Urban Tactical Weapons
Morné Swanepoel
President JKD High Performance Street Fighting
Founder of Urban Tactical Weapons program
Website www.jkd.co.za
Email [email protected]
’Expect the unexpected’
Street violence, which can be directly related to the unlawful exercise of physical force, is a reality which all of us live with on a daily basis. Training to protect oneself for street confrontations is very intense and quite different from training for competitions, even the No holds barred competitions that are very popular today. The Pavement arena is where there are no rules, where anything goes and where you can expect the unexpected.
’The most constant thing in life is change. Everything that has been mummified belongs to the past. Mummification is a blockage in the body, there is no spirit. We are all alive and need to progress and go beyond…’
The latest ‘buzz word’ in the martial arts community is REALITY BASED. It is a police term, though never widely used in the law enforcement community, which refers to Realistic Conflict Rehearsal training. The term 'reality-based' was brought to light thanks to one of the world's leading reality based instructors, Sergeant Jim Wagner. He defines reality-based as follows:
'Training and survival skills based on modern conflict situations that the practitioner is likely to encounter in their environment (their “reality”), in an accordance with the use-of-force continuum of that jurisdiction.' - Jim Wagner
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word reality/realism/realistic can be defined as: ‘Actually existing or occurring. Practice of things in their true nature and dealing with them as they are. Based on facts rather than ideals’
In the reality-based world there are 3 main conflict stages that one is exposed to. Any violent or self defence situation can be divided into these important stages.
- Pre Conflict (before the fight)
Most situations can be avoided by ensuring one exposes oneself to pre conflict training. Pre conflict training consists of various factors such as: Threat assessment, situational awareness, hostile awareness, legal issues, verbal judo etc. Learning how to avoid confrontations physically, mentally and socially is imperative to any reality based self defence training. Besides the physical techniques and training methods one can incorporate to achieve these results, it is just as important to expose oneself to case studies of various violent crimes to identify the pre conflict stage and methods of avoidance or minimal damage/injury.
- Conflict (the actual confrontation)
This is the part that most Self Defence and Martial Art schools focus on. The problem is that most of them are based on theory, rituals, tradition and set sequences or forms. Not one confrontation is the same as the next and trying to
memorize complex techniques for certain situations or attacks is going to get you killed or seriously injured. The conflict stage has social and asocial violent components, which need specific attention such as gang attacks, the
way criminals fight with weapons, carjacking, robberies, muggings etc. It is also important one is able to establish the difference between social and asocial violence and the amount of force you will be using to successfully defend yourself and your loved ones. The importance of getting the most effective results is directly related to the tools that are brought into action focussing on the most vulnerable targets that are available.
- Post Conflict (after the fight)
These are the actions you will take after the confrontation/fight. Again there are many factors involved here which needs to be addressed in ones reality based training such as first aid training, escaping methods, citizen's arrest
methods, communication with the authorities, courtroom survival, attacker description and incident detail etc.
Your duty as a Street Self Defence Coach/instructor is to expose your students to what is real in today's world of street violence and to ensure that their training methods and techniques is on par with what is actually happening out there today i.e. their reality.
If you are serious about self defence or personal protection then you need to include weapons to your training whether you like weapons or not. Most violent crimes involve weapons. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a ‘weapons culture’ like the USA or in a country with strict weapons control, criminals make use of weapons. Buying illegal weapons on the black market is as prevalent as the drug trade. Don’t think for a moment that your government can keep weapons out of the wrong hands, because they can’t. It is imperative that you always expect your attacker to be armed in an asocial street encounter, as this is the most common tool used for effective intimidation.
In the streets of today we can face up to 5 main weapon categories.
1. Projectile Weapons i.e. Firearms
This includes but it not limited to the throwing of objects i.e. being attacked by
rocks being thrown at you. Firearms are your most common projectile
weapons associated with street attacks/crime. It is imperative that one needs
to learn how to use and study some basic tactics concerning a firearm. Part of
these tactics should include important feedback on issues such as; firearm
disarms, escaping methods, use of various firearms, gun safety, target
acquisition, weapon grip & stances, difference between competitive and
combat shooting, cover and concealment, room entry and building searches to
mention just a few. Exposing yourself to this training will give you a better idea
of what the attacker is able to do with his weapon thus giving you a better
chance to survive.
Page #2 Continued on next Thread
Morné Swanepoel
President JKD High Performance Street Fighting
Founder of Urban Tactical Weapons program
Website www.jkd.co.za
Email [email protected]
’Expect the unexpected’
Street violence, which can be directly related to the unlawful exercise of physical force, is a reality which all of us live with on a daily basis. Training to protect oneself for street confrontations is very intense and quite different from training for competitions, even the No holds barred competitions that are very popular today. The Pavement arena is where there are no rules, where anything goes and where you can expect the unexpected.
’The most constant thing in life is change. Everything that has been mummified belongs to the past. Mummification is a blockage in the body, there is no spirit. We are all alive and need to progress and go beyond…’
The latest ‘buzz word’ in the martial arts community is REALITY BASED. It is a police term, though never widely used in the law enforcement community, which refers to Realistic Conflict Rehearsal training. The term 'reality-based' was brought to light thanks to one of the world's leading reality based instructors, Sergeant Jim Wagner. He defines reality-based as follows:
'Training and survival skills based on modern conflict situations that the practitioner is likely to encounter in their environment (their “reality”), in an accordance with the use-of-force continuum of that jurisdiction.' - Jim Wagner
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word reality/realism/realistic can be defined as: ‘Actually existing or occurring. Practice of things in their true nature and dealing with them as they are. Based on facts rather than ideals’
In the reality-based world there are 3 main conflict stages that one is exposed to. Any violent or self defence situation can be divided into these important stages.
- Pre Conflict (before the fight)
Most situations can be avoided by ensuring one exposes oneself to pre conflict training. Pre conflict training consists of various factors such as: Threat assessment, situational awareness, hostile awareness, legal issues, verbal judo etc. Learning how to avoid confrontations physically, mentally and socially is imperative to any reality based self defence training. Besides the physical techniques and training methods one can incorporate to achieve these results, it is just as important to expose oneself to case studies of various violent crimes to identify the pre conflict stage and methods of avoidance or minimal damage/injury.
- Conflict (the actual confrontation)
This is the part that most Self Defence and Martial Art schools focus on. The problem is that most of them are based on theory, rituals, tradition and set sequences or forms. Not one confrontation is the same as the next and trying to
memorize complex techniques for certain situations or attacks is going to get you killed or seriously injured. The conflict stage has social and asocial violent components, which need specific attention such as gang attacks, the
way criminals fight with weapons, carjacking, robberies, muggings etc. It is also important one is able to establish the difference between social and asocial violence and the amount of force you will be using to successfully defend yourself and your loved ones. The importance of getting the most effective results is directly related to the tools that are brought into action focussing on the most vulnerable targets that are available.
- Post Conflict (after the fight)
These are the actions you will take after the confrontation/fight. Again there are many factors involved here which needs to be addressed in ones reality based training such as first aid training, escaping methods, citizen's arrest
methods, communication with the authorities, courtroom survival, attacker description and incident detail etc.
Your duty as a Street Self Defence Coach/instructor is to expose your students to what is real in today's world of street violence and to ensure that their training methods and techniques is on par with what is actually happening out there today i.e. their reality.
If you are serious about self defence or personal protection then you need to include weapons to your training whether you like weapons or not. Most violent crimes involve weapons. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a ‘weapons culture’ like the USA or in a country with strict weapons control, criminals make use of weapons. Buying illegal weapons on the black market is as prevalent as the drug trade. Don’t think for a moment that your government can keep weapons out of the wrong hands, because they can’t. It is imperative that you always expect your attacker to be armed in an asocial street encounter, as this is the most common tool used for effective intimidation.
In the streets of today we can face up to 5 main weapon categories.
1. Projectile Weapons i.e. Firearms
This includes but it not limited to the throwing of objects i.e. being attacked by
rocks being thrown at you. Firearms are your most common projectile
weapons associated with street attacks/crime. It is imperative that one needs
to learn how to use and study some basic tactics concerning a firearm. Part of
these tactics should include important feedback on issues such as; firearm
disarms, escaping methods, use of various firearms, gun safety, target
acquisition, weapon grip & stances, difference between competitive and
combat shooting, cover and concealment, room entry and building searches to
mention just a few. Exposing yourself to this training will give you a better idea
of what the attacker is able to do with his weapon thus giving you a better
chance to survive.
Page #2 Continued on next Thread