Controlling the “Arch of Fire” safely

Author: Odhinn Kohout

The scenario of facing a firearm is a horrible one…

 

 

I would encourage you to teach some basic principles of controlling the muzzle direction to your Officers as it may be of great benefit to them. I want to go over some essential information that I believe should be included in whatever scenario that you come up with to teach your class.

1.       Your first movement may cause the bad-guy to pull the trigger through an involuntarily startled flinch response so expect the firearm to go immediately and anticipate the noise so that you remain in control. The field of fire is MOST crucial at this moment so whatever you are going to do, you must clear the muzzle.

2.       In an enclosed space you will experience auditory exclusion from the round going off and will temporarily lose some of your ability to hear.

3.       The percussive effects close to the muzzle vary depending upon the weapon. For example: If you have your face near the muzzle of a shotgun with a magnum round it will cause fatal damage even though you have not technically been shot. 

4.       The ejection port if close to your eyes may blind you when the gin cycles a round so create as must distance as soon as possible between you and the gun when you decide to take action.

5.       Assume a multi-attacker mindset during every technique. You would completely fixated on the firearm which has been pointed at you may suffer tunnel vision and lose your eyes ability to see any peripheral objects, people or movements.

Train hard Gentlemen.

Isaac Newton and Knife Defense

Author: Odhinn Kohout

If you have been following along with this training BLOG you will have read previous articles that I posted on how pathways of force (vectors) and triangulation form a symbiotic relationship with one another.

This is not my opinion…it is Newtonian based laws which apply to fighting; “A body in motion remains in motion unless it is acted on by an external force.”

I have posted a small section of a knife defense technique which at first glance seems to be based on the brachial or vagus nerve strike as shown. This is what gets students frustrated in your classes as they try to duplicate the tactic by striking with increasing severity when there is much more going on in the picture.

 

  The weapon arm of the Attacker is being locked by my left arm. But smart students in your class will inevitable ask how is this lock pressure maintained for the duration of the takedown? The variables are:

·         Pressure applied ABOVE the elbow fulcrum

·         Your shoulder pressing down as a base leverage 

·         Hips/weight elevation lowered

·         Wide base to ensure a stable center of gravity and balance

In the second picture, the Attacker’s triangle of balance has been disrupted and my point of impact is the point of this isosceles triangle. If you choose a point further than the triangles tip, the bad-guy may… be able to counter your attempt to varying degrees.

The strike to the side of the neck is what causes the “body to remain in motion” in conjunction with all the other points I have mentioned above. Newton points out that unless there is an external force acting (interfering, countering) on the body, your CQC technique will be successful as it will be an un-interrupted continuous movement.

 As Instructors we see this every class when a simple wrist lock is applied and the person goes with…the vector of force created by the lock down to the ground. Their body understands at an unconscious competence level (see Abraham Maslow’s Theories on this) that to resist this would mean that the wrist fulcrum would break and therefore it follows (remains in motion) the lock to an end state (the ground) to avoid injury.

Take some time in your next class to offer explanations to even simple principles to ensure that comprehension is taking place.

Be safe Guys!

Knife Defense from the Backslash

Author: Odhinn Kohout

 We have looked at many different angles of attack including the ground in the last lessons. The backslash is usually a surprise attack and there have been several incidents where I live where an unsuspecting Officer has been stabbed into the throat from the backslash angle.

The flinch is exactly the same as your body does not differentiate between and side or elevation. The key to this is to understand that it easier to get the bad-guy down on the ground by taking away the triangle of balance in behind his hips. Most throws and takedowns go forward or over the hips but you must remember that as a biped we are used to this as it is in fact how each of our steps (triangles) keeps us in balance and upright. When the body is forced to try and catch its weight( including the vector of force) which is added to it behind the hips it becomes very difficult to quickly counter this motion and re-form the triangle which is after all what balance truly is.

  

 

In the picture you can see that I am using the crown area of the head to drive the Attacker backwards while always maintaining control over the weapon arm/hand. You can facilitate the takedown by incorporating your legs to trip or foot sweep as well combining the flinch and strike into a takedown for arrest/control almost…simultaneously with some practice.

Be safe Guys!

“STRIKE-GRAB/ KNIFE DISARMS”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

As you practice more edged weapon defense start to think about incorporating strikes into your blocks/flinch.

  

 

 An untrained reflexive response throws the hands out usually in front of the eyes and steps back. For Military/Police we are looking to strike as we block and step forward taking an offensive approach to being attacked.

 

The lesson example you can see that my right hand is striking the front deltoid head of the shoulder specifically affecting the Brachial Plexus nerve. My left hand strikes the Median Nerve around mid-inner forearm and then grabs the weapon hand while twisting upward so that his pinky finger is facing upward towards the ceiling.

The wrist is now locked with tendons of the weapon arm spiraled around the bone taking away a great deal of his ability to resist. With my right forearm I brace against the “flat” of the blade (when you practice this you will see that the knife is flat against your forearm) while maintaining the wristlock and use a push/pull motion to pop the blade out. It is not uncommon to send the knife across the room using this disarm as the wrist lock puts it under considerable pressure.

This is a fast and effective disarm technique. Train hard Guys and be safe.

DIRTY GROUND-FIGHTING AGAINST THE KNIFE…

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Gross motor skills…we hear that term repeatedly used in Military/Police training but is the message getting through. When it comes to combatives it is your responsibility as the Instructor to ensure that it does and not your students.

Many of your current students will have some type of sport ground-fighting background and you need to ensure that complex and fine motor skills are not being used when you partner your Officers up with each other and have them start to get their reps in.

Autonomic body responses to threat stimulus and pain:

1.       Have you ever noticed that when you get hit you automatically grab the spot that is injured?

2.        When you have been startled you may find yourself “grabbing” at the threat in order to try and control it in some measure

This is a gross motor-skill response that is pre-programmed and as such hard wired into our brains. The grab can therefore be incorporated along with a reflexive flinch as part of a natural bio-mechanical process into our CQC.

Testing this Theory:

Any of your combatives techniques should follow scientific rules and principles or…they are based on your own OPINION of what will happen when you take a tactic from the classroom to the field of combat.

 I have observed with some of my very experienced students who have studied with me for many years that they will regularly try and grab the weapon hand of the Attacker when their partner has gone too fast and startled them (flinch) while practicing. They will not do this at a practice speed OR after they have become accustomed to the specific technique performing multiple repetitions.

Because of this I have incorporated many new “grab” tactics in our knife defense portion of training to address this. The measurable result for my group is that their learning curve improved dramatically as the “grab” is an innate subconscious response to a perceived threat.

The “grab” and ground-fighting:

From the back I have seen many programs teach to deflect the weapon hand from the initial block/flinch. But, you should also add a component where your Officer controls the Attacker’s weapon arm with a grab. We know from science that time distortion occurs with an elevated heart rate of 175 and above coupled with extreme stress so this “slowing down of time” can be used as an advantage in the fight. It is not difficult in point of fact to grab the weapon arm after it has been blocked so that it can be controlled which is crucial when dealing with the subject of edged weapon defense.

Dirty Ground-Fighting:

  

 

 

From the picture you will notice all the steps that we just discussed above and broke down into the reasons underpinning WHY they occur from a scientific perspective.

From the Flinch in the first frame I immediately grab the weapon arm while still maintaining the block position using my forearm bone (ulnar side/pinky). This not only controls the direction of the vector of force but keeps you from getting slashed or stabbed as the arm can now be safely re-directed.

The last picture shows that from the double handed grab position the forearm of the Attacker is now pinned to my chest as I do not want him to re-engage me with the knife and be forced to start the whole process over…

Your legs can now be used to further pin his weapon side shoulder using your foot to push off his hip bone (Iliac Crest) at the same time driving the side of your knee into the shoulder. This keeps the limb taut making it susceptible to breaking at the fulcrum points (elbow, wrist).

We can now use these opposing directional forces to break the joint at the affected fulcrum in this case the elbow. The more that you can break down WHY something works for your students, The easier it will be for them to absorb it and reproduce it when their lives are at stake.

Appropriate Training Equipment:

It is crucial that any professional training curriculum can be validated so the “proof is in the pudding” making believers of your students that the tactics they are practicing WILL WORK…

UZIELcp is using and endorsing a new “marking” training knife developed by PDT Tech so that our students can see visible signs if their technique was successful or not(leaves a red mark). You can check these knives out at their website here: PDT Tech

Be Safe Guys, Train Hard and Train Smart!