Black Medicine Anthology

by N. Mashiro

  The "hook" of a hatchetlike weapon is used to deflect and control incoming blows. The next move is a backhand that removes teeth.

  I suppose it is apparent to you that I find personal combat very interesting. This is no secret. On the subject of hatchets, however, I have to make a confession. Hatchets horrify me. The main purpose of a hatchet as a weapon is to spill a man's brains. I prefer my brains left where they are, thank you.

  For our purposes, a hatchet is an axelike object heavy enough to crack or split a skull but small enough to wield with one hand. Also, a hatchet has a head that protrudes to one side (or both sides) of the handle. This gives it added penetration as well as a "hook" you can use to catch the opponent's arm or weapon and yank on it. A claw hammer fills the bill. A one-handed pick or mattock (for weeding the garden) will serve, too. Of course, this category includes classic battleaxes and tomahawks, if you happen to have one lying around. (Yes, there is a tomahawk on the wall above my desk.)

  How to Hold the Hatchet

  Hold the hatchet just like you normally would. The intuitive grip is exactly appropriate.

  Defending Against Kicks and Punches

  By this point, it should be apparent how to deal with kicks and punches. Just use the hatchet to punish any limb the attacker presents to you. It doesn't matter whether you hit him with the edge, back, side, or handle-it will hurt. The main difference is that if you swing a hatchet or hammer at his shin, you stand a decent chance of breaking his leg. If you do, you won't have to run very hard to get away.

  Attacks to the Face

  Everyone thinks of using the edge of a hatchetlike weapon to chop and cut. That's OK, but why be obvious? Is it to your advantage to do what the attacker expects?

  The hatchet is another weapon that gives you that golden opportunity to wave it overhead and, when the attacker throws up his hands, to kick him in the groin. This technique is simple and really works well. Don't underestimate it.

  Remember the lesson about "the point beats the edge"? Try this. Instead of swinging the hatchet at him, jab it straight in under his nose. Punch him in the face with the top of the hatchet head. The weight of that steel head makes a serious statement to a person's front teeth. This is an attack people simply do not expect.

  Using the "Hook"

  Unlike a club, the hatchet has a head on it, and there is an L-shaped angle between the bottom of the head and the handle. This angle, or "hook," has utility.

  There are two things a beginner can do with the hook of a hatchetlike weapon. One is to catch a kick and hold it. As the kick comes in, you deflect it by chopping at the ankle with the hatchet. The critical difference is that you let the head of the hatchet pass beneath the ankle. Then you yank on the handle to hook the ankle and pull it toward you. Make the attacker do the splits as you pull him forward, off bal ance, with his kicking foot held up high. Most people are not equal to this challenge. They go down hard.

  The second hook technique is very good for knocking a weapon out of the opponent's hand. Chop down at his forearm, hooking the arm between the head and handle of the hatchet. Without losing momentum, let the hatchet rake down the length of his arm. The hook will track right down the arm to the hand. Do this with vigor and it is almost guaranteed to injure the hand and/or dislodge any weapon he may be holding.

  Next Steps

  Are you disappointed that I didn't suggest cleaving his skull down to his teeth? You can do that, of course, but our context is self-defense, and it is morally repugnant to kill a man when you don't have to. A hatchet or hammer is such an effective weapon that you really ought to be able to incapacitate an attacker without splitting his braincase. If you do more, your local district attorney is likely to regard it as murder.

  Show some restraint here.

  For the purposes of this book, we must now discuss the pistol as an expedient weapon. I have to assume that you don't know a lot about pistols but may get lucky in the fracas and scoop up your assailant's pistol off the sidewalk. We can't know ahead of time what kind of pistol it is, how it works, what caliber it is, or even whether or not it is loaded.

  What do you need to know to scoop up a strange pistol and use it to defend your life?

  Revolver or Automatic?

  A revolver has an obvious rotating cylinder that holds five to nine (usually six) cartridges. Most of the revolvers you will find in general circulation are double-action weapons. This means that the weapon is carried with the hammer down, and you can fire it simply by pulling the trigger very hard. You can also cock the hammer and fire the weapon by pulling the trigger very lightly. A few revolvers have a safety lever that must be pressed downward with the thumb before firing. It's just a little black lever to the left of the hammer. Snap it down, then shoot.

  Automatics have no cylinder, but you'll see a squarish "slide" that runs along the top of the pistol. Cartridges feed up out of a magazine inside the pistol grip. The magazine holds 5 to 14 cartridges, depending on the model of pistol. The slide snaps back during the recoil of each shot, ejecting the spent brass, stripping a new round from the magazine, and placing it into the chamber for firing. An automatic is usually carried with a round in the chamber, the hammer cocked, and the safety lever on. To fire it, you depress the safety lever with your thumb, aim, and pull the trigger lightly.

  If you pick up an automatic in the street, the smart thing to do is to grasp the slide firmly with the left hand and rack it all the way back, then let go of it so it snaps forward. This ensures that there is a round in the chamber (assuming a loaded magazine is seated in the pistol), that the hammer is cocked, and that the safety is off.

  How to Hold the Pistol

  These days anybody who is serious about pistol combat uses the Weaver stance. For the novice, this means use both hands to hold the pistol. This will make a tremendous difference in your accuracy. Firing with one hand is for actors in Civil War epics.

  How to Aim the Pistol

  It is really simple. The sights are on top of the pistol. The one in front is a single blade. The one in back is a crosspiece with a notch cut in it. Look through the notch at the front sight. Line up the pistol to put the front sight on the target. If you hope to actually hit anything, keep your eye focused on the front sight. If you focus on the target you may miss it. It is not intuitive but it is true. Front sight!

  What to Aim For

  It is really easy to miss with a pistol. Even people who are very good shots can lose their cool in a fight and shoot badly. Therefore the universal rule of thumb is to fire at the center of the enemy's chest. This gives you a chance of hitting something no matter how you screw up.

  When to Shoot

  There have been a lot of people who died holding a pistol because they could not make up their minds to shoot when it was necessary. They apparently got into paralyzing mental debates with themselves, hesitating on the brink of decisive action. While hesitating, they let the other guy get off the first shot. These people are looking at the beautiful spring wildflowers from the wrong side now.

  Tell him, "Don't move!" If he moves, shoot. It's that simple.

  How Many Shots?

  Fire twice in rapid succession. Pistol bullets are not reliable fight stoppers, no matter what you see on TV or in the movies. Put two rounds into the bad guy's chest and pause. If two in the chest did not stop him, most pistol experts advocate a followup shot to the head. Just don't empty the pistol wildly in the felon's general direction and disarm yourself. There may be a second bad guy in the shadows, and you may have only five or six shots total. Use two, then pause and evaluate.

  What to Expect

  I love the scene in Sudden Impact (a Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" film) where two cops spit out the following macho bullstuff:

  "[With this shotgun] they'll have to strain the body to find the fingerprints."

  "[With this .44 magnum pistol] there ain't gonna be no fingerprints!"

  This is the "pink mist" myth. If your gun is powerful enough, one shot wi
ll turn the attacker into bloody froth. Like hell.

  The effect of pistol bullets on the human body is studied scientifically as wound ballistics. This is not the place to discuss the relative merits of various calibers and bullet designs, but as a novice you should be aware of a few simple facts:

  • A little bullet that hits does more damage than a big bullet that misses. Watch that front sight.

  • There are documented instances of people who, when fired at, collapsed unconscious even though they had not been hit.

  • There are documented instances of people who, shot seven times in the chest with a .45 automatic, continued to fight until beaten over the head with the gun and knocked out.

  • There is no such thing as a pistol bullet that knocks a man down. He may fall down or collapse when shot, but there is not enough energy in a pistol bullet to push a man off his feet. Simple physics.

  • A pistol bullet creates a wound channel that is about the same diameter as the bullet. Even the hollowpoint "expanding" bullets, when they actually do expand, don't make a channel much bigger around than your finger. The bullet actually has to hit some vital organ in order to take the enemy out of the fight. You fire twice to increase the odds of hitting something important.

  • A pistol shot in the brain or spinal cord will put an enemy out of the fight instantly. A shot that breaks a femur (thighbone) will put a man on the ground instantly. A pistol bullet through the lungs, guts, or even the heart is not guaranteed to be a fight stopper. He may accept the wound and still fight on for several seconds or minutes before collapsing.

  Fire twice into the chest. Pause and evaluate. If the fight is not over, aim carefully for the brain and fire single shots until you hit it. That's all you really need to know.

  If the Pistol Doesn't Fire

  So there you are, clutching the felon's pistol in your hands. He lunges at you and you pull the trigger. Nothing happens. Now what do you do?

  If you throw the gun at him I will track you down and kill you myself. A person who is that stupid does not deserve to live. Just because you could not get the pistol to fire does not mean that he cannot get it to fire! It's his gun. Don't give it back to him!

  If he reaches for you, strike his hands and forearms with the pistol. If he kicks, crack it down on his shinbone. Jam the end of the barrel, very hard, into the pit of his stomach or into his throat. Keep your finger off the trigger, and bear in mind that the pistol might discharge unexpectantly at any time.

  Next Steps

  I assume that you are a law-abiding citizen in extraordinary circumstances. Bear in mind that if you have to shoot somebody in the street, the police will not be far behind. If the patrol car pulls up and you still have the pistol in your hand, there could be a fatal misunderstanding with the officer. When you see the patrol car arrive, put the pistol on the ground, raise your hands, and do what the nice officer tells you to do.

  Then hire a lawyer before questioning. It's just common sense.

  Nobody argues with a shotgun. It is easy to see why.

  In what situation would you need to use a shotgun as an expedient weapon for self-defense? You don't usually see shotguns lying around like paperweights and kitchen knives.

  Well, I could imagine a supermarket holdup gone sour. Two felons are holding the police at bay while keeping you and several other people as hostages in the meat locker at the back of the market. You take up a frozen chicken and coldcock the dumb one with the buck teeth. His 12-gauge shotgun clatters to the floor. You snatch it up. The smart one with the skull tattoos whirls around to see what the noise was. Now what do you do?

  What do you need to know to scoop up a strange shotgun and use it to defend your life?

  What Kind of Shotgun?

  There are a lot of different kinds of shotguns. For our purposes let's limit ourselves to the three most common designs: pump action, semiautomatic, and double-barrel.

  Any fool can recognize a double-barrel shotgun, either side-by-side or over-under. There are two big holes in the business end. It means you have, at most, two shots. (Use them wisely, unless you just happen to have extra shells in your pocket or purse.)

  Semiautomatic and pump-action shotguns feed shells from a magazine tube lying parallel to and beneath the barrel. Depending on the gun, they fire three to eight times. Bet on three. The semiautomatic chambers a new round following each shot. You just pull the trigger three times to get three big bangs. The pump-action requires you to pump the sliding fore-end all the way back and then all the way forward to chamber a new round.

  There is such a thing as a single-shot shotgun, too. It is hard to picture it being used in a holdup, but nobody said robbers were bright. Well, just release the safety button and pull the trigger. Make it count.

  Where is the Safety Button?

  This is a critical piece of information, isn't it? You just picked up somebody else's shotgun and you need to fire it. You yank on the trigger and nothing happens. Where is the safety button?

  Hold the shotgun in the natural way, with the right hand around the neck of the weapon (so your right forefinger can reach the trigger) and the left hand grasping the fore-end (the wooden piece under the barrel).

  The safety is most likely a transverse button mounted in the trigger guard. Typically you push it to the left (i.e., push it with the trigger finger) to release it and make the weapon ready to fire. You have to reach around to the left side of the trigger guard and push it back (to the right) to lock the mechanism again.

  Some shotguns have the safety on top of the receiver about where your right thumb rests. Push it forward to shoot.

  How to Hold the Shotgun

  The recoil of a pistol is overrated, in my opinion. Anybody who holds on with both hands and is more than 12 years old can fire most pistols without discomfort. A shotgun, however, really kicks. You have to hold on tight with both hands and press the stock tightly into your shoulder for best results. If you hold it loosely, you may lose it when it fires. If you don't really pack it into your shoulder, it will slam back and hit your shoulder, and that hurts.

  It is not going to tear itself out of your hands if you do your part. Just hang on tightly.

  How to Aim the Shotgun

  Bring the shotgun to your shoulder and look along the top of the barrel. If you see iron sights (notch in back, post in front), use them. Most shotguns just have a brass bead out at the end of the barrel. Look down the length of the barrel and put the brass bead on your target.

  It is not essential, but I should warn you about checking the position of your right thumb. It is very easy to lay the thumb on top of the shotgun, and then position your aiming eye about an inch behind it. Can you imagine what will happen when the shotgun slams back in recoil? This is the old thumbnail-in-the-eye trick. Consider yourself warned.

  What to Aim For

  Aim for the center of the chest. We are picturing using the shotgun at very short range (across a room). At this distance the individual pellets have not yet spread out into a wide pattern. They all arrive at once in a mass about the size of a C-cell battery. You have to aim or you may miss the guy entirely.

  When to Shoot

  "Don't move!" If he moves, shoot.

  How Many Shots?

  Assuming that the weapon is fully loaded when you pick it up, you may have as few as two shots or as many as eight. Under the circumstances, and because a shotgun wound is very convincing, you should fire only once. Shoot, then stop and reevaluate. If necessary, shoot again.

  What to Expect

  Suppose this shotgun is loaded with 00 ("double-ought") buckshot. When you pull the trigger, it launches twelve .38caliber lead balls. The effect is like shooting the guy twelve times in the chest with a .38 pistol. Shotgun wounds have a reputation for ending fights. You can see why.

  If the bad guy is 50 feet away, you may hit him with only a few of the pellets, possibly only one or two. This is not likely to take him out of the fight immediately, although it might.
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  If he is standing across the kitchen from you, 6 feet away when you fire, the shot mass will make one big hole through the center of his chest. It is very difficult to imagine a man staying on his feet after receiving this wound.

  What if the shotgun is not loaded with buckshot? It might be loaded with #8 birdshot. At ranges of several yards this load is not going to be a man stopper, but remember that the size of the pellets is irrelevant at short ranges. Six feet from the end of the muzzle, the birdshot all hits in one lump and makes that same ragged hole. Count on it.

  Oh, one more thing. If you fire a 12-gauge shotgun inside a small room, it is going to be loud. Your ears will ring for a long time.

  If the Shotgun Doesn't Fire

  You might not be able to get the gun to fire at all, or you might quickly use up your supply of shells (there might be only two). Then what do you do?

  That's an awfully heavy hunk of walnut and steel there in your hands. I suggest you review the section on basic bayonet drill. The butt stroke (step number 2) is very effective when applied with the stock of a shotgun.

  Jab into the face or abdomen with the end of the barrel. One particularly nice technique is to slam the butt forward into the opponent's groin.

  I'd recommend against the untutored approach of grabbing the weapon by the barrel and swinging it like a baseball bat. If you hit the guy you will hurt him, true enough, but I distrust a technique that begins by pointing the muzzle of the weapon at me. What if you crack him over the head and the gun discharges? Ouch.

  Next Steps

  Hire that lawyer. If you shoot a man through the chest with a shotgun, you will have a lot of explaining to do.