It’s Better to Shut Off the Computer

I’ll let you in on a little secret. A knife has never been my go to choice for self-protection. I train with them. I instruct in the use of them. Hell, I’ve designed them. It was my dislike of the knife that drew me to better understand it. You can hear about my first experience having a knife drawn on me here;

And with all that, a wise weasel once said something along the lines of, “It’s quicker to shut down the computer than it is to drain the pipes.” Anybody that mentions any sort of “Time Table of Death” in relation to knife wounds is not someone you should be listening to. There are far too many variables involved when it comes to that type of violence. Blood pressure, heart rate, muscle density, the skeletal structure… (that thing can be a bitch if your knife bites into it). I carry and train with a knife because it is less of a legal risk in the area in which I live than if I were to carry some sort of an impact weapon.

I would much rather carry a sap, blackjack, or even a dan bong over a knife. Impact weapons have more leeway. Take a sap for example, if I were to be attacked and I knew I could get away, I might think to bring the impact down onto the attackers forearm or thigh with the broadside of the sap’s body and then try to escape. However, if the same attacker were to have a weapon drawn or maybe gesticulating as if they had a weapon, I might be more likely to strike out with the thin edge of the sap to break the bone.

You see, with impact weapons there is a substantially less chance of a lethal event occurring without your intent. If you slash, or stab someone there is a more of a chance that your actions may unalive them, intentional or not. Impact weapons afford you the ability to act without carrying the burden of your actions should you need to defend yourself. While it isn’t a universal guarantee strikes to the head are considered a no-no in less than lethal situations. The head is an obvious “red zone”, the jaw is another story. The “official red zones” are the entirety of the head/neck, the sternum, the spine, the kidneys, and the coccyx. The rest of the body… exploit a human beings natural weaknesses.

You DO NOT have to be an eskrimador to be effective in protecting yourself. You likely aren’t training to fight at a DBMA event. A cycling overhand caveman type swing with a little intent is more effective than some may lead you to believe. Hit, hit, hit, break contact and run. I do not advocate this though. I do not advocate going out in to the world with a tool that you do not train to use. There are numerous resources available in todays market to properly learn how to use them. American, European, Asian and African martial arts all have some sort of stick work. A dan bong is a short stick. Saps and blackjacks can be thought of as short, flexible sticks.

This isn’t rocket science and it’s not some hidden dark art.

If you’re looking for a dan bong I highly recommend offerings from Lacey Szabo;

DAN-BONG FIGHTING SHORT STICK

If you’re looking for a sap or blackjack I feel you can do not better than;

https://witchdoctorzero.com

I’ll take a moment to speak on the Witch Doctor’s work. While he can express himself through the classic design and aesthetic of these tools his more artistic approaches appeal to me. My one of my favorites being an older model of his, the Soul Crusher. It’s like a leather cleaver. Asymmetrical and intuitive.

As far as instruction goes I highly recommend hands on instruction, if available. If it is not, here are two people that I wholly support and recommend.

The first being Terry Trahan. Terry really needs no introduction. He currently has a Patreon up and running and it is fantastic. While he hasn’t touched too much on impact tool yet, it is still early. The Patreon can be found at;

https://www.patreon.com/WeaselCraft

The second being Guro Joel Huncar. I have known Joel now for a little while and I truly appreciate his humble approach to teaching. Don’t let his humbleness fool you. Joel currently has both a YouTube channel as well as a Patreon. They can each be found here;

https://www.youtube.com/@JoelHuncar

https://www.patreon.com/thebladedbludgeoner

If you are unable to afford a monthly Patreon subscription a pdf of the Styers/Kengla Method from the combatives manual, Cold Steel, is readily available and a quick no nonsense resource for you to learn how to protect yourself.

Benkei