The Perfect Weapon...

Ahhh… the Perfect Weapon! If you are like me, the 1991 martial arts, action film starring Jeff Speakman should come to mind. “No gun. No knife. No equal.” was the film’s tagline implying that he WAS the perfect weapon. LOL.

For self-defense though, is there a “perfect weapon?” In short no. True self-defense is a chaotic, messy confrontation. It’s full throttle and in-your-face. Whatever you can grab and use as a weapon can be the perfect weapon. The idea here is that I need to be able to turn anything I grab into a weapon and then use it to its best extent possible. That could be a knife, handgun, pepper spray, taser, frying pan, umbrella, cell phone, brick etc.

So whatever I have, I need to immediately know how to use it to my best possible advantage. But how do get good at doing this? Well, practice. You have to practice with mainstream weapons (handgun, kubotan, mace, knife, stick, etc.). Practice with more exotic weapons (sword, machete, axe, staff, etc.). And finally practice with non-weapons or improvised weapons (frying pan, water bottle, cell phone, sharpie., etc.) Eventually you start understanding the mechanics and attributes of things that can be used to protect yourself - no matter what that thing is.

So what is the perfect weapon? Well, if you trained correctly, physically/mentally/emotionally…it actually is YOU! Jeff Speakman was right all along…

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RECALCULATING...

Gotta love a GPS navigation system. Where would we be without them? I mean there is no way I am ever going back to handwritten directions or a trip-tik from AAA. LOL. But have you ever veerd from your car’s GPS directions? The system starts “RECALCULATING…” to find you a new route or to modify your existing route. Usually when this happens there is a small delay. And that delay is the key to speed in self-defense.

This delay or recalculation time is what I call a brain interrupt. If I can interrupt the thinking/actions of my attacker for a moment and then move or counter attack in that time gap, I effectively move faster because he is not tracking me but is trying to recalculate what happened. I want him in a constant state of recalculation. This is how I get the upperhand to defend myself better - I get him reacting to me.

TIP: common brain interrupts cover a wide variety of techniques. Some of which can include the following:

• a loud scream/shout/noise

• a stinging slap to the belly/chest/face/arm

• a chin push, face wash, hair pull, etc.

• a body shove

• a ball tap

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Self-Defense Legos

Legos. Those wonderful, creative blocks that allow you to build...anything and everything. I loved legos as a kid and loved them even more when teaching my son about them. But the true beauty of legos is the potential to unlock your creativity. You see you can buy a set that builds a police car. But do you always want to build the police car?  My guess is no. In fact, I am sure you want to take pieces from that set and the robot set and mix and match and make something entirely your own.

Am i right? I'm right. Right? Of course I am right. That IS the beauty of legos - the creative potential.

Guess what, self-defense is no different.

You see as a new student you will learn basic "sets" (kihons) of responses to various self-defense situations and attacks. But all of these sets - just like legos - can be intermixed to make a response that is truly your own. Do you have to follow the prescribed set? No, not really - just as long as the mix that you create makes sense from a tactical point of view. In fact these mixed sets are only limited to your imagination and each mixed set gives us more potential for more sets. Ad infinitum...

So if you have played with legos and liked them, I am sure we can get you building again but with our self-defense legos. Happy creating!

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TRADITIONAL? or MODERN?

It’s no secret that I love the martial arts. Always have. The history, the discipline, the lineage, the respect… All of it. BUT… we have to make a distinction when it comes to why you are training.

Are you training to learn the art? To continue the legacy of your instructor. Are you training to protect yourself. To develop and hone your skills as fast as possible to survive a deadly encounter? Now there can be a middle ground where both are true - an intersection of the traditional and the modern.

When I made the decision to be only about self-defense, many aspects of traditional training had to go. A new hybrid way had to be developed:

• No uniforms. No belts. No ranks. Just learning.

• No kids under 18. Adult self-defense is a navigation of legalities. Knowing and understanding what to do when is extremely important.

• Training time had to be maximized- adult students don’t have years to devote to learning everything about an art.

• Accommodating & understanding issues (physical, mental etc.) is crucial. Everyone has baggage but even so, you still need to operate with that baggage, an attacker doesn’t care.

• Adult students have to be able to train and still go to work the next day.

These are just some of the highlights of the Pittsburgh Combat Club’s training. We offer a modern, hybrid way of self-defense skill development that is catered to the adult learner. Our goal is to provide the very best instruction in the safest possible manner.

TIP: Interested in self-defense classes in Pittsburgh? Try us on for size - FREE. Get 2-FREE classes!!
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FIGHTING FEET

IMO the most important skill set in self-defense is footwork. Without proper footwork, everything else fails. Think of it as the wheels/axle/drive train of a car. Without those in place, you are going nowhere.

So footwork in combat refers to the way a fighter uses their legs and feet to move during a fight, keeping balance, controlling distance, and creating angles. Good footwork is crucial for offense and defense, allowing fighters to get into advantageous positions and avoid being hit. It involves a combination of balance, groundedness, angles, rhythm, and agility. 

Now not all footwork from all fighting arts though translates well to self-defense. You must keep in mind that by its very nature, self-defense is not as “clean” as a ring match. A self-defense situation requires simple footwork that will not compromise your balance. You must account for uneven ground/pavement and environmental conditions.

TIP: Practice simple step advances, retreats and side-steps. Avoid shuffles, slides and cross-steps. Also use every opportunity to practice on different types of ground - grass (wet, tall, etc.), mud, rocks, sand, gravel, water, snow, ice, hillsides and the like.

Man you gots some SKILLZ...

SKILL: “the ability to do something well.”

Self-defense training is all about developing a set of important skills that need to be learned, honed and become automatic under the most dire and stress-filled situations possible. This, of course, does not happen overnight. Nor does it happen from taking a “self-defense class” at the local community center.

Time, energy & focus has to be put in. You have to learn the new skills. You then have to apply those skills in context. And finally you have to use these skills in context and under duress. There is a progression of learning.

My point is you can take a self-defense class or seminar but you have to repeat that class/seminar to keep those skills. How often? IMO, on-going classes at least 2x per week is the minimal. Not everyone can do this. I understand. So, if you are time-crunched and are going to do the seminar method, re-taking that seminar is the key. Re-taking it every year (or more often) would be to your best advantage. Oh, and not all seminars are created equal. Too often they are too technical for the average person to retain and use the skills when needed.

TIP: All hope is not lost! The PCC offers both on-going weekly classes and self-defense workshops to help you in this skill acquisition & development!

If you are interested and want to try us on for size…

To Stick or Not to Stick?

I recently posted a video of me practicing a double stick coordination drill called Umbrella-6. Some of the comments I got on this post were missing the point entirely. One person said, “Yeah, I always have some sticks on me when I’m jumped.” Another said, “Just get a gun.” Etc.

Of course I don’t carry sticks with me wherever I go. And of course, a gun is a far superior weapon to a stick in terms of range and lethality. So this begs the question, “Why practice stick fighting?” I’ll give you 3 answers:

1. The coordination drills are not just about the sticks but about your hands. Internalizing the patterns and moving you hands correctly allows you to use these patterns with any object. That could include a flashlight, a frying pan, a tire thumper, etc. It also translates to unarmed hitting too.

2. We practice stick fighting realizing that the likelihood of actually fighting someone else with a stick is probably never going to happen. But…Stick fighting speed is typically 3 to 4 x faster than unarmed fighting speed. So we practice stick fighting as a means of reducing our reactionary gap. That is, the by-product of stick training is that we act and react faster.

3. Learning how to take any bludgeoning object and use it as a means of self-defense with effective and efficient ability to swing and block is a crucial aspect of training. In reality it is just another “tool” in our box that we can use at the appropriate time to protect ourselves if need be. Besides…it’s fun too!

TIP: all weapons are tools - to be learned and utilized in the correct manner when things go south. Learn your tools. Know when which tool is the right one for the job at hand. Need help learning? Then consider us your school of self-defense tools! Come and try us on for size at no cost to you!

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Stand Your Ground

I’ll make this brief…nothing good happens on the ground! In a self-defense situation, you want to stay on your feet at all costs. Being upright gives you more options, more mobility and more chances of surviving.

Yes, I know, there are specifics arts that actually go to the ground to fight (BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, etc.) and some these are fantastic arts and have some amazing skill sets to learn. That being said, would you go to the ground to fight if you were on gravel, in snow or in a men’s room??? Would you go to the ground if your attacker was more than one person? Would go to the ground if you were defending against an attacker who was armed?

Look, knowing what to do IF you end up going down vs. choosing to go down to fight is a big difference.

Ring tactics are not the same as street tactics. Stay on your feet and stand your ground.

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