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© Effortless Self-Defense – How To Survive When Your Guns Are Out Of Reach

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................................. 3

Why You Can’t Skip Personal Defense from Prepping .............................................. 4

Martial Arts Myths Debunked ....................................................................................... 5

1. Martial Arts Always Win in Street Fights ............................................................... 5

2. Fighting for Minutes at a Time .............................................................................. 6

3. You Must Be a High Ranking Black Belt in Martial Arts… .................................... 7

4. You Must Be a Big Powerful Manor at Last in Top Physical Shape with Good

Strength to Properly Defend Against an Attacker ..................................................... 8

5. Older Frail People Have No Chance Fighting Physically with Anyone .................. 9

6. The Best Martial Arts Come from Military Training like Navy SEALS or Special

Forces ..................................................................................................................... 13

7. All Successful Self Defense Training and Skill Development Takes Long Years of

Hard Practice .......................................................................................................... 17

8. It Is Possible to Kill a Person with One Strike ..................................................... 17

9. All Street Fights Eventually Wind Up on the Ground .......................................... 18

Types of Martial Arts Training .................................................................................... 19

1. Traditional Styles ................................................................................................ 19

2. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) ................................................................................... 20

3. Gin Mill Martial Arts “Belt Factories” ................................................................... 21


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4. Hard Core Reality Street Fighting Training ......................................................... 22

5. Russian Martial Arts - Systema ........................................................................... 22

Hand to Hand Combat: The Secrets of Striking For Survival .................................. 27

A Few Words from the Writer about His Teaching Method ........................................ 28

Principles of Striking .................................................................................................. 30

Tactical Toolbox ...................................................................................................... 30

Situational Awareness ............................................................................................ 31

Range ..................................................................................................................... 32

Timing ..................................................................................................................... 33

Manage Fear .......................................................................................................... 33

Slow & Low ............................................................................................................. 34

Targets ................................................................................................................... 34

Strike Hard to Soft or Soft to Hard .......................................................................... 35

Weapons ................................................................................................................ 35

Use of Force Continuum ......................................................................................... 37

Violence of Action ................................................................................................... 38

Self-Defense for Seniors............................................................................................. 39

Take a Martial Arts Class ........................................................................................... 40

Learn to Use Your Brain as a Weapon ...................................................................... 40

Bring as Little Attention to Your Place as Possible .................................................... 41

Take a Weapons Course or Join a Shooting Club ..................................................... 41

Plan Your Defense in Advance .................................................................................. 42

Consider Buying Non-Traditional Weapons ............................................................... 43


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DISCLAIMER

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN “EFFORTLESS SELF-DEFENSE - How To Survive When Your

Guns Are Out Of Reach” IS MEANT TO SERVE AS A COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF TIPS

THAT THE AUTHORS OF THIS COURSE LEARN OVER THE YEARS RELATED TO

SURVIVAL/PREPAREDNESS. SUMMARIES, STRATEGIES, TIPS AND TRICKS INCLUDED IN THIS E-

BOOK ARE ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE AUTHORS, AND READING THIS E-BOOK DOES

NOT GUARANTEE THAT ONE’S RESULTS WILL EXACTLY MIRROR OUR OWN RESULTS.

THE AUTHOR OF IN “EFFORTLESS SELF-DEFENSE - How To Survive When Your Guns Are Out

Of Reach” HAS MADE ALL REASONABLE EFFORTS TO PROVIDE CURRENT AND ACCURATE

INFORMATION FOR THE READERS OF THIS COURSE. THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE

FOR ANY UNINTENTIONAL ERRORS OR OMISSIONS THAT MAY BE FOUND.

THE MATERIAL IN “EFFORTLESS SELF-DEFENSE - How To Survive When Your Guns Are Out Of

Reach” MAY INCLUDE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES BY THIRD PARTIES. THIRD

PARTY MATERIALS COMPRISE OF THE PRODUCTS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THEIR

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COPYRIGHT 2015 SurvivopediaTM, © Effortless Self-Defense – How To Survive When Your Guns

Are Out Of Reach


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Why You Can’t Skip Personal

Defense from Prepping

Personal self-defense is a major part of a prepper’s planning. We mainly concern

ourselves with firearms or edged weapons for serious personal protection because in

today’s society the predators are extremely vicious and more violently dangerous than

ever.

A few years ago, Martial Arts and karate type hand-to-hand or ‘unarmed combat’ used

to be popular for self-defense on the street before concealed carry and Stand-Your-

Ground/Castle Doctrine laws came into play.

But now the ‘new’ martial art is handgun training. This is because most, if not all,

criminal attackers now carry handguns or knives themselves which they are only too

willing to use against you. And it is much easier to learn how to shoot well enough to


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adequately defend yourself without taking the extensive time and physical exertion

absolutely required to learn how to fight properly with your just your hands and feet.

But what about a situation where you can’t easily pull your weapon, or perhaps a

situation where guns are not allowed like in a school campus environment,

federal/municipal building, or other restricted areas?

What if a totalitarian government finally succeeded in disarming the population and you

were no longer allowed to carry a firearm, or any weapon for that matter? And

sometimes more often than you’d like, you simply are in a situation where you cannot

quickly access your firearm before you are overwhelmed by the problem itself?

Wouldn’t some hand combat skills be critically useful in these types of predicaments?

Yes, they most certainly would. If they were the ‘right’ kind of skills.

Martial Arts Myths Debunked

1. Martial Arts Always Win in Street Fights

While being a Black Belt in some traditional style is better than nothing in terms of

helping you out when trying to survive a physical assault, most Black Belts simply are

not that specifically well trained to purpose for a guarantee of any higher percentile of

success when confronted by a seriously dangerous psycho trying to hurt you.

Bad actors on the street, especially the younger physically strong gang punks, are often

rough and violent enough to give even trained and hardened police officers a rough time

in a physical battle.

A street combat instructor once said, “Martial Arts is something you do ‘With’ somebody,

and hard core street fighting is something you do ‘To’ someone’. “


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And by the way never even ‘think’ about

being any kind of ‘expert’ fighter as a lower

rank under Black Belt in most disciplines.

You are still only a student, and that used to

be whole purpose of the belt ratings.

To give you time to learn that most of what

you think you know until you earn a Black

Belt is just enough knowledge to get you in

trouble.

2. Fighting for Minutes at a Time

This is mainly the fault of Hollywood. Virtually ALL movie versions of ongoing fist fights

are a complete exercise in specious nonsense.

Even the better movies like Segal’s and the Jason Bourne series and the newer James

Bond episodes are a far cry from reality street fights. Maybe the fighters depicted in

these movies could conceivably have the sheer super human physical fitness training

and aptitude to continue at full throttle energy blast through multiple minutes of active

smash, kick, and flip.

But their heads and bodies taking all those hits simply would not last through such a

long running smack down fight where the participants are highly trained killers without at

least being knocked unconscious or seriously maimed in less than the first 20 seconds,

or so of such seriously violent confrontations if they were to happen in real life.

Which is the whole point behind serious hand self-defense techniques when they are

superior techniques with a high rate of proven efficiency success.

Most street assault fights and violent one on one robberies are won, lost, or over, one

way or the other in less time than it took you to read this paragraph.

Which mean 3 to 10 seconds. But that wouldn’t sell action movies, right?


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3. You Must Be a High Ranking Black Belt in Martial Arts…

… to really be any good at defending yourself in a fight. A lot of people, even Black

Belts themselves, really believe this sort of Bovine Squat. It’s understandable because

you usually spend years of working out and spending money attaining the coveted

‘legendary’ Black Belt rating in any Martial Art style and you should by then be proficient

enough in punching and kicking to easily whip some ass with some decent physical

fitness behind your moves.

But that doesn’t mean you’ll ‘always’

defeat your assailant or opponent. If

you’re a strict traditional style fighter

you may, in fact, be at a serious

disadvantage right from the start

against thug with a lot of dangerous

experience as a street fighter.

One of the main reasons being that

you’ve been ‘trained’ and brainwashed

to always be on the defensive by waiting for the opponent to strike first before you do

your ‘block and strike’ techniques. Which right there, would be all wrong in the new real

world mean streets of violent encounters.

The difference is so significant that all you have to do is search YouTube for videos of

pro MMA fighters getting their heads kicked in by street thugs caught on gas station or

liqueur store tapes’!

One main problem is that ‘blocks’, or first deflecting an opponent’s strikes before you

counter, are pretty much considered to be obsolete and a waste of critical timing and

movement by serious expert fight science practitioners these days. Yet these are still

taught in virtually all martial art schools today with traditional belt promotions.


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When I used to do tournament demonstrations for money I could show high ranking

Black Belts the harsh embarrassing reality that they simply could not block my strikes.

And that’s without even first throwing a distraction feint.

And that’s even with a prior warning that a strike is definitely coming forthwith, so they

could be positioned and ready to block it! AND, when they still couldn’t block it, I’d

actually then tell them exactly which strike I would use; straight punch, back fist, snap

kick, etc.

And they still could not block any of my strikes effectively with their traditional style

teachings. After a while I was no longer permitted to do these demos as they ‘insulted’

the teachings of their ‘styles’!

4. You Must Be a Big Powerful Manor at Last in Top Physical Shape with Good

Strength to Properly Defend Against an Attacker

Well, at 129 pounds soaking wet Master Bruce Lee easily kicked that myth right out the

window many times. And, of course, this nice looking young girl I saw a little while ago

on a TV championship MMA bout could easily kick my ass in a competition match any

time she felt like it even though I’m taller and heavier and definitely not weak.

Being strong and athletic certainly doesn’t hurt in a physical fight but it means relatively

little when it all boils down to the mission at hand in the pure ‘self-defense’ aspect of

physical combative training. Which is to immediately stop somebody from attacking and

harming you in the most timely and effective manner possible.

It’s all about something called dynamics of effective body motion economy, kinetic

energy, and the physics of speed and power all synergistically applied in target

force focus. Bruce Lee wrote about it early on and called it the ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do‘,

(JKD) or ’The Way of the Intercepting Fist‘.


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This falls into the advanced realm of fight

dynamics science and the attendant physical

requirements for affecting the resulting

determination are controlled by the mind. Not

much else.

There are some variables, but almost

anybody, with the proper understanding,

mindset, and complimentary basic physical

movement training-- even someone who is

wheelchair bound-- can defend againsta

much larger more aggressively dangerous

attacker and realize a high percentage

likelihood of defeating him if (s)he knows

what they are doing.

And always remember that almost any practiced defense tactic is better than none

when someone is attacking you, but a few are just so much better than anything else.

5. Older Frail People Have No Chance Fighting Physically with Anyone

While most senior citizens probably will never make it to an MMA cage tournament

except as a spectator, although there are even a few octogenarians who will hurt you so

badly if you mess with them that afterward you’ll swear your stupid ass was stomped by

a 30 year old World Class Kick Boxing Champion!

One of the biggest myths here is that the frail and elderly cannot fight back physically

without at least a weapon. There are certain types of specially ’tailored’ bare handed

fight combative strategies that make this myth a serious bust out. Older people also

benefit more because the practice of almost any Martial Arts training is a top all-around

body toner and healthy anti-aging exercise.

And a lot of dangerous punks learned the hard way that we ‘mature’ citizens are not as

‘weak’ as we might generally appear.


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It has been proven in the statistics of actual police reports that seniors have a built in

ability to hold their own in emergencies and dangerous circumstances with a presence

of mind power and determination that could only be developed and forged through

years of adverse human experience and paying their dues in society in various schools

of ‘hard knocks’ in an unforgiving world.

I’d take that ‘confidence attitude’ and never

give up mentality to cover my back any day

over some of the ‘Waters World’ silliness of

so young people today?

We once had a call of a possible home

invasion in progress and upon arrival on the

scene my partner went up the front stairs

while I went up the back porch way.

The back door of the apartment was kicked in

and the inside looked like a bad day at a butcher shop. There was so much blood

splattered everywhere that I was slipping and sliding in it as I went through the rooms

trying to follow the gruesome trail. I quickly unlocked the front door letting my partner in

and we both froze in our tracks when we hit the living room.

On the couch sat an elderly and frail looking black woman quietly drinking a beer and

holding her Rosary. Lying flat on the floor soaked in blood a few feet in front of her was

a typical neighborhood predator. Dead. There was a steak knife sticking deep in his

spleen area and a table fork in the side of his neck. But before these utensils found a

resting place, it looked like he was ‘probed’ with them extensively in quite a few other

places.

We noticed that she had her share of the bloodbath on her and when we expressed

concern for her injuries she said, “Oh, don’t worry about me, Sonny boy, most of this is

his nasty stuff. I’m okay. I’m just sitting here giving ‘thanks’ and praying for the fool’s

soul, if he even had one…”


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We were dumbfounded. My partner called for a wagon, an ET and a Ghoul team. And I

tried to piece together what happened. She was sitting in the kitchen when the home

invader started kicking in the door. She ran into her bedroom to get her cheap .22 short

revolver which went for about 20 bucks back then and most elderly citizens in that area

kept something similar for protection.

He found her in the bedroom and demanded money or he would kill her. She had the

pistol behind her and quickly pointed and opened fire. She fired five shots and one hit

him in the shoulder and another in the thigh from about a three foot distance, before her

last shot misfired due to old bad ammo.

And since a .22 short doesn’t have much so-called ‘knock down’ power, after the initial

jumps and screams of pain, he didn’t go down, but he did became enraged and he

grabbed her by the throat at which time she instinctively ‘grandma slapped’ him up the

side of his head, as they say. The revolver was still in her slap hand which hit him hard

in the ear, almost knocking him out but still stunning him enough for her to break loose

and run out into the hall intending to escape out the broken back door.

He caught up with her in the kitchen, and tried to grab her again as they ‘death danced’

around the table.

She managed to grab the knife and fork from the kitchen sink and when he got to her

again she began striking him rapidly as hard as possible holding both weapons in the

reverse grip downward stabbing position.

This became a ’running’ blood bath battle back down the hallway and finally winding up

in the living room where he tripped and they both went down and she managed to get a

solid deep penetration in with the steak knife just below the sternum.

But it wasn’t over quite yet because he still had his ’good arm’ around her neck. She still

had the fork in a tight fisted death grip and twisted her fragile body to get in one last

critical blow by slamming the fork right through the side of his throat. She said he

immediately let go and rolled over and began gurgling and coughing and then stopped


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breathing. We figured he was pretty tapped out from all the blood loss anyway by then

and finally came to the ‘last fork in his road of life’.

We drove the lady to the hospital to get her checked out anyway and her main injuries

were bad bumps and bruises from bouncing off the walls and furniture. And she had a

broken finger from the fighting itself. The deceased perp weighed about 160 and was

about six feet tall, and she was about 5 feet tall and lucky if she tipped the scales at 95

pounds.

On the way back to taking here home we stopped at my partner’s car at the station

where he kept his sundry police ‘discretionary equipment’ in his trunk we gave her a

much better Smith & Wesson revolver with new .38 special ammo and made her

promise not to shoot her boyfriend by mistake! She laughed and said ‘Well, Sonny boy,

you know I ain’t gonna shoot no boyfriend… if I ever got lucky enough to get one!”

We occasionally stopped by to visit her when we were working in the area to see how

she was doing. She became somewhat of a neighborhood hero and made some new

friends because the particular psycho vermin she thankfully rid the ‘hood of was also a

known sex offender and in those days not many women would not be willing to report

being assaulted if they weren’t seriously injured.

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of ‘true grit’ episodes in the lives of our ‘seasoned

citizens’.


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6. The Best Martial Arts Come from Military Training like Navy SEALS or Special

Forces

Truth be told, this myth is the most widely, but erroneously, accepted misrepresentation

of Martial Arts training at the moment. The FACT is that most military training these

days barely give lip service to unarmed hand-to-hand combat training.

Once upon a time in maybe WWI and WWII where battalions of infantry attacked each

other en masse on foot and rifle rounds were bolt action with marginal magazine

capacity the engagement of body on body contact occurred often when temporarily

indisposed in terms of immediate gun firing health.

Back then soldiers did, indeed, often enough engage in hand-to-hand combat, but

usually with a bayonet fixed to the end of their rifle. And before they ever got down to

smacking it out bare knuckled while rolling around in the mud, they’d use their ’trench

knives/daggers’ with a built in set of brass knuckles on the handle.

So back then in army basic training, they did teach some hours of very ‘basic’ hand-to-

hand fighting eventually emphasizing the ‘spirit’ of the bayonet. Which was…to kill, and

keep on killing, even if you ran out of ammo.

But our modern military is designed to use firepower weapons, period. Unlike previous

warfare, today’s squad level infantry units can amass inordinate amounts of severe

overwhelming firepower after enemy contact in the form of artillery, airpower, rapid light

and heavy armored cavalry, individually carried mortars and guided rocket launchers,

and even drones now.

All resourced from the radio or laptop of the squad leader, are deployed far ahead of

any eyeball to eyeball shootouts.

Current small team Close Quarter Battle (CQB), especially in urban warfare, relies on

redundant back up of small arms and munitions and tactics to guarantee superior

firepower during hot and heavy engagements which usually don’t last very long.


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If you’re out of ammo and down to your last

grenade by then because of some rare

example of ’Murphy’s Law’ gone bad in

your little corner of world warfare, and you

are still engaged with the enemy--

especially in these times where the Geneva

convention rules about capture disappear

when the fighting starts-- Hand-to-Hand

combat won’t do much to save you.

Modern warfare has all but eliminated the situation of ‘stalemate’ confrontations. Your

battle plan and resources/assets are organized on an attack only mission designed to

force a superior firepower advantage for a high probability of success where the theory

provides that if you are not immediately winning the confrontation, you are then losing

and must fall back, re-group, and hold only until a counter attack can be deployed.

If the military fighting in a war deteriorates into hand to hand combat, this is considered

a lost battle already and the Army does not warrant the expense of extensive ’training’

for losing fights. That’s not the ’job description’. They would prefer to spend that time

and expense training the soldier more in the latest technical advantage weapons and

tactics to give them more of a ‘winning’ chance in the first place.

But what about all those Superman Navy Seals and Commandos who can fight off ten

terrorists at once with their feet shackled and their hands tied behind their backs?

We didn’t say that these people don’t exist, we just said the Army doesn’t waste too

much time anymore creating them for general modern warfare. Having said that, the

different branches of the American Military always did and perhaps still do train their

elite unit combat soldiers more extensively and efficiently in combat hand-to-hand

fighting, depending upon current budget limitations and potential mission value

interpretations determined by whomever is in charge of such things.

But the main idea behind extensive physical hand-to-hand combat curriculum in the

military special forces might have been more to psychologically build an overall superior


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elite infantry soldier rather than to facilitate the emphasis of the practice of CQB one on

one weaponless warfare, which is always a ’last resort’ in military warfare tactics. And

even this specialized military advanced ‘combat hand-to-hand’ training for elite units put

a large emphasis on edged and improvised weapons use rather than bare empty hand

techniques in the absence of firearms.

And even more reliance on sheer physical strength and power endurance before actual

specific fighting skills and techniques. The logic, of course, being that when it all comes

down to it, Warfare is nothing more than imposing your will through superior ’force’ upon

someone else with inferior power of force.

So if you are the best of the best in terms of individual warrior class, you should have a

superior foundation in ‘all’ martial applications and skills including the aspiration to

almost super human physical fitness and strength and bare handed fighting, as all

historic ‘warriors’ bore witness to.

The Navy Seals, Army Green Berets, Marines, and even the Air Force special

operations soldiers all have--or at least had at one time--their own ‘advanced’ schools of

physical hand-to-hand combat training.

And of course, just mentioning this almost always leads to the next question. Which one

of these military branches is the best in hand-to-hand fighting?

Having personally participated in, and

instructed troops in military style hand-

to-hand training, I think all military

training is adequate for soldiers. Who

take the training seriously in

application.

The reality check that to be seriously

‘proficient’ in hand-to-hand combative

suitable for serious warfare work, it


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does, indeed, take some ‘advanced’ physical fitness as well to accommodate the

‘advanced’ techniques.

The Special Forces in various branches of the Military who maintain training to a higher

level in military Martial Arts mainly use techniques that are based not on fine motor skills

but on strong flexible power techniques from various other Martial Arts styles like power

Jujitsu and hard style Karate that have been proven to work effectively.

What often happens with career soldiers is that many go on to take up the study,

practice, and expertise development of hand-to-hand combat on their own time.

In fact,I just ran across an Army NCO in the National Guard not too long ago who

teaches something called ’Military Combatives’ on post for any soldiers interested. It’s a

franchise arrangement with the Army to provide extensive hand-to-hand training for

soldiers who feel they could use it in their various MOS duties like the Military Police, for

instance.

Think about it: how dangerous is THAT for a Military police officer to have to take into

custody soldiers who are highly skilled in killing other soldiers and might be drunk and

disorderly enough to resist arrest? This is a good idea but it has one deficiency. It is not

that ‘geared’ for the needs of the average person--especially those not as physically

superior as young Marines-- who just needs something to give them a better chance of

surviving an assault or robbery.

Notice I’m using the term ‘hand-to-hand COMBAT’--not personal self-defense--in most

of the serious descriptions of fight training here.

One needs to differentiate between sport fighting, traditional Martial Arts, and serious

combat with potential deadly intent. Younger persons in Karate schools today are NOT

really taught this crucial difference, and for good reason. The liability factor of some

airhead kid seriously hurting another over a ball game dispute is simply not profitable for

traditional Karate type schools in the long run. So students are not ‘taught’ in the same

way as special commando units would be trained, even if the instructors do know

something about more ‘lethal’ techniques and training.


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I always disagreed with the practice of promoting 12 year old kids to black belts giving

the false impression of the true measure of the rank, but the schools make money doing

this. Imagine having 70 students in your school and every month or so having a

promotion for at least half of them where you charge each student fifty bucks for the

promotion, on top of their regular monthly school fee?

Not bad chump change for not having to really ‘work‘f or a living.

But again, if a special military mission calls for a necessary covert/silent close in only

‘take-out’ of someone, that for some reason can’t be accomplished by an H&K Socom

fully suppressed .45 automatic pistol, there are always highly skilled lethal hand-to-hand

combat ‘experts’ available from any spec-ops team to do the job.

And after they leave the military, some of these former military hand-to-hand’ instructors

do create their own tailored ‘system’ based on their knowledge and training and offer

the instruction to the public in the form of alternate Martial Arts schools and self-defense

training.

7. All Successful Self Defense Training and Skill Development Takes Long

Years of Hard Practice

Simply put, NO, this is not always true.

But there are some caveats that have to qualify the particular purpose of your Martial

Arts needs.

8. It Is Possible to Kill a Person with One Strike

Yes, it certainly is. It happens more often than you think, and not always involving

trained martial artists.

Did you know there are as many or more people seriously injured or killed from fist fight

barroom brawls or alley/parking lot attacks and fights than with guns in this country?


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9. All Street Fights Eventually Wind Up on the Ground

Yes, and NO. It really depends if you are

already losing the fight, or not. And if they

are taking too long one way or the other.

Over the last few years with the rise of

Mixed Martial Arts cage fighting and big

money kick boxing tournaments ‘ground

fighting’ and grappling and take down

submission techniques and holds have

become an integral part of the sport for good reason. They display an ‘action’ variety of

movement and energy that makes for good entertaining television viewing.

But this doesn’t mean that fighting on the ground is an advantage. The real experts

know this is the start of losing the fight, unless you are the one ’ending’ the fight by body

slamming your opponent to the ground.

But since MMA sport fighting is limited, for obvious reasons, in terms of allowing the

more dangerous strikes and techniques, the ground fighting MMA sport submission

techniques are something ‘different’ altogether and do not relate much to all out street

fighting self-defense.


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Types of Martial Arts Training

“YOU CAN PREVENT YOUR OPPONENT FROM DEFEATING YOU BY TAKING THE

DEFENSE, BUT YOU CANNOT DEFEAT HIM WITHOUT TAKING THE OFFENSIVE”

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

1. Traditional Styles

These are your well known styles and franchised schools that teach traditional Karate,

Kung Fu, Judo, Tai Kwon do, Hapkido, etc. etc.

The origins of these ‘styles’ are derived mostly from historic cultural nationality mainly

from China, Japan, Okinawa, and some Far Eastern parts of the world.

There is an abundance of rich interesting history behind these traditional fighting

schools and today the idea of investing copious amounts of time, money, and energy


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into joining such a school probably exemplifies the true meaning of ‘Art‘ in ‘Martial Arts’.

This type of training encompasses the cultural development of a people far away in

location and history.

It is for those who might also become ‘experts’ in languages, or specific methods of

cultural cooking or farming, and so on for the benefit of knowledge and skill

development.

And for those who enjoy the benefits of group participation and social integration in like-

minded pursuits. Like joining a softball league or competitive shooting club. The benefits

of joining a traditional Martial Arts school are many, but they usually take considerable

time to appreciate.

As far as a serious development of self-defense skills, that too can be accomplished

eventually with enough practice and dedication.

Today most traditional Martial Arts schools can’t survive without training children (kiddie

chops) or having some form of advanced street encounter self-defense training at

higher belt ratings. The school instructors know this and encourage it to some extent if

they are open minded.

2. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

As explained above, this form of

Martial Arts is more of a spectacular

sport competition training program for

amateur and eventually professional

fight competition.

However, due to the extremely intense

physical conditioning and training in

power techniques similar to traditional boxing training, this training certainly is NOT for

the average person.


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And the core of the training is really NOT designed for specific focused no-holds-barred

self-defense.

The best techniques for street defense are actually all banned from MMA fights, again,

for obvious reasons. They’d be over too fast and after a while there wouldn’t be many

un-crippled players left.

However, MMA practitioners, for the most part, can seriously defend themselves

advantageously against personal assaults and street robberies, much like the special

forces hand-to-hand combative, mainly because of their advanced development of the

superior physical power, endurance, and strength capabilities eventually gained in this

type of training.

3. Gin Mill Martial Arts “Belt Factories”

Usually these are franchised schools mainly consisting of Karate styles or Kung Fu, or

Tai Kwon Do styles knock-offs.

Most of these are based in Traditional Japanese/Chinese/Korean Martial Arts but

almost all are simply bastardized imitations that are ‘modified’ to support more of a profit

oriented business goal rather than to proliferate the ‘art’ itself.

They emphasize ‘achievement’ in a non-street effective format. Their goal is simply to

create a ‘faux-martial art’ designed to give the student some ‘status’ incentive without

hurting himself--or others--for the maximum profit for the school owners.

They charge for uniforms, equipment, and monthly belt promotions aside from a

monthly training fee that continues through all rank advancement.

Most of these schools promote their own proprietary in-house/franchise tournaments--

as opposed to national AKA type sanctioned open tournaments--which are ‘highly’

moderated, and trophies awarded not solely based on competitive skills.

These schools are okay for kids in terms of time better spent than texting or watching

stupid ‘grand theft auto’ type video games, but not much of real value self-defense.


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4. Hard Core Reality Street Fighting Training

These are usually more purpose specific training camps NOT usually franchised and

might resemble more of a ’Fight Club’ environment rather than a sport or traditional

Martial Arts training enterprise.

Sometimes referred to as ’Gladiator Schools’, they are not necessarily operated by 10th

degree Oriental Martial Arts Masters but more likely by pretty well trained reality fighting

instructors, usually with military instructor, police tactical, pro/am boxing, Judo or similar

niche fighting.

They include such names as Krav Maga, which is the Israeli method of combat fighting

which emphasizes a lot of weapons disarmament and decidedly lethal counter attack

techniques, or Combat Hapkido, or hard core Muay Thai kick boxing, Shoot Fighting’

and a few other effectively decent ones. Some of these are technically ‘scientific’ and

impressive in function.

Normally there are no wild flying or spinning or jumping monkey techniques, just

supposedly simple and brutally effective hard style techniques that almost anybody can

master and specifically direct against a street assault. I say supposedly’ simple’ and

‘almost’ because these specialty techniques do require some hands on instruction by a

trainer to get them down correctly and they also require a well learned skill set to

correctly apply them in pragmatic circumstances.

In other words you have to practice until you reach the proper level of proficiency for

these techniques to do any good as a self-defense tool. And these types of training

typically must have a partner to get the techniques ‘down’ correctly. But once you do,

they are very formidable as a specific application personal self-defense martial art.

5. Russian Martial Arts - Systema

‘Okay, thanks for the break down info, and the broad insight, but no thanks.

I’m just a prepper on a budget who can’t really afford the total commitment to Martial

Arts schools, and I’m not the consummate physical competitor type, and my military


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immortality ’superhuman’ days are over. And although I don’t ’think’ I’m getting too old

for most physical exertions, my back is constantly warning me to take it easy going

down those stairs or I might break my hip when I fall!

So is there anything that can be quickly and easily learned that would be any good as a

primary bare handed self-defense without costing an arm and a leg I won’t need anyway

from doing work out training until I drop dead?’

Well now that you mention it, a recent trend on an old theme is currently back in the

limelight and it’s called Systema.

Systema is similar to one of the situations mentioned above where a military hand-to-

hand instructor commercializes his skills and experience and marketed it to the general

public. The idea was to devise a ‘System’ that was good enough for the military special

forces but easy enough for the general public to learn without having to rise to the

combat conditioning and physical power endurance of elite special forces.

Systema originally came from Russia and was derived from Russian combative arts

dating back to the 10th century. The two main instructors are highly qualified recognized

Russian Military Combat experts and tried to franchise this ’System’ to the Western

Martial Arts world about 10 years ago as something different from a regular traditional

Karate-type school.

For a number of reasons, mostly economical, it didn’t catch on that rapidly and not

many franchises were established in the U.S. The timing of the ‘Systema’ debut was

around the time of the great housing market collapse and people were tightening up

their recreational expenditures, and the U.S. was already relatively saturated with

Martial Arts schools, many of which were going out of business.

The concept of ‘Systema’ was innovative and ‘outside the box’ of traditional Martial Arts

while still retaining the ‘whole life influence’ package of classic traditional arts.

Systema includes an emphasis on healthy conditioning, philosophy, and serious self-

defense training from the onset of training.


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This would certainly fit into an acceptable criteria for quickly learning strong defensive

self-defense techniques. And anybody, young or old, weak or small, can learn this

martial art effectively because of the way they train you.

While school access to Systema might still be limited to most, I believe they have one

school in at least the three major metropolitan areas of California, Chicago, and the

East Coast, and a couple in Canada. Most of the Systema moves and techniques are a

combination of joint and weight balance manipulation from various oriental traditional

styles like Aikido and some Kung Fu variations with the occasional obligatory insertion

of potentially disabling hard style Karate strikes. They also do pretty good power

punch/strike training.

The weapon disarmament moves come from pretty well universally defined techniques

by now, mainly in Krav Maga innovations, due to so much study on the subject at this

point.

Contrary to what is purported in their marketing, the learning of Systema still requires

considerable time in practice. Again, a partner is mandatory.

I know it ’looks’ simple and easy to learn but you are watching highly skilled ’experts’

demonstrate and people like this can make it look easy.

And if you practice something long enough, you can make a wild impossible looking

jump flipping spinning cartwheel technique, like you’ve seen in spaghetti kung Fu

movies, actually work in real time!


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In fact, the old French military martial art ‘Savate’ that emphasized kicking actually used

a front down and over summersault technique to come up and kick the opponent in the

head, which I actually witnessed in a black belt

tournament competition, and it worked

surprisingly well!

If you were inclined to join a traditional Karate

type Martial Arts school, for the same money

you’d spend, I would recommend Systema

instead. Mainly because they actually teach

you some useable techniques from the start of

your training without restricting you to a ’belt

rating’ achievement format taking years to

culminate.

It teaches you how to deal with an unarmed

attacker or one-to-one combat as many martial

arts do, but also how to deal with multiple

opponents coming from different angles, and

using a variety of weapons.

The system is based on your body’s natural movements so you don't have to learn or

memorize complicated techniques. All you need is to understand the principles this

system is based on--adaptability, instinct and natural movements.

The Systema philosophy embraces physical fitness and health. The basic breathing of

Systema follows the rule of natural and intuitive movement, then more advanced

techniques focus on controlling this natural flow. Personally I like the emphasis on

breathing as I practice Prana/Hatha Yoga and ‘deep meditative breathing’ almost daily

for a few minutes.

As in all Martial Arts ‘Systems’, nothing is perfect, even in this Systema training.

Because not everything in various Martial Arts fits everybody’s particular needs.


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And this information barely covers the tip of the Martial Arts iceberg in a society where

warfare, conflict, crime and therefore people always fighting with each other, is woven

into the fabric of our basic humanity.


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Hand to Hand Combat: The

Secrets of Striking For Survival

Take a moment and think about what the last few months have brought us in terms of

social unrest. Remember Fergusson, Baltimore, Texas. Do you feel safe? Do you know

what’s coming? Are you prepared to face this type of social unrest?

We haven’t heard the end of it, because it’s only the beginning. Do you have any doubt

that it’s the right time to train your self-defense skills?


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A Few Words from the Writer about His Teaching

Method

I may reference specific fighting systems, instructors, self-defense systems, training

programs, martial arts, sports, tactics, techniques, doctrine or principles in order to

communicate what I believe will help you survive. Some of my examples will indicate

what I believe to be more or less effective, but I will try to avoid labelling examples as

good or bad.

I choose to teach this way because all communication has two tracks or channels to it.

One is content or the message. The other is emotion or how they feel.

I do not want the “emotion” track of my message to provoke an emotional response in

reader because that often ends in the learner becoming defensive because they feel

hurt, misjudged, marginalized or misunderstood. The result is usually that they stop

listening and start working on their rebuttal or their message. They switch from learning

mode to ignoring the instruction and their learning grinds to a halt.

Many folks devote a lot of time, sweat and resources to martial arts, fighting systems

and self-defense studies. Contributing regular to something they determine to be a just

or worthy cause they feel passionate about, many people develop deep attachments to

specific arts, systems and cherished beliefs.

I get that, I understand why they do it, and I am not here to bag on any anybody’s

system or be a cheer leader for any one system in particular.

I see other instructors and students as brothers and sisters in the same movement as

opposed to competition. I am not a salesman for any particular product, instructor or

discipline, and have no vested interest in any of them beyond my writing.

Every time you hear someone tell you about the “one true fighting system that defeats

all others” you should be alerted to the fact that they are likely trying to sell you

something.


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They may be benefiting financially or they may do it out of something akin to religious

zeal, but see it for what it is … a sales pitch … nothing more, nothing less. Just because

I object to their sales technique, doesn’t mean I won’t steal a couple of techniques from

them if they suit me. I say “steal” to make a point.

The first thing you need to understand about fighting in general, and striking specifically

is that there aren’t any rules. There are correct principles, and if you transgress them,

you will likely take a trip to the hospital, but no rules. If the other guys are trying to take

your life, it is perfectly acceptable to lie, cheat or steal to win.

Fighting techniques

and other ideas cannot

be patented like

inventions, so they

cannot really be stolen.

Nobody actually owns

them, so do not worry

about mixing them up

and adulterating

someone’s “pure”

system.

Only the printed materials or recordings an instructor creates have any real creative

rights attached to them. Not surprisingly, many individuals with assertive, Type-A

personalities gravitate to this subject matter.

To my way of thinking, being confident and proactive are assets in self-defense,

especially the parts of it that involve striking people. But overconfidence and excess ego

do note help students learn.


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Principles of Striking

Regardless of the instructor’s talent for instructing, students must listen, understand and

follow instructions, not necessarily in that order.

People who think they already know it all, do very little learning. Their only hope is to

embrace their own uncertainty and to admit they do not know it all. This leads to

curiosity and they soon begin asking the right questions.

Some guys with over-developed ego, tend to think that they are the best fighter, the

best shooter, the best driver, the best lover and so on, regardless of the vastness of the

realm of knowledge and the fact that any one of us can only hope to sample a minute

portion of it in this lifetime.

If there is nothing to improve, why study? For this reason, I regularly observe more

humble students surpassing them and fighting and shooting circles around them in no

time. This is simply because they listen and follow directions because they do not start

out thinking they already walk on water.

But let’s see the principles you should learn from your instructor when training your self-

defense skills.

Tactical Toolbox

While striking is certainly an important tool which receives loads of attention, striking is

just one of many tools to include in your tactical toolbox. Tools give you mechanical

advantage, provide options and some can multiply combat effectiveness.

By choosing multiple “tools” and training with ALL of your tools, you can avoid the

syndrome of: “He who is good with a hammer, sees everything as a nail.”

By itself, the effectiveness of striking is limited. Combined with immobilizations,

projections, breaks and chokes, you have a lot more options, making you a more

flexible and effective combatant.


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Situational Awareness

Cooper’s Color Codes. Jeff Cooper taught a simple system to gauge your own

situational awareness using colors.

It starts with White, which is a state of being oblivious, like when we sleep. Most

of the time, most of us are completely consciously unaware of our environment.

Next comes Yellow, which is a state of relaxed awareness. You can stay at

condition Yellow every waking moment of your life and suffer no ill effects. When

you are armed, you should always be at least at Yellow.

After Yellow comes Orange. At Orange, you have identified a possible threat and

are preparing a fight or flight response to it. You cannot stay at Orange all day

every day or you will suffer fatigue and start making soft compromises which will

lead to hard ones which lead to death.

The final stage, in the original version, was condition Red which is where you

execute the fight or flight response you have prepared.

The color codes are very important because you cannot simply skip steps. You cannot

instantly jump from White to Red, from sleeping to fighting or running. You will hesitate

in between.

So it is very important that you start out at Yellow and ratchet up Orange at points in

your day that you assess possible threats in preparation to go to Red. Otherwise, you

will try to skip steps and hesitate.

Situational awareness often results in the opportunity to avoid the need for striking and

fighting altogether. If your situational awareness and camouflage or deception are good

Awareness is essential when out in the public especially at potentially

targeted locations.

The best preventative measure is to avoid danger by focused

awareness.


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enough, you will avoid many high risk situations, which usually gives you much

improved odds of survival over fighting.

Range

Violent conflict is dynamic and mobile. Some fighters constantly transition ranges, trying

to keep at a distance. Others like to get in close and stay there.

The longest range in striking, we will call kicking range which we will call up to two arm’s

length away from the trunk of the body. Closer is striking range at an arm’s length away.

Closer in is trapping range, essentially at elbow’s length. Closest is ground fighting.

Different types of striking using different body weapons are effective each ranges. When

I strike, I prefer to enter and close to trapping range and stay there where I know I can

to do the most damage at too close of a distance from my enemy for him to be able to

respond before he is hit.


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This largely negates all blocking and counters so if you strike effectively and know how

your opponent’s body will react to your strikes, you can take control of the situation

because you not only know where he is, but where he will be after your strike.

Out at kicking and punching range a bigger, stronger opponent can pick you apart, they

can see your strikes coming and risk getting ensnared in immobilizations which can

result in broken bones, quickly diminishing your effectiveness.

Timing

Timing is very important in conjunction with range. Understanding how the body reacts

to strikes and approximate reaction times at various ranges tilts the odds in your favor.

Close enough in, there is just not time to respond to strikes so make sure you enter to

your desired range and start striking.

Striking above the solar plexus, the torso of your enemy will bend back, at it or below it

he will bend forward. Striking to his sides will cause him to wince toward the pain.

Master this and get in close enough and you will mold him like clay.

Manage Fear

If you are a mentally healthy person, you experience fear. Physiologically, fear causes:

Rapid, shallow breathing

Loss of balance, feeling as though your center of gravity is getting higher up in

your body

Hesitation or “freezing”

Tunnel vision and tunnel hearing causing to you fixate on the greatest perceived

threat and blinding you to threats that you would normally pickup in your

peripheral vision or hear

Startle response, your default response when startled

You possess fear for a reason. It is a tool to keep you alive. Ignoring fear will not make

you a more effective combatant. I do not know of a “life hack” or “short cut” that works


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like a magic wand to banish it. I do know some correct principles that help mitigate fear

and keep it in balance. Knowledge and stressful training diminishes fear.

People are typically most afraid of the unknown, such as how most people are much

more afraid in the dark than they are in the light, even if they should already be familiar

with all of the sounds they are hearing.

Biofeedback tools such as breathing and meditation involving visualization and

actualization act to physically calm body and mind just as forcing a smile stimulates the

physical release of endorphins and dopamine and the production of electrolytes,

causing you to feel happy from the tail end.

Just as the smile is usually the response, replacing rapid shallow breathing with a few

slow, deep breaths oxygenates the bloodstream, boosting clarity of thought. Train your

startle response so you will respond in the way you determine is most effective instead

of freezing up or hesitating.

Slow & Low

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. If you have not heard this before, now you have. If

you have, it bears repeating. Burn it into your mind. You can develop a lot more power

attacking low than high.

Strikes should originate from your center line. Just like it is easier to open a jar close to

your body as opposed to at arm’s length, we generate more strength the closer we are

to our centerline and center of gravity.

Targets

Your objective is to mechanically disable your enemy. Pain compliance is less effective

against enemies who are drunk, drugged or determined or DDD, and if they are one,

they may be all three.

But your enemy is going to have a whole lot harder time killing you with broken bones,

dislocated joints, a compromised respiratory or cardiovascular system, with ruptured


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organs or missing an eye or two.

When striking, you should be “target shooting.” Just like in armed combat, shot

placement trumps speed. It is not the first shot or firepower superiority that matters most

in individual and small unit combat. It is the shots that actually hit the target that matter

most.

You can pound on the human body all day if you never hit anything fragile enough for

you to break or important enough to disable your enemy. But when you can

mechanically disable the human body by breaking something it needs to continue

fighting, you have mechanically disabled it.

Strike Hard to Soft or Soft to Hard

“Body weapons” come in two flavors: hard and soft. If you strike a bone-hard target with

one of your own hard bones, no one will have to tell you that you just made a mistake.

You will feel it … first in the bone you break … and then in the pocketbook when

surgeons attempt to put Humpty Dumpty back together again and bill you ridiculously

high rates because of everyone they had to patch up who did not pay.

Weapons

Whether armed or unarmed, weapon selection impacts combat effectiveness. Your

body is endowed with built in weapons that you do not need a license or permission to

carry.

1. Ulna: I was trained that these two bones in the arm are my “Personal Piece of

Pipe.”

The ulna is a hard weapon and is the bone in your forearm that does not move

when you turn your wrist as if opening a door knob.

The other bone, that moves is the radius. The radial nerve runs along the top of it

and it is quite breakable when an ulna slams down on it, so it is a better target

than weapon.


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Striking with the ulna as a weapon is effective because it does not have any

major nerves or blood vessels between the bone and the skin so it is better to

take a cut or get hit there than on top of the radius or in the inside of joints. The

ulna is a good weapon in trapping range.

2. Elbow: Elbows are hard weapons that can devastating from trapping range.

Face the palm of your hand toward your opponent and rake with your elbows.

3. Fist: There are multiple fists you form with your hand, each having different

properties. I categorize them as the Karate or classic fist, the SCARS fist and the

Kuta fist. These are all hard weapons. There is plenty written on how to make a

fist if any of these terms are new to you.

4. Palm: Soft weapon to use against hard targets. When cupped, it can drive air

into the ear drums essentially creating an overpressure like a stun munition.

More than 10PSI can stun an attack, especial if both ears get boxed at once.


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5. Webbing of Hand: This is kind of a compromise between hard and soft to use

against the neck and trachea in training so you do not send your sparring partner

to the hospital.

Use of Force Continuum

To me, using an appropriate amount of force is more than just a legal consideration. It is

also both a moral imperative and tool to speed my decision making process under

stress.

If you do not integrate scaled use of force into your training, you will certainly not use it

when your life is on the line. Even worse, you may hesitate because you are unsure

how much force you should apply in a given situation.

In recorded footage of use of force, it is very common to see moments of hesitation.

Hesitation is clearly less-effective, yet well trained personnel do it all the time. I hear all

the time, “At my age, I don’t do fist fights, if you know what I mean” (often patting their

concealed carry hardware for emphasis.) Things are not always as black and white in


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real life as they are in people’s minds. Chances are very good that you may end up

fighting someone you know.

What if you have to control a loved one having some sort of breakdown, mental issue or

problem with medication?

Violence of Action

Once you are hitting the right targets, then making more, bigger holes faster matters.


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Self-Defense for Seniors

When it comes to defending yourself, you have a couple of advantages that may make

up for your slightly slower reflexes. First, the older you are, the more an attacker is

going to underestimate you. They going to be more likely to assume that you're an easy

mark just because you're older or perhaps physically challenged.

Second, they're going to expect you to be afraid. If you don't show fear, it's possible that

you can throw them off-kilter long enough to buy yourself a few extra, precious seconds.

There are a few things that you can do to make this time count. In this chapter, we're

going to talk about some of those measures as well as share some other tips to help

you defend yourself and your castle.


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Take a Martial Arts Class

Though this may sound silly to you, the health benefits of martial arts are out of this

world. It helps prevent muscle atrophy and bone loss and it keeps your connective

tissues healthy. It also has the added benefit of giving you some extra skills that you

can use to defend yourself if SHTF.

No matter what your fitness level is or what your physical abilities are, there are martial

arts classes designed to meet your needs. The secret is to find a good trainer, and if

there isn't a senior’s martial arts class in your area, talk to a sensei about starting one. If

you're interested, most likely other seniors in your area are, too!

A huge advantage to a senior’s martial arts or self-defense class is that you'll meet other

seniors interested in learning to defend themselves. It's likely that some of them will be

doing it for the same reason that you are - prepping for SHTF.

Put out some feelers and you may just find some valuable allies that will be willing to

join forces with you. That can be invaluable.

Learn to Use Your Brain as a Weapon

If your home is invaded in a survival situation, it may be more pertinent to use your head

rather than your fists to defend yourself until you can gain the upper hand. For instance,

trick the person into believing that you're weaker than you really are. Find non-traditional

weapons that are handy such as your cane, a lamp, or even an ashtray. Make your first

attempt count because you may not get another shot.

Offer to get your "money" from your purse and reach for you weapon instead. Don't

bother pulling it out; a gun will fire just fine though the bottom of your bag.


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Bring as Little Attention to Your Place as Possible

If your place is already boarded up and unattractive-looking, don't bring any more

attention to the fact that you're there than necessary. Make trips outside during times

that nobody is likely to see you. If you can, build a path that's blocked from public view

in advance. Using shrubbery or fencing will allow you a greater amount of privacy to

come and go on your property undetected.

If you're cooking with wood, try to use your stove before dawn and after dusk, times

when the smoke is less likely to be seen.

Take a Weapons Course or Join a Shooting Club

Knowing how to use you weapon is one thing but

being comfortable with it is another. Taking a

weapons course is a great way to safely learn how

your gun works and how best to use it. You'll also

learn its shortcomings, which is just as important as

knowing its strengths.

Joining a local shooting club has a few advantages.

First, the more you load and fire your gun, the more

comfortable you'll be with it when it comes time to

defend yourself. Gun clubs are also great places to

meet like-minded people.

If you're interested in being part of a community prepping network, chances are good

that you'll meet fellow preppers at a gun club. Just cautiously feel around. If nothing

else, you might make some friends.


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Plan Your Defense in Advance

The worst time to figure out how you're going to respond in any given situation is when

you're actually in that situation. Have an action plan based upon numerous scenarios

and practice what to do in each situation. By doing this, you'll identify possible holes in

your plan and you'll also be prepared to act instead of react when faced with the real-life

problem.

Stockpiling ammo and guns is an important part of your survival plan. In order to

determine your ammunition needs (or lack thereof), consider the following:

Are you planning on needing to defend yourself and your property aggressively?

Do you have plenty of excess storage space?

How long do you think the survival situation will last?

Are you planning on supplementing your food supply with game?

Is the disaster that you’re planning for a local event or a global one?

Do you have the funds to store enough ammo to get you through the disaster?

Do you plan on using ammo as barter?

Let’s take a look at these questions one a time.

First, are you healthy enough to operate a weapon? If you don’t have the physical or

mental stamina to actually shoot another living being, then perhaps stockpiling weapons

isn’t for you.

If you pull a gun on another person, especially in a desperate situation, you have to be

prepared to use it and physically capable of doing so. Otherwise, you run the risk of

your attacker disarming you and using your own weapon on you.

Next, if you don’t have enough space to store the amount of ammo that you think that

you’ll need, perhaps you should consider reloads instead. We’ll talk about that in just a

bit but for now, push it to the back of your mind as a possible option.


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If you’re only planning for a local disaster, remember that the rest of the world is going

to continue to produce ammo so stockpiling it probably isn’t necessary and may even be

a strain on your space and your finances.

Even if you’re planning on a global event, you may not need to stockpile more than a

few boxes if the disaster is going to be a temporary situation that will be followed by a

rapid recovery. If, after you’ve considered all of these options, you still believe that you

need to stockpile ammo, here are a few tips to help you do it.

Figure how long the disaster will last, then figure how many bullets you think

you’ll use per day based upon what you’re going to be shooting at. Use those two

figures to roughly estimate your ammo needs.

Make sure that your storage space is cool and dry, and likely to remain that way.

Store your ammo in containers that are airtight.

Rotate your ammo just like you do the rest of your stockpile. Make sure that you

have the proper types of round for your weapon and for what you’re going to be

shooting at.

If you still have kids in the house, store your ammo in a place that isn’t readily

accessible to anybody who isn’t trained.

Sometimes the best self-defense is to back down and escape. It's OK to run if you need

to; if you're faced with certain death or the need to leave your home, by all means,

leave! If evacuation is part of your plan, you may want to hide a stockpile away from

your home in a place such as a storage unit.

Also, pack a bug-out bag with all of the necessary supplies that you'll need to get you to

your bug-out location.

Consider Buying Non-Traditional Weapons

In addition to your standard guns, there are common items that have now been

weaponized to help older people level the playing field. There are stun canes and that


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look like a regular cane but actually have stun-gun capabilities when engaged. There

are cell phones like that, too.

Just about anything can be used as a weapon. Canned food, keys, a pen, lamps, rocks;

really whatever you can get your hands on will be better than nothing but again, make

your first move count by aiming for the throat, nose, head, groin or eyes if possible.

Carry your standard weapon, too. Pepper spray or your gun won't do you any good if

they're in the upstairs drawer. It's time to survive so be ready at all times.

There are many ways to learn how to defend yourself but the most important thing to

remember is that you need to stick to the plan of attack (or escape) once you've

committed to it. We've talked a bit about meeting like-minded people and in the next

section, we're going to touch on that topic in greater detail.

Documents

© Effortless Self-Defensedarkestomen.com.s3.amazonaws.com/download... · Russian Martial Arts - Systema ... ‘legendary’ Black Belt rating in any Martial Art style and you should