Principles of Personal Defense: Review of Ch 3

Aggressiveness 

This chapter marks a place where the Colonel and I part company. He begins this discussion by saying, “In defense we do not initiate violence. We must give our attacker the vast advantage of striking the first blow, or at least attempting to do so.” He maintains that an aggressive counterattack can overcome the disadvantage of letting the street orc clobber you.
One problem here is that the odds are against you. Real fights often end in 2-3 seconds. In the street, the one who lands the first blow usually wins. If a solid blow to the head does not knock the victim out, at the very least, it stuns him.  Then the attacker follows up with as many strikes as necessary to render his prey inert.

Remember, this is likely not your attacker’s first rodeo. He lives by making vicious surprise attacks.

I think Cooper may have worried about legal liability. If the orc starts the fight, then you stand clear of the charge of assault in the eyes of the law. I cannot give you legal advice, but those who have the credentials lean in the other direction.

A lawyer, Dr. Karl Duff, seems to advise that ”a moment of peril or apparent peril” constitutes legal justification for the use of force in self defense.

“. . . [T]he law clearly takes the view that one acting in a moment of peril or apparent peril need not nicely gauge the minimum amount of force to be used. A famous Supreme Court case has said, however, that ‘the law does not require detached reflection in the presence of an upraised knife.’ This, viewed in the light of the principle . . . that the law refuses to deem excessive a defensive act that is not clearly vindictive, would seem at least to allow the exigencies of a real-world confrontation to be considered.” (Dr. Karl J. Duff, Martial Arts and the Law, Ohara Pub., p. 19)

Wim DeMeere’s blog post covers many of the issues involved in legally striking a potential attacker first. (CLICK HERE) For me, it leads right back to an aggressor crossing the lines I mentioned in the previous section.

The following videos assay to shed some light on self defense and the law:

    For a brief general discussion from a non-lawyer, CLICK HERE

    For a news team’s interview of a lawyer about NY’s self defense laws, CLICK HERE

    For a  six-minute discussion by a Minnesota lawyer, CLICK HERE

    For a Florida lawyer’s three-minute explanation, CLICK HERE

    For a Texas lawyer’s five-minute review, CLICK HERE

 HOWEVER, do not take anything in this review as legal advice. The responsibility lies with you to consult a competent lawyer and/or the law as it relates to self defense in your jurisdiction.

That said, once you have decided to act in self defense, you must stop the aggressor. You have determined that he means to kill you or cause serious injury. Tim Larkin of Target Focus Training warns against merely causing him pain, which may enrage him. Rather, you need to inflict injury such that he cannot continue his attack.

An aggressive spirit will enable you to do that.  Jeff Cooper has given advice on how you may cultivate that spirit.

I think the answer is indignation. . . . These people have no right to prey upon innocent citizens. They have no right to offer you violence. They are bad people, and you are quite justified in resenting their behavior to the point of rage. . . . At this point your life hangs upon your ability to block out all thoughts of your own peril, and to concentrate entirely upon the destruction of your enemy. (p. 21)

A well-honed sense of justice will help you achieve that level of indignation. I have written about this in various discussions about the self defense mindset. For one example, CLICK HERE.

In concluding his chapter on aggression, he ties together the first three principles.

If it is ever your misfortune to be attacked, alertness will have given you a little warning, decisiveness will have given you a proper course to pursue, and if that course is in counterattack, carry it out with everything you’ve got. Be indignant. Be angry. Be aggressive. (p. 21)

Defining Violence, Part 2

Here's the second part of the video from TFT on violence. Please notice the distinction drawn between antisocial and asocial violence.

Note: Some language may violate the household standards of some of my followers. Minor children are on their honor to have a parent/guardian preview it.

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Defining Violence, Part 1

For they [i.e., the wicked] eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. ( Proverbs 4:17 WEB)

Tim Larkin of Target Focus Training (TFT) provides an excellent intro to what constitutes violence & begins to introduce the concept that, in a life or death situation, you will either dish out the violence or receive it.

 NOTE: this video contains scenes of graphic violence. If this material offends you, or young adults under 16 are present, please skip this video. Also, there are 2 or 3 instances of language that may violate some household standards.

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Comparing Two Knives from FightFast/TRS

5N1 EDC

 

In this post, I will compare the 5n1 EDC to a previous knife I got from TRS, the 325s Tactical Survival knife. Both knives came "free" but cost $9.95 S&H. They were both promotional items, and I think they were good value at that price. I "bought" the 325s a few years ago, and the EDC came last week.

First off, the EDC blade is narrower and about an eighth of an inch longer than that of the 325s. Closed, the EDC is about a half inch longer. Their width closed is almost identical.

325s

Out of the box, the EDC opened a little stiffly, and the liner lock was really hard to operate. Working with it has smoothed both operations considerably. I do miss the spring-assisted opening of the 325s. It would probably not be feasible on the EDC, though, because of the location of the light and fire starter.

In my hand, the 325s feels more ergonomic. The EDC's straight housing, for the light and fire starter leave it feeling just a tad less comfortable in my grip. Long or hard use might cause blisters.

The EDC obviously has two more features - the light and the fire starter - than the 325s. That increases its utility, and when you need a fire starter, you need it. Ditto the mini light.

EDC

Both knives have the seatbelt cutter and the window-breaking pommel. Both blades take a nice edge with a little stropping.

So, which will I carry? Probably both. I'm used to the 325s, but the EDC has the extra margin of utility I may occasionally need.

325s

Principles of Personal Defense -- Review of Ch 2

As I mentioned in a a previous post, I've been working on a project that includes a detailed review of Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense. Here I address his second principle, decisiveness.


Decisiveness

“When ‘the ball is opened’ -- when it becomes evident that you are faced with violent physical assault -- your life depends upon your selecting a correct course of action and carrying it through without hesitation or deviation.” (p. 13) Jeff Cooper has not left you in the dark about how foster a decisive mindset.

He says you must learn to think tactically. “By thinking tactically, we can more easily arrive at correct tactical solutions, and practice -- even theoretical practice -- tends to produce confidence in our solutions, which, in turn, makes it easier for us, and thus quicker, to reach a decision. (p. 14)

Although he does not elaborate on the  concept of theoretical practice, from the context, he obviously means running mental scenarios. You think to yourself, “If someone did this, then I would do that.”

Psychologists have found that mental practice produces results almost as good as real-life training. To achieve it, however, you must visualize the scenario -- the more vividly, the better. You will also achieve better results if you see the scenario in the first person, everything happening as if you were seeing it firsthand.

In addition to what Colonel Cooper recommends, I will caution you that predators can mask their intentions. They don’t want you to know their intent until after the attack has begun. They will do their best to get you to suppress that gut-level warning telling you something is wrong.

Too often, they succeed with victims afraid of seeming impolite. You must realize that a street attack does not follow the fictional rules of a schoolyard fight where one boy draws a line in the sand with the toe of his shoe and dares the other to cross it. That’s not how it happens on the street.

When a stranger approaches, and your gut warns you, “Something is wrong,” you do not need a literal line in the sand. You can and should have in place a series of mental lines which let you know exactly how close the predator has come to making his attack. No matter how much he smiles or uses words to try to throw you off balance, as he crosses the lines, he will make his intentions plain. (I talk about drawing a verbal line HERE and HERE as well as HERE. Go HERE to see my series on Lines in the Dirt.

Other lines include the following.

    The line of verbal manipulation (I cover these in my review of The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker.

    The line of physical pre-contact cues (Tony Blauer discusses HERE)

    The line of personal space

In each case, you must plainly tell the predator to break off his contact with you. Refusal to do so provides you with moral justification for the use of force against him. I will discuss legal justification in my review of Cooper's principle of aggressiveness.

Principles of Personal Defense - Review of Ch 1

 I have previously given an overview of Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper. Now, I'd like to give you my critical review of the first chapter, "Alertness".

Alertness

If you stay alert, you will most readily escape or evade an attack. In an unavoidable assault, alertness keeps you from being taken by surprise. Cooper says that, although some people possess a greater inborn capacity for alertness, the rest can increase theirs. 
Of improving alertness he says,  “Two rules are immediately evident: Know what is behind you, and pay particular attention to any thing out of place.” (p. 7)

Then he presents a way to enhance your situational awareness: “Make it a game. Keep a chart. Any time anyone is able to approach you from behind without your knowledge, mark an X. Every time you see anyone you know before he sees you, mark down an O.” (p. 8)

This works even better if you can recruit a buddy to play the game with you. He gets a point every time he approaches you unnoticed, and you get a point when you sneak up on him.

 As you progress, introduce the game into your daily activity. In a restaurant or public library, do you sit with your back against the wall so that no one can approach you from behind? If you cannot sit back-to-wall, perhaps you can deliberately choose a spot where you can observe anyone approaching you. Here, you might use a reflective surface to increase your field of vision.

You can also get in the habit of looking around as you pump gas, so that no one can come up on your back without you knowing.

For myself, I find grocery shopping the perfect opportunity to work on an alert mindset. It’s easy to get so involved at looking for the right can of beans or figuring the best deal on tuna that you don’t notice you’re blocking the aisle. Which also means you don’t know who’s behind you. In any crowded place, you can practice alertness by navigating the crowds with awareness and purpose.

Cooper addresses rule #2 when he says, “Anything out of place can be a danger signal.” (p. 8) He treats this big topic only briefly. I will not elaborate here, but direct you to my review of Gavin DeBecker’s The Gift of Fear.

I will end this segment with a few recommendations by the Colonel.

    “On the street, let no stranger take your hand.”

    “Use your eyes. Do not enter unfamiliar areas that you cannot observe first.”

    “Make it a practice to swing wide around corners." (p.9)

Doing these things could prevent a surprise attack, or at the very least, take the surprise out of the attack.