by N. Mashiro
This technique is remarkably effective against a knife, partly because the chair serves as both an offensive and defensive weapon and partly because very few knifemen have ever confronted an opponent with a chair. It disconcerts them, to say the least. Against a club it's better to use the chair primarily as a shield and kick under it at his legs and groin. This defense is highly recommended.
28-3: Use a book, purse, pillow, or coat as a shield by holding it stretched tightly between your hands with your arms fully extended in front of you. After a little practice you will find that it is remarkably easy to block all kinds of attacks using such a simple shield. Incidentally, the block does not have to intercept the knife. Blocking his wrist or forearm is easier and is just as effective. (For the club it's better to block the hand and base of the club rather than the forearm, and best to catch it right at the beginning of the swing.) Be alert to any opportunity to deliver an incapacitating kick to his knee or groin.
This technique of blocking a knife or club attack works best during the first few lunges, but after that an opponent will back off a little and try to get clever. You'll see the difference. Once he gets his wits together he'll feint with a false attack to draw your block, then he'll shift suddenly to another attack. If you're quick you'll be able to frustrate even this approach, but sooner or later the attacker will realize that he can grab your shield with his free hand. If he succeeds you must instantly-instantly-release the shield. If you follow your instincts and try to pull back on the shield he'll kill you for sure.
This is a very effective defense and is highly recommended.
28-4: Possibly the best way to meet a weapon attack is to fall flat on your back and use your feet to fight off the attacker. This puts your most vulnerable vital areas out of reach of the opponent's weapon hand, and puts your bestprotected area (your feet inside your shoes) between you and the weapon.
Fight the standing opponent from the ground as described earlier in the book but be very aggressive, scuttling in at him and kicking viciously at his knees and shins. Yell loudly and fiercely to distress the attacker and to summon aid. Don't be afraid to take a few shallow cuts across the bony part of the shin if necessary in order to get within striking distance of his knees. Club blows across the shins are to be avoided, however! When he swings at your legs counter by kicking directly at the inside of his wrist. You won't get more than one good chance to break his arm this way so make it a good one.
This tactic is so unusual that even very experienced attackers are likely to be taken aback by it. (In fact, they may collapse in laughter.) Try it out with your practice partner. You'll be amazed at how well the tactic works.
Introduction .............................. 1
1 When There Is No Weapon .................. 7
2 Pens and Small Sticks ..................... 11
3 Spray Weapons .......................... 17
4 Electric Shock Weapons ................... 21
5 Telephones ............................. 23
6 Clubs .................................. 25
7 Flails and Chains ......................... 31
8 Shields ................................. 35
9 Staffs and Spears ......................... 39
10 Light Knives ............................ 43
11 Heavy Knives ........................... 49
12 Throwing Knives ........................ 53
13 Swords ................................. 55
14 Hatchets ................................ 61
15 Pistols ................................. 65
16 Shotguns ............................... 71
17 Rifles .................................. 77
18 Tactics ................................. 83
The self-defense techniques described in this book can be extremely dangerous. These techniques, particularly the use of weapons and firearms, inevitably reflect the author's individual beliefs and experiences that the reader cannot duplicate exactly. Therefore, they are presented for academic study only. The author, publisher, and distributors of this book disclaim any liability from any damage or injuries of any type that a reader or user of information contained within this book may encounter from the use of said information.
Hello again. I have been away for a long time, but my unfinished business has finally brought me back. Fifteen years ago I set out to write down my personal philosophy and research on self-defense in this series of little books, the Black Medicine volumes. For over a decade my conscience has nagged at me to finish this project with the fourth volume of the series: Equalizers. At last I have the opportunity to fulfill this ambition.
I proceed on the assumption that you are a responsible person, and that this information will not make its way into undisciplined hands. This volume, much more than the previous ones, contains information that can be quickly and easily put to use, whether for good purposes or bad ones. My comfort comes from the certainty that a person who hurts people for fun (or profit) is too busy prowling the streets to stay at home reading books. Most of my readers are police officers, soldiers, and private citizens who want to learn more about self-defense. It is those of us who will never draw blood except in a moment of desperation who need books and teachers. The criminals just experiment in the field on hapless victims. It is their chief advantage over us, and also their greatest weakness. They think we don't know how to fight.
I began the Black Medicine series with a simple essay on the vital points of human anatomy. These are the special spots on the body that are uniquely vulnerable to attack. Everybody knows that a man can be taken out of a fight by kicking him in the groin, for instance. All fathers instruct their daughters about this technique. In Black Medicine, Volume I: The Dark Art of Death, I discussed about 150 other parts of the body that are especially vulnerable to particular weapons and attacks. For example, there are nerves in the neck below the angle of the jaw that control blood pressure to the brain. A light blow into this delicate spot can make a person faint, since it has the effect of slowing the heart down for long seconds. I would be willing to bet that very few daughters leave home on a date with this anatomic off button in their kit of emergency techniques! Since the publication of The Dark Art of Death, at least some of them now do.
In the second volume of the series, Weapons at Hand, I enjoyed making a tour of the body's natural weapons. How many natural weapons can you name? Fists? Feet? Knees? Keep going. There are about a hundred more. One of my favorites is the back of the wrist. It makes a bony club to snap into a mugger's face. On the hand alone, the heel, palm, thumb tip, fingertips, first and second rows of knuckles, and outer and inner edges of the palm all have unique applications in self-defense. The soft palm, for instance, has stunning impact on an eardrum.
This was all very interesting, but I soon seduced myself into writing about makeshift weapons, too. Why? Because I didn't want any of my readers to lose a vital fight, and the fact is that picking up any weapon gives you a tenfold advantage against an unarmed attacker. Could you take on a professional heavyweight boxer with your bare hands? Probably not. What if you walked into the ring with a baseball bat in your hand? Feel better already? Even a simple weapon gives you an enormous advantage.
Now we must digress briefly. I promise to keep it interesting.
As I have explained in the earlier volumes of the series, I have great admiration for the Okinawan peasants who suffered under the rule of Japanese warlords about five centuries ago. This was a culture and a time when weapons were of edged steel, and the warlords confiscated every kind of blade, leaving only one knife per village for kitchen work. This knife was chained to a post in the center of the village and was guarded by soldiers in armor. Most of this is legend, but it has the ring of truth.
Of course there were atrocities against the peasants. Of course there was resistance. And in the fields at night, men practiced and perfected techniques that would permit them to crush samurai armor with
their bare hands and feet. They called it te, to te, and later kara te, all implying combat using the empty (weaponless) hands. They learned to concentrate enormous force in their blows and to move swiftly to deliver lethal attacks to two, four, or even six attackers in rapid sequence. They devoted their lives to combat excellence, and no doubt many of them died perfecting the art. I have personally suffered broken bones in practice, and my need is not as great as theirs was. (I was not practicing in the dark, either.)
My admiration for these men lies in their creative use of the few tools and implements that the conquerors let them keep. The warlords had to let the farmers, carpenters, cobblers, smiths, and other tradesmen keep their tools or risk bringing the economy to a halt. It should not surprise us that a man's tools became his weapons. This period saw the evolution of the sai (pitchfork), tonfa (a millstone handle), kama (sickle), eiku (rowboat paddle), bo (staff), and nunchaku (threshing flail) as deadly weapons.
The ancient Okinawans deserve our respect and admiration for their courage and resourcefulness. But what about today? When was the last time you got out your rice flail and threshed a few bushels of grain for dinner? Never, I bet. Even so, there are people on the streets of major cities this very minute carrying nunchakus and sais hung inside their jackets as weapons of personal defense.
They might as well carry stone axes and obsidian knives.
In Weapons at Hand, I explained why it is stupid to carry ancient weapons in the street. Would you carry a broadsword on the subway at night? How about a lance, or mace and flail? A tomahawk? A claymore sword? A bola? Maybe you should go all out and get a crossbow! That will keep the bastards in line!
The Okinawans were thinking clearly about their choice of weapons, but many of us today are not. They knew that they could be attacked at any time. They knew that they would probably be outnumbered and unarmed when it happened. They knew that their opponents would be armed, armored, and murderous. Their response was to learn how to reach out to nearby household objects and use them as deadly weapons.
Our course is plain then. On the day that you are attacked by muggers, rapists, bigots, or gang members, what objects will be within reach of your hand? Those objects are your weapons. Throw away the rice flail and pick up your fountain pen, your deodorant spray, your telephone handset, your rake, your cane, your flashlight, your tire iron, your curtain rod, your newspaper, your broom ... and learn to use them as weapons.
I made a long list of such makeshift weapons in Weapons at Hand, and I invite you to examine it for ideas. I listed about 200 common household objects that lend themselves to deadly uses in a crisis. As I sit here at my desk I note that the desktop is littered with pens useful as yawara sticks. There is an X- Acto knife only inches from my right hand. At arm's length on the right is a fire extinguisher. On the left, where I have to lean only a little to reach, is a can of spray cleaner. Either would blind an attacker for crucial seconds. There is a small brass sculpture on the desk, almost the same size and weight as brass knuckles. I could pick it up in my fist and hammer on someone's skull with it. There is a telephone handset nearby (the proverbial blunt object), and the phone cord could be quite useful as a garrote or for binding a prisoner.
Of course, because of my hobbies, there are more conventional weapons only a step away. Two swords and a tomahawk hang on the wall behind the desk, along with a Vietnam-era Randall fighting knife. They are really just for display, but they might be useful in a crisis. The shotgun, loaded and ready in the rack on the other side of the office, is not there for display, but I may not be able to reach it when the time comes. In a crisis my weapon is likely to be some innocent object lying quite by chance within reach of my hand.
In Black Medicine, Volume III: Low Blows, I described a wide selection of dirty fighting techniques for those ugly situations where you must fight kara-te, "empty handed."
In this volume I present the weapons course. I will teach you about the many classes of hand weapons and will present the basic, elementary techniques for bringing them into play. It is not necessary to be a great weapons master in order to give a thug an agonizing surprise. Just a little sophistication goes a very long way in weaponcraft.
In fact, confidence is such a factor that simply picking up anything and facing your attacker with it in your hands will in the majority of cases end the fight immediately. The bad guys don't like getting hurt. They don't like it one bit.
There are always weapons at hand. The trick is to know just a few simple techniques that transform these innocent household objects into deadly weapons. It is the knowledge that makes all the difference.
Let's get busy. It is good to be back.
N. Mashiro, June 1994
The foot is powerful and relatively armored. Roll back on the ground and kick.
This is a book about how to use the families of expedient weapons. An organized approach demands that we begin with the fundamentals, that is, what to do when you are caught off-guard and knocked down, or when you have to fight in the locker-room showers when you are stark naked and there isn't anything at all to use as a weapon.
If all you have is your own body, what parts of it make the best expedient (emergency) weapons?
Use Your Feet
Here is a piece of advice you will not see just anywhere. For the untrained person, one of the most effective fistfighting techniques is to sit down on the ground, roll on your back, and stomp-kick the opponent's shins and knees when he comes close.
In Black Medicine, Volume III: Low Blows, I discussed this technique in some detail, even to the extent of showing some very effective throws that can be applied using your feet against the attacker's lower legs. The essence of this unique style of fighting, however, does not require even that level of sophistication. Simply drop on your back. Use your hands to pivot your body so that your feet are always pointed toward the attacker. Kick anything that comes within reach. Don't get up unless it is clear that you have hurt him.
Here's what bvill happen. The guy throws a punch at you and, hit or miss, you fall down. He laughs and sneers at you. Can't you take a punch? You scuttle in toward him, scooting your butt along the ground and using your palms and heels for support. About the time he thinks "What the hell?" you lash out with the bottom of your right foot and really bruise his nearest knee or shin. You scuttle back just a foot or two, keeping your feet toward him. Usually at this point you will have one heel on the ground and the other foot raised and "cocked" to kick again. If you want to hasten his undoing, you can say something very rude at this point.
The pain in his leg will make him swear loudly. He will angrily try to penetrate your defense by sidestepping and circling. Just pivot on your back to keep that cocked foot toward him. This is a style of fighting that one never sees on TV or in the movies, let alone on the street, and the average person is just baffled by it. As the attacker, you can't do anything with your hands because the defender is out of reach, and when you lean in and try to grab a foot your hands get kicked. This hurts. After a few seconds the attacker will get really angry (due to both pain and frustration) and will lose his composure. Since he can't reach you with his hands he will try to kick you. Watch for it. Expect it. When he decides to kick, he will blunder.
The blunder is easy to anticipate. Maddened, the attacker will step in toward you with his left foot, swinging the right leg back for the kick. This puts all his weight on the left leg, and it also puts the left leg within reach of your striking foot. Stomp as hard as you can against the front or side of the rigid left knee. This will tear the ligaments that hold the knee together, dropping the attacker on the ground and, perhaps permanently, crippling his leg.
Next Steps
When fighting from the ground, the kick to the locked knee produces an anchoring injury, one that does not kill the opponent or render him unconscious but which makes it very hard for him to walk. When he goes down, screaming and clutching his knee, you can get up and walk away. My advice is to use the chance to trade u
p to a more impressive weapon as you seek to disengage.
A karate block is much more effective when you use a small flashlight or pen to drive your point home.
No one will ever accuse you of carrying a concealed weapon if they pat you down and find a pen in your pocket. Yet you can kill a man with that pen.
In this modern world, which of us does not habitually carry a pen on his or her person? We write checks, sign credit card slips, jot down phone numbers, sign receipts for packages, make lists, and leave hasty messages for our spouses. We would be lost without our writing implements. Usually it is a cheap ballpoint tucked in the checkbook or in the shirt pocket, but if you are well-to-do it may be a sturdy fountain pen with a screw-on top. If you are like me, you may be able to pat your pockets and come up with multiple pens, a highlighter, a six-inch aluminum pocket flashlight, and maybe even a penlike tire-pressure gauge. There are at least ten such objects within reach of my right hand at this moment.
This is fortunate because there are martial arts techniques based on the yawara stick, a 5-inch rod about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. There is nothing special about "real" yawara sticks, so you can just use a fountain pen or any other similar object that happens to be at hand.
How to Hold the Pen
Take the pen and grip it in your strong hand so that about an inch of the rod protrudes from both the upper and lower sides of the fist. If you happen to have two pens, put one in each hand. Make fists and get ready to fight.
The beauty of the yawara stick is that it takes all the force delivered by your fist and concentrates it into a much smaller area. As it happens, the bottom of my fist makes an imprint of about 5 square inches on whatever I strike. When I hold my pocket flashlight so that about an inch of the aluminum barrel sticks out below my fist, the force normally spread out over 5 square inches suddenly becomes concentrated into the end of the flashlight, which is about 1/4 square inch. In effect, this magnifies the power of the blow about 20 times (5 - 0.25 = 20). Driven into the fleshy belly of a muscle (the pectoralis major in the chest, for example), this concentrated force tears and crushes tissue, leaving the muscle stunned and temporarily paralyzed. Directed against a hard target like the temporal bone of the skull, the spikelike yawara stick can shatter and penetrate.