Defend Yourself 101

This method will take about a month or so…and this is not just for boomers or old folks, but you young people who "don’t wanna talk about it!" too.

I had chronic back pain for more years than I can remember. It was there every morning when I woke up and faded as the day went on. I also had a patch of scar tissue that gave me an ache in the top of my buttock since 1996 when I went airborne off my front steps from clear ice. That’s an ouch.

Boomers are getting older but though most feel very in-control of their lives, some have just a wee bit of edginess about self defence. Therefore many are very interested in cane fighting and self defense with a cane.

An improvised weapon is something that is not designed to be used as a weapon but which can be so used to various degrees of success. There are many things you can hold in your hand to help create more impact or penetration into a criminal who is attacking you. Stabbers like pens and pencils are just one kind.

Does Canadian self defence law demand that we must retreat before we can legally use force likely to cause death in self defence?

Eye strikes are a great way to buy time to either press your defence or to flee.

They are NOT the fight ender that some people advocate so you buy their video. They are just another tool to carry in your tool box.

Since I will be referring a lot to the close quarter combat system of W.E. Fairbairn and Rex Applegate, I decided to give an intro to these to great soldiers. Their lives and training are easily found on the net, so I won’t repeat it all here.

For details about these men and these wartime clips, click on the title or the "read more" button.

I have often been asked by concerned parents or grandparents, “What is the easiest thing I can teach my kids to keep them from being destroyed on the streets.” The answer is short and easy: teach them the one thing to never do and the two things to do.

101 ways to defend yourself without a gun; by Johnny A. Jenkins. The full essay can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/2ucdc8.

Now right from the git-go I want to say that I don’t know if he wrote the essay or if his friend Sarah wrote it, so I’m not being personal here but just taking a look at the tips presented.

Martin Cooper is the bloke who first tried to teach me to slap correctly. The motion is so simple yet the impact is very concentrated.

As you can see, it does not depend on a big wind up nor a lot of muscle. Coops is a big guy but his slaps did not hit big, they hit deep inside. Sometimes he hits with the palm-heel and sometimes the whole hand. It is practiced skill, not strength, that allows him to have such a small movement effect such a large impact.

Martin has hit me like this, on my chest. It took my breath away, all the way to my toes.

The ax hand or striking shuto is a very strong move. It can be used in many ways and I’ve shown a few. It performs well in combination with other techniques.