Edged Weapon Defence Taster Session (diary entry)

15.06.13

My mandate for today’s private lesson was to teach edged weapon defence leading in Clubb Chimera Martial Arts training methods. The lesson covered a line of increased risk situations, from evasion to an unarmed close-quarter counter-assault. No specific scenarios were mentioned, as it is impossible to train for every exact hypothetical situation and far more productive to teach a generic set of tactics.

It is important to note that due to time restrictions and specific requests from the clients, that no soft skills were covered. The purpose of this session was to give an insight into the delivery of a series of workshops covering weapon defence, an aspect of self-protection. Both clients were experienced martial arts instructors who taught a pragmatic interpretation of their traditional arts. They were well aware of the basic soft skills of attitude, awareness and the body’s physiological fear response. One of the clients is currently studying law, so I didn’t need to go through the Criminal Law Act 1967 either!  Future workshops will include information on the awareness and identification of edged weapons as well as the legal aspects.

We began with a warm-up exercise that covered the first line of defence against an assault with an edged weapon. This was a basic evasion drill. As soon as the student recognizes or thinks he sees a person approaching who may be carrying a weapon with intent to injure or kill he shouts the order to “Drop the weapon!” and accesses his nearest exit point. We progress up the threat ladder with the attacker drawing his edged weapon and coming directly at the student. The student’s response is to make a tactical retreat, ensuring he keeps his eye on his pursuer. I explained how such excises can be branched off into footwork drills for multiple attackers and also for sport.

The next grade of assault involved the immediate exit points being blocked. Here the student is forced to make some form of counter assault. Given the environment, many objects – although I hasten to add not all! -  can become good incidental weapons. Selecting incidental weapons at a moment’s notice is not easy, but it is important to get a longer ranger on your attacker. From here we covered basic patterns of movement used to intercept the attacker and protect the defender until the exit is cleared and accessed.

One of the main reasons why humans climbed to the top of the food chain was because of their superior tool-making and using skills. Therefore, every culture has its own methods, which can be boiled down to basic principles. However, the Southeast Asian systems, particularly the Filipino ones, are often pooled more than most for their knife and stick work. I agree that they provide us with some solid information, which is largely based on the fact that they have a strong and long culture of using knives. However, what is relevant in a culture where everyone carries a blade and formed certain skills over several generations isn’t always relevant to every situation involving a blade. The Filipino arts are just as susceptible as any country’s martial art in becoming removed from certain realities. A key issue I see is the obsession with “de-fanging the snake” or attacking the weapon arm and, possibly due to the increase of stick-work, attacking the weapon. It certainly has a legitimate justification, but defenders need to be aware that whenever other vulnerable areas are open, particularly those located around the head and neck, they should be attacked.

The next grade looked at being unarmed and cornered. Here we covered pre-emption. It is my desire to teach tactics and, as often as possible, techniques that transcend range and environment. However, this is often an ideal and we have to settle for strong principles. In this instance pre-empting an armed attacker differs from pre-empting an unarmed one. An edged weapon can be lethal at very close range, more so than a striking limb or an impact weapon. The attacker requires no training and can even be physically weaker than the defender, and yet still be a lethal threat. Here it is important not to block, but attack the body and immediately control the armed hand as early as possible. Again, this contradicts the normal procedure used with unarmed pre-emption, where the defender waits for his personal barrier to be crossed in order to launch a legal pre-emptive strike. Here the student executes actions based on his honest held belief of the other person’s intentions. From interception we moved onto basic controlling positions, from where the defender can continue his counter-attack and disarm his attacker.

The open workshops for edged weapon defence leading onto CCMA methods will begin next month. Please see details below:

St Lukes Church Centre, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham B15 2AT.

Date: 17th July, 7pm-9pm.

Contact: leigh@sjkarate.co.uk and 07581443637.