As I dicussed in Part 1, awareness is the foundation self defense is built upon. If everything always worked out in our favor, we could rely strictly on our firearms to protect us from evil men. However, if we only practice under perfect conditions, we are fooling ourselves.
There is a rule in law enforcement called the "21 Foot Rule". It is a legal standard that states anyone within 21 feet poses a direct threat to you if they are agressive and intend to do bodily harm.
What that means is, someone can bring a knife to a gunfight, and expect to win, if they can get close enough to the gunslinger before he is aware of them. Rember the OODA loop from part one and the mental steps you have to go through? If someone gets withing 21 feet, and then pulls a knife and attacks, by the time you recognize the danger, map out the situation in your mind, make a decision, and then act upon by drawing your weapon(About 2.5 seconds total) the knife man, if he knows what he's doing, will have planted his blade in some vital organ or opened up an artery or three. They can do this because it takes about 1.5 seconds for the average person to cross 21 feet.
What this translates to is that you need to layer your personal defense plan to incorporate other things besides your gun. You need to be familiar with empty hand fighting and carry a few extra things with you.
When I'm not working, and I'm just another joe on the street, I usually carry a gun, a good folding knife I can open quickly, and a small bottle of pepper spray. I also practice martial arts and am comfortable with empty hand fighting.
The only martial art I would recommend for people who don't want to spend a lot of time on empty hand training, is the World War II fighting system taught to British Cammandos and American Rangers. There are books and videos available, and a few qualified instructors around. Look for W.E. Fairbairn's Defendo. Fairbairn developed it for the Shanghai police, after he was nearly beaten to death. Later, he taught in the British Military. Also look for Col. Rex Applegate. Even if you are already studying a martial art, you can look at Fairbairn's ideas and adapt what you already know to the core priciples of Fairbairn's stuff. It is simple and uses primarily gross motor skills and can be learned in realitively short amount of time.
The knife I carry is always of legal size, and the pepper spray is legal here as well. The pepper spray is nice because I can palm it and walk down the street, or into a dark parking garage, and no one is the wiser. This gives me a faster response time than trying to draw my pistol. Pepper spray is also non-lethal, and that's important because you can't use a gun to solve every problem.
Search Amazon for the names I've given you, Fairbairn and Applegate, and you should come up with some hits. You can also Google "WWII Combatives" and see what comes up.
If you would like some more information about the strengths and weakenesses of the various martial arts, drop me an email at Sam@wichitadetective.com
I won't discuss them publicly because they only people who are bigger jackasses than martial artists when it comes to discussing their pet martial art, are gun owners talking about their favorite pistol.
Remember, a gun is useful, but it doesn't solve every problem and it takes time to deploy. Make sure you have other options available to you if you need them.
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