I wanted to offer some simple solutions as to how to get back into the fight if you have been knocked down from an Attacker.

 

   In the first picture you will see that my legs are open and I have my left foot on the Attackers right hip while my right foot gets into position. The second picture shows a close-up of the foot position. The Left foot once landmarked is pushing back on the hip bone (Iliac Crest) in order to create a reactionary gap. I do not want a guard as it would bring the Attacker on top of me and tie my body to him. This makes no sense wearing heavy gear with limited mobility…

The second and third picture shows how the left foot will leave the hip and will be replaced by the left leg hooking over and behind the right knee of the bad-guy taking away the post from his right leg. At the same time your right leg is used to generate the power to sweep him over to his left side as there is no post.

This momentum is very quick and you can use his body weight to complete the sweep onto his back and regain a top position. Notice in the last frame that I am pushing off the floor into my Attacker; I am not merely posting from a tripod. You can quickly get up and away as a second option immediately using this transition.

Be safe Guys!

Locking the Face “PART-2”\ Arrest Control

Author: Odhinn Kohout

In an older post we explored “face-locks” from a seated position. In this article we will explore the standing face-lock as a valuable tool for Military/Police personnel in quickly subduing an attacker using a secure lock which maximizes pain compliance.

 

  

In the first picture you can see the entry, You must judge how hard (and justify in some cases) how this is done as it is akin to a right cross. The benefit is that there is zero risk of breaking any of your hand bones (meta-carpals) as the “radial” bone becomes the strike zone. This can also be done while a carbine is use with a sling and is momentarily pushed out of the way so the Officer can go hands on with the arrest party.

 

 

 

 The second picture shows how this tactic is multi-faceted in that it could also provide a shield in the event that the Officer has become surrounded by multiple armed assailants. The lead hand use for the cross-face is secured to the far shoulder while pulling the Attacker into your chest as tightly as possible. The pain is immediate and it provides a secure transitional point. (In the picture I have dropped my hand below his cheekbone as to not cause my training partner a high level of pain, in an arrest setting the “malar” bone is used as a landmark to secure the hold)) 

 

 

The last picture shows the final transition which is a “Gable Grip” or a “Bowtie” to increase the force generated by the lock. Since you are locking the face at the cheekbone there is very little chance of injury even though the face-lock is extremely painful. I am using my lats and shoulders to pull the lock into my chest and NOT any arm strength. Practice this slowly with your training partner so that you are working on proper technique and not pain. It takes very little force to make your training partner “aware” that the lock has been properly applied.

Train safely and for combat…

STANDING FIGURE-4 ARMLOCK “CHICKEN-WING”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Here is a very fast and deceptive way to lock an Attackers arm for either a standing arrest position or into a takedown for ground control.

 

 

 In the first picture you will see us emphasize the flinch position as we always do BUT…it leads to an offensive position in which “three” parts of the right arm are used in tandem to strike the opponent at once. Notice that the left hand at first is not closed as this is a reflexive response and is used to landmark the right wrist of the bad-guy. In this way Gross motor skills are emphasized and not complex or fine motor functions of the metacarpals.

     

The second picture illustrates that although there is an overhook being done to effect a joint lock position we do not give up safety over technique application. The right over acts as a temporary shield to the right side of the Officers jaw protecting vital spots such as the temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) which prevents the person under arrest from using his left hand to punch your jaw or face.

 

 

 

The final picture breaks down hand and arm positions to perform a figure-4 lock or “chicken wing” since from here all is needed is hip torque to power and reinforce the base leverage of the joint lock position. There is “ZERO” arm strength used to perform this lock…it is done entirely from the hips taking into consideration that you may be hurt, tired or wounded. You can finish the lock by rotating into the person driving his arm towards his head OR sweep the near leg into a takedown.

Be safe Guys.