What my instructors used to say is that one of the many survival bookmarks is that if you grab onto something during an aggressive, adversarial encounter, it is next to impossible to let go even if letting go is the best course.  An excellent way they would demonstrate this phenomena is to have a black belt grab onto one of them tightly.  My instructor would then start slapping the black belt repeatedly about the face.  Now, one would think that all you have to do is let go and block the slaps.  But, invariably, every black belt would hold on for varying lengths of time and receive repeated slaps about the face.  Finally, each black belt would let go and start blocking the slaps.  But, by then, in a normal assault, it may be too late. 

So, this is why many martial arts teach you to hook or paw verses grab.  In Gendai Goshin Jitsu, we are no different.  It’s important to practice this technique of control and avoid the more common grab.

So, from our system’s perspective, it is not enough to teach a person how to defend themselves in any given situation, but how to do it with the use the least amount of force as necessary.  Better… the ‘minimal, reasonable force that is legally justified.’

As you can better discover by going to www.useofforce.us, we will summarize here how the courts determine justifiability: ability, opportunity, jeopardy, & preclusion.

Ability: Does the attacker possess the physical and practical ability to cause you harm in comparison to you.

Opportunity:  At this very moment, is the attacker close enough to cause you immediate harm with the weapon(s) he possesses.

Jeopardy:  In your specific situation, would a “reasonable and prudent’ person truly believed him or herself to be in immediate danger?

Preclusion:  The use of force is only allowed as a last resort and when the entirety of the circumstances ‘preclude’ all other safe options.

As a separate article, we have outlined what we teach as the escalation of force hierarchy.  In addition to your research on the legal use of force, one aspect that you must be aware of are the various levels of force.  Most schools which offer self defense lessons, either disregard or just are not aware of all the levels of force considered under the ‘Preclusion’ factor.

*DISCLAIMER:  The author(s) of this and all literature from Gendai Martial Arts & Fitness, Inc. are meant in no way as legal advice.  We are not attorneys and are merely offering our opinions of the laws as they relate to the use of force in the defense of one’s person.  For legal advice, one must consult an attorney.  The purpose of this section is merely to provide each student with a basic overview of their legal responsibilities with regard to adversarial encounters.  It is no way intended as a legal position.  Each state may also differ on its views of the ‘force continuum.’  What this means, is that all of the factors will be evaluated to determine if your actions were reasonable and necessary. Some of the more common factors evaluated by the court are: the skill level of all parties involved, whether or not weapons were used, the environment where the incident took place and of course the verbal and physical actions of each party involved.

It cannot be overstated, that your self-defense training should take into account all the factors outlined is this book in order to best prepare for real scenarios.  So, when searching for a place to study and train in self-defense, make sure as many of the factors discussed herein are covered and practiced – not just given lip service to it.

Simple reflex is automatic or involuntary and does not occur as a result of learning.  For example, when your hand touches something painful, you will jerk your hand away, what we often refer to as flinch.  This response involves only three nerve cells and not the brain.  During such an automatic response, the brain is unaware of the response until after it has taken place.  Without a lot of effort, it is very difficult to override ‘simple reflex’ responses.

And, a conditioned reflex occurs as a result of repeated associating a reflex as a result to some specific stimulus.  In other words, this type of reflex response is learned.  As you begin to read this book, you have already developed numerous ‘conditioned reflexes’ to various environmental stimuli.  For example, something directly related to self-defense is how you flinch away from something coming at your face.

It is important to understand these reflex responses, because both you and your attacker are controlled by these mechanisms.  In other words, you do not want the attacker utilizing them against you.  You want to utilize them against your attacker and to your benefit.  For example, by targeting specific vulnerable points that elicit either a simple or conditioned reflex could be sufficient to change his mind about furthering the attack (remember the vulnerability selection factor).  Furthermore, almost every person unconsciously flinches away from anything that comes toward their face.  By practicing this built in response along with certain counter striking skills, you may more quickly and safely respond to attacker’s punch at your face.

Why should I concern myself with such matters you might ask?

While you may survive an encounter with a thug bent on doing harm to you, if your only solution to any potential danger presented to you in the street is fists and feet whaling away on someone, you better be prepared to spend some time in jail, face criminal charges or lose everything in a civil suit you have worked hard to own.    

Most martial arts schools that offer instruction in self-defense merely offer another ‘cookie cutter’ use of their standard martial arts – usually sport related – techniques.  Such an approach suggests that every person training in self-defense is the same and every potential attacker is the same as well.  Obviously, neither of these are true.  In fact, every person being attacked, every person bent on committing a criminal act against another person and every encounter between two persons is unique.  So, your response in each case must also be unique.  Or better, your response to each adversarial encounter must be appropriate for that specific incident. 

Any self-defense system should provide you training in all aspects of adversarial encounters possible.  To help you better understand what the courts may consider ‘appropriate’, let’s follow one state’s hierarchy of the force continuum which is the author’s home state of North Carolina as described in the training classes for North Carolina’s ‘Concealed Handgun Carry’ and elaborate on each as it relates to application.  Keep in mind that most states do not allow you to escalate the attack without proving the necessity to do so in order to prevent greater harm to yourself.

i)        Physical Presence – We suggest you look at this step as having three levels within it: awareness of potential threats, retreating from danger and ‘control presence’. 

The first stage is where most people either fail due to circumstances beyond their control or their surroundings simply did not provide ample warning of the presence of a potential adversary.  The sooner you see someone who may pose a threat to you or be potentially sizing you up as a target, the better off you are.  Avoid allowing any such threat to get any closer to you than they are when you first become aware of them.  If the perceived adversary attempts to approach you, move to the next level of physical presence and retreat from the area toward a place of greater safety.  If you are unable to do either of these levels for whatever reason, you must move immediately to ‘control presence.’  ‘Control presence’ is a newer term being used within the law enforcement community that better represents how one should respond to potential threats at this level.  Essentially one must look in control and confident.  Advice often given to women in rape prevention classes is to “Walk like you have a purpose.  Do not look afraid or vulnerable.”  If the suspect is attempting to intimidate you or interview you as a potential ‘free lunch’, you must appear calm and make sufficient eye contact as to communicate that you are very aware of them and their intention, but you are having nothing to do with them nor going to allow them to harm you.  Too much eye contact however may aggravate the attacker and should be avoided.  You are not challenging them nor do you want to.  And, always maintain a safe distance to allow enough time to react to any physical efforts on the part of the attacker.  A good rule of thumb for a minimal safe distance is greater than two arms lengths between you and the adversary.

ii)      Verbal – Verbally de-escalating any efforts on the part of a potential adversary is not only good legal advice, but good sense – period.  There’s nothing to gain by risking injury or legal troubles if you don’t have to.  Remember, you are merely trying to change an attacker’s intention, not get into a fight.

iii)    Soft Hands – By viewing an adversarial encounter by its level of threat and by the specific type of action taken toward you should better help to determine which of the following levels of response is warranted including this one of soft hands.  Whenever the level of danger to you physically is minimal such as being pushed or grabbed, soft hand responses are considered more appropriate and reasonable.  Even if the adversary threatens more serious harm to you verbally or may even arm himself with something, if that person is either a small child or someone in a falling down drunken stooper, you might have a hard time convincing a jury that punching the living daylights out of the child or the drunken man reasonable considering all factors.  Soft hands means simply controlling the situation with the use of pushes, deflection efforts, throws, joint locks or grabs of your own.

iv)    Hard Hands – At this level, the attack has resulted in fists and/or feet being used as weapons to strike you.  Or, the indication that such a level of force is about to be attempted…  While, you may be proficient enough to still protect yourself from harm using soft hand techniques, the average person with even years of soft hands training is still safer utilizing simpler techniques of strikes to vulnerable points that elicit a reflexive response on the part of the attacker.  We have been informed by attorneys that the use of even pre-emptive strikes is sometimes legal and a proven defense both in the street and in court.

v)      Chemical – Employing any weapon, even chemical weapons such a pepper sprays and such, should only be done with proper training.  The old adage that you do not want the weapon taken away from you and used against you most certainly applies here and in any use of a weapon improvised or standard device.  Too often, instructions in the use of chemical weapons for self-defense involve extending the arm in the direction of the attacker’s face and then spraying them.  This exposes you to a higher risk of the weapon hand being grabbed and subsequently, the weapon being directed back at you.  We suggest keeping it near your body.  Another factor to consider is the possibility of air flow/wind causing the chemical spray being deployed to be blown back at you.

vi)    Impact Weapons – At this level, the use of weapons by design or items that may be used as improvised weapons (such as an umbrella, a rolled up magazine, etc.) other than your hands and feet to inflict greater pain or injury to the attacker through impact force may be used should you believe that the use of your own hands and feet will not be adequate to defend against immediate and imminent harm to yourself including when the attacker is armed with a similar weapon or any items that be used as a weapon to harm you.  Some of the typical advantages of the use of such weapons is that the device provides the user greater reach and increased striking force.

vii)  Deadly Force – The last level of force allowed by law is deadly force.  In most states, our research has indicated that you do not have to feel that your life is in danger to resort to deadly force, merely that great bodily harm has, or will, occur should you not use such force.

Each of the above steps is covered in one way or another in more detail throughout this book.  Regardless of the level of force being used, the key is the typical terms used to describe what is allowed is ‘minimal, reasonable force.’  The use of force is only allowed if the threat is ‘immediate and imminent’ as well.  So, you might be wondering then what does all this mean?  Well, it means simply that what would the average person do when confronted with the same threat level you are faced with.  Another phrase you will likely come across in your research into the legalities surrounding self-defense and the force continuum is the ‘totality of circumstances.’  Ignorance is no excuse, so do your homework on all subjects relating to self defense, not just the physical part of the training.  Another important suggestion and one taught in our curriculum is the use of the verbal de-escalation at every opportunity including during the actual application of physical force – and have sufficient safe control – give verbal de-escalation commands to the attacker in your best effort to persuade him/her to cease any further efforts toward harming you or escalating the threat. 

*DISCLAIMER:  The author(s) of this and all literature from Gendai Martial Arts & Fitness, Inc. are meant in no way as legal advice.  We are not attorneys and are merely offering our opinions of the laws as they relate to the use of force in the defense of one’s person.  For legal advice, one must consult an attorney.  The purpose of this section is merely to provide each student with a basic overview of their legal responsibilities with regard to adversarial encounters.  It is no way intended as a legal position.  Each state may also differ on its views of the ‘force continuum.’  What this means, is that all of the factors will be evaluated to determine if your actions were reasonable and necessary. Some of the more common factors evaluated by the court are: the skill level of all parties involved, whether or not weapons were used, the environment where the incident took place and of course the verbal and physical actions of each party involved.

It cannot be overstated, that your self-defense training should take into account all the factors outlined is this book in order to best prepare for real scenarios.  So, when searching for a place to study and train in self-defense, make sure as many of the factors discussed herein are covered and practiced – not just given lip service to it.

Ground up techniques are those whose force initiates from the ground and is driven up from the feet through the calves, thighs, hips, abdominals, chest, shoulders, arms, hands and into the target.  A perfect example of this type of technique is a palm heel strike initiated from a standing posture up and into the philtrum of the attacker.

Air to ground techniques must utilize the body’s ability to lower itself toward the ground in order for the power to be maximized downward through the target.  A good example of this type of KEL technique is our cutting elbow coming down and through the attacker’s mastoid area.

A critical component to both types of KEL is the central point of the linkage – the hips.  Properly practicing in slow motion by pushing through the training partner or bag will aid in developing the most efficient body mechanics.

Basically, KEL is the result of all the energy generated through each body part from the initial point of motion through to the target.  Developing your ability to both initiate and follow through by gaining the maximum velocity and mass behind each technique with proper use of each muscle contraction and joint take a lot of practice and patience.  Keep in mind that every muscle group is strongest at or just beyond 50% contraction.  In other words, a fully extended muscle is at its weakest point.  So, basically, your goal should be to generate the maximum velocity just before impact; make impact when the muscle group(s) involved are beyond 50% contracted with contraction still remaining for maximum penetration; and, have your weight following through as well but not off balance.

The catch phrase, “fight or flight”, was first coined by Walter Cannon in 1929 or so.  It has been a phrase not only repeated many times in martial arts teachings, self-defense classes and military training, but used significantly by behavioral scientists, therapists and the like since its introduction over 75 years ago.  Since then, additional research studies has led to a necessity to modify the phrase somewhat to more accurately describe animal and human behavior in circumstances of extreme stressful stimuli – in the case of this book, when faced with immediate physical harm at the hands of another person.

In reviewing numerous works and studies performed in recent years, I discovered that there are additional factors worth noting here for the benefit of anyone desiring to better prepare themselves for the potential threat posed by other people.  Studies have shown that there are distinct differences between how men and women respond.  But, rather than get too technical and discuss the brain’s involvement in these predisposed psychological self-defense mechanisms, the resulting chemicals released and the overall effect all this has on you – I would prefer to leave it up to you to do your own research into such details while we simply outline the stages discovered by the more recent research.

“Freeze Response” = “Stop, Look & Listen Response” (Men & Women)

This can probably best be explained by thinking of how prey will ‘freeze’ when a predator is near to avoid detection.  This works primarily based on the fact that carnivores of the animal kingdom do not see color, but rely heavily on movement to detect prey.  Also consider how clinicians describe this phase in order to better understand how it helps in self-defense situations.  They usually refer to it as hypervigilence or being on guard or hyper-alert.  I think it is also important to keep in mind these specialists repeated use of the term ‘hyper’ under stressful conditions such as assault.  Many affects of the human body that occur naturally will put you in a state of ‘hyper’ this, that and the other thing.

“Tend & Befriend” (Women)

Numerous studies have discovered that women will protect themselves and their young as part of their nurturing trait, ie. the “tend’ term.  Another aspect to women’s behavioral response is “befriending” as seen in their forming of alliances in the group especially among other women.  In fact, it has been discovered that the brain produces a chemical in women under extreme stressful circumstances which has a calming affect and this chemical is not produced in men.

“Flee” not “Flight” (Men)

Notice here that the next stage is “flee’ and not “fight’.  This is the biological predisposed response order is the best way I know to explain it.  Because, social norms typically teach “fight’ next.  The fact that the biologically developed response is now in conflict with the sociocultural response order leads to many internal psychological challenges both during and after such overwhelming stressful encounter.  The last thing one wants is added stress or hesitation during a potentially deadly encounter with a predator.

“Protect & Fight” (Men & Women)

The next stage of in human behavioral response to extreme stressful stimuli is to “fight”.  Now, I add “protect” to my explanation merely because I have found that people – especially women (see notes above on “tend”) – are more likely to fight to defend their children than they are to defend themselves.  Knowing this helps to increase determination and motivation in students studying how to defend themselves.

“Or Fright” (Men & Women)

Sometimes fight is followed by or replaced by what is more easily thought of as ‘fright’ and clinically referred to as “tonic immobility.”  What?  Often times, many victims of rape or violent assault struggle with internal blame because they did not put up a fight or fight back harder.  Studies have shown that throughout the animal kingdom, animals seem to instinctively “play dead (tonic Immobility)” when struggling with a predator.  How does one know whether they will or will not fight back enough or not?  I tend to believe that you can’t ever know for certain until the moment of truth so to speak.  But, with sufficient training under reasonable adrenal stressed states, I have to believe that we can improve our chances greatly.

So, you might ask, what does this have to do with Gendai Goshin Jitsu or any modern self-defense art or instruction.  I say, it has everything to do with teaching and learning self-defense.  In all that we do, learning self-defense, should not go against our nature.  Anytime we attempt to go contrary to our nature we risk further hesitation in reaction, added stress due to the conflict between our nature and what we are taught and ultimately greater harm than good.  Like we state in other conceptual explanations in this book, we prefer to take ones natural tendencies and abilities and capitalize on them to improve the potential of all students when faced with extremely stressful encounters common in adversarial attacks.  And, although it may go against many martial arts teachings, instructing students to flee if possible not only complies with their biological wiring, but it complies with the laws in most states.

Following are a few points to consider:

1. Physical Presence, Verbal Boundary Setting & Non-Reactive Mind Response Required NOW!

Ø Verbal attacks

Ø Chesting Up & Standing High to Increase Size & Height

Ø Abnormal Eye Contact

Ø Gets in Your Space

Ø Erratic Movements with Feet & Hands

1. Prepare for Physical Attack

Ø Clenching & Unclenching His Fists

Ø Head & Eyebrows Lower

Ø Shoulders Tense Up

Ø Changes Stance to Sideways or Boxing Posture

Ø Moves from Direct Eye Contact to Body Targets

Ø Hands Begin to Raise or Chamber

Ø Bends His Knees

Ø Comes Up On the Balls of His Feet

For the most thorough coverage on the subject, I suggest you visit the following web site for in depth study and reading: www.nononsenseselfdefense.com.

Since ours is an Intent Based Self-Defense Art/System^TM, our goal with everything we teach including on the subject of de-escalation is to change the potential attacker’s intention. So, simply put, we want you to make it your goal with this part of your training as with all other parts to give the attacker plenty of reasons not to attack you or to stop attacking you! Something you must keep in mind here too is that whether you are an adult dealing with more serious life threatening circumstances of a younger person dealing with a bully at school, all elements of our self-defense system are inter-related and must be practiced to insure your survival in the street. Ask yourself if you are willing to engage in a verbal encounter with a person who may be intending to kill you if in fact you are not prepared to back up your words with action should it be necessary?

For any successful attempt at verbal self-defense or de-escalation tactics must be presented from a point of confidence and control. Otherwise, any experienced street thug will see right through your efforts and in all likelihood attack you. Subconsciously you will give off non-verbal physical cues which communicate your fear and lack of true readiness and ability.

Then, to aide in the development of your de-escalation training efforts, understand why someone intends to attack you… Here, I like to refer to a statement made by the world renown behavioral specialist, Anthony Robbins, who said people do or don’t do things for one of two reasons. They do things to gain pleasure and they don’t do things to avoid pain. Therefore, you must understand and know either at the time the suspect begins to approach you or as soon as possible what he/she hopes to gain by attacking you. Then, your verbal and physical communications must convince the suspect that attacking you is going to be more painful than it is worth.

So, how does one de-escalate a potentially life threatening situation from actually taking place? We will approach this first by outlining specific things if not adhered to will most certainly result in being physically attacked. And, since we have not found any better way of outlining this nor disagree with a few of the world’s leading experts in the field of reality based self-defense (Peyton Quinn, Bill Kipp & Marc MacYoung), then we will borrow from them this list and use our own insight into elaborating on each for your better understanding and ability to apply your communicate skills.

v DO NOT INSULT THE ATTACKER!

While one may believe initially that using strong or even cursive language will demonstrate a stronger defensive position, it actually will insult the attacker and likely force him/her to attack you in order to save face. Avoid name calling or any language that may be considered aggressive as compared to confident or in control.

v DO NOT CHALLENGE THE ATTACKER

Any verbiage that may be interpreted by the attacker as your doubting his/her willingness to attack is not only a misconception, but a very bad approach. Essentially, never assume the attacker will not follow through and do not force him/her to prove you wrong with such remarks as “I don’t think you will …” or “You wouldn’t dare …” or one of my personal favorite mistakes “I dare you.” Nothing positive can be gained from challenging another person in any street encounter.

v DO NOT DENY THIS IS HAPPENING

Denial often affects people who have never or haven’t been faced with violence in a very long time. By spending a significant time reading, studying and training for a potential violent encounter, you must accept that violence happens and may hit you right between the eyes one day if you are not prepared. Not realizing this and accepting that you could be the victim of a violent attack will result in your inability to properly respond when it does occur.

v GIVE THE ATTACKER A FACE SAVING EXIT

Since often times, people who perpetrate crimes on other people often suffer from deep rooted psychological issues too complicated to begin to discuss here, but important to realize. This is important to understand. You are not giving into nor agreeing with them, but, you must accept the fact that the attacker may not be blessed with your more rational views and experiences in human social behavior. Simply put, it is always best to allow any attacker a way to walk away with their pride in tact than to provoke them!

OK… What does all this mean then? Essentially, your goal is to convince the attacker utilizing verbal negotiation skills supported by a confident position of strength should force be necessary. Are you going to be his next ‘Free Lunch’ or not? Like most things, there’s only one way to become truly confident at something and that’s through practice under as realistic conditions as possible. But, do not think for a moment that all potential violent situations can be stopped with de-escalation techniques. There will always exist situations that physical force may be your only and BEST option. Ultimately, as the saying goes, you must be willing and able to defend yourself and your loved ones should the need arise. Essentially, if you come across as willing to defend yourself to the death but wise enough to prefer other options, most attackers will understand this and decide on a less risky target. Or, as the old saying goes – with our own added caveat – Ready, Willing and Able if that’s the only option.

No matter what you or your school’s practice is, you may want to consider at least some of the potential and common health risks associated with training without shoes. Three of the most common infections found in training environments such as martial arts school floors are: athlete’s foot, ring worm and staph infections. The first two infections are the results of parasitic microorganisms or mold-like fungi known as dermatophytes which live on the outer layer skins cells. Staph on the other hand is a more serious bacterial infection. Let’s first take a brief look at each of these common infections to understand how they thrive and are transmitted.

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection that most often occurs on the feet. It derived it’s name was derived due to the fact that this infection was common among people who routinely participate in athletic events, sports and exercise. The fungus thrives in warm, dark and moist areas such as one’s shoes, locker rooms, showers and swimming pools. Simply walking barefoot in an infected area brings your skin in contact with the fungus. The most common factors that increase a person’s likelihood of contracting athlete’s foot fungus are: prior infection; walking barefoot in contaminated areas; sweaty, dirty feet; disorders of the immune system; and hot, humid weather.

Ringworm (tinea corporis) is a fungal infection of the top layer of skin deriving its common name due to the red, circular rash that appears with healthy skin in the middle forming what can appear to look like a ‘ring.’ The ring shape does not always appear. One may have contracted ringworm and have a rash with the distinctive ring shape appearance. Ringworm is highly contagious and can be spread in a number of ways. The most common way of contracting ringworm is by skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. But, one may also contract it by coming into contact with an object’s surface or even soil that an infected person recently came into contact with. Like athlete’s foot, common risk factors are: participating in contact sports; damp, humid environments; share clothing or equipment; tight, restricted clothing that doesn’t breathe well; and a weakened immune system.
Staphylococcus, commonly referred to as staph (pronounced staff), is a group of bacteria that can have severe consequences. It can affect various body tissues and cause everything from mild symptoms requiring little to no treatment to severe reactions resulting in death. The causes and safety precautions recommended by our health professionals is something every martial arts instructor should take note of. Most staph infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus. It’s most commonly found in the nose or on the skin. A staph infection of the skin is recognized as a localized collection of pus often referred to as an abscess or boil. The affected area may be red, swollen and even painful. If the bacteria enters the bloodstream, it may spread like both fungi mentioned above, coming into contact with infected people, food, etc. may result in contracting the staph bacteria. Helpful tips include: proper hygiene including thoroughly washing of exposed skin areas; avoid skin-to-skin contact with possible infected individuals; proper hygienic care of any and all scraps, cuts, and wounds; disinfecting surface areas that may come into contact with the bacteria.
So, as martial arts instructors and/or school owners, do we have a responsibility to consider the fact that our clients/students are by default put in a high risk environment of contracting these infections by participating in our martial arts training? Therefore, should we not re-evaluate some of our traditions and/or training requirements? When considering the steps an owner of a martial arts school or health club should take in preventing the spread of either of these infections, the wearing of properly ventilated clothing and shoes to reduce the skin’s contact with infected people or areas is the least we should do. Additional steps can and should be taken. But, the purpose of this article is to address the ‘shoes verse no shoes’ debate.

We at Gendai Martial Arts & Fitness, Inc. prefer that students purchase socks that wick moisture away from the skin and shoes designed for training in such environments. We happen to prefer wrestling shoes that are only allowed to be worn while training and not outside. Even shoes worn outside may pick up bacteria or fungus and deposit them on the training floor. Wiping your shoes with disinfecting wipes before stepping back onto the training floor and after each trip to the restroom are additional precautions one might consider implementing.

Anyone who has experienced an assault, altercation, or fight, would probably agree that it’s rare to achieve the perfect strike under perfect conditions at the optimal distance, proper body mechanics, follow through, etc.  But, proper training under simulated realistic conditions can achieve the defender’s goal of ‘stopping’ the attacker.

So, how can we understand strikes better?

First, let’s look at the idea of ‘stopping power’ as kinetic energy typically measured in foot-pounds of force.  In other words, the higher a strike’s kinetic energy at the point of impact, the greater its ‘stopping power.’  But, there’s more to it than just that…  It’s isn’t a matter of how much kinetic energy you generate, it’s a matter of how much kinetic energy you can transfer to the attacker and where!  Obviously, it would take significantly more energy to strike an attacker in the chest and stop him than it would if you struck him in the throat.

Since I have a science background as well as a martial arts one, this part of the discussion might be more enlightening than some of the others I get to have.  To adequately discuss ‘stopping power,’ let’s first look at the concept of kinetic energy in motion, E_k.  The equation to calculate this is important to those of us wishing to better understand the stopping power of a strike because the variables used to calculate kinetic energy in motion provide us with what we need to focus on to obtain maximize ‘stopping power.’

E_k = ½ m V²

(E_k refers to Kinetic Energy; m refers to Mass; V refers to Velocity)**

Therefore, one can easily see how maximizing the mass applied to the strike along with maximum velocity, one would generate maximum kinetic energy.  Starting with the mass factor, it is not enough to just throw a strike with the limb (arm or leg).  One must get their entire body in the strike – NOT behind the strike.  I suggest learning to push the target from the hips while maintaining balance.  This will lead to proper body mechanics.  Adding speed and snap to the push will convert the push to a strike.  Do this in small, gradual steps to ensure the proper body mechanics remain with speed added.

Secondly, notice that by increasing the velocity of a strike, one can exponentially increase the kinetic energy generated.  So, one can see why so many martial arts schools focus on speed.  But, too often, they do so and sacrifice both proper body mechanics and penetration, therefore decreasing the mass variable.  More than just decreasing the mass, those who fail to use proper body mechanics and proper technique sacrifice the next part of the discussion, kinetic energy transfer.

Essentially, the only way to transfer the total kinetic energy generated into the target, the striking tool must actually enter the target, much like a bullet would.  Not only is that thought somewhat grouse, but highly unlikely (except with very soft tissue areas).  But, for training purposes, the ancient method of striking in martial arts was to have the strike penetrate the target and pause for a fraction of a second on the target to allow maximum transfer of the kinetic energy.  Therefore, one might then consider their follow through when training strikes verses quickly snapping the strike back immediately at impact.

Ultimately, in order to stop an attacker, the kinetic energy must be sufficiently transferred into him (or her) in a vulnerable point that will achieve a ‘transition to defensive reflex response’ ceasing his/her continued dynamic attack.  What does all that mean?  All attacks are dynamic in nature.  There’s an intent to an attack (rape, robbery, bodily harm, murder) for which the steps taken by an attacker to achieve their intent are complex mini attacks – strikes, grabs, etc. – each subsequent to the other back-to-back like a program being played out in their head until the intent is achieved.  So, the sooner the defender convinces the attacker consciously or subconsciously to stop or as I refer to it here as, ‘transition to defensive reflex response’, the better.  In fact, a thought worth considering and one I often provide in class is – stop the control center or the brain, stop the attack.  A strike to a vulnerable point will achieve certain reflex responses on the part of the one being struck.  Training to acquire specific vulnerable points and target them with the proper tools (body mechanics and velocity all considered), one is more likely to achieve the ‘stopping power’ results desired.  Remember too that it isn’t about power in every case.  There are numerous vulnerable points that may result in a reflex response with very little energy or force applied.

Finally, keep in mind that the kinetic energy equation works for the attacker the same way it works for you.  The more mini-attacks you allow them to get off without interruption or even deflection, the greater the kinetic energy they are able to transfer to you.  WOW!  Now, just like ‘stopping power’ can work for you, it can work against you as well.  So, by even slightly deflecting a blow to your head can greatly reduce the kinetic energy transferred to the intended target.  Another major part of our training is on moving in and off center on the attacker (a concept common to many traditional martial arts by the way).  This coupled with other specific training principles we teach including a simple light slap to the attacker’s face disrupts the attacker’s mental state and body mechanics and therefore can simultaneously reduce the mass behind the strike as well as the velocity he/she is able to achieve due to natural adversarial opposites and reflex responses.

So, SLOW DOWN – as we always say!  When you practice vulnerable point acquisition and targeting or any striking defense drill, follow through with your entire body in a proper balanced position, doing so slowly and leave the strike on the target until the partner’s body reflex response occurs and the body part moves away.  Slow, pushing through drills while practicing vulnerable point acquisition and targeting will also provide a more realistic body response on the part of the person acting as the attacker.  This is critically important as it will alter the available vulnerable points and angles in a more lifelike manner than the traditional martial arts self-defense drills where the uke stands firm and rarely changes his/her posture during the defense.

**Please understand that the equation provided in this article is the simplest one applicable.  It is not my intention to delve into all the variables affecting the transfer of  kinetic energy under adversarial conditions because the equation and variables would be too extensive and complicated for a short article.  Numerous factors such as opposing forces in motion, angles of attack and angles of impact, etc. have a great affect on the kinetic energy transferred into the intended target.  I may find time to elaborate on these additional details and develop a more thorough equation addressing dynamic kinetic energy as it may aptly be referred to for the applications for which martial artists and self-defense proponents are interested.