Monday, February 04, 2013
Knife Disarms, for real???
3:34 PM | 
Posted by
szorn
I use the term "disarms"
very loosely because it gives people a general idea of what we are
trying to accomplish, an attempt to
prevent the attacker from shooting us. However, I do not teach disarms
in the traditional sense, stripping the weapon from the attacker's grip
while they stand there looking on in amazement. This is great for that
WOW factor and getting people interested in self-defense, and it works
great in a controlled training environment. However, these fancy
techniques don't always work as well when the attacker intends on
killing you and has a convulsive death grip on the weapon. There is an
easy litmus test to verify this...use training firearms that shoot some
kind of projectile such as airsoft, paint rounds, or even rubber bands.
Set up the scenarios so that the attacker is acting and moving like a
real attacker, no standing around with the gun just hanging out there
waiting for the disarm. Then tell the attacker that he makes the
decision whether or not he wants to shoot the victim and tell him that
if he sees any aggressive movement toward the gun that he is to shoot.
Can you guess what you will find? The defender will be shot more often than not. Even if it's only 50% of the time, this is too high of a probability for the techniques to be applicable for surviving a gun attack.
What about the knife? Same thing applies. While many martial arts instructors will show these cool disarms where the knife is stripped from the attacker's grip, even while sparring, I wouldn't bet my life on them during a real attack. Why not? Because real attackers move and act differently than fellow martial artists. They generally don't comply like a good training partner and what often works in training doesn't always work in real life.
What's the real problem with the "disarm" strategy? Well, to be blunt, this causes the intended victim to be weapon-fixated. In other words, they focus on the weapon that the attacker is holding rather than doing what is necessary to slow or stop the attacker that is holding the weapon. In short, we need to focus on interrupting the central nervous system (aka the brain) because this is the most efficient route to disarming the attacker. The longer we focus on or struggle to take the weapon away, that's precious time we are wasting and this increases the likelihood we will be severely injured or killed.
While traditional disarms have been known to work in some situations, there are better and more easily learned options and tactics that have been shown to work more frequently and with less risk.
So, don't get caught up in the weapon "disarm" illusion, especially if your focus is on the ability to survive lethal force situations.
Can you guess what you will find? The defender will be shot more often than not. Even if it's only 50% of the time, this is too high of a probability for the techniques to be applicable for surviving a gun attack.
What about the knife? Same thing applies. While many martial arts instructors will show these cool disarms where the knife is stripped from the attacker's grip, even while sparring, I wouldn't bet my life on them during a real attack. Why not? Because real attackers move and act differently than fellow martial artists. They generally don't comply like a good training partner and what often works in training doesn't always work in real life.
What's the real problem with the "disarm" strategy? Well, to be blunt, this causes the intended victim to be weapon-fixated. In other words, they focus on the weapon that the attacker is holding rather than doing what is necessary to slow or stop the attacker that is holding the weapon. In short, we need to focus on interrupting the central nervous system (aka the brain) because this is the most efficient route to disarming the attacker. The longer we focus on or struggle to take the weapon away, that's precious time we are wasting and this increases the likelihood we will be severely injured or killed.
While traditional disarms have been known to work in some situations, there are better and more easily learned options and tactics that have been shown to work more frequently and with less risk.
So, don't get caught up in the weapon "disarm" illusion, especially if your focus is on the ability to survive lethal force situations.
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About Me
- szorn
- -27 years training in personal safety -Multiple martial arts black belts -Multiple instructor certifications -Certified law enforcement trainer -Crime Prevention Specialist -Previous self-defense trainer for one of the country's largest airlines -Child safety specialist -Certified Fitness Trainer -TACTIX Fitness Trainer -High Intensity Training Specialist -FAST Defense Instructor -Kid Escape Instructor
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