Blood Loss

I was digging around in a stack of articles I intended to read and I ran across one written by Michael Janich entitled Blood Loss: Facts and Fiction, in Tactical Knives (Jan 2010).  Since we do a lot of knife training, I found the information very interesting because I have heard so many competing stories over the years about how long it actually takes for people to lose consciousness and/or die from a stab wound.  Apparently, many practitioners and instructors (including LEOs) over the years relied upon and referenced the “Timetable of Death” laid out by W.E. Fairbairn in his classic text Get Tough.  Fairbairn never revealed how he came to his conclusions, and though he is well-respected (rightly so!) for his contributions in combatives, a lot of folks have wondered about the accuracy of the table.  An LEO and defensive tactics instructor, Christopher Grosz, decided to put Fairbairn’s assertions to the test based on modern medical data. 

Based on a ton of research, and the aid of Medical Examiner, Dr. Michael Doberson, in Arapahoe County, Colorado as well as other edged weapons instructors, the data Fairbairn provided did not really stack up with Grosz’ findings, nor did Fairbairn take into account the effects of increased heart rate.  Janich illustrates a comparison: 

Well, according to Fairbairn, a severed carotid artery would produce unconsciousness in 5 seconds and death in 12.  In reality, even at maximum heart rate of 220 beats per minute, Grosz’ calculations indicated that unconsciousness occurs after 68 seconds and death 91 seconds—a huge difference that could drastically affect the outcome of a defensive encounter. 

Well, that’s very interesting, indeed!  Janich suggests that we need to re-think our tactics as it relates to stopping the threat in a lethal encounter.  What does this mean?  It means that even if you stab someone in a vital target area to save your own hide, this assailant still has plenty of time to try and kill YOU, even if he does die from his wounds later on.  Sobering thought! 

Christopher Grosz’ findings have been posthumously published, by Paladin Press, in the book entitled Contemporary Knife Targeting.  Michael Janich, an exemplary human being, completed the book for Grosz and signed over royalties to his wife and family!

Hitting During a Gun Disarm

Here is an interesting article about hitting an assailant during a gun disarm, the concept of pain compliance, and one hand versus two-handed grabs (for the weapon). 

http://www.your-krav-maga-expert.com/krav-maga-disarms.html

Gun and Knife Seminar with John Whitman

Book Signing

On Saturday, we had the great privilege of attending a gun and knife seminar with John Whitman at Krav Maga and Fitness in Suwanee.  John served as president of Krav Maga Worldwide from 2000 to 2007 and is now the head of Krav Maga Alliance.  He co-authored two Krav books we have in our library, and was gracious enough to sign both of them at the close of seminar. 

I am so impressed at how articulate and thoughtful John is in his presentation of the material, and for his explanations of why certain ways of doing techniques are preferred over others.  Most of the techniques were a departure for us from our previous gun and knife training, so my mind and body were struggling a bit, to say the least.  John is passionate, and he goes a long way to make things clear.  He also emphasizes the importance of concepts with disarms, as opposed to just focusing on technique.  He is a straight-forward kind of guy who maintains an air of humility.  He actually addressed the legality of self-defense and use of force, which I have found to be a rare thing with instructors in this field.  Not sure why that is, really. 

The seminar was intense and demanding (you would expect nothing less from Krav Maga!) and I furiously took notes at every opportunity.  I hope to have another chance to train with him in the future and pick his brain when I am fresh.  I must admit I was dog tired at the end of the day.  If any of you ever have the opportunity to train with John Whitman, I highly recommend it—you will NOT be disappointed!

Home Security Safe Room, Part 2

Here is part two on suggestions for creating a safe room in the home.  These are pretty thoughtful ideas.  It’s always a smart idea to plan for worst case scenario.  Preparation does not equate to paranoia, which is what we have to convince folks sometimes.  We can find plenty of statistics to back up the “need” for preparation.  In addition, it never fails that we have more than one individual in a seminar that has successfully evaded or been touched in some way by violent crime.

http://letstalkhomesecurity.com/?p=2016

 

Great Ideas for Home Security Plan

I got some interesting ideas from this article on the Lets Talk Home Security website.  I like the idea of creating a safe room in the house, using the same things you would for your external doors, like reinforced frames, doors and deadbolts.  There is a lot of stuff in here that probably does not occur to most homeowners, myself included.  I hear more and more about home invasions, and certainly we all need to have some basic plan in place so we can do something useful if the you-know-what hits the fan while we are chilling out at the homestead!

http://letstalkhomesecurity.com/?p=2014

 

Post on “Hooded Box Drill”

Here is an interesting post on the things worth believing in weblog, with video, on training dynamic warriors.  I fully realize this is geared towards law enforcement and operators, but these concepts can be applied to civilian training/real-world self-protection because, in the end, a hostile environment that endangers our lives requires decisive action no matter who we are or what our mission is in life.

We’ve talked in class about hooded drills.  The hood comes off, and you have to deal with whatever threat presents itself. . .

http://tgace.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/reboot-your-ooda-loop/

 

Geoff Thompson and Fence Concepts

Conditioning Research is an informative, well-written website on all things related to health, nutrition and exercise.  Here is an excellent post and YouTube clips regarding fence concepts, as put forth by the great Geoff Thompson.  We have posted before on his protégé, Al Peasland, and his fence concepts.  Think of a fence as your protective barrier.  There is much more to it than that, and I am oversimplifying a bit, so definitely check out the clips and learn from one of the premiere real-world self-protection masters.  Great stuff! 

http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/2009/10/fence.html

Charles Nelson

Perhaps some of you already know of Charles Nelson, the former marine instructor with a special gift for Close Combat methods.  He studied and incorporated many fighting disciplines in his system of self-defense, including combatives methods taught between WW1 and WW2, Western Boxing, Ju Jitsu (dirty fighting), and Mongolian Wrestling, among others.  For half a century he passionately taught his methods in New York City to anyone and everyone.  He would regularly collect news stories that involved violent crime, and utilize the details to create scenarios to teach students what to do if they found themselves in similar lethal encounters.  He believed that avoidance was the best defense, but that sometimes trouble found people despite their best efforts. 

We have utilized some of his fight sequences in our Gutterfighting, and he had a tendency to draw the attacker in to a false sense of security (think of breaking into his OODA loop) before launching into a fast and furious attack; he would attack to diminish the intention of the attacker.  This, of course, follows the principles of close quarters combat: speed, surprise, and violence of action. 

Charles left behind quite a legacy, and many people survived terrible encounters due to his no-nonsense, practical approach to self-defense.  Take a moment to read about this amazing man. 

http://www.urbancombatives.com/nelson_revisited.htm 

http://charles-nelson-defense.com/about/charles-nelson 

http://www.urbancombatives.com/obituary.htm

http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts-charles_nelson.htm

Cheryl Watterson Gets Steven Mosley’s Take on Firearms

On blogtalkradio, Cheryl Watterson interviews Steven Mosley, of Combat Hard Fitness & Fighting, on firearms, the importance of training on your gun of choice and basic combatives skills, and our new course, hosted by KBX Gym: Home Firearm Safety and Basic Pistol Course.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/letstalkhomesecurity/2009/09/18/Lets-Talk-Home-Security

Cheryl Watterson Interviews Melissa Soalt, AKA Dr. Ruthless

Perhaps some of you have watched her video clips on YouTube, or even her self-defense DVDs, such as Fierce and Female.  Here is an interview on blogtalkradio between Cheryl Watterson and Dr. Ruthless regarding her work (over 2 decades in this industry), self-defense as it particularly pertains to women, warrior mindset, overcoming fear of injury (what will happen if I don’t fight?!), and the importance of training with full emotional content.  Very interesting stuff, and good insight on training women, in my personal opinion.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/letstalkhomesecurity/blog/2009/09/10/Dr-Ruthless–Fierce-Famale-Self-Defense-Expert-Tells-It-Like-It-Is

Also, here is Dr. Ruthless’ website:

http://dr-ruthless.com/