DRUG LAB RAIDS M D T DEATH TRAPS AND B · 10/06/2011 · tems like silat and karate, because their fighting arts were con-sidered forbidden tools for revolution and resistance. STILL

MILITARY, POLICE ANDMARTIAL CLOSE-QUARTER STICKCOMBAT

DISARM KNIFEATTACKERS

GEORGE HARRISON’SKNIFE FIGHT FOR LIFE

FIREFIGHT! VEHICLECOUNTER-ASSAULTTACTICS

MILITARY, POLICE ANDMARTIAL CLOSE-QUARTER STICKCOMBAT

DISARM KNIFEATTACKERS

GEORGE HARRISON’SKNIFE FIGHT FOR LIFE

FIREFIGHT! VEHICLECOUNTER-ASSAULTTACTICS

Plus . . .IntellMilitary Briefing

The Squad RoomPolice Briefing

The ArenaMartial Arts Briefing

and more!

Plus . . .IntellMilitary Briefing

The Squad RoomPolice Briefing

The ArenaMartial Arts Briefing

and more!

April/May 2000

DRUG LAB RAIDS,DEATH TRAPS AND

BOOBY-TRAPS!

DRUG LAB RAIDS,DEATH TRAPS AND

BOOBY-TRAPS!by Police Chief

Mike Gillette

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CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINECLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINEAPRIL / MAY 2000

FEATURE ARTICLES

Drug Lab Raids, Death Traps and Booby Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5By Police Chief Mike Gillette

George Harrison’s Knife Fight for His Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10By Jane Eden

DMS! CQC Stick Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11By W. Hock Hochheim

Firefight! Vehicle Counter-Assault Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16By D.O.E. Steve Krystek

Force/Counter Force Knife Disarming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21By W. Hock Hochheim

BRIEFINGSThe Squad Room

The Police Blotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25The Lioness Chip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

By Lynne Russell

True Cop Stories: Rhodesian Manhunt! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Military BriefingRussian Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Battlefield Diary: Bushmasters Combat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Oh, Baby It’s Cold Outside! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

By Buffalo Nichols

The ArenaBack Cut! Dueler Don José Liulla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

By Dwight McClemore (Lt. Col. US Army ret.)

The King of Lower Body Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33The VanCook View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

By Jerry VanCook

The Bouncer. “Messing with My Line!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36By Bouncer/Bodyguard Joseph Reyes Jr.

PublisherW. Hock Hochheim

Managing EditorJane Eden

Graphic DesignersDavid EdwardsJason Gutierrez

PhotographerKeith Dempsey

Contributing WritersMike Gillette, Dwight McClemore,Jerry VanCook, Joseph Reyes Jr.,

Buffalo Nichols, Steve Krystek

Visit CQCM on the World Wide Web Site

www. HocksCQC.comE-mail us at [email protected]

LAURIC PRESSP.O. Box 5372,

Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742Phone: 1-706-423-400-9458

Fax: 1-706-866-2657

CQCM is published bimonthly by Lauric Press. SingleCopy $6.95 in U.S.A. $12.95 overseas. Submissions ofmanuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must beaccompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicitedmaterial. Copyright 2000 by Lauric Press. All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without writ-ten permission is strictly prohibited. Printed in the UnitedStates.

4 • Close Quarter Combat Magazine April/May 2000

Headquarters MemoFrom Publisher W. Hock Hochheim

Six hundred years! How confidantthey must have felt, how unsulliedand untouched they remained forcenturies while the ravages of inva-sion and conquest raged all around

them. Of course history reveals to us thatGreece, like Rome, like the British Empire,the Soviet Union and so many other super-powers saw a reign of centuries, then fell bywar, or slow erosion. To this day, the Spartansare renown as perhaps the hardest- core war-rior culture and STILL they fell from invadingPersians! The lesson? In the big picture ofmankind, ALL empires come and go, rise andfall. This change is one true thing we do knowto be self-evident—that and weakness is a vacuum for evil.

Groups of all races, creeds and colors since antiquity, havecongregated both officially and unofficially in “fighting classes”of one kind or another. Martial historians know well how theseeternal “work-out” groups have practiced. Aside from full-timemilitary training, in places like Greece, Rome, in MedievalEurope or on the plains of Africa to name a few, citizen/soldiershave gathered much like the Army Reserves or National Guardsof today, to practice defending their lands. Their sessions oftenended in picnics and festivals. While some peoples practicedtheir martial arts in regular classes, in occupied lands nativeshid from their local governments while instructing their sys-tems like silat and karate, because their fighting arts were con-sidered forbidden tools for revolution and resistance. STILLthey gathered! Openly or covertly, still the knowledge of combatwas passed on from generation to generation.

The American military had a saying similar to that of theSpartan campfire theme, that “the only way a foreign soldierwould drink from the Ohio River, or camp in the Smokies, wasby invitation!” In this same vein, I was struck decades ago whilestationed in South Korea and talking with one of their ROKMarine sergeants while we were on a foot patrol. “Nobody everinvade United States!” he said in his broken English.“Everybody got guns. Everybody can get guns!” Really?

Now, as we sit perched atop our little decadent sugar cup-cake we call the United States, the forces of famine, unrest,

violence and evil rages around us. Narco-terrorism in Columbia. Coups in Equator.The CIA declares that Russia is “virtually afull-fledged kleptocracy.” The Chineseloom over the Panama Canal and thirst forTaiwan. Ethnic cleansing in Europe andAfrica. Turmoil in Indonesia. Middle east-ern, religious jihads. Biological warfare.Terrorists sneak in through Canadian bor-ders ... need I go on? History is a book writ-ten by what Professor Jared Diamond callsGuns, Germs, and Steel. What makes usbelieve that the tides of almighty, unfairand fickle time won’t surprise us with bul-lets, biological warfare and the end of a

knife? Yet the small-minded push their tunnel-istic view and theignorant sit back and let our liberal laws strip us of guns andwhittle our military down to a confused police force. Is thereever really a “peace-time army?”

The few civilian fighting schools we have today are sadlypreoccupied with fair play and sport fighting, and cluttered withchildren, from which only the most abstract of real-world fight-ing skills can be developed. I have a saying when conducting myseminars; “These techniques we teach are geared for two oppo-nents — the enemy soldier and the criminal. Sometimes we takethem prisoner. Sometimes we kill them.”

Indeed it might be uncomfortable for many to imagineusing some of the close quarter combat tactics shown in thismagazine or that I teach, but once educated in history you learnthat these “dark and violent” things must be kept alive. Must —as they have been for centuries — be passed on as before fromgeneration to generation. When you educate yourself in theways of hand, stick, knife and gun combat — when you learnhow to really fight for your life you touch upon this ancient andnatural lineage.

While you may not use these violent means yourself,that is not the point! Your great grandson may have to usethem to kill a “commie” on the steps of the Capitol! Strangerthings have happened in our real world! Just ask the rapedSpartan women, found staring lifelessly at the smoke of theenemy’s campfire. ✪

T H E S M O K E O F T H EE N E M Y ’ S F I R E S

“In years six hundred, no Spartan woman has beheld the smoke of the enemy’s fires.”

— old Spartan adage

April/May 2000 Close Quarter Combat Magazine • 5

Among the potential threats encountered by lawenforcement officers in the field, one of the mostdangerous is the use of boobytraps. At the veryleast they will announce an officer’s presence to asuspect. They may also injure or kill. Of particular

concern is the increasing use of boobytraps among personsengaged in the drug trade. With assets and inventory in the bal-ance, criminals will use every means at their disposal to protecttheir interests.

Because of the relationship between drugs and boobytraps,officers are especially at risk during raid actions. During a raid,the element of surprise is a short-lived phenomenon. Personnelmust capitalize on a small window of time in order to secure agiven area. While on the move an operator will logically focuson detecting high probability (human) threats. The emphasis onspeed as a security measure can cause personnel to literallyrace through a structure that may contain boobytraps or otherunseen hazards. Experienced raid personnel will often admit

rushing because of adrenaline or the thought of losing drug evi-dence.

Acknowledging that boobytraps exist and are regularlyemployed by criminals is the first step in reducing the threatthey pose to emergency responders. The second step is to learnmore about these devices from both a strategic and functionalstandpoint. Investigator Dan Healy from the Marion, IowaPolice Department has served both as a bomb technician forover 10 years and participated in numerous raids while servinga three year stint on a Federal Drug Task Force. He had this tosay on the topic of boobytrap strategy:

“You must realize that most boobytraps are not intended totake out law enforcement officers. Many criminals recognizethat there are enhanced penalties for killing police, firefightersand other first-responders. Besides, most of them think copsare too stupid to even find their dope. The primary purpose is toprotect drugs and cash from other drug dealers. There is somuch stealing going on between these guys that they resort to

Death Traps

and

BoobytrapsBy Mike Gillette

Drug Lab Raids,

boobytraps to protect themselves. Butremember, the boobytrap does not distin-guish between good guys and bad guys.”

Boobytrap TypesBoobytraps can loosely fall into three cat-egories; passive alarms, active alarms-designed to injure, and boobytrapsdesigned to injure or kill, A passive alarmfunctions as an early warning device andmay produce sound or light when it is ini-tiated. The purpose of such a trap is toindicate the presence of others entering a

predetermined area. These traps can beeasily improvised, such as in the exampleof string-triggered fireworks. Commonhousehold items are also employed todevastating effect. Investigator Healycommented on the low-tech nature of

some of these pas-sive and activealarms. ‘The booby-trap does not haveto be a sophisticat-ed operation to beeffective, Heavyobjects propped upabove doorframescan be hard todetect and willcause injury to thefirst personthrough the door-way. Beer canssuspended over-head using fishingline are commonand make plenty ofnoise when youhave to go throughthem, Fishhookshung the same waywill entangle andinjure officers asthey move past.Something as sim-ple as a clothespincan be used as themechanical triggerfor a boobytrap.With thumbtacksinserted into thegrip end and wiressoldered to thethumbtacks, thewires can be con-

nected to a power supply. A small pieceof cardboard placed between the thumb-tacks and attached to a length of stringprovides the trigger. When the string getspulled, the cardboard is removed and thethumbtacks make contact with eachother to complete the circuit.

While the use of improvised devicesis common, developing technologies havespawned a variety of commercially avail-able alarms. For under $50 you can pur-chase a small, self-contained alarm mar-keted for travelers who frequent hotels.These units can be attached to doorknobsor windows in less than a minute. Anentire apartment could be equipped inthis manner for a few hundred dollars.While most alarms of this type emit a loud


A blasting cap and an electricalpower supply/battery stick.▲

Heavy object above doorway. ▼


noise when triggeredsome will also producerepeated flashes of high-intensity light. To an offi-cer entering a darkenedroom, the combinedstimuli would replicatethe sensory overload of a“flash-bang” distractiondevice. The officer’s sub-sequent ability to per-ceive threating activitywould be severely jeop-ardized.

In outdoor areas,other simple devices canbe just as dangerous. Atnight in a residentialarea, a simple “security”light can cause uninten-tional danger to an offi-cer responding to acrime in progress.Officers on foot movingthrough yards will oftenpass by the motiondetector switch of suchlights and find themselves bathed in afloodlight beam. With their night visionand location compromised, they mustseek cover from any possible suspectsbefore they may effectively continue.Minor modifications to these samemotion detector switches can be made bycriminals to activate an endless variety ofimprovised devices,

Responding to crimes in outdoor orrural areas poses other dangers as well. Itis likely that personnel will not be wellacquainted with the area that they inves-tigate. This makes it hard to determine ifobjects have been moved or arranged insome specific manner. Available vegeta-tion can shroud boobytraps in fields orwooded areas making them nearly unde-tectable. Holes dug into the ground cancause approaching officers to fail ordirect them into other boobytraps. Thesemight include sharpened stakes or nailsdriven through boards. Short-term effectsof such traps might be a twisted ankle or

puncture wounds. The long-term effectscould include serious infection or illnessif the spikes are coated with a toxic sub-stance or body fluid. Vegetation can alsohide spring-loaded animal traps. An ani-mal trap’s low profile affords maximumconcealment and is triggered by the pres-sure of a footstep. These traps are gradu-ated in size depending on the type of ani-mal for which they are used. Traps largeenough to be employed as an anti-per-sonnel device can generate enough forceto shatter a shin bone or even sever thelower leg.

Boobytrap DetectionHere are some general guidelines thatwill assist in the recognition and detec-tion of boobytraps:

Location: While travelling on the pri-mary routes to a given target, be alert onroads, paths, driveways or bridges. Onceat the target site pay extra attention to

A motion-sensor light switch. ▼

▲ Above, a firework next to its box.

▼ Below, rigged to a door knob.

String-triggered Fireworks


exterior gates, main and interior door-ways and stairs.

Incongruous Items: Watch for objectsthat do not fit their immediate environ-ment. Shiny or geometrically shapedobjects are seldom found in nature andmay indicate the presence of a nearbyboobytrap. In rural areas be alert for dis-carded items on the ground, especially ifit appears that they were intentionallyconcealed from view. Look for items likefoil, tape, wire and product packaging.Pay particular attention to what the orig-inal contents of the package was, such asbatteries, chemicals or anything else thatcould be used in a boobytrap. Some itemsthemselves may be boobytrapped and bespecifically left in view to attract atten-tion. A wallet, weapon or magazine canbe examined out of curiosity with disas-trous results. Chemical odors such asgasoline, kerosene, alcohol or othervolatile compound can be another impor-tant clue in indicating a boobytrap’s pres-ence.

Alterations to the Environment: Theground itself can yield valuable informa-tion about the presence of boobytraps.The most obvious sign to look for is foot-

prints — take note of where they lead andif they lead back away from an area. Thismight indicate a person’s path to andfrom a boobytrap site. Check also forimpressions in the ground where a rockor log may have been moved or wheredigging may have taken place. Freshlydug earth may be evident where a devicehas been buried out of view. If youobserve vegetation where no other vege-tation is found, be suspicious. Leaves donot fall from trees in localized piles andarrange themselves. If you observe anypatch of vegetation that is dead while sur-rounding vegetation is still living, theremay be a boobytrap concealed under-neath.

Successfully locating and identifypotential boobytraps requires both good

training and good intelligence informa-tion. While an abundance of training pro-grams does not exist, networking withexperienced bomb technicians, arsoninvestigators and E.O.D. specialists canget you started. You must also rememberthe adage, “You’re only as good as yourinformation.” The intelligence gatheringphase of any investigation must not belimited to evidentiary information alone.Get as much background on your sus-pects as possible–gang affiliations,extreme political views, military experi-ence or other special talents. All of theseare potential indicators to the likelihoodof boobytraps or armed resistance.Remember, whenever your mission takesyou someplace that someone else doesnot want you to be, stay alert! ✪

Mike Gillette is Chief of Police for a city inIowa. His experience spans more than 10years in law enforcement with an extensivemilitary operations background. Gilletteworked various assignments as a TacticalTeam Commander, Rangemaster, PatrolSupervisor and Field Training Officer. As aUse-of-Force Trainer, he has taught officersand agents across the country. In the militaryhe served in the 82nd Airborne and the 194thLong Range Surveillance Det. (Airborne).

A pre-raid briefing.Good intelligence about the target of the operation can provide the critical difference.

A military fuse. ▼


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When former BeatleGeorge Harrison pre-pared to retire for theevening Dec. 29, 1999 hehad no idea that before

morning, he would fight for his life,unarmed against a knife attacker in hisown home. He thought his home was wellprotected. He had an elaborate securitysystem that included a 10-foot-high fencetopped with barbed wire, dogs, securitysystem, lights and video cameras. Yet inthe end, the security system at Friar Park,likened to Fort Knox, did not deter 33-year-old Michael Abrams, a mentallydisturbed loner, from attempting totake Harrison’s life. Rather thanaccessing the property through anetwork of subterranean cavernsthat reportedly surround theformer Nunnery, Abrams appar-ently managed to penetrate theelaborate security system andenter the house by smashing akitchen window. With a six-orseven-inch knife, he attackedHarrison who, having heard thenoise, had thrown on a dressinggown and gone to investigate.

Like Harrison, most of usdon’t go to bed at night expect-ing to have to fight for our lifebefore we wake up the nextmorning. However, it can happento anyone–and frequently does.The first and most important stepto surviving such an attack is tograsp the fact that you CAN survivean attack from an armedassailant–even if you areunarmed–even if you have no formalcombat training. If you surrender withouta fight, you have lost any chance of sur-vival if murder becomes your assailant’sobjective. You CAN fight and survive. Youhave a chance. In the chaos of a fight,anything can happen. However, to sur-vive, you must maintain hope, and youmust keep a cool head.

Harrison received significant chest

wounds as well as a punctured lung andOlivia, his wife, sustained a head injury asthe couple fought off the intruder at theirOxfordshire estate. The knife blade nar-rowly missed Harrison’s major organs.Despite significant wounds, he managedto hold off his attacker. According tosources, Harrison fought off the intruderthrough several bedrooms for approxi-mately 15 minutes as he struggled to hangon to Abram’s knife hand. Eventually,Olivia managed to club Abrams with a

l a m p ,allow-

i n g

Harrisonto disarm hisattacker. Afterward, Harrison and Oliviatied Abrams up, reportedly with a lampcord, to subdue him until the policearrived. Quick thinking and utilizing theirenvironment wisely–the lamp as aclub–the cord as a restrainingdevice–saved Harrison’s life as well asOlivia’s. THEY SURVIVED!

Harrison Fights for His Life By Jane Eden

Editor’s Note: Most home invasionstake place late at night. Usually theintruder has more on his mind thanrobbery. It could be rape? It could bemurder? Statistics are in your favorthat this won’t happen to you. And,nothing can take the place of trainingto disarm an attacker. However, it isalso important to prepare your homeso you can better fend off such anintrusion, if necessary. While it didn’thelp Harrison, security systems arestill a good idea. Also, keep sidearms close at hand. Have multiplearms available for easy access foryourself and your spouse (if applica-ble.) Weapons can include, sticks,knives, baseball bats or a gun. Ifattacked in your home use everythingat your disposal to fend off theattack. Fight for your life.

❑ Grasp the fact that you

can survive.

❑ Keep a cool head.

❑ Make use of elements

in your environment.

❑ Call for help whenever

possible.

❑ Fight for your life!


Can you believe it? We haven’tcome very far in threedecades have we? I have yetto see a supply clerk with aduffel bag of sticks muster-

ing behind officers passing out replace-ment batons. Hand off a few sticks likethat and we have armed the enemy!Meanwhile there are some simple coun-tering releases to any grab that takesabout a minute to learn and a second toexecute! It appears that many life-savinganswers — the actual step-by-step tacticsfor these conflicts — have either beenforgotten through time or lost throughpolitical correctness, inexperience orsimple ignorance.

Since the early ’70s I’ve collectedstick fighting tactics from both the mili-tary and civilian police authorities. Whileserving as a U.S. Amy military policeman,I gathered many from rough, old-timerscirca the ’50s and ’60s who taught us,along with some tough, veteran MPs whoonce worked bars, clubs, streets, campsand forts all over the world. Their set-ups, fakes and tricks are still some of thebest stick work I’ve ever seen. The stickcan be used not just to push back andbash, but also to hook, maneuver, throw,

disarm, choke and control people. Theirfakes and set-ups were great. From themI learned that one vs. one tactics can alsobe applied to one vs. many encounters.

Those old-timers had plenty ofanswers to the “what if” game, all but lostnow to the lame, timid, paranoid “thigh-striking” techniques taught to officerstoday, geared more for the protection ofpolice agency’s insurance company, thanthe protection of an officer’s life. Forexample, a man with a baseball batattacked someone Iknew. After thousandsof thigh-hitting repeti-tions (it takes from3,000 to 5,000 reps tobuild a reflexive action)in modern police cours-es, instead of reflexive-ly putting his stick up inthe air for a blockagainst the bat, heinstead struck theattacker — as trained —on the THIGH! The un-obstructed bat crasheddown upon my friend’sskull, sending the offi-cer into a coma. He

almost died! Bad muscle memory train-ing, but very politically correct. Hisagency wasn’t sued and the attacker tookthe thigh shot and barely knew anythinghit him at all. Sometimes, most timesreally, you just can’t hit that small specialnerve, point or sweet spot on a moving,rabid target —the curse of pressure pointtraining in the real world.

In 1987, when I began to study theFilipino arts, I learned that military andpolice training courses lacked a “stick-

CLOSE-QUARTERSTICK COMBAT

By W. Hock Hochheim

“…and then you use your stick to disperse the crowd.”The SWAT instructor concluded his speech at a tacticalpolice seminar in Austin, Texas in the ‘80’s.

An officer raised his hand and asked, “But how?” “You ... ahhh ... you disperse the crowd!” the SWAT

instructor replied. “ ... you ... enter into the crowd, breakit up and steer the people off.”

Still confounded, the inquirer sat silent. We all knewexactly what he really wanted to know. How do you phys-ically, step-by-step, utilize your stick to strike, push or pullhuman beings, who refuse to move and in some instancesactually fight you. How do you get them to “disperse?”

It was a good “what if” question. I’ve been confront-ed by such hostile groups, from a rock-throwing crowdduring the Vietnam evacuation to a small neighborhoodmob that made me feel like a riot might happen right ONME at any second! Crowds and mobs are fickle beasts.

“What if a rioter grabbed my stick?” was another com-monly asked question in these police courses throughoutthe ‘70’s, ‘80’s, and ‘90’s. Even today most state coursesoffer little in the way of a response. One perplexing solu-tion offered to a state corrections officer as late as 1999was…

“Let him have the stick. We’ll get you another one!”

A threatening attacker is busy yelling. His mouth, notthe stick, is his weapon of choice for the moment.


dedicated” martial system along withskill developing drills such as ones typi-cally found in the Philippines. Supportedby psychological and athletic researchthe civilian world offers, I reconfiguredhow they would all relate to the con-frontations of today. It seems that whilethe Filipino arts had some solutions, theyaren’t doing the crafty things that thepolice old-timers and military pugilistsdid. Plus they, like the Japanese, canbecome too “artsy” at times and henceunsubstantial for the chaos of combat. Itbecame clear that if each group knew thebest of what the other had, we couldsolidify an outstanding course best insur-ing our safety, success and cause. Theresult? I created DMS — the Dos ManosSystem, which translates to “two-hands”named in the tongue of its primary source— the Filipino connection.

No one source has ever compiledand blended all this information togetherbefore, and as a result I have taught DMSto elements of over 50 law enforcementand correctional agencies, police SWATteams, and at the U.S. Marine CloseQuarter Combat Advanced InstructorCourse at Quantico, as well as to AirForce police, Army Rangers, and wellover a thousand martial artists. I havecome to believe that if you only knowhow to fight with a single-handed gripyou are only half a stick fighter! DMSadds another powerful dimension, thesecond half, to control or to grapple theopponent off his feet.

DMS best functions under one uni-versal combat premise — the opponent iseither a criminal or an enemy soldier.Sometimes we take them prisoner.Sometimes we kill them. With this hard-core and realistic focus established wecan turn to the scientific explanation ofDMS weaponry.

A DMS weapon is any tool that canbecome both an impact weapon and agrappling crowbar. The simple stick, orimpact weapon, is a tool that can strikewith three areas — the tip, the handleand the shaft. In closer quarter combat,it can be used as a lever or crowbar tocontain, pull, push or turn. The princi-

ples relate to other stick-shaped tools.If you are utilizing the cane or a realsturdy umbrella, then you have a handleto hook. The magazine and other fea-tures on some rifles and automaticweapons can offer the same service.Sometimes the handle or the magazinecan get in the way!

Quickly snatch the stick and... strike the head to stun the man. Pass the tip between the body and the arm.

Obtain the DMS grip. At this point hemay or may not let go of his stick.

If your catch is true, it will not matter.Fire a knee.

Step back and pull down.

Control the enemy.

❶ ❷ ❸

❹ ❺ ➏

❼


The Impact Weapon ApplicationsIt is vital you customize a weapon that is sized for you. Whenevaluating sticks and batons, their length must allow you tofight both single-handed and double-handed with equal success.The riot baton is usually more substantial in weight, thicknessand length than your typical martial arts stick, police nightstickor expandable baton. And such bigness is not always bad. Butnot too big! If your stick is too long, it begins to take on thecharacteristics of a staff and limits your overall fighting poten-tial. On the other hand, if your stick is too short, you cannot useit to grapple with and like a smaller crowbar, it has limitations.Such shortness is the curse of many expandable batons and“standard issue” sticks of some Filipino systems.

So what is the “size” summary? Your stick should be shortenough for one-hand impact tactics and long enough for twohands “crowbar” work. Do not let some Filipino system text-book or a department issue weapon restrict your personal safe-ty. Make sure your weapon is sized for your arm-length, bodyshape and strength! You!

Long Gun ApplicationsMany of us have visions of Davie Crockett swinging his emptyflintlock down on the enemy at the Alamo. What about using arifle or shotgun for a bludgeon? This is common strategy whenone...

a) wishes to take a prisoner,b) runs out of ammo,c) cannot fire due to close proximity of “friendlies,”d) knows discharging a weapon will alert the enemy.

A U.S. Army Ranger told me a classified story about someof our soldiers in urban combat in a foreign country. Out ofammo, surrounded and cornered inside a building, they werebeaten and killed by a quasi-military mob. Intell suggests thatnever once did our men raise their rifles as clubs or impactweapons. This is not baffling when you think of the sporatic andlimited fixed-bayonet pulgalistic training currently offered ourtroops. Couple that with the mental revere soldiers are grilledinto placing upon their rifles. Trainees prize, polish, clean andbaby their weapon from Basic Training on. It contradicts theirlearned behavior to suddenly smash it against the enemy, nomore than you would reflexively use your prized $3,000 laptopto block a baseball bat attack! Conversely, poorly trained“Third-World” soldiers are reportedly quite prone to use theirrifles as bludgeons as needed, since they are not brainwashedinto this reverence. The solution? More bayonet/pugil trainingand more life-saving instruction in the use of the empty long gunas a last ditch impact weapon. Possessing an untarnished M-16means nothing to you…if you are dead. A little more DMS andDavy Crockett training might go a long way!

The Crowbar ApplicationsOnce inserted between or around the limbs, head and torso, thestick can be pulled, pushed or turned as a crowbar producingthrows, takedowns, chokes and control measures. The oldexpression “it ain’t over till it’s over,” is very true in the unpre-dictable world of combat. A standing, stunned opponent, withor without a weapon, may still be capable of violence at somelevel. The enemy must be hit and put down and put out when

You play dead orunconscious. Theenemy comes tosee your condition.

...pull as you roll.

You loop the closest legwith a DMS catch and...

Capture the leg in a lock ifpossible and...

Stun and capturethe enemy.

❶ ❷ ❸

❹ ❺

possible. Like a TKO punch, sometimesthis can be done with a power shot, butoften times not. CQC stick grappling is animperative solution.

A few skeptics claim that with single-handed power swings hardly anyone canget a chance to use a stick in a DMS man-ner against them. But these practitionersare always wearing helmets and hits tothe head without headgear, howeverminor, can be quite disabling. There ishigher consciousness — and that is train-ing without helmets! The reality of even aslight ding to a bare skull can stun anddiminish the opponent to the point whereDMS follow-ups are more than possible.Helmeted stick systems that ignore or failto center their training on the head strikeare making a deadly mistake. The litmustest for this is simple. If half or more of

your stick fight bouts are turning intoground wrestling matches you are simplynot training for real stick combat. If youwant to dominate the fight, attack thehead. It’s all about the head.

DMS Ground FightingYou must also learn to apply the standingstrategies and tactics through knee highpositions and then horizontal on theground. Aside from knee-high, “flat”ground fighting includes side-by-side,topside and bottom-side tactics. The sci-ence of “ground zero stick fighting” hashad an unfortunately limited evolutionbecause in the past martial artists haveconsulted the more media-famousground fighters for ideas on the subjectwith no real feel for weaponry and the

true chaos of alife and deathbattlefield.

DMS andSelfDefense Today, a jail riot,any champion-ship sports game,the results of any

courtroom trial, any news event, badweather, EVEN Woodstock may turn intoa city decimating, violent experience.

Across the country soldiers, police andcorrection officers stand on levels ofalert. For the average citizen or martialartist, one look at the nightly news willtell you that you don’t have to face alarge-scale riot to find yourself in need ofan impact weapon and some solid tactics.What if? ✪

W. Hock Hochheim tours the countryteaching modern, tactical hand, stick, knifeand gun combatives, a hard-core hybridbased upon his years in the military, polic-ing and martial arts.


You block.

Once on the ground...

Create a DMS bridge just above the elbow.

...note this strip andsend disarm.

Rip up to send the stick away.

Here is a ground skull rake. Keep your stick ends as sharp as

possible! The handle can be used forchokes, for pressing into weak points

of the skull.

The key shot! A stunning stab to the face!You wrap the arm counter-clockwise.

Pull down and kneethe face.

DMS offersmany differing

tactics.


The enemy grabs your weapon...

and attempts a punch! You raise yourshotgun up to block.

Raise the butt up and then crash itdown upon the forearm...

...for a release.

Fire the weapon back into the enemy!


hen the words “vehicle”and “assault” are used in

the same sentence, peopletend to think of SWAT

teams “taking down” a carduring a hostage rescue scenario, or swiftengagement of a combative suspectholed-up in a vehicle to resolve a barri-caded subject problem. In today’s world,at some point, you too may have to fightfor your life in, and/or around a motorvehicle. People spend a great deal of timein transit. The number of road rage inci-dents continues to climb. Travelers arestatistically vulnerable to criminal attack.Under such circumstances it’s importantto analyze the dynamics surroundingsuch incidents and learn from them.

Such analysis helps develop a per-

sonal combat perspective. Our onlyobjective in self-defense is to survive.With regard to vehicle-related attacks, wemust understand how to employ practicalmeasures and tactics to counter assaultsand accomplish our primary goal.

Tactical Driving The first step toward self-defense is toremain alert to your surroundings i.e.effective attack recognition. Are youboxed in by traffic? Do you scan ahead torecognize potential hazards or road-blocks? Do you notice the stranger walk-ing beside your car? These are subtlecues that precede an assault. So shouldyou “ready” a sidearm every time you pullup to a stoplight with a suspicious look-ing driver or passengers? Absolutely not!Live in Condition Yellow and be prepared(not paranoid) for a life-threateningencounter to safely evade and/or escap-ing critical danger.

Hollywood has glamorized evasivedriving actions like the J-Turn or Bootleg

through action-adventure films and tele-vision shows. In reality, these excitingmaneuvers usually create more problemsthan they solve. The top tactical and pro-tective driving schools for professionaloperators and military protective servic-es personnel teach one simple, easy to

remember, easy to implement understress tactic ... MOVE!

This thought encompasses logicalresponses such as:

• Accelerate through the kill zone(even if it means going through a redlight).

• Throw the car in reverse, and aggres-sively back out of an assault.

• Drive quickly at an oblique angle toavoid a sudden obstacle intendedto slow you down or control yourmovement (even if it means hoppingthe center median).

• And, if necessary, ram a vehicleblocking the road at one of its axlepoints to clear a path for your emer-gency escape.

If your attacker holds you at gun-point as you sit behind your runningengine, even justifiable vehicular homi-cide presents a legitimate option.Performing a tactical driving maneuver to

VehicleCounter-AssaultTactics

By Steve Krystek

W


avoid an attack may not always be anavailable course of action. The ability toquickly recognize an attack will result inyour best chance for survival.

Weapon Selection In an unexpected criminal attack near orin your vehicle, tactically employing afirearm greatly enhances your chances ofsurvival. If your assailant wishes only torob, by all means give him what he wantsand drive away. However, if your attackerwishes to injure you or a loved one ANDyou have NO MEANS of escape, then theattack justifies your use of deadly force.Contingent upon local laws, an appropri-ately selected handgun serves as a pri-mary weapon. I say primary weapon,because it should not be the only weaponavailable.

The handgun’s prime virtues are con-cealability, and availability in a suddencrisis situation. The semiautomatic pistolis a practical tool for close-quarter com-bat, initial adversary engagement, andrapid threat response. You can present itfrom the holster while seated behind thewheel, use it to suppress adversaryactions as you deploy from the vehicle toreach cover, or put it into action quicklywhen time runs out and an attacker clos-es on you. But, the most important rea-son to use a handgun in vehicle defense issimple, to fight your way to a long-gun.

A shotgun is the logical secondaryoption in a vehicle defense situation forseveral reasons. When evaluating the typ-ical scenarios, the capabilities of theshotgun address the needs of the emer-gency better than that of the pistol. Asidefrom the fact that shotgun ammunitionprovides greater terminal ballistics and“stopping” power than pistol ammuni-tion, this weapon is capable of accurateshot placement well beyond 50 metersand reliable penetration of hard barriers.Why is this important?

If a hostile confrontation warrantsthe retrieval of a secondary, more power-ful weapon (i.e. shotgun), the distance ofthe threat may encompass a considerablyextended range. If this is the case, pene-

tration is a key factor in the effectivenessof your fire.

So how do we accomplish these featsof extended-range engagement and barri-er penetration with a tactical shotgun? Arifled slug cartridge provides the answer.For this application, there is absolutelyno need for 00 Buckshot. The rationale issimple. Buckshot isn’t an incredibly accu-rate or decisive “stopper” beyond 15-18meters. At this range, you theoreticallymay need to employ your handgun any-way because the proximity of the threatmay not allow you the time to transitionweapons. It also does not penetrateobjects sufficiently, such as a car door,and if an extended-range engagementwere necessary you would need to per-form select slug drills, which take timeand can leave you temporarily vulnera-ble.

More progressive police departmentsin the country equip their patrol shotgunswith rifled slugs exclusively—Burbank,CA P.D. for example. They understandthe realities of such situations and takethe necessary proactive measures toensure they prepare their equipment tac-

tically for anything. The tactical carbine provides anoth-

er option when selecting a firearm forvehicle defense. Employed properly andloaded with the correct ammunition, thisweapon serves well to counter a vehicleattack. It holds more rounds than a tacti-cal shotgun and its precision and speedgive it some attractive qualities. Themajor considerations are availability, bul-let penetration capabilities and social/legal acceptance. A tactical shotgun is farless expensive and easier to obtain than aquality tactical carbine. There are fewerlegal restrictions pertaining to shotguns,and they are more socially acceptable(i.e. sporting goods vs. assault weapon)for transportation in a motor vehicle thana decked out carbine configured for anti-personnel work.

The latest ballistics studies concludea typical slug penetrates vehicle materialwith greater consistency and post-pene-tration effect than a M metal jacketed.223 caliber bullet fired through a 16 inchCAR barrel. I personally prefer a tacticalshotgun over a carbine for two reasons. Aslug-equipped shotgun may reliably stop

Facing PageProper use of vehicle cover during multiple target engagement scenario. Theshooter engages only the closest threat from the front of the truck, then movesto the rear, firing upon the remaining target.

Notice how shooter’s position affords him some degree of protection from oneadversary while he engages another.

▲


threatening actions of an aggressor evenif shot placement impacts an area otherthan vital organs and because of the sig-nificant difference in value. While not aprimary issue in weapon selection, I pre-fer the loss of an easily acquired $450.00Mossberg 590 over a rare $1,450.00 CAR-15 if my vehicle were stolen.

Where you store or stage your long-gun depends on the type of vehicle youdrive. Safety, security, accessibility, andthe local laws governing firearm trans-port provide many determining factors.Now what tactics should we employwhen faced with certain threats?

Fries with Your SurpriseAttack

It’s 10:00 p.m. You’re seated in yourvehicle at a drive-thru at a local fast foodrestaurant waiting to place your order.Environmental obstacles block you in oneach side and customers block you frontand rear. When it’s your turn, you pull upto the speaker, and when you roll downyour window, a masked man rushes frombehind nearby shrubbery. The man reach-es through your driver’s side window,grabs your throat with one hand, displaysa knife with the other, and demands yougive up your money. Now, if this threatwill go away by simply providing himwith money, then doing so constitutes thelogical source of action. However, if hisactions dictate that your life is in jeop-ardy regardless, and that he will applyadditional force anyway, then you mustconsider your options.

Since nature and customers have you

boxed in, an evasive driving maneuver isout of the question. This is a scenario thatrequires a speedy threat response inextremely close-quarters. To counter theattack using a practical method, presentthe handgun to the close-contact positionand orient your upper-body toward theadversary. Use your support arm in amanner that shields your face and theside of your head from strikes or edgedweapon attacks. Cause the assailant torelease any holds he applied, and stagethe support arm for a counter-strike. Ifthe opportunity presents itself, and theforce is justified, you may engage theassailant effectively from this position.

The muzzle blast alone at such distancewould probably cause the individual tostop. As an alternate response, keep atwo-handed grip on your pistol and utilizeweapon-striking techniques to reject agrab, deflect a strike, or protect againstthe slash or stab of a blade.

If a shot occurs and the criminal fallsto the ground next to your driver’s sidedoor, you must make a decision. Do youbarricade yourself in the car until thepolice arrive and risk a follow-up attackby the adversary or perhaps an unseenassociate? Or, do you evacuate the area,run inside the fast food restaurant anddial 911?

Specific circumstances will dictate.What if your family is with you, could youquickly and safely evacuate them fromthe area before an additional threatappeared? To resolve a situation like this,you must fight, if it is an option. You havenowhere to go, no distance to gain, nocover to utilize, and an opponent whomade the first move.

How could all this have been pre-vented from the beginning? An adherenceto the basic principles of environmentalawareness and a Condition Yellow mind-set may alert you in time to decide rollingdown the window might not be a goodidea when you see a suspicious maskedman hiding in the nearby bushes.

Rear threat engagement whileseated behind the wheel.

Frontal target engagement while seated in the vehicle. Notice shooter gettingas low as possible and minimizing exposure by transferring the pistol to thesupport hand for firing.

▲


Parking Lot Problem

Our second combat scenario occurs in ashopping center parking lot during themiddle of the afternoon. You completeyour errands and walk out to your pick-up truck parked at the end of the lot. Asyou get inside the truck, you notice twomale strangers in yourdriver’s side-view mir-ror. As you turn toobserve their actions,one of the men’s handsdisappears into hiswaistband; the otherman shouts, “Don’tmove. Don’t move orwe’ll cap you!” The dis-tance of these attack-ers is approximately12-14 feet, whichmeans you don’t havetime to start up thetruck and step on thegas. The commandthey’ve issued is signif-icant because it is anattempt to verballycontrol you and essen-tially restrain you fromfree movement throughfear of physical force;in this case probabledeadly force.

If you immediately start to exit thetruck out the passenger side in anattempt to give up the vehicle and escape,you leave your back vulnerable and riskyour life that they don’t mean what theysay. Keep in mind, these individuals maynot want just your truck. If they justrobbed a bank or committed some othercrime nearby, they may want to take youalong for the ride as an insurance policy.Far-fetched? This kind of thing happensevery day in many major metropolitanareas. If you just step out of the truck onthe driver’s side to surrender, you’re inthe same situation, only worse. You’venow decreased the distance between youand the “threat” and probably provoked anegative response of physical force fromone or both of the aggressors by defyingtheir commands. If you sit there, you stillrisk your life by giving up control to thugswho could care less about your survival.

So what would be a tactical solutionto this problem? When attackers rapidlyapproach you, you must slow them down,give them something to worry about, andallow yourself time to mount a counter-offensive.

The driver, in a situation like this,should unhesitatingly present his hand-

gun and turn to fire outside the driver’sside window on these individuals whilestill seated in the truck. This initialengagement should accomplish the firstthree objectives previously mentioned.Now our driver has bought himself a fewseconds to exit stage right and increasehis distance from the adversary.Depending on the reactions of theassailants and the effectiveness of theshot placement, the driver shouldattempt to retrieve his shotgun, which ina pick-up truck would ideally be stagedbehind the seat in the cab. One importantprinciple to remember when determiningwhere to exit a vehicle during the chaosof an attack is to always follow the pathof least resistance.

If a threat is received from the pas-senger side and you must exit the vehiclefor whatever reason, exit on the driver’sside. If you receive an attack from the dri-

ver’s side, exit out the passenger door. Inthis scenario, our driver puts himself in asafer tactical position by bailing out onthe passenger side, away from his attack-ers.

In part two of this scenario, ThugNo. 1 who stuck his hand in his waist-band has been shot and is now kneeling

next to the driver’s siderear tire. Thug No. 2moved wide and ranbehind a car parkedone space over to thedriver’s side of thetruck. He has emergedover the hood of thisparked car and firesseveral shots at thedriver (you) with asemi-automatic pistol.By now, you have safe-ly escaped the initialkill zone and broughtyour shotgun intoaction. The next deci-sions where best toposition to return fire,avoid being shot, andcover all the dangerareas? More than likely,a side-step to the rightwill put you in thisposition. You’ll bebehind the engine block/

front end area of your truck and capableof observing the actions of both youropponents. The best tactical option avail-able now, based on the current positionsof all parties involved, would be to fire atThug No. 2 from around the front of thetruck. Move to the rear of the truck usingit as cover and concealment, engage ThugNo. 1 again, if he’s still a threat, and thenimmediately re-engage Thug No. 2 fromthat same position. By constantly mov-ing, distributing fire evenly when neces-sary, and engaging the adversary fromalternating positions, you can keep youropponent(s) busy, confused, and on thedefensive. This situation is also an exam-ple of the benefits a slug-loaded shotguncan provide. If Thug No. 2 has inadequateunderstanding of cover, the confronta-tion would quickly resolve if he tries tohide behind the other car’s trunk or vehi-cle doors.

Frontal target engagement while seated in the vehicle. Notice shootergetting as low as possible and minimizing exposure by transferring thepistol to the support hand for firing.


Universal Tactics

There are many tactics designed toassist in vehicle defense situations. Ifexiting the vehicle is your best option,you should always maximize the distancefrom the threat to minimize exposure.Make yourself a small target by stayingfurther away or find concealment behinda barrier. Keep as much cover betweenyou and the attacker as possible.

If attacked from the front or the rearand the threat is within an appropriaterange, engage your target while seatedbehind the steering wheel. For rearengagement, twist the torso, lean out thewindow, and place your shots. For frontalengagement, lean out to your left, get aslow as possible, and engage. If you’reoutside a vehicle and using it for cover,do not discount the technique of assum-ing an Urban Prone shooting positionbehind a tire/wheel to engage an attackerfrom a lower profile.

If necessary, skip rounds off theroadway until they strike the target ifyour target is in a difficult position to hit.During a recent North Hollywood Bank

Robbery Shootout, the LAPD SWAT offi-cer shot the ankles of the suspect byemploying this tactic. The suspect wasshot below the knees with .223 until heeventually hit the ground. Immobilized,he became an easy stationary target forcovering officers.

Finally, proper use of cover is just asimportant as identifying cover. Maintain asafe distance from your barricade andalways shoot around your barrier asopposed to over it. Maintaining a safe dis-tance will help you avoid ricochetingrounds impacting the barricade in frontof you. Avoid using your barricade forsupport while firing the weapon. Giveyourself room to move forward in orderto cut down the angle on an adversaryattempting to flank your position.Shooting around cover versus over pro-vides less exposure of vital areas.

If you’re faced with multiple targets,it is much easier to traverse these targetsover the hood of a car than around thefront end. The problem with this optionis, you’re allowing them to fight you 2against 1. If you choose a corner of thevehicle from which to engage and work

your angles correctly, you can deal withmultiple adversaries one at a time.

Strategies and concepts such asthese represent the essence of soundcombat tactics regardless of the defen-sive situations in which you apply them.

If you are unable to escape or evadeassault and are forced to fight for yoursurvival within or around an automobile,be aggressive, be accurate, and above all,be smart. Using some of the principlesoutlined here, an immediate, practicedand tactical threat response can assist inkeeping you safe through even the worst-case vehicle assault scenario. ✪

Steve Krystek is a former senior teamleader and team trainer of a military specialweapons and tactics team and a guestinstructor for law enforcement and civilianorganizations around the country where heteaches tactical shooting and close-quartercombat. He works as a nuclear counter-ter-rorism/protective force for the U.S.Department of Energy. He remains active inspecial operations and tactical firearms.For information about training dates in LasVegas and Southern California areas,Contact: [email protected]

After initiallyengaging theadversary, driverexits vehicle onthe passengerside, opposite ofthe threat.

ou can’t disarm aknife! It is suicide!”

Some martial instructorswill bark at you. Indeed,your common martial

artist tends to envision a certain type ofninja enemy holding a knife before them,a trained, fast Bruce Lee type, if you will.They can’t help but envision a movie-likeencounter in an open space like a dojo.“Bruce will cut you to ribbons!” Underthis initial umbrella of futility, with theirhands thrown up in the air, entire groupsrefuse to learn or practice a single dis-arm! Any random disarms that are sug-gested are ridiculous, like doing a cres-cent kick to the knife hand, and many donot consider the environment and cir-cumstances of the fight.

What if the knife wielder is not BruceLee? What if he is a big fat guy who is eas-ily winded, slow, with no endurance?What if he is a real skinny? What if he isuncoordinated? What if he is slow, ordrugged or drunk? What if he is really acoward? What if he cannot overcome thecommon psychological barriers that pre-vent normal people from stabbing and

slashing flesh? My goodness! I think Ihave just described most of the commoncriminals that statistically will pull aknife on you! What if you smacked theattacker in the head with a heavy ashtrayor chair and further diminished his abili-ties?

One knife disarm I executed once asa police officer was a simple quick yankof a knife from the hand of a drunkshoplifter on a supermarket parking lot.Mechanically it was the force/counterforce or a push/pull disarm. Like all mar-tial practice compared to reality combat,it barely lookedlike the clean, pre-cision move onepractices in a ster-ile environment. It was quick, uglyand I growled,“Give me this!”

I grabbed theman’s hand andpushed explosivelyagainst the bladewith my open palm.When the knife

came free, I grabbed it and handed it tothe nearby manager (whom I knew) andcuffed the drunk. The drunk could barelystand. Now that’s diminishment!

Based upon my research and 28years military and police experience, Iwill confidently state that each weekacross America there are probably some5 to 10 people disarming knives fromattackers in various predicaments.


Force/Counter-Force Knife DisarmingThe Push/Pull Disarm

By W. Hock Hochheim

“YKnife disarms should be part of an overall strategy,

such as this one with a chair.

. . .then a disarm

The enemy is diminished, and this allows for a grab of the

weapon-bearing limb. . .


Around the world who knows how many! And these disarmsand take-aways are often executed by the totally untrained, act-ing on sheer instinct. Some will remain unscathed, some willreceive stitches, some worse. Some may die. Many live!

Many live–like a recentOklahoma rape victim. Thevery day I wrote this article, myfriend, ex-cop and author JerryVanCook cal led me fromOklahoma City to report anemergency room interview heconducted of a rape victimwho disarmed her knife attack-er and stabbed the man in thechest with his own knife. Shewas receiving stitches on herfingers. The rapist was in emer-gency surgery. According toCNN News, an untrained NewYorker recently stripped a boxcutter from a crazed attackerin a subway. I am here to proclaim that you can disarm knives!Ask any cop, EMT, crime beat reporter! Open newspapers! Readhistory! If you can’t run because your children may be leftbehind, or you may be the only able-bodied person that standsbetween the bloodshed of a school or cafeteria mass murder,you have a chance to win!

Through time, I have learned that there are four general dis-arm strategies.

Strategy 1: The Impact Disarm

Strategy 2: The Push/Pull Disarm

Strategy 3: Any Harsh Twisting on the Weapon Bearing Limb

Strategy 4: Hybrid Combinations of the above

In the chaos of combat, the key to understanding whereand when any of these knife disarms can work is to practice thedisarm into a reality situation. For example, what if you hit theattacker in the head with a chair as demonstrated in the

attached photo series? Suddenly, so-called “impossible” disarmsbecome more probable don’t they?

One of the most common disarms is the so-called “take-away” or the push/pull force/counter force disarm. I would like

to dissect for your knowledgethis common force/counter-force disarm. Needless to say,you can’t stand before theenemy and think, “Wait until Ido the push/pull on this guy!”Instead, your muscle memorystands armed with many tac-tics and should fire into actionto do whatever you must towin!

The Push-PullPossibilitiesThere are a few positionalpossibilities. You must modifythe basic movements throughthese situations…

In a knife vs. knife encounter, a hard cutting or hacking impact on the weapon-bearing limb...

...may cause diminishmentand allow for a grab...

...and a stunning attack.


Position 1: The knifer is right-handed

Position 2: The knifer is left-handed

Position 3: You are on the outside of the weapon-bearing limb

Position 4: You are on the inside of the weapon-bearing limb

The Limb GrabKey to creating the force-counter-force is seizing the weapon-bearing limb. You need to develop strong hands by exercisingyour fingers and forearms in a variety of athletic means. Tossingup into the air and then snatching a pliable yet heavy ball, beanbag or similar item will blend snatching speed with strength.Beyond strength, another goal-specific way to improve yourskill is to stand before a training partner who will either feedyou angles of attack or stand before you in a fighting stance.Practice seizing the limb from these angles of attack. Thenaggressively seize the knife arm of the fighting stance. So youhave two problem situations to practice…

Practice 1: Defensive: Seize attacking limbs

Practice 2: Aggressive: Seize limbs of an enemy fighting stance

A training source from Great Britain is touting that a cap-ture of the upper arm of a weapon-bearing limb is easier andshould be emphasized; however I feel this to be unsafe. Theattacker’s elbow and wrist are still free joints to maneuver andcontinue their attack in the space between your bodies. Thelonger the forearm and blade, the less safe the upper arm catchis. The closer your grab is toward the hand the better. The ulti-mate catch is getting your fingers and/or hand wrapped to somedegree around the opponent’s hand and thumb.

If you are outside of the captured arm, take your grip andpull in or jerk inward suddenly. The counter force is the suddenshove or push against the knife with your weapon or body asshown in the series of photos, in the opposite direction of thepull. From the inside of the arm, work the opposite motion.

Knife vs. Knife ScenarioAfter you either sense you can get a disarm, or diminish his con-sciousness prior in the fight, you might seize the enemy’sweapon-bearing limb. You are on the outside of the arm? Pull onthe arm and push with the side of your blade on the side of hisblade violently. To optimize this knife vs. knife disarm, rake theedge across his fingers as part of your stripping push.

Empty Hand vs. the Knife ScenariosThe same push/pull applications can be made with emptyhands. Some are shown in photos under very sterile model con-ditions for demonstration purposes. From the outside positionyou can use...

Now comes the disarm.

The pushing portion of the disarm should include skin raking on the fingers.

Sometimes grabbing the enemy’s thumb is a possibility.This reduces the grip strength.

➤ Back of the hand vs. the knife

➤ Palm of the hand vs. the knife (Don’t close yourfingers too soon)

➤ Forearm vs. the knife

➤ Back of the upper arm vs. the knife

From the inside position…

➤ Hand or forearm vs. the knife

Muscle Tension, Counters and Hand-OffsWe expect a certain amount of tension in the arm and on thegrip of the knife, some resistance on the part of the opponentfor our success. Therefore a major counter to these force dis-arms is a surrender of strength, or a very limp, bending wrist.This takes the snap discharge right out of the push/pull. Anothermajor and commonly overlooked counter is to simply hand-offyour about-to-be-ejected knife to your other free hand.

Death or Stitches?One of our Scientific Fighting Congress members working as aGuardian Angel pushed/pulled a knife from an attacker in NewYork City and got a small cut on his pinky. Others may suffermore severely. The Oklahoma City rape victim previously men-tioned had several fingers sliced. The choice may beyours–death or stitches? Try not to close your fingers aroundthe blade and use them as a flat surface against the flat of the

knife. If you are cut, fight on viciously from there. Fight throughthe stab, the slash, the pain. Fight on.

Whether you are facing off against a fully alert Bruce Leewith a knife or stumbling drunk, you are risking your life inknife combat. But you can win! You have a chance! But youmust cheat. Cheat! Use that chair! (When a knifer recentlyattacked Beatle George Harrison in his home, his wife used alamp on the intruder’s head! Suddenly they disarmed the knife).Cheating must be built into your fighting system every day andin every way. Suddenly many options for survival open.

Don’t for one moment let some naive instructor tell youthat you cannot disarm a knife and learning disarms is a wasteof time. Some call knife disarms a fantasy! The only fantasyinvolved with disarming is claiming that they never happen,

cannot happen, and will never happen! Learn the basics andthen plug them into real world situations. Don’t leave your mus-cle memory empty without a single technique! We have trainedyour mind now start training your body. Remember, experts say3,000 to 5,000 repetitions will make it yours. ✪

W. Hock Hochheim tours the country teaching modern, tacticalhand, stick, knife, gun fighting tactics, a hybrid, hard-core coursebased upon his years in military, police, and martial arts experience.


Upper arm push ▼ ▲Forearm push

▼ Palm of the hand push. (Common real-world takeaway)

Back of the hand push ▲


The Squad Room

POLICE BLOTTERBy Police Chief Mike Gillette

Mike Gillette is Chief ofPolice for a city in Iowa. Hisexperience spans more than10 years in law enforcementwith an extensive militaryoperations background.Gillette worked variousassignments as a TacticalTeam Commander,Rangemaster, PatrolSupervisor and Field TrainingOfficer. As a Use-of-ForceTrainer, he has taught officersand agents across the coun-try. In the military he servedin the 82nd Airborne and the194th Long RangeSurveillance Det. (Airborne).

The Voodoo that You DoU.S. Customs agents report that voodoo threats are nothing new. Agents frequentlypull charms, such as bottles filled with sacrificial animal parts, makeshiftdolls and pictures of catholic saints, out of stashes of cocaine shipped fromHaiti.

Train for RealThese statistics have been gathered recently from multiple studies by POST-California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training, OIS-OfficerInvolved Shootings, and several FBI findings on police officer murders in theUnited States. Most involve sudden, spontaneous assaults on patrol officers asthey answer complaint calls, stop motorists and investigate suspicious incidentsand people…

* Approx. 50 percent of all officers killed were shot from less than 5 feet. * Approx. 75 percent from less than 10 feet. * Approx. 90 percent from less than 20 feet. * Approx. 92 percent of the suspects had prior criminal histories. * Most officers were assaulted and killed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.* Many officers were killed by “bystanders” in group incidents.

Survive with…* Body armor* Learn to read the “body language” of suspects* Train for spontaneous attacks with tactical reflex-building* Practice safe handcuffing* Emphasize the “win” mentality* Learn weapon retention, and get a good holster* Train to fight and shoot at night * Train most of your shooting in close quarter range* Train to shoot and move* Increase instinct/point shooting skills* Learn counters to handgun and knife quick draws.

Where Should Cops Carry Their Knives?Last February, CQCM publisher W. Hock Hochheim taught a collective of city, coun-ty and state SWAT team members from north Texas agencies. Hock says, “one majorquestion they asked was where they should carry their fixed blade or foldingknife. Several officers opted to carry on their strong side, very near their pis-tol. This is not my preferred choice. We did several handgun retention combatscenarios with the knife carried on their weak side belt or pocket. This weakside carry-or lefty for most people” allowed for free access to the knife whilethe gun was grabbed.” Hock also taught scenarios where both the strong side gunwas grabbed AND the weak side knife draw was intercepted. “There are many solu-tions. We just need to crisis rehearse them enough times to give them some prob-lem-solving muscle memory.”

Continued on page 28


The Squad Room

There is a pro-tective-aggres-sive componentin every woman[and man]. I

call it her Lioness Chip.Each of us manifests it inher own way and in herown time.

Mine seems to havehijacked a good portion ofmy brain at an early age.Perhaps it had something todo with my military up-bringing. During my father’sdecades in the army, we dida lot of traveling.

You also learned totake the concept of militarypreparedness to heart, evenin the playground. I remem-ber in the second grade —on an army base duringrecess — a nasty little bullyapproached me menacing-ly, demanding I relinquishthe basketball, threateningme with unspeakable humil-iation because his fatheroutranked mine. I gave himthe ball, all right, squarelyon the forehead.

Later, as a teenager,when I found myself sittingone night in a car beside aNeanderthal with 12 handsand boundless energy, I came to under-stand the more serious benefits of thekind of disciplined self-defense that mar-tial arts can provide — the concept ofyour body as the only weapon that some-one can’t take away from you and useagainst you.

Quite often, even the suggestion of awoman’s [or man’s] ability to hit a guy sohard that when he stops rolling hisclothes will be out of style is all you needto improve your day. On a recent hot,spring afternoon, I went into a liquor storefor cognac (for cooking, I swear) and I

stepped up to the register, breakingthrough a circle of a half-dozen burly,sweaty beer and wine delivery men whowere in no mood to move. I was wearingshort sleeves, which revealed the tatoosI’d gotten to celebrate my two black belts.

When the startled, Korean clerkrecognized the words pil sung, “CertainVictory,” emblazoned on my arm andasked me about them, I explained mybone-crunching training, with specialemphasis on the incredibly painful andincapacitating effects of breaking one’slegs and the ease with which that can

be accomplished regard-less of the opponent’s size.The six muscular delivery-men took two steps back-ward in unison.

It’s always better toavoid a messy confrontationthan to let one happen andthen have to deal with it.And one of the best ways todo that is to prepare your-self by planning what you’ddo if you were, for instance,alone in elevator with some-one who became a threat. Orplan what you’d do if some-one tried to car jack you inthe parking lot of a super-market. Many, many expertssuggest that it’s better totake your chances rightwere you are, because whenyou get in a car with some-one else in charge, you havelost your freedom and youroptions and you are on theroad to disaster. This is apersonal choice each of ushas to make, and it shouldbe made before such a thingever happens. Think aboutit. Think about what you’ddo if someone came up toyou at the ATM, appeared tobe armed, and demandedyour cash. I say, give it to

them. A lot of people, people who love agood fight and have a better than averagechance of winning, also agree with me.It’s a matter of assessing the situation. ✪

Lynne Russell is a longtime anchor forCNN’s Headline News and the publishedauthor of “How to Win Friends, Kick Ass &Influence People” (St. Martin’s Press). Sheis also a Fulton County sheriff’s deputy, aprivate investigator, a SCUBA diver, andthe holder of two black belts in theKorean martial art of Chooi Kwang Do.She lives in Georgia.

The Lioness Chipby CNN News Anchor, Lynne Russell

(reprinted courtesy of St. Martin’s Press)


The Squad Room

True Cop StoriesRhodesian Manhunt

Editor’s note: I discovered this out-of-printbook originally published in England in the1950’s, No Escape from Adventure by SirMichael Bruce, and recognized it as a realgem. The brother of Nigel Bruce — one ofthe first cinema “Dr Watsons,” — Iresearched more of Sir Michael’s history.The first half of his adult life he spent in theearly 1900’s as a Rhodesian policeman.This is a tale of just one his many adven-tures. Not only is this book an action-packedcombat, but the nuances speak of policingat a different time and a different place. Herenow is but one exciting excerpt from NoEscape from Adventure.

One day, while walking myhorse Greywings at adrowsy pace back fromCommonage village patrol, Ihad reached the kopje on

which the police camp was perchedwhen the trumpet sounded the alarm. Asecond later the town bell tolled. A con-vict had escaped from the town jail.

I spurred Greywings into camp.Troopers were dashing toward the stablelines while servants doubled out withsaddles and the Black Watch [night shift]fell in before the troop office. A corporalshouted to me: “There’s shooting downby the railway. Get there as quick as youcan.”

I swung Greywings round. At thatsame time, my commander, Major St.John, ran from the office. “It’s a lifer whokilled his jailer and bolted,” he said.“Bring him back dead or alive, but gethim!”

“Yes sir!” I said, and spurredGreywings down the path to the mainstreet and railway station. Shoppers scat-tered from the flying hooves, yellingabuse as I passed. At the end of the roada warder, his rifle at the ready, waswatching the rest of the convict gang.

“Which way did he go?” I yelled.“Down the spruit. Look out — he’s

armed!” the warder shouted back.I raced past him down the drift into

the donga that marked the course of the

river, now as dry as dust. Here the veldt[open grassland with few shrubs] is fairlyopen, a thing of long grass slopes brokenhere and there by granite outcrops andpatches of Manpani trees, or crossed bydirt watercourses that in the rainy seasonare rushing, turbulent streams. The riverhas cut itself a winding bed through thevlei toward Portuguese territory twomiles away.

I felt sure that my quarry would keepto the course of the river for it providedhis only cover. He would try and breakacross into Portuguese East Africa wheremy writ did not run. Even if I wentbeyond my territory my task would bedifficult, for beyond the land fell awaysteeply to the lowlands and the sides ofthe escarpment were covered with bushand scrub which, cou-pled the sharp decline,made it almost impossi-ble for a horse to follow.If I was to head him offfrom this refuge I mustget between him and theborder. Giving Greywingsa shake, I galloped to aspot where I knew thebed of the stream flat-tened out over a stonyoutcrop. From this vantage-point, I would see him ashe crossed the rocks.

I raced across theveldt. As I did so, twonative boys waved theirarms frantically, and Iturned toward them.They told me a nativerushed at them, grabbedtheir assegais [spears]and knobkerries, [sticks/canes] and darted backinto the trees.

I swung down intothe bed of the river. Sud-denly, something instinc-tive I suppose, made melook upstream. There,

resting on the branch of a tree not 20 feetaway, was the barrel of a Martini rifle andbehind it, squinting along the sights mostunpleasantly in my direction was the faceof the murderer.

I drew my revolver and fired. At thesame moment I felt a sudden zip in the airas a bullet passed harmlessly over myhead.

Greywings was dancing like a ballet-girl, partly from excitement and partlyfrom the noise of the guns. Before I couldget her down, the killer had dashedacross the spruit and was away over theveldt toward the large ravine that marked



The Squad Room

What is the New “I” in F.B.I.?

Old timers are jokingly referring to the F.B.I. as theFederal Bureau of the…”Immature.” This comes as aresult of adding thousands of new FBI agents inthe past five years. These rookies have dramati-cally reduced the level of experience at majorbureau field offices across the country.

In New York for example, where theoffice controls some of the nation’smost important investigations, casesthat include headliners like the U.S.Embassy bombings in Africa, more than 40 per-cent of the agents have five years of experi-ence or less, senior FBI officials say.Roughly the same is true in Chicago, Miami andWashington. In Los Angeles, 50 percent of theagents are in their last five years on the job.The new demographics at the federal govern-ment’s largest law enforcement agency mark anunprecedented changing of the guard that hasnot gone unnoticed.

Beginning this year, FBI Director LouisFreeh is requiring new agents to undergoadditional training in skills such as interro-gation, informant development and case management.Promotion to journeyman status, which includes a nearly $10,000 payincrease, will be tied to completion of a “core skills program” withinfive years of joining the bureau. Agents in Washington, for example,would see base pay jump from $51,204 to $60,890. “We certainly have safe-ty concerns,” says special agent-in-charge James DeSamo Jr., whose LosAngeles field office ranks as the second largest. “Many times, new agentsare going out on the job with other agents with about the same amountof experience. We always had the old salt to show new agents the ropes,but we’re losing those.” A retired agent from the Dallas office told CQCMthat “street smarts” is way, way down. “They are just college kids thatthe Bureau has to take in to raise.” ✪

POLICE BLOTTERContinued from page 25

First ShotTactical Firearms Defense

&Security Training

909-868-7887

DOC LEMASTER R. D. TRUCKSTraining Director Director of Operations760-846-0665 909-482-9907Palm Springs, Calif.


Headquarters MemoIntell

MILITARY BRIEFINGRUSSIAN WATCH

The Russian military had based its Grozny battle plan against theChechen rebels in the hopes that a high-profile victory woulddestroy their will. But after the Russian military prematurelydeclared in December, 1999 and then again in January, 2000 thatthey have broken the backs of Chechen rebels, they found them-selves further bogged down in the ruins of the shatteredChechen capital, a scene likened by one NPR reporter toDresden. In February, 2000, rebel forces backed away from theirguerrilla combat and leaked into nearby mountain strongholds.

Questions remain regarding why one of the world’s largestarmies struggled for months to take a single city? Why couldn’ta military with 1.7 million troops defeat a few thousand guerril-las who have no tanks, planes or heavy artillery? At first Russiatried to turn this conflict into the surgical precision perform-ances the U.S. rendered in its last OTW (other-than-war)encounter. Then that dirty little thing happened...urban, streetby street, building to building close quarter combat– somethingU.S. troops did not have to take on.

Military and Intelligence sources report that with years ofpolitical and economic decline in Russia, the military is morelike an armed mob than a modern army. Morale, the psycholog-ical force that gives soldiers the will to fight, has all but col-lapsed while young soldiers sometimes go hungry and endurebrutal hazing by older soldiers. Most combat units are made upof untrained teenage conscripts who reportedly can barely usea weapon. Many officers are as ill trained and demoralized astheir men. Many Russian soldiers killed in Chechnya had onlybeen in the army for six weeks. Most soldiers are drafted fortwo years’ service and are desperate to get out of the military.Chechen’s military chief Mamudi Saidayev disputes claims ofRussia’s successes and says rebels re-supply themselves by buy-ing food and weapons from Russian soldiers.

All these weaknesses have been exposed in the battle forGrozny. Reluctant Russian soldiers are being hurled againstexperienced guerrillas who are fighting fanatical determinationin an attempt to keep their homes. The rebel defenders of thecity have thousands of places to hide, and every building canserve as a fortress. The untrained, demoralized Russian infantryis totally unprepared for this kind of difficult and up-close war.When their fumbling ground attacks meet resistance, theRussians call in air and artillery strikes to clear the way. But theair strikes rarely cause casualties among the Chechen fighters,who anticipate the Russian tactics and pull back before thebombardment. The shelling demolishes empty buildings, only tocreate new hideouts, cover and concealment for the Chechensin the rubble. At night, the Russians often pull back to fortifiedbases, giving up the very territory they have just taken, then theguerrillas reoccupy this ground. The Russians must awake andseize it all over again, losing more men.

Despite Russian claims, the military’s encirclement ofGrozny has failed to seal off the city and rebels move in and outwith supplies, especially at night when the Russians pull back.Sources say that the Chechens chose to fight in Grozny becauseit gives them the best chance to inflict casualties on theRussians. As predicted, the guerrillas, when taking more severelosses, pull out. The rebels likely will shift the struggle into thehills and fight on as they did after they lost Grozny during the1994-96 fighting. Chief Saidayev told western news reportersthat the guerrilla war will never be over. Rebel CommanderKhizar Khauchukayev told AP reporters, “It was much better forthe Russians when we were concentrated in Grozny. Now thatwe are in the mountains, they will face more trouble.” To makematters worse for the Russians, the rebel’s crusade has inspiredregional Islamic radicals to join their cause. Afghanistan’sOsama bin Laden has reportedly “freed-up” some of his associ-ates to help fight the Russians.

GEORGIA WATCH

Texas Police Sgt. Roger White recently traveled to the newlyindependent country of Georgia (once attached to the SovietUnion) on an international police exchange program. Sgt. Whitereported to CQCM that while on patrol with local authorities hewas taken aback by a suspicious-looking military headquarters.It was Russian! Georgians told him the Russians have four mili-tary bases there, despite being ordered to abandon them andleave the country. The Russians remain, heavily armed andunheeding since the break-up of the Soviet Union, leavingGeorgians suspicious of future Russian plans for the area.

BURMA WATCH

With their recent raid on a Thailand hospital, national mediaattention fell upon a group of Burma terrorists of Karens calledGod’s Army. This radical group is lead by none other than 12-year-old twin children, Johnny and Luther Htoo, who rely onlegend and mysticism to command their soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Burmese military government is launchingan unprecedented forced relocation of 50,000 people out ofprime opium-growing areas under a program designed to turnone of the world’s biggest drug-producing zones into a drug-freearea by 2005. The plan calls for stripping the region of drugmanufacturers by removing the workforce necessary to supportthe business. The territory is controlled by the United “Wa”State Army, which has been described by the U.S. StateDepartment as the world’s largest drug- trafficking organizationand Southeast Asia’s leading producer of heroin that reachesthe United States. The government’s anti-drug czar, Col. KyawThein and Wa leaders said they are committed to eradicating-drugs from Burma.



Intell

Editor’s Note: This excerpt taken from“Bushmasters” published by St Martin’sPress, 1987. Here, author and BushmasterVet. Anthony Arthur recalls combat in theSouth Pacific during WWII.

The attack on Morago’smachine-gun position finallycame, at 2:30 a.m., not fromthe direction of the man-grove tree as Morago had

feared but from behind. A grenade land-ed next to Carson, and it blew him intothe hole. The machine gun was off itsstand and pointing skyward. Moragolunged at it, saw it was jammed, andstripped off the ammo belt. He turned tosee several men from a BAR positiondown the line; they had tumbled into hishole, making them about seven now. Oneof them crouched against the side, weep-ing hysterically. There was no time tothink, but it flashed through Morago’smind that the Japanese must have over-run the remaining anti-aircraft positionsand were now all in and around them.

An enemy soldier lay next to Carson,dead; he had several sticks of dynamitestrapped to his legs and an unexplodedgrenade in his hand. Christ! Moragothought. A human bomb! There was ascratching noise behind him; he saw theoutlines of two Japanese about to leapinto his hole. He reached for one, whothrust at him with his bayonet and slicedthrough his calf. Morago grabbed the rifleby the sling and pulled; the soldier let goand fell backward out of sight. The heavythud of a mortar was followed by a flare.

Morago’s hole was empty of all butdead Imperial marines, three of them, buthe heard desperate sounds from theammo-bearers’ hole next to him, whereMauzaka, Mode, and Altieri were. Hegrabbed his carbine and fired at one ofthe enemy who was standing on the edgeof their hole, thrusting downward. Thelight from the flare had faded too muchby then for Morago to see if he hit any-thing or not.

Ted Mode didn’t know who knockedhim to the ground when the attack began.Maybe Vito Altieri. He didn’t know whatto do. He was afraid of firing and hittingAltieri or Mauzaka, so he broke his car-bine in half and started swinging. He feltthe crunch of wood against bone and abody fell on top of him. He knew it wasthe enemy by the stink–we both stink, hethought, but they stink different. He triedto throw the dead weight from him, butwas shocked to find that his left arm wasnumb. His right hand followed the linefrom left shoulder to wrist, and stoppedat the elbow; the shattered edges of bonestuck through his zoot suit. Mode nearly

fainted with a sudden rush of pain, like acrazy-bone bump multiplied a thousandtimes.

Silence. Then inching, cautiousmovement... a footstep by his ear... aspade crunching into sand. No, not aspade, a bayonet. And not sand, but thebody of the dead soldier half coveringhim. With a horrified flash of under-standing, he realized that the Japanese

were methodically working their waythrough the hole, like peasants spading agarden, with their bayonets. The nextsound was that of ripping rubber, as ablade cut through the poncho Mode hadearlier placed beneath himself for groundcover. The fabric of his pants gave way...the bayonet was so sharp that when itwent through his thigh he hardly felt it—it was like a shaving cut, which you didn’tfeel until you see the blood. Except thathe was beginning to feel this one. He bithis lip to keep from crying out and guar-anteeing a second thrust. He could hearnothing but his own roaring pulse.

Ted considered rolling silently ontohis side from the second thrust, if it came.That would reduce the size of the target,but it would double the damage if it didhit him. A flare lit the sky and he saw theenemy solider poised above him. The sol-dier saw him too, and hoisted his rifleawkwardly above his head, both handsaround the rifle butt, ready to plunge itdownward like a post-hole digger. A sin-gle shot rang out and the soldier droppedinto the hole next to the American. Tedshrugged out from under the enemy bodythat had saved his life, lowered his faceinto the dirt and passed out.

At first light on the morning of May31 a solitary swimmer stroked his waythrough the placid surf, toward WakdeIsland. Hal Braun’s brother-in-law fromthe Signal Corps had definitely chosenthe wrong time to observe life in thetrenches. Thanks to the Pimas, Juliansurvived the night attack, but he wasleaving now without trying to say good-bye or even to wait for the barge that hadnever arrived the previous evening.

Behind him the swimmer left hun-dreds of men who no doubt envied hisfreedom, and dozens of others who werebeyond envy or fear. The battalion offi-cers–Paul Shoemaker, Herb Erb, FrankReuwer, and others–walked the site ofthe battle, assessing the damage.

Battlefield Diary


Reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press.


Intell

We were cold. Cold! The wind chill where I livewas 40 degrees below zero last January. Newrecord. No, it’s not friggin’ Alaska. It’s thenortheastern coast of the U.S. of A. Ordinarilythe cold does not bother me because of the

many cold places the Army has dropped me off. When youknow that kind of cold, then you know cold and it ain’t cold run-ning from your preppy, family SUV to the nice restaurant door,or getting the newspaper 10 feet from your stoop. Cold is beingout in it. A long time. Being hungry in it. Being wet in it. Hoursin it. Sleeping in it. Bleeding in it. Living in it and with it. TheArmy taught me cold.

After my special forces training, I surprised my gombasback on the block at home by telling them little storiesabout my first assignment. When they first saw me backthen they expected to hear some “Guns of Navarone” alaor a “Man from UNCLE/I Spy” story. Found them stand-ing around on the street corner bundled up in jackets,and I had on a light windbreaker. Cold and I hadbecome friends.

“Where ya been?” they asked.“I was skiing.” I told them. “Skiing?” the skinny little block pounders

asked.Skiing. We were training to fight a potential

winter war, and I learned how to ski. Even toshoot while skiing. Then we blew old Army shitup in the snow. It was a real kick, but...it wasalways cold. Especially when they would dropus off in the snowy woods at night and tell us tofind out way home. Oh yea by the way, theywould hunt us with flares and baseball bats...Ittook about 27 hours to fight my way to a hot cup of coffee. Hotcoffee. I wanted to stick my dick in it I was so cold. Ever get thatcold? Cold enough to fuck heat?

They taught us how to survive and some of those lessonshit home hard. On one of those excursions we almost lost a manfrom New Mexico. He must have gotten snow blind and lost.After we made it in, they selected a search party to hunt for him.They found him way off the chart curled up in a ball and almostfrozen to death. Sleep is the last stage of death by cold and itsneaks up on you like a rat-bastard, pinko whore. We heard hehad frostbite, and we never saw him again! It was a risky exer-cise but part of the training. We shook hands with real, long-term cold.

Now they are telling us that the “wind chill” factor is notwhat they calculated. For decades they have been telling uswrong (are these the same linoleum-heads that have calculatedthe Ozone layer thing?) I have worked off of a different factor.“My eyes are freezing” factor is my invention. Or my famous,

“my sinuses are ice cubes” factor. These are real events withoutequations. But things like wearing a hat, wrapping your neck,layering your clothes all help. And don’t let clothing cut or hin-der your circulation like tight sleeves at the wrist or tight pantsat the ankles. The warm blood has got to flow. The feet go veryearly, the toes especially, and they need attention. Like the fin-gers. When you sit or lay down, you immediately start shootingheat out of your ass and into the ground.

Under certain unusual circumstances you stick to the coldground! Like Staff Sgt. “Dingle Balls Johnson.” He is by far the

most grievous cold related injury I have ever seenand it came the night me and my drinking buddiesin Germany were pissed to the gills on the thickGerman jet fuel they call ale. If we turned our

heads too fast…? Beer would lop out of our mouths. Weleft one tavern on our way to another hall and decided to,well, being dizzy, sit for a minute. It was of course verygoddamn “mountain” cold. I backed up against a treeand passed out. When I woke up my ass and thigh were

dead. They had passed on, and I didn’t know whether I shouldtry to catch up with them or not. I got to my feet and started torub my ass and the back of my leg. It was like touching an iceblock! I cussed and limped around until I took note of my twofellow elite special forces team members. Passed out on theground I knew that they would be suffering the same dead bodyparts and I hobbled over to them.

“Hey wake up.” I shook them. Smith got up, but Johnsondidn’t. (I’ve changed the names to protect the ignorant.) I shookJohnson’s chest violently, and his whole body moved...but nothis head! I got close to his head to see the problem. Johnson

had thrown up, then passed out, and his face landed in thethrow up. The vomit had frozen to the ground and then his

face. Dingle balls and the ground had become one. “Johnson!” Smith and I yelled and kicked. “Johnson get up.”

He mumbled, and we picked him off the ground, peeling his

Buffalo NickelsOh Baby! It’s Cold Outside!



Headquarters MemoThe Arena

In the 19th Century the city of New Orleans became wide-ly known as a dueling ground. Many proud aristocraticCreoles became obsessed with building their reputationson the field of honor. Duels were fought over anythingfrom the most trivial slight to the open insult. The

encounters ended with death, serious injury, or surrender.Many of these duels took place in the New Orleans City

Park underneath the famous Dueling Oaks. One Sunday in 1839,10 duels took place. Fencing (Dueling) schools began to openthroughout the Crescent City to meet the demand for weaponsproficiency.

Into this environment came a Spaniard named Don JoseLiulla, commonly referred to as “Pepe.” He had been a whalerand slaver in his youth and this rather hazardous trade hadtaught him to use knife, fist and pistol equally well with a spe-cial flair with the sabre, broadsword and rapier. Almost imme-diately after opening his own school, Pepe came into conflictwith the other fencing masters because he possessed noEuropean diploma.

When a local French master saw to it that Liulla was exclud-ed from a grand assaut d’arms — a very popular and local exhi-bition — a broadsword duel resulted. Liulla, with the patentedspeed and calm precision that was to become his trademark,opened the French master’s flank in two places! Almost immedi-ately after the engagement, Liulla “apologized” for doing somuch bloody damage…without the proper qualifications.

Liulla’s speed and skill became legendary. Pepe broke allrecords by participating in 30 full-scale duels. He liked to finishhis fights quickly. All too frequently his opponents never saw hismove until the steel entered their body. Pepe was also knownfor his compassion and courtesy — so skilled was he that it wasnot always necessary to draw the blood of his opponent. Mostduels ended at his own suggestion with the tip of his blade at hisopponent’s throat.

He was one of theNew Orleans mastersthat taught the Bowieknife as part of his cur-

riculum, even thoughthere is no known record

of his ever meeting either of the Bowie brothers. Rather, heincorporated his prior knowledge and experience, as did virtu-ally all others, to fit the size of the weapon. One occasion Pepeand a Master L’Alouette had a disagreement over Bowie knifetechnique. To settle the issue, both agreed to fight a duel usingwooden training Bowies. The point was settled when Liullabroke two of the Frenchman’s ribs in a flurry of counter-cuts.

Personality-wise, Liulla was a calm and unassuming per-son, never boastful. An interesting sidelight of his career wasthat he owned and operated what is today known as St. Vincentde Paul Cemetery on Louisa Street. A local joke was that if Pepekilled you, a cut-rate deal would be given on the cost of burialin his cemetery. Naturally, Liulla denied this.

Pepe won his last duel in 1870 with pistols. After this heretired with his family and lived to the age of 73. He was buriedin his own cemetery. ✪

Dwight C. McLemore is one of thenation’s leading authorities on all types of

edged weapon history and techniques. A retired Lt. Co. in the US Army, he

currently works as a consultant for theArmy’s TRADOC — their think tank training

brain center. He is an advanced S.F.Congress Knife Instructor and the owner/

operator of the School of Two Swords in Poquoson, VA. 757-868-5051

By Dwight C. McClemore

BACK CUT!PEPE! Dueler Don Jose Liulla


The Arena

As an experienced martialartists and combatant, itshould come as no surprisethat in order to be a seriousfighter, you need superior

strength, speed and agility in your lowerextremities. The cornerstone of a lowerbody strength program for the seriouscombat enthusiast is the back squat.

The back squat is a comprehensive,multi-joint, compound movement univer-sally accepted among professional ath-letes as the ultimate strength, speed andagility enhancer. That translates to realstaying power in combat and other situa-tions where strength and agility may saveyour life.

This exercise involves the hip andknee joints, as well as the quadriceps,hamstrings, gluteals and low back musclegroups. It is the ideal movement for mar-tial artists, law enforcement officers andmilitary personnel who need powerfuland explosive action capability in theirday-to-day functions at work. Stepping,striding, jumping or running explosivelytoward, or after an opponent, perpetrator,or enemy is key to superior posture andsuccessful confrontations of any type.

Using the back squat as an integralpart of your lower body program will pro-

vide excellent results and directly andpositively impact your punching, kickingand grappling skills!

Let’s look at this critical leg strength-ening exercise in detail and break downits movements one step at a time.

Exercise: Back SquatMuscles involved: Quadriceps group(Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, VastusMedialis, Vastus Intermedius),Hamstrings group (Biceps Femoris,Semitendonosis, Semimembranosis),Gluteals (Gluteus Maximus, GluteusMedius, Gluteus Minimus), Sartorius,Adductors

Explanation:1) Using a medium-to-wide overhand

grip, grab the bar while raising theelbows up in the air to create a mus-cular shelf (on the posterior deltoidsand upper trapezius) on which thebar can ride. Make sure to not placethe bar on your neck; it should sitbelow the neck.

2) Position both feet and hips under thebar as you straighten your legs tounrack the bar.

3) Step back and into a set position;stance should be slightly wider thanhip-width with toes parallel or point-ed slightly out. Your eyes, head,

shoulders and chest should all be upwith a tight back throughout the lift.(Figure 1)

4) Squat down slowly, leading with thehips and keep the eyes up and thelower back straight until the thighsare parallel to the ground. Be carefulnot to bounce at the bottom. Makesure the knees are in line with thetoes, and do not allow knees to strayinside or outside normal knee track-ing. Keep the weight evenly dis-placed over the feet; do not shiftweight forward to the toes or allowknees in front of the toes in the bot-tom parallel position. (Figure 2)

5) Raise the bar explosively by extend-ing the hips and knees while main-taining correct body position. Keepthe hips underneath you; do not rockyour back and lean forward on yourfeet. (Figure 3)

6) After completion of the set, slowlywalk the bar back into the rack withboth feet and hips underneath thebar. Squat down and lower the baronto the rack.

The Back Squat–The King of all Lower Body Exercises

By Trent Suzuki

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Continues next page


Tips:

Sets and repetitions:

Beginner–3 sets at 15-20 repetitionsIntermediate–3 to 4 sets at 12-15 repsAdvanced –3 to 5 sets at 8-12 reps

Choosing weights amounts:

One should use weight amounts that they can comfortablyexecute the required number of repetitions in a safe andcontrolled manner. Only advanced lifters should lift soheavy that they might require a spotter.

Inhale through the nose as you descent, exhale throughmouth on effort.

Always wear a lifting belt to help support the lower backthroughout movement. ✪

Editor’s Note: Trent Suzuki holds aMaster’s Degree in ExercisePhysiology/Exercise Biomechanics; andis a Certified Strength and ConditioningSpecialist from the NSCA. Through hiscompany, AthElite Training International,Trent trains many professional athletes.Among his many degrees and affilia-tions, he holds a 4th Degree Black Beltand Master Instructor in Soo Bahk DoMoo Buk Kwan; and is a former U.S.Amateur Champion in Boxe’ Francaise Savate a 3 time WorldKarate Champion. For more information about physical fitness,contact Trent at 888-400-2074.

head off the turf. The skin on his face tore off onto the frozenpuke. He couldn’t feel it!

“Where’s my hat? He mumbled.“Your fucking hat!” I said,” You drunk bastard, half your

fucking face is gone! You should wonder where your left cheekis.” Smith found the cap and picked it up.

Smith and I grabbed Johnson and together the three of usall made one person so we could walk. We went to Smith’s bar-racks and collapsed. I took a warm shower — had to — to tryand coax my zombie leg to join up with the rest of me. Smithwas okay. He just threw up, listened to some folk records andthen wanted to drink more beer! But poor Johnson. Johnson’sface looked like a mix between the measles, the mumps,cholera, road rash and South Pacific herpes. He got a new nick-name that night, “Mr. Puke Pillow.” It replaced his old “dingleballs” — which is a quaint little story I will have to tell at anoth-er time, because it has nothing to do with the cold.

Often, soldiers of other countries make fun of weAmericans in the field. We immediately make tents, bathrooms,buildings, work out rooms, video arcades, ball fields, youknow...the creature comforts. They call us soft! Yet, their sorryasses are out there in the cold with bad food and bad quarters.It wears them down, takes their morale and their energy. Werest, rejuvenate and re-cooperate where and whenever possi-ble! It helps us survive and win.

So the next time you see a news clip of GIs comfortable insome overseas place and call them pussies, think twice! It isthose very comforts that make us stronger. Don’t worry, short-ly they will be out in the very cold, or they have just trained outin the cold. Remember the words of the ol’ great GeneralMacPatike, “That which does not chill you, makes youstronger.” ✪

Continued from page 31

Buffalo NickelsContinued from previous page


Column

Close Quarter Combat Magazine. Man, the NAMEsays it all. If you’re like me, you probably read othermagazines every month. No, wait a minute. Let merephrase that. I read parts of other magazines everymonth. There are some good rags out there that

focus on martial arts, weaponry, the military, and law enforce-ment. And by good, I mean I can usually find a few articles ofdirect interest to me. But I don’t read them cover to coverbecause a lot of what’s between those covers has nothing to dowith . . . close quarter combat.

And next to God, my family, and my writing, that’s whatinterests me most in life: Real-life, no-frills, no-nonsense, closequarters combat. Call it what you like, self-defense, self-protec-tion, hand-to-hand combat, or close quarter combat — that’swhat trips my trigger. I’m not interested in choreographeddances in which practitioners strike the air, or firearms that canput three rounds in the same hole at 500 yards. I have only apassing inquisitiveness in regard to the best skinning or bird andtrout knife — I have made do when hunting and fishing withblades not specifically designed for such purposes and donejust fine.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with people who holdinterest in these areas; it’s just that I don’t. What concerns me isthe best techniques, firearms, sticks, and knives for self-defense. And I don’t want to collect them,I want to know how to USE them mostefficiently in order to best defend myself,my loved ones and my property.

Like I said, I’ve been culling such arti-cles out of other magazines over the years,and I will continue to do so because manyare very good. But the focus of these maga-zines is not usually directly on self-defense.Let me repeat—there’s absolutely nothingwrong with wanting to collect old pocketknives, or learning what grit belt some customknife maker uses to polish his blades. There’snothing wrong with being interested in whowon the latest “gun game”, judo tournament, orkata competition. Just because I don’t careabout these things personally does not mean Idon’t think they are worthwhile endeavors forothers—just like tennis, or golf, or cross-stitch-ing, or drag racing.

I am, however, pretty sick of wondering who will be thenext “master” to run an ad that takes up half the magazine inwhich he claims he’s the one who’s finally found the “secret” tocombat. And I’m sick of instructors who once had a Navy SEALwalk into their dojo and, because of that, bill themselves as“Instructor to the U.S. Navy SEALs.” I personally don’t give a

hoot which writers think Ken Shamrock can beat Royce Gracieor vice-versa. I’m so weary of articles like “Which is Better?Karate or Judo” I could throw up. I’m also tired of the .45 versus9 mm debate, and all its variants, and while I happen to like theGovernment Model 1911, I don’t pray to it or consider it theONLY good gun on the market. And if I see one more of these.45s dressed up like a Barbie Doll on a magazine cover, I mayuse my own to blow my brains out.

So I think it’s going to be nice — very nice — to have Close

Quarter Combat Magazine on the market. I suspect I’m goingto savor it more like a good book than a magazine — start at thebeginning and read it to THE END.

So, what’s my role in the VanCook Viewpoint? “VanCook’s”view is going to be about whatever I’m “on about” at any giventime in regard to the world of pragmatic self-defense.Sometimes, this column may be about specific techniques, tac-tics or strategies. Sometimes it will be about more general con-cepts. Some columns will deal with the psychological aspects ofself-defense, and mindset, and sometimes we’ll explore variousmoral and legal aspects of close quarter combat. I may occa-sionally come across a new product that I feel merits specialattention, and when I do, “VanCook View” readers will be the

first to hear about it. All in all, this column is going tobe a smorgasbord in which we look at various phys-ical, mental, and spiritual aspects of fighting.

Please don’t get the idea from what I’ve justsaid that I think I have all the answers. I don’t. Buthere’s a nasty little secret some instructors keep tothemselves—neither do they. No one does. Theworld of close quarter combat is in constant evo-lution, both inside and outside the individual, andthose who reach a point where they don’t thinkthey have anything left to learn are either lyingto themselves or just downright stupid.

Now, since this has been the introductioncolumn, I’m left with fewer words to tell youwhat I’m “on about” than I’ll have in the future.So like good writers are supposed to do, I’mgoing to try to say a lot with those few words.

I used to believe, and tell students, thatsuccessful self-defense was about 80 per-cent mental preparedness and 20 percent

training. The older I get, the more I catch myselfswitching to 90 percent and 10 percent, and someday I suspectI’ll catch myself using the numbers 99 and 1. You see, the morestudents I train, the more I develop the ability to sense whoREALLY understands what an unwarranted attack is like, andwho doesn’t.

The VanCookTune In and Turn On!


iew


Column

As bouncer for The MetroLounge, one of the largestnightclubs in North Jersey,my job closely resemblesthat of a police officer with

one big difference. “Response time!”When the action starts, it takes time forthe cops to arrive. Frequently the action’sover by the time they get there. Not so fora bouncer! We are there! It’s an action-packed hot spot where quick thinkingoften provides the only barrier betweenpeace and chaos!

Crowd control makes up a large por-tion of my job. Part of that control meansworking the “line.” Many large clubs likethe Metro check every patron for IDwhen they enter and do a quick visual forweapons. Often we have a history withsome of our customers. A few monthsback Tom Kochis, head of security at theMetro, escorted a young male about 25-years-old out of the club for drunk anddisorderly conduct. The man resisted, butTom ejected him without incident. Thisindividual came back on our entry linetwo weeks later with a few friends andtried to enter the club. We work the doorstightly, filtering out troublemakers. I rec-ognized him and told him he could notenter the premises due to the prior inci-dent. He grew abusive and started “get-ting in my face,”– his first mistake.

So, you gonna play me like this,” hesaid. “You nothing but a pussy-ass bounc-er, and I’ll kick your ass!”

I remained cool. As a bouncer, taking

verbal abuse is part of my job, and I takepride in keeping a cool head. Like a copon call, I take note of a person’sdemeanor and body language. I noticedhis slurred speech. His eyes appearedglassy — definitely under the influence of… who knows what! He proceeded tothreaten me and called me every name inthe “Bouncer’s Book of Names,” but youcan’t hurt someone with words. If that’sall he brought, I thought, he could packup his tools and go home!

I continued to work the line, howevermy critic started to attract attention. Acrowd began to form. He followed me, inmy face at every opportunity. I kept myeyes on his hands and watched his move-ments. His friends attempted to yank himaway from the line, but he refused to leave.Often bouncers can depend on such friend-lies for help in quelling a disturbance. Hisfriends struggled with him in an attempt topersuade him to leave. As he pulled awayfrom them he slammed into a young ladyon the line. She yelled her surprise, and heimmediately grabbed her by the face andshoved her back. His last mistake.

Quickly, I stepped in and blasted himwith a right elbow to the lower jaw.“Bullseye!” I wrapped his head for a headtwist take down, but as he fell, my econo-my of motion happened to drive my kneeinto his face! He fell off the curb, and Igot on top of him with my knee in hischest and my thumb in his throat. There Idelivered one short straight punch to hisface that ended the encounter. All this

happened in seconds.He tried to get up sev-eral times, but could-n’t get his balancingact together. As Tom,my backup, and Iwatched, the friend-lies picked up theirstumbling partner andhauled him to the car.

As bouncers, wemust represent theestablishment where

we work with efficiency and professional-ism. We don’t like physical encounters andtry to avoid them. However, if an encountermust take place it’s imperative to handle itquickly and as safely as possible. The safe-ty of the patrons and ourselves depends onour vigilance and fighting skill….andnobody messes with my line! ✪

Tips for Line Control

1) Watch the patrons carefully for signsof intoxication or drugs.

2) Scan all patrons for weapons; whenin doubt deny entry.

3) Remain cool in the face of verbalabuse—most of the time it meansnothing.

4) Closely monitor body language—if apatron demonstrates physical signsof aggression position yourselfbetween him/her and innocentbystanders to avoid additional crowdinvolvement and/or injury.

5) Mentally note if backup from eitherother professionals or friendlies isavailable. Plan accordingly.

6) If a confrontation is inevitable, do nothesitate to use sufficient force tobring the hostile patron under control.

Joseph Reyes, Jr.serves as a body-

guard and securitysupervisor for the

Metro Lounge, thelargest nightclub in

Northern New Jersey.A 10-year-veteran

bouncer and a veter-an martial artist,

Reyes holds a BlackBelt in martial arts.

The BouncerMessing with the Line


Men and women who have never trained in the fighting artsoften have a difficult time understanding just how willing, andcapable, the predators of society are of hurting them. They cantell themselves as many times as they want that they have over-come the denial cliche “it can’t happen to me” but they rarelyhave. You see, they haven’t had a chance to overcome it—they’re good people, and until they experience true street vio-lence first hand, they do not possess the ability to understandthat depths to which bad people will sink to get what they want.

Even well-trained practitioners of the combative arts canfall prey to this if they’ve had no real life experience. I knowsome very, very tough and realistic black belts out there. But Iknow at least as many others wearing black around their waistswho wouldn’t last three seconds in an actual attack with even amediocre street thug. In short, they couldn’t fight their way outof rice-paper bag. Ladies and gentlemen, real street violencebears about as much resemblance to a Bruce Lee movie or anepisode of “Walker: Texas Ranger” as it does a bowling match orthe Rose Bowl Parade. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, I’m sure,would be the first to tell you that. But it’s pretty amazing as Icontinue to tool down life’s highway to see how many accom-plished martial artists, shooters, and others who don’t fullyunderstand this. Oh, they know a real fight isn’t going to beQUITE like kumite or an IPSC match. But they don’t fully com-prehend how EXHAUSTIVELY different the real thing is fromany form of training they’ve ever had. There still exists, oftendeeply hidden within their psyches, at least some small belief inthe romantic-fantasy of combat. And it only takes a tiny touchof this latent self-delusion, surfacing at the wrong time, to getyou killed.

I’m not saying don’t keep training. By all means, do so! Buttake a realistic look at what’s going on inside your head as well,and see if you’ve prepared yourself properly in the mentaldepartment as well as the physical. You may get a rude surprise.But better now than when some guy is beating your head in witha baseball bat after your spinning back kick with a triple flip andhalf-gainer didn’t work.

So now you know what I was “on about” this issue. I’ll beon about something else next time. Until then, be nice but betough, too. ✪

A well known author of more than a 40books, Jerry VanCook also is aninstructor in Okinawan karate, He hasstudied Aikido, Thai Boxing, Kung Fu,Kali, and is a Rokudan (6th Degree BlackBelt) in Bei-Koku Aibujutsu. In 1998 hewas inducted into the World Head ofFamily Sokeship International MartialArts Hall of Fame, and received their“Writer of the Year” award. His titlesinclude Real World Self-Defense andGoing Undercover. He is a certifiedNational Rifle Association firearms andpersonal protection instructor. VanCook spent 14 years in lawenforcement with the Garfield County Oklahoma Sheriff’sDepartment, a federally funded undercover task force, which operat-ed throughout the Southwest, and the Oklahoma State Bureau ofInvestigation.


The VanCook ViewTune In and Turn On!




INDIA and PAKISTAN WATCH

The Indian and Pakistan armies confront each other constantlyalong the Line of Control in Kashmire. More than 500 Indiansoldiers were killed in the summer of 1999 largely from gunfireand mortar fire. There are no statistics available for Pakistanicasualties. The January, 2000 hijacking of an Indian airliner has,fueled by dueling nuclear tests, experts saying that relationsbetween the two countries are almost as slow as they were in1971 when they fought their third full-out war.

SOUTH AFRICAN WATCH

South African, formally Rhodesia, boasts one of the besttrained militaries in Africa. However, their nation’s deputydefense ministry recently reported 2 in 5 of its soldiers may beinfected with HIV. World health officials claim as high as 40 per-cent of the soldiers in 10 of the Central and Southern Africanarmies may be HIV positive.

UNITED STATES WATCH

Waco and Delta Force Depositions of two Army Delta Force operators revealed 10 mem-bers of their Delta team rotated in and out of the Branch DividianWaco standoff and their involvement was strictly to assist withsurveillance gear. Military specialists from America and Francewill attempt to determine if the flashes of light seen on arialinfrared surveillance tapes are gunshots, sunspots or glitches.

Nutrition Patch

By 2025, soldiers on the go may be nourished by way of a patchworn on their skin. “The Transdermal Nutrient Delivery Systemis not going to replace a meal,” reports project director GeraldDarsch. However, the patch could transmit vitamins and nutri-ents through the skin to enhance performance.

Aircraft Report

1999 was the Army’s worst year for aviation accidents since the1991 Gulf war. There were 126 aviation accidents in fiscal 1999,killing 20 soldiers and destroying 10 aircraft. These accidentscan also include collisions with...vehicles. Last November atthe Elgin Air Force Base, a military policeman dropped his cellphone while driving and, when he reached for it, coasted intoan F-15 jet at about 25 miles per hour. $62,000 damage to the jetresulted, and $20,000 to the car.

Recent deaths

Jean MacArthur, the 101-year-old wife of General DouglasMacArthur, recently passed away.

Ever Hear of Echelon?

Echelon is a little known global scanning and intelligenceorganization run by America’s NSA–The National SecurityAgency, affiliated with Great Britain, Canada, Australia and NewZealand. Reportedly, Echelon is used to steal intelligence infor-mation from non-participants and allows the countries in part-nership to spy on each other’s citizens, something that is techni-cally illegal for these countries to do on their own citizens. ✪

Japanese dead lay within and without the perimeter line ofdefense: small, twisted humps, not yet swollen by the sun, theyseemed alien, somehow inhuman. Their dead bodies arousedno pity, only revulsion and a kind of wonder: how could theseinanimate forms have created such havoc? And yet they had:the evidence was all around them in the form of wounded,dead, and missing Bushmasters. Clarence Fennell knew one ofthe dead men well. It was Joe Stewart — not even an Americanbut an Englishman — the old man passed 40 who had servedwith the British during World War I.

There were others too: Dixie Walker was telling FrankReuwer that he hadn’t lost any men when they heard a dis-traught call from Hubert Ashby and ran over to his positionnext to Jay Morago’s machine gun. Morago was slumped,exhausted, against the base of his gun barely conscious, bloodoozing from his calf. Frank DeRossa stared vacantly intospace, but seemed unhurt. Ashby held his hand to his stomach;no, he wasn’t hit, he said, just sick. He gestured weakly towardJack Carson, who had either fallen or rolled onto a grenadewhich had exploded onto his stomach. When they turned hisbody over it looked as though a shark had been at it. A few feetaway, in the next foxhole, Vito Altieri lay dead from a bayonetwound. Next to him, his wire rim glasses firmly in place overhis large brown eyes, was Gus Mauzaka. A bayonet hadpierced his heart.

There was no sign of Ted Mode. Also missing was Lucky LesViands, who had been stationed in the middle of the perimeter.

Japanese soldiers from the Ooki Battalion would later fileimpressionistic reports, indicating a significant victory; somehad heard “the sound of waves and the roaring of large motor-powered boats”; others said “the Americans ran away crying,”rushing panic-stricken to the beach and escaping by boat; stillothers told of occupying American positions and seizingweapons, canned food, and cigarettes.

The Bushmaster count of enemy dead was 50, and theythought many more had been carried away after the attackhad finally ended at 4:40 a.m. American deaths, including theanti-aircraft artillerymen, came to 12, with 10 wounded. Allalong the line, from Colvin’s position to the west — where histactics had worked efficiently in spite of Sandlin’s misgivings— to Company B’s on the east, the Bushmasters has held. Asthe more objective report of the higher Japanese commandwould later put it, “the attack penetrated the outer part of theenemy perimeter, but ... lacked the means to exploit the initialsuccess.”

As military engagements go, it had not been a large battle—worth a few sterile sentences of summary in both the Japaneseand American histories of the war. But for those who experi-enced and survived the attack at Arare, it would remain the sin-gle most memorable night of their lives. ✪

Continued from page 29 Continued from page 30

Battlefield DiaryMilitary Briefing


March 18, 19 – Sydney, Australia

Contact Glenn Zwiers, 613-9735-3799

March 25, 26 – Melbourne, Australia

Contact Glenn Zwiers, 613-9735-3799

April 1, 2 – Altus, OK

Contact the Wilcoxens, 508-482-0030

April 8, 9 – Murfreesboro/Nashville, TN

Contact Ron Goin, 615-847-0931

April 15, 16 – Romeoville/Chicago, IL

Contact Eddie Cavazos, 815-485-7344

April 29, 30 – Cedar Rapids, IA

Contact L. Belding & M. Gillette, 319-351-6628

May 7 – Rochelle Park, NJ

DMS! Contact J. Reyes Jr., 973-694-4348

May 20, 21 – Austin, TX

TEXAS KNIFE FIGHTER SUMMIT! Contact Hock, 706-866-2656 for details.

June 3, 4 – Libertyville, IL

GREAT LAKES KNIFE FIGHTER SUMMIT!Call Marc Halleck, 847-573-1672.

June 24, 25 – Knoxville/Pigeon Forge, TN,

Call Barry Meadows, 423-429-4302 orbladewerks @aol.com

June 10, 11 – Duluth/Atlanta, GA

Call T. Pierce, 770-360-7176, or P. Johnson’s AFS, 678-473-0885

July 8, 9 – Fort Knox, KY

CQC Seminar. Contact Sgt. Jim Mahan;Military-based CQC training for militaryAND CIVILIANS. Contact Sgt. Mahan atknife1@ aol.com; or Hock at 706-866-2656

July 15, 16 – Hesperia, CA

Contact Carl Mayhugh, 760-247-5579

August 4, 5, 6 – Kalamazoo, MI

Hock appears with FilipinoGrandmaster Ernesto Presas. Call J. Morris, 616-372-1444

August 12, 13 – Huntsville, AL

Contact Congress Instructor RonnieYoung, 256-539-8035

August 19, 20 – Norfolk, VA

EAST COAST KNIFE FIGHTER SUMMIT!hosted by Congress Advanced KnifeInstructor Dwight McLemore and hisSchool of Two Swords, 757-588-3317

August 26, 27 – Lake George, CO

AT PEYTON QUINN’s RMCAT! Hand,Stick, Knife, Gun Close Quarter CombatSeminar! Hosted by Peyton Quinn at hisRMCAT training facility. Hock willinstruct strategies, tactics of CQC to asmall, very exclusive group. ContactPeyton at P.O. Box 535, Lake George,CO 80827. FAX him at 719-748-8557, oremail him at quinnp1@ aol.com. Spaceis limited! Call ASAP!

Sept 9, 10 – Clarksburg/Philipi, WV

Contact Sifu David Wolfe, 304-457-4348

Sept. 16, 17 – West Palm Beach, FL

Contact Paul Pawella, 561-842-1688Sept. 23, 24 – Torrance, CA

Contact John McCurry 562-602-0313and David Contraras 310-375-8567

October 7, 8 – Pigeon Forge, TN

Contact Barry Meadows, 423-429-4302or bladewerks @aol.com

October 14, 15 – Ft Worth, TX

HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT CAMP! TheBig 3rd Annual Texas Hand-to-HandCombat Camp! Contact CongressInstructor Francisco SanchezZambrano, 817-870-1502

October 21, 22 – Romeoville/Chicago, IL

Contact Eddie Cavazos, 815-485-7344.

November 11 thru 27 –

Melbourne & Sydney–Australia, &

Auckland-New Zealand!

Glenn Zwiers, 03-9735-3799

December 2, 3 – San Diego, CA

WEST COAST KNIFE FIGHTER SUMMIT!Contact Trent Suzuki, 888-400-2074

More seminars coming up. Contact Hockat 706-866-2656 for details on hosting aseminar. However, please hurry! Datesfill rapidly! Weeknight clinics in your cityare still available.

W. Hock Hochheimclose quarter combat

Seminars for year 2000


the boundary. I jammed in my spurs andwent after him, firing a round. He turnedand ducked behind a rock, waiting for meto approach. I saw he was trying to reloadthe single shot weapon, but he droppedthe rifle as I came nearer and flung hisfirst assegai. I dodged low in the saddle.Next moment I heard a thud and felt itstrike my revolver holster.

As he picked up his second assegai, Itried another snap shot. This time, by astroke of luck, the bullet hit the blade ofhis spear, knocking it from his hand.

I shouted to him to surrender, but heturned and ran for the spruit, I gallopedafter him, trying to ride him down.Suddenly he twisted round and, swingingup the knobkerrie, aimed a vicious blow.I saw his face, distraught with hatred,fear and rage. Then I pulled the trigger ofmy revolver and he disappeared.Greywings plunged and bucked like ahorse at an American rodeo and, as Ifought to control her, I saw that the manhad fallen across a rock.

I dismounted. Covering him with myrevolver, I tried to start toward him, butGreywings would not budge. She strainedback, almost pulling the reins out of myhand, and eventually I was forced to tieher to a bush while I examined my quar-ry. He was stone dead. My bullet had gonestraight between his eyes and a red smearwas all that was left of his head.

I could not leave him. Already the vul-tures were gathering in the sky. In a fewminutes their beaks would tear him to rib-

bons, and he would be unrecognizable.Greywings still refused to come any near-er and, desperately, I looked around.

Suddenly I remembered the native boyswho had been robbed of their assegaisand, climbing on a rock, saw them somedistance away, watching, wondering, toofrightened to approach. I called to them.Hesitantly, with dragging steps, they cameup to me. Hanging on the buckingGreywing’s head, I ordered them to hoistthe body across the pommel of my saddle.

Greywings snorted and reared inprotest, but eventually we managed to doit, and I swung up behind him. He hung, alimp black-grey shape, his legs danglingon one side of the horse and his arms andhead over the other. The blood from hiswound dripped down my stirrup-ironsand boots and ran down Greywings’ leg.

I told the boys to collect theirweapons and to follow me to the policecamp. Then I turned for home and set outslowly across the veldt toward the town-ship. In the distance I could see otherhorsemen, spread out in a line. It was therest of the troop, reinforced by some ofthe citizens, who had come out to huntthe murderer. I turned away down thespruit and sent one of the boys to tellthem that the hunt was over. I did notwant congratulations or company. I feltsick and ill. Avoiding the town, I rodeback to camp where some of the BlackWatch, at my peremptory command, took“this thing” away.

I dismounted and marched into theoffice. I started to tell Major St. John mystory. St. John made me sit down, fetchedme a good stiff double Dop [CapeBrandy] and ginger and, when I had gotmyself in hand again, heard my story. Hequestioned me for a few moments, thentold me to go to the skoffkia and get mylunch. As I walked across the camp yard,I glanced at my watch. It was still lessthan an hour since the corporal had firstgiven me my orders. I suddenly foundmyself crying. I was still only 17. ✪

True Cop StoriesRhodesian Manhunt


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DRUG LAB RAIDS M D T DEATH TRAPS AND B · 10/06/2011 · tems like silat and karate, because their fighting arts were con-sidered forbidden tools for revolution and resistance. STILL