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By Bradley J. Steiner, American Combato
While we try to be courteous and patient – too often with individuals whose apparent capacity to appreciate it appears to be significantly diminished – we’ve just about decided to simply delete any inquiry that qualifies as “insipid” and just leave those who cannot or will not think to be victims of their own inanity.
We are tired of helping some people to feel more intelligent than they are by taking their utterly inane questions seriously and replying with reasonable answers. (We must, with a smile and a chuckle, remind ourselves: ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM. Ask your Latin teacher for a translation!)
The idea has been put into the heads of those foolish enough to believe it that the blows of unarmed combat (like the chin jab smash, the open hand-axe chop, and others) “have never been shown to be effective, and in fact were never used.” Anyone saying this is, to be polite, embarrassingly wrong. One military close combat teacher of our acquaintance put it this way: “They’re f––king incompetent a––holes!” Ahem. Frankly, we don’t think that highly of them.
These blows have been demonstrated time and time again to not only be effective but to be much, much, much more effective than the clenched fist punching that some misguided individuals seem to believe outperforms everything else. My students have utilized these very techniques with complete success. Some of these students were females… and their having attempted to punch did not affect their male assailants at all.
The truth is that the only venue in which clenched fist punching has been “proven to be effective” is in SPORT. Why? Because the combat blows are not permitted in sport, and the athletes who are young, tough, and in active competitive form must use clenched fist punches. And for young, tough, in-hard-training athletes, the fist is somewhat formidable.
Clenched-fist punching is formidable when done by trained, experienced, in-shape boxers, but “normal” punching is nowhere near as formidable as the favored blows of unarmed combat, in real combat. And those blows have been proven… in several wars, in law enforcement, and private citizen encounters, for over 100 years! Fairbairn proved this when he taught the Shanghai Municipal Police and private citizens of that City in the early years of the 20th century. Just observe how often punches – even by young, tough, experienced boxers – are so rarely decisive!
I have no intention or desire to debate this. Many years of training, research, teaching, and feedback have proven it to be true. I only mention this now for the benefit of any who are first coming to the study of self-defense and who may be subjected to the absurd rhetoric of those who simply report what they want others to believe (because they are touting it) and direct listeners, who lack knowledge, experience, and the basis for proper judgment from realizing that which the listeners need to be guided by to learn quality self-defense.
P.S. I would never do it, and I do not recommend or suggest that anyone else do it, but a very easy way to establish the effectiveness of, for example, the chin jab smash and the edge-of-the-hand blow would be to ask one of the detractors or doubters of their efficiency. This, only if you have their consent (in writing) to apply a chin jab or a handaxe chop to them; the chin jab to be delivered full force under the jaw and the chop to be delivered across their throat or carotid artery.
You would only need one of these blows delivered to make your point forever! But, again, it is best simply to write off these individuals and ignore them; DO NOT use any physical actions against them. To any rational person, they are simply buffoonish malcontents and attention-seekers trying to bait those who make sense!
My actual suggestion (assuming you accept the imposition of even responding to any of these individuals at all) is to suggest that they ask a medical doctor – preferably one who specializes in emergency care – what the effect of a chin jab, handaxe chop, eye gouge, or tiger’s claw thrust would be. Then walk away and ignore these people.
One really must marvel at the foolishness of anyone who doubts that a chin jab, a handaxe blow, an eye attack, etc. “has never been proven to work.” What jackasses such individuals prove themselves to be!
Many years ago, a physician in Canada, Gordon Perrigard, who was also a black belt judo/ju-jutsu expert, developed a system that he called Arwrology. He wrote a rather quaint book of the same name in which he described – both as a medical doctor and as a black belt expert – how some of his students used the open hand chop (we call it the “handaxe blow”) with incredible, instant success.
We never knew Dr. Perrigard, but his examples are amongst many documented instances where the combat blows worked beautifully. The chin jab has been utilized to good effect many times – and on several occasions by my students. Just ask a physician what this blow can do to a person against whom it is applied! I remember more than half a dozen instances over the years when medical doctors who were my students were shocked when, in lesson one, I showed them the chin jab.
Summing up their reactions: “My God, do you realize what that blow would do to someone? You could break their neck [chin jab] or you could kill them [handaxe chop]!”
Yes… I do realize it. And if you’re serious about self-defense, you’d better realize it, too!