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ATTACK
PROOF
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PERSONAL PROTECTION

Master John Perkins

Founder, Perkins Self-Defense Systems

8th degree black belt

Major Al Ridenhour, USMC

4th degree black belt

Matt Kovsky
3rd degree black belt

m
Human Kinetics

SOUTH ROSTON
&/_
2m Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
SB BR
HV 7431 Perkins, John, 1951 Mar. 31-
-P453 Attack proof: the ultimate guide to personal protection / John Perkins, Al Ridenhour,
2000 Matt Kovsky.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 0-7360-0351-7
1. Crime prevention. 2. Violent crimes— Prevention. 3. Self-defense. I. Ridenhour, Al, 1964-
II. Kovsky, Matt, 1957- III. Title.

HV7431 .P453 2000

362.88-dc21 99-059762
CIP
ISBN: 0-7360-0351-7

Copyright © 2000 by John Perkins, Albert Ridenhour, and Matt Kovsky

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and re-
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Acquisitions Editor:Jeff Riley; Developmental Editor: Julie Rhoda; Assistant Editor: Carla
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Dedicated to Coy Perkins, Sr., who started it all.
—John Perkins
 CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vi

Introduction: Life on the Streets vii

Drill Finder xiv

Part I Close Combat Body and Mind P rinciples 1

Chapter 1 Awareness 3
Learn Awareness Strategies 4
Establish Your Personal Comfort Zone 8
Practice Hostile Awareness 9
Understand Your Perspective as a Victim 11
Challenge No One 12
Respond According to Your Environment 13

Chapter 2 Basic Strikes and Strategies 15

The Interview and Preemptive Strike 15
The Jack Benny Stance 16
Blind Attacks and the Fright Reaction 19
Basic Close Combat Strikes 19
Close Combat Drills 26

Part II Guided Chaos Body and Mind Principles 39

Chapter 3 Looseness 43
Relaxed Looseness 43
Reactive Looseness 44
Rooted Looseness 45
Yielding, Looseness, and Pocketing 46
Pressure Responses 49
Looseness Drills 54

iv
 Chapter 4 Body Unity 65
Internal Energy 66
Chi 67
Body Unity Drills 69

Chapter 5 Balance 73
Your Balance Foundation 75
Balance Drills 77

Chapter 6 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 89

Sensing Energy 90
Creating Energy 93
Recognizing Energy 106
Sensitivity Drills 106
Dropping Drills 108
Energy Drills Ill

Part III Guided Chaos for Superior Self-Defense 125

Chapter 7 Applying the Principles to Motion 127
The Body as a Shield 127
The Body as a Weapon 140

Chapter 8 Economy of Movement ; 147

DefensiveEconomy 147
Economy
Offensive 153
Economy of Movement Drills 159

Chapter 9 Grabs and Locks 161

Grabs 161
Locks 162
Resisting Grabs and Locks 165
Grip Exercises 168
Tendon Strengtheners 169

Chapter 10 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 173

Ground Fighting 173
Defeating Chokes 178
Guided Chaos Kicking 184
Fighting Multiple Opponents 1 86
Stick-Fighting L86
Knife Defense L88
Gun Defense I'M

Attack With Close Combat,

Defend With Guided Chaos 200

Creating a Training Regimen 203

Principles Glossary 205
References and Resources 20S
Index 209
About the Authors 214
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sincere thanks and appreciation to the following individuals who made this book possible:
• Human Kinetics acquisitions editor Jeff Riley for recognizing the difference
• HK developmental editor Julie Rhoda for her patience, charm, and insight
• Bryan Hopkins, A.K.A. Dr. Macintosh, for his computer expertise
• Tim Carron of TLC Photo, Inc. of Yonkers, NY, for his flawless photography
• David Randel, Killeen Good, and Samantha Fox for modeling their technique and
expertise for the photographs
• David Pirell for his peerless artistry

• Mary Ann Celente for her organizational precision

• Phyllis O. Burnett (you know why)

Master John Perkins would like to thank Professor Bradley J. Steiner for his inspiration, Grand-
master Ik Jo Kang for his patient teaching, Master Waysun Liao for his philosophy, and Dr. Drew
Miller for his insights. Special thanks to Dr. Peter Pizzola and Dr. Peter DeForrest for their guid-
ance in the world of forensic science. Most of all, he would like to thank his sweetheart Cheryl
Adler for her wisdom and support.

Major Al Ridenhour would like to acknowledge his wife, Lani, and his son, Spencer, for all their
love and support over the years and without whom none of this would be possible.

Matt Kovsky would like to thank his wife, Kerri, for her love and endurance through the lengthy
birth of this book.

VI
 INTRODUCTION
LIFE ON THE STREETS

There are hundreds of martial arts styles out have spawned secretiveness, repression, and
there and many times that number of financial hardship among many old-world
books about them. Nevertheless, most are masters, and financial greed in many new-
pretty much the same, both in content and ap- world disciples. In fact, an entire volume could
proach. What you are about to read, however, be written on just this subject, but that is be-
is unlike any other self-defense book you've yond the scope of this work. What we need to
ever come across. recognize is, whether by plan or accident, self-
We're not going to sugar-coat it for you; self- defense training on almost all levels has be-
defense is warfare. In war, there is a distinct come inadequate, overstylized, and unnatural.
difference between what works and what To teach large numbers of people in a short
doesn't, between what is real and what we time, defensive moves are often boiled down
would like to be real. War is a filter for figments into simple, regimented, robot-like techniques
of the imagination. Through a deadly process that bear no resemblance to actual fighting.
of attrition, whether you like it or not, useless Similarly, some originally authentic systems oJ
knowledge is disposed of. What you're left fightinghave developed into highly artistic and
with are survival skills. dance-like art forms that are appropriate for
In the modern era, the focus of hand-to-hand demonstration purposes only. Mai 'keted as sell
combat training has become lost, especially for defense, they are now too elaborate and cum
civilians. The reasons for this are varied but bersome for the violent mayhem ol real life
include economic, cultural, and egotistical in- situations.
and personal rivalries over-
fluences; political The methodologies book are the re-
in this
seas between individuals and governments sult of extensive real-world testing and have

vn
viii Introduction

nothing necessarily to do with belts, tournaments, rankings, egos, or preserving

traditions that no longer reflect the effectiveness of their original forms. Their
creator, John Perkins, is a retired New York police detective and an expert on the
dynamics of violence at homicide scenes. His research experiments for Dr. Peter
Deforrest (head of Forensic Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) and
Dr. Peter Pizzola (of the Yonkers, New York crime lab), involving thousands of
experiments in blood spatter pattern interpretation, were crucial to Perkins's
understanding of various aspects of very violent events. These experiments re-
vealed to Perkins that fights to the death don't "go down" the way most people
think.
John Perkins has applied the reality principles that arose from his work, life-

long martial arts training, and personal involvement in more than 100 armed
and unarmed confrontations as a police officer to the development of a unique
and dynamic fighting system. This system is currently used by some highly
trained Marines, SWAT teams, and FBI hostage rescue personnel, as well as state
and local law enforcement officers. As stated earlier, this self-defense methodol-
ogy is probably different from anything else you've ever come across. It has to
be, to address the paradox that has plagued the field of self-defense for some
time: If all life-and-death struggles are hell-storms of unchoreographed chaos
and confusion, then why do other systems train you with repetitive, patterned
techniques? In everything from formalized katas to standardized punching, the
nervous systems and reflexes of students and professionals are being trained
—
from the beginning for a reality that doesn't exist preplanned fighting.
This book prepares the highly skilled martial artist and the nonmartial artist
to face their two most dangerous adversaries: the psychopathic violent criminal
and ignorance. Self-defense, although it may be raised to the level of an art form,
is neither a game nor sport. The psychopathic violent criminal is not a movie

character but a living beastwho enjoys senseless acts of brutality — the maiming
or killing of innocent people— to release his seething rage. She may be lucid or
acting under the influence of mind-altering substances. He may be a prison-
trained monster or he may have learned as he went. He or she may be anyone
from a next door neighbor or an ex-husband to a rogue police officer or seem-
ingly innocent mother. He attacks instantly and decisively, relying on surprise
or subterfuge, either armed or bare-handed. He gives no quarter and cares little
about being killed himself. This is what you may come up against.
The bottom line for you is to prepare for potential confrontations, both physi-
cally and mentally. As such, you're going to have to learn to do things a little
differently. To deal with real-life mayhem, learning some special technique is
not going to help you. Neither is retreating into Eastern or New Age mysticism.
You need to take a swan dive into reality with both eyes and all your senses
wide open. With the help of this book, you're going to become a master of guided
chaos. You're going to learn how to deal with violence the way it really hap-
pens.
This book provides martial artists with unique principles to learn that en-
hance what they already know, and novices with the bare bones of survival as
well as a methodology of training that will enhance their overall coordination,
timing, balance, and inner and outer harmony. But, as is not the case with purely
meditative training, that inner peace will become more profound with training
because it will be based on physical and mental abilities and a true representa-
tion of fighting dynamics.
 Introduction ix

This fighting methodology is from other organized "styles" of mar-

different
tial arts in many ways, yet it can complement most of them. How different is it?

Foremost, the methods presented here have no forms. That is, there are no set
and sanctified techniques, no prearranged responses to specific types of attacks,
and no learn-by-the-numbers choreography to clog the mind and reflexes with
unnecessary strategic calculations. How is this possible? We invert the entire
learning process. With guided chaos, we start your training where most systems
— —
end with grace and work backward from there. We do this because during a
real fight for your life, it is virtually impossible to deliver a stylized technique
effectively; the speed, chaos, viciousness, confusion, and utter terror associated
with a real fight preclude this. Your nervous system simply becomes overloaded
with the flood of sensory stimuli. You can't treat your brain like an electronic
dictionary of self-defense responses and expect it to select the right "technique"
to counter a "matching" attack under extreme duress. It simply doesn't work
that way. If you've been programmed by practicing a specific response to a spe-
cific attack, your defense will fail if the attack changes by even one inch from the

way you've trained.

This is true whether you know one technique or one thousand. How will
your body know when to deliver the strike if the sensory data it is being bom-
barded with has no correlation to your practice? Remember, all serious
(nonsparring) fights are literally hell-storms of chaos; therefore, you cannot rely
confidently on choreographed training. This is not conjecture. It has been proven

through exhaustive experience, countless police and morgue reports, and testi-
monials of police officers with high-ranking belts from various martial arts styles
whose classical training failed them when the spit hit the fan.
This book contains documented examples of real people under horrific cir-
cumstances. It helps to be reminded that violence rarely unfolds the way it does
in the martial arts school, or the way it's depicted on TV or in the movies.

YONKERS BLOODBATH
John Perkins
In one documented example, a police officer responded to a radio call for help from
an injured colleague at an infamous Yonkers, New York lounge. The responding of-
ficer was highly trained in various styles of karate and kung fu and plunged through
the open door of the bar, ready for action.
As he ran across the threshold, his first step into the dimly lit room was straight
into a pool of blood. As if on ice, he slipped and slammed down hard on his back.
Immediately, a huge brute dove on him and began whaling at his face while trying
to strangle him. In a frenzy, the officer grabbed his nightstick and swung it wildly at
the attacking man. The heavy nightstick crashed against a bar stool and blew apart
before it made contact with the thug's head. As a traditional weapon, it was now
useless.
What saved the officer was that as a child, he had been trained by his father in
Native American fighting principles that embodied looseness, spontaneity, and un-
bridled viciousness. These now emerged. He began to use the broken nightstick as a
stabbing and bludgeoning weapon, pounding it against the thug's temple. This,
working in concert with his raging adrenaline, enabled him to evade strikes, adapt
to the broken nightstick, and avoid serious injury to himself.
 Introduction

PSYCHOTIC REACTION
John Perkins
A fact of life is that no matter how strong, Large, or fast you are, there's always
someone stronger, larger, or faster. Typically, these are the people who attack you.
Also, no matter what the attacker looks
you never know who you're dealing
like,

with. An otherwise diminutive individual can become so enraged by drugs, psycho-

sis, or sheer terror, that he or she literally has the strength of a lion.
For example, police officers found a small homeless woman lying motionless in
the street, muttering to herself. When they asked her to move, all hell broke loose.
To make between the street where she was discovered and the
a long story short,
mental hospital where she was finally locked down, one cop had his uniform torn to
shreds, another had flesh ripped from his body, and two large hospital orderlies who
tried to contain her were seriously injured while begging for assistance. Caught
unaware, a 220-pound cop with a black belt hit her with a reverse punch square in
the solar plexus that sent her crashing against a wall. This only enraged her. She let
out a deep, guttural growl that would have made an exorcist cower in fear and then
exploded into violence. The first thing available with which to subdue her without
serious injury was a 200-pound iron hospital bed. Needless to say, despite her size,
the woman was a human tornado.

This book offers a proven alternative form of thinking, training, and fighting
that takes the following issues head-on:

• Training in a "hard" style of martial arts that emphasizes brute strength

may not adequately prepare you for real life-and-death confrontations.
• Training in a "soft" style with technically complex forms can clog the mind
when every millisecond of a real fight is totally unpredictable.
Now don't get us wrong. With time, dedication, talent, and first-class teach-
ing, classical training has turned out (and continues to turn out) superb fighters.
Nevertheless, we submit a different approach to learning realistic self-defense,
one that's more focused on the end result. Weigh the arguments carefully and
draw your own conclusions. Our methodology focuses on training in a nonco-
operative manner from the start, stressing the unexpected.
In contrast, in one popular soft style martial art's framing routine, when a
person attacks, it's in a preset manner, with both parties knowing the precise
technique that will be used. An example of this is where one person faces an-
other, pretending to attack with a knife. He slowly moves forward, holding the
knife about waist-high. The defender steps confidently to one side while brush-
ing the knife away. Next, grabbing the offender's arm, he twists his wrist. The
attacker then jumps into the air, flips over, and lands on his side, whereupon the
defender puts the knife hand into a wrist lock, supposedly vanquishing him.
This is as close to pure choreography as you can get, yet it's a scene duplicated
in many martial arts schools. Often, students are told that these techniques will
work in the real world. This is a dangerous fallacy. Police reports show that an
enraged, untrained 100-pound woman with a large knife can slice a trained mar-
tial artist to ribbons in seconds.

Train unrealistically and unnaturally, and you cannot fight for real. As obvi-
ous as this concept seems, more often than not it is one of the most overlooked
 Introduction xi

THE BEFUDDLED MASTER

John Perkins
A great master of the soft style mentioned on page x (who was second only to the
style's creator), "lost" in a mock cameraman who was filming
fight with an untrained
him. On a whim, the master had decided to use this cameraman in an impromptu
demonstration. Unfortunately, this cameraman, as you can actually see in the film,
did not know how to "cooperate" with the master, who had a difficult time trying to
put him on the ground. In fact, it took quite a long time and much effort to win. The
fight was a clumsy mess and probably very embarrassing for the master. Surprisingly,
this did not serve as a lesson — the art is still taught today as if cooperation is

always going to be present.

aspects of martial arts training. This is because many people who say they want
to learn self-defense really want a sport or — a religion. This is why so many
martial arts schools concentrate on the superfluous instead of the essential.
Don't misunderstand it —
is always helpful to be fit to have the best chance in
an attack. That is, achieving and maintaining cardiovascular fitness and muscu-
lar strength and endurance means that you will be better able to move quickly
and protect yourself. However, since the reality is that most real fights last less
than four seconds, adrenaline and trained reflexes are the true keys to survival.
Even if you win the fight, however, you could still lose: if you're not in shape,
your body can suffer cardiovascular and structural trauma simply recovering
from the stresses your adrenaline-fired responses placed on it. We will help you
develop only those physical attributes necessary for self-defense at the expense
of those that would help you win a body-building contest, an arm wrestling
match, or a triathlon.

OVERQUALIFIED?
John Perkins
In one of our seminars, an arrogant teacher of a particular style that emphasizes
knife work (who also happened to be a police trainer) thought he was overqualified
for a particular drill using rubber knives. He was matched with an untrained, five-

foot-two-inch woman. Before the exercise began, she was pulled to the side and told
to imagine that she was a Native American warrior and that settlers had come and
captured her family. The only thing standing between her and her children was the
self-assured man standing in front of her. She was given permission to do whatever
she wanted. She proceeded to annihilate him. With a yell, she ran straight at him. At
the last second, she slid on her knees and stabbed him five times in the groin with
the rubber knife. Stunned, her opponent managed one feeble swipe at her head
(which she blocked), before falling backward on the ground. The woman jumped on
top of him and finished him with a "stab" to the throat.
Not surprisingly, the police instructor was crestfallen. He was obviously highly
skilled,but he suffered from a reactive handicap— pattern recognition. Because
what the woman had done resembled no pattern he had ever practiced, he could not
respond to her movement effectively.
 Xll Introduction

Classical training very often beautiful, cooperative, and predictable while

is

combat is and
ugly, nasty, chaotic. Board-breaking, high flashy kicks, and Rus-
sian splits are all great and praiseworthy athletic accomplishments. But they all
have one thing in common: they have absolutely nothing to do with self-de-
fense. It's very simple —
the way you practice is the way you fight. So if you
can't depend on fixed techniques, and you can't rely on muscling your assail-
ant, what are you left with?
To free the mind and allow it to function at the gross "animalistic" level best
suited for survival, you need to train in what amounts to a paradox: principles
of movement that are simultaneously random, spontaneous, and free, yet sin-
gularly effective. What we mean by principles of movement are the laws of iner-
In the real world, attacks
tia, momentum, speed, ballistics, weight, balance, looseness, sensitivity, coordi-
are not choreographed.
nation,and body unity that characterize and are best suited for the human (and
They happen when least
animal) body in mortal combat.
expected, and under the
This is what we call an education in guided chaos. During a fight, the only
worst circumstances. constant is change —change in direction, attack angles, weapons, balance, envi-
They are anarchic and ronment, lighting, number of assailants, friction, speed, force, tactics, footing,
spontaneous by nature emotions, pain, and any number of other variables. Therefore, in this methodol-
and require a different ogy, what you will be learning and practicing are principles and exercises to
mind-set and method of help you to become a master of motion, randomness, and change rather than a
training. master of techniques.

Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and has-
tens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness. And as water shapes
its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the
situation of the enemy. And as water has no constant form, there are in war no constant
conditions. Thus, one able to gain the victory by modifying his tactics in accordance with the
enemy situation may be said to be divine.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 1963

This is as true today as it was over 2,000 years ago.

Because our approach to self-defense is unusual, the material in Attack Proof

is laid out differently from what you might expect. There are virtually no condi-

tioning exercises nor repetitive drills. Although we detail many physical exer-
cises that may double as effective low-impact aerobics, the mission of Attack
ProofIs to teach you principles of motion that can help you save your life.
In part I we detail and dispose of certain faulty preconceptions about han-
dling violence. Chapter 1 prepares you mentally for what is to follow. If this
sounds frightening, don't worry; once you begin to understand what you are
dealing with and how you are going to deal with it, you will build a new per-
— —
spective on self-defense and perhaps life that is both calming and fortifying.
You will also learn the single most important tool of self-defense, which, ironi-
cally, has nothing to do with fighting. Chapter 2 briefly describes basic strikes,
some obvious and some unusual, that make up the elementary tools you'll de-
fend yourself with. We have culled these from a system used to train United
States soldiers during WWII to deal with the prospect of going hand to hand
with Japanese troops allegedly proficient in judo and karate. A simplified sys-
tem called close combat has been devised from these methods that alone is le-
thal and, with little training, provides effective self-defense for the average per-
son. We round out chapter 2 with some very unusual drills to unify the mental
principles described in chapter 1 with the physical principles explained in chap-
 —
Introduction xiii

ter 2. important, however, that you do not attempt to perfect the strikes in
It is

chapter 2 or you will fall into the most common trap in martial arts: fixating
your mind and body on a technique. What you'll learn is that the strike itself is
not as important as how you get the opportunity to deliver it.
Learning this close combat material first will ensure that you develop the
right attitude for self-preservation before launching into the heart of this book
the study and training of guided chaos and its related principles in parts II and
III.

What, then, is the relationship between the close combat described in part I
and the guided chaos described in parts II and III? We believe that learning to
punch and kick is the easy part. All you need is the knowledge to discriminate
between useless and effective striking; that's what close combat is. Then, once
you understand what basic strikes are and what they're supposed to do, you
can focus your attention on the real business of learning self-defense: how to
make them work. That's where guided chaos comes in. Guided chaos is the
language of fighting. We cannot emphasize enough that great physical strength,
hand-toughening routines, and extraordinary balletic splits aren't required. All
you need are gravity, perseverance, and an open mind.
Part II explains in detail the four primary principles of guided chaos. Their
chief purpose is to make your movements free and creative. Each chapter has its
own unique exercises for integrating the principles into unified mind-body re-
sponses. We say "unified" because as you'll see, your own mind can be your
biggest enemy.
Part III shows you howapply the principles of part II while fighting. By
to
explaining additional modifying principles and exercises in chapter 7 ("Apply-
ing the Principles to Motion") and chapter 8 ("Economy of Movement"), you
begin to apply the "guided" in guided chaos. Chapter 9 ("Grabs and Locks")
uses the preceding principles to protect you from one of the most dangerous
traps in fighting: falling in love with controlling tactics. Finally in chapter 10, we
explain the guided chaos approach to ground fighting, as well as defending
yourself against kicks, sticks, knives, guns, and multiple attackers. (Guided chaos
as applied to gun fighting is a unique and complete art in itself and beyond the
scope of this book; please refer to the references and resources section for spe-
cific resources on this topic.) In addition, throughout Attack Proof we present

various self-defense awareness tips that make up a body of street smarts, cov-
ering everything from hotel safety to safe jogging to thwarting carjackings.
One last comment about the methods in this book: Are you an advanced black
belt? Do you want to put teeth into your tai chi? You needn't dispose of what-
ever hard-won competence you already have. It's all valuable. Rather, as one
student who has been through the training outlined in this book has observed,
"It's the grease that makes all my other skills work better."
 <

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Anywhere Strikes I • 34 I

Anywhere Strikes II • 35 I

Anywhere Strikes III • 35 I

Back Walk • • 107n

Ball Compression • no n
Basic Knife Fighting Drill • • 193 m
Battle-Ax Box Step • 83 n
Beanbag • 109 II

Body Writing • 69 II

Box Step • 8i n
Circle Clap • 63 II

Coin Chase • • 107 n

Coin Dance • • 107 n
Contact Flow • • 118 II

Dead-Fish Arms • 55 n
Finger Creep • 169 m
Fold Like a Napkin • • 54 n
Free-Striking Box Step • • 82 II

Fright Reaction I • • 28 I

Fright Reaction II • • 29 I

Fright Reaction III • • 29 I

Gang Attack I • • 33 I

Gang Attack II • • 37 I

Gang Attack III • • 183 m

Gun Defense I
• • 198 m
Gun Defense II • • 199 m
Hula ^^ • 56 II

Interview • • 30 I

Iso-Strike • 170 m
Knife Skip Drill • • 192 m
Leg Mania • 182 m
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Meet Jason • • 31 I

Mexican Hat Dance • 36 I

Modified Anywhere Stikes • 159 III

Moving Behind a Guard • 128 III

Ninja Walk • 77 II

Opening the Door • 70 II

Polishing the Sphere I • 111 II

Polishing the Sphere II • 112 II

Polishing the Sphere III • 112 II

Psycho-Chimp • 62 II

Relaxed Breathing • 54 II

RHEM • 116 II

Rolling the Energy Ball • 113 II

Row the Boat • 159 III

Run and Scream • 27 I

Sand Bucket • 169 III

Small Circle Dance • 61 II

Solo Contact Flow • 60 II

Speed Flow • 170 III

Split-Brain Air- Writing • 64 II

Stair Steps • 109 II

Starting the Mower • 70 II

Sticks of Death • • 61 II

Sticky Fingers • • 61 II

Stumble Steps • • 108 II

Swimming • 57 II

Swimming Sidestroke • 59 II

Turning • 56 II

TV-Cut Drill • 109 II

Two-Minute Push-Up • 170 III

Vacuum Walk • 79 II

Washing the Body • 114 II

Weaving Python • • 55 II

Whirling Dervish Box Step • 84 II

Wood-Surfing • 85 II

XV
 pART NE

CLOSE COMBAT
BODY AND MIND
PRINCIPLES
Before we launch into the methodology that makes our approach so different
from other martial arts, part I provides you with some close combat fighting
basics that should be part of every serious self-defense student's knowledge.
These consist of fighting mind-sets and body positions (chapter 1) and basic close
combat strikes (chapter 2). As noted in the introduction these close combat meth-
ods alone are lethal and, with little training, provide effective self-defense for the
average person. They also provide the necessary foundation on which you can
build your knowledge and practice of guided chaos, which is presented more
fully in parts II and III.
 CHAPTER ONE

^WARENESS
The concept of awareness
may be tempted to ignore
so simple you
is

Ironically, it.
on you for bravery if

the next person be the hero.

you're already dead. Let

though, it's one of the most effective forms of Learn to respect your intuition and to use
self-defense available. There are also many your awareness in any situation. Everyone has
misconceptions about it. Consider this sce- it, yet many people ignore their better judg-

nario: You're walking to some destination on ment. A gross example of this is people who
You need to turn left and walk
a city street. walk around with their heads down, contem-
down Main Street. As you do so, you notice plating some inner scenario, completely oblivi-
two men loitering against a car. They don't ous to their surroundings. This behavior is an
necessarily look dangerous, but there's just accident waiting to happen. Granted, most of us
something, a feeling, that disturbs you slightly look where we're going, yet we don't really see
about them. Do you anything.
a. walk down the opposite side of the street Even if you are licensed to carry a handgun
and avoid eye contact so you won't seem and have sought the necessary professional
confrontational; training to be able to use your gun safely and
effectively, it's important that you still are ex-
b. walk straight toward them, confident,
tremely aware so that you can reach for it in
head held high, as you may have learned
time. Without adequate hand-to-hand Fighting
in your assertiveness training class; or
knowledge, you won't be able to gel \ our guri
c. reach into your pocket (handbag, holster)
out before you're overpowered. And your as
and rest your fingers lightly on your knife
sailant may get to it first, which could reall)
(mace, pistol) and get ready to use it?
escalate the seriousness of the sit nation We \ e
The correct answer? None of the above. Rather, done workshops in which gun owners had
you use your awareness and walk down an- theirworlds rocked by a simple test, rhey
other street. It's logical: if you're not there, they found that if they wore" charged at In a knife
can't attack you. No one is going to pin a medal wielding attacker from all the \\a\ across a
 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

large room, they were cut down long before they could pull their weapons. Even
so, we remind you that if you do own a gun, seek out the proper professional
training to ensure you know how to use it effectively.
By being aware of your surroundings, we are not talking about descending
into some gobbledygook, New Age, Zen-like state of mind, but about the im-
portance of training yourself to casually notice your surroundings all the time.
This is vital because in nearly 100 percent of assaults, the victim had a feeling
It's important to train
that something was wrong before anything happened. It's not about having
yourself to casually take 20/20 hindsight, either. Our primitive instincts are still fully functional, scream-
notice of your surround- ing at us; we're just not listening to them.
ings all the time. Try this simple exercise every time you're on the street: Decide to look for
something during the course of your walk. For example, look for people with
red shirts or men with mustaches. This gets you to open your awareness to your
surroundings on a regular basis.
You don't have to go around in a continuously paranoid state, however. Sim-
ply keep your attention outward, and if something looks amiss, you'll notice it.
Best of all, if you are aware, any predator out there will notice that you're aware
of your surroundings and therefore that you aren't an easy target.
Learn to trust your feelings. For example, if a complete stranger insists on
helping you fix a flat, carry packages, or any other unsolicited favor, you may
feel a tightness in your stomach and ignore it, because you want to be polite.
Predators count on this. They approach you this way to earn your trust and get
you to a private location. Don't back down. Seek out a third person, like a store
employee or a neighbor, if they're insistent. Or start screaming; there are more
dead polite people than you'd like to know about. The best self-defense is never
having to use it in the first place.

Learn Awareness Strategies

The following tips provide some specific ways to be aware and prevent robbery,
assault, and murder (some ways to combat rape are discussed in chapter 2).
Whether you're at home, at the office, in a parking lot, at an ATM, in a car, or on
a train, the best self-defense is awareness. Keep in mind that fear can actually
stifle your sensitivity. Simply take notice of your environment and responsibil-

ity for your safety —

daydream only when you know you're safe.
Being Aware at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
ATMs are potentially dangerous anytime but especially at night and when you're
alone. Avoid using the ATMnight or in an isolated area. Robberies are bad
at
enough, but assault, rape, and murder are sometimes part of the equation. There's
some safety in numbers, however. Carefully stick to these guidelines to help
protect yourself:

• Scan the area before leaving your car to approach an ATM.

• At drive-up ATMs, keep the car in drive or in gear with the clutch depressed.
Keep your foot securely on the brake. If something goes wrong hit the gas.
• If ahead of you and suddenly stops, the driver may be
a vehicle pulls out
—
counting his money and maybe not. Don't enter any area where your car
can be immobilized. Wait until there's no potential for blockage.
 Awareness

• Only use ATMs in the public eye. Naturally, criminals prefer darkness and
isolation.

• Some criminals study the habits of regular ATM users. Don't visit ATMs on
a schedule. Vary the days, times, ATMs you visit.
and
• If your ATM card is lost or stolen, you may be contacted by telephone. The

caller may sound official and ask for your PIN number. Don't give it to him
or her. Instead, offer a reward if he or she turns your lost property over to
the police. Or meet him or her in a public place and bring a friend.

Staying Safe When Traveling

Be especially vigilant when traveling. Hotels and motels are prime crime areas.
Follow these tips to help you stay safe when traveling:
• Call the front desk someone suspicious is lurking about or tries to gain
if

entry to your room, using some excuse such as that he or she "must check
your TV."
• Watch out for ruses. Many travelers fall victim to criminals posing as em-
ployees. Always verify by calling the front desk. Some criminals manipu-
late legitimate employees to gain access to your room.

• If you're going on a trip or are a constant traveler, purchase one or two

portable door alarms that attach to the doorknob. You can find these alarms
in electronicssupply stores. If someone tries to enter your front door or the
door between your room and an adjacent one, he or she will activate a
high-pitched siren. You can also purchase portable alarms with a built-in
delay to place on the inside of the door while you're out. Be aware, how-
ever, that the delay feature is not good for direct personal protection when
you're in.

• If you have valuables, put them in the hotel safe.

• If you suspect that something is wrong before entering your room, have a
staff member check it first.
• You can always have your room cleaned while you're present.
• Keep a "Do not disturb" sign on your door and a radio or TV playing while
you're out.
• Always who's calling you in your room. Don't give your name
find out
you've got a legitimate caller. If the caller says they're
until you're satisfied
from room service, ask their name and verify by calling room service. If
they say they're calling from the front desk, call the front desk back and
verify.

• If you're out partying, whether away from home or not, be aware that there
are many kinds of drugs that can be slipped into your drink by a person
who has gained your confidence. Do not leave your drink unattended. Get
to know who you're dealing with. Allowing them to return to your room
with you is dangerous.
• Keep conversations with cab drivers or hotel personnel courteous, but don't
give out personal information. may be used for criminal purposes.
It

• Remain sober while traveling. The need may arise for you to take physi< al

steps to survive.
ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Distinguishing Phony Police

A person posing as a police officer is a disturbingly popular scam used by the
most heinous predators. Here are some tips to help you distinguish phony from
real police:

• If you're going about your business and are accosted by a person or per-

sons flashing badges and IDs in plain clothes, be extremely wary, espe-
ciallyif you know you've done nothing wrong. If they ask you for

nonpersonal information and their IDs look legitimate, you could answer
their questions.

• If they want to place you in a vehicle or move you to another location or if

you have doubts, be courteous and ask them to communicate with head-
quarters and call for a uniform patrol car to respond. Don't jump into an
unmarked car with potential masqueraders.
• If you're in an unmarked car and something they say or do clearly tells you
they're not real police, then crash the car (see page 11).

• If you receive a phonefrom someone claiming to be a police officer,

call
find out which precinct he or she is calling from and call back to verify.
• Ifyou're approached on foot by someone flashing a badge, don't just fol-
—
low blindly if asked demand a uniform patrol car.
• If you're driving lawfully and carefully in an isolated area and a suspicious

unmarked car pulls up with a plain clothes driver asking you to pull over,
take no chances. Even if you see a flashing dashboard and single roof light,
be careful. Anyone can buy a badge or light for his car. Authentic-looking
uniforms can be purchased by anybody. Signal to the suspect officer to fol-
low you to a safer, crowded area. If you're stopped, request that a uniform
patrol car be sent. Keep your car locked, windows up, and engine running.
Ask for the phone number of his precinct. Call 911 if you feel you're in
danger, and let them see you doing it. This all points to the importance of
—
always carrying a cellular phone; it's no longer a luxury it's an absolute
necessity.

Avoiding Purse Snatchers, Pickpockets, and Muggers

Carry your valuables such as license, keys, and credit cards separate from your
wallet or purse, especially when traveling. Purchase a money belt or pouch that
can be easily concealed. Follow these tips as well:

• If a purse snatcher grabs your bag, don't fight him. Let it go. Many have

been injured or killed because they valued their possessions more than their
personal safety.
• Most by one or more criminals who use a
street robberies are perpetrated
diversion. could be as simple as asking the time or some other question.
It

You're being assessed as a potential target.

• Don't stop on the street. Keep walking and politely decline requests for
information, directions, the time, or money. Say you're in a hurry, you have
no money, whatever. If the person attempts to physically stop you, be ready
to escape. If you can't, be ready to fight.

• Keep in mind that you don't know if the person accosting you is working
with an accomplice and setting you up for rape, robbery, assault, or mur-
 Awareness

der. In the case of panhandlers you could have some loose

in public places,
change but don't ever go into your purse or wallet to get change. If
to drop,
you're actually being robbed, and they ask for your money, don't fish around
for bills. Give them the whole purse or wallet.

• If you're walking and somehow become cornered by one or more people

and your inner alarm goes off, attack immediately and ruthlessly (study
the section on multiple attackers, page 186). As soon as you can, escape.
Hit hard and fast, disable the one closest to you, push him aside, and run
through the gap. If escape is impossible, you'll need everything you will
learn in this book. You can survive.

Defending Yourself at Home

More than half of all rapes and a great percentage of robberies, assaults, and
murders happen in the home. Defend your home or apartment like a castle:
• Most criminals avoid homes with dogs. Some breeds work better than oth-
ers, so do some research.

• Keep your windows clear of shrubbery, which can hide a burglar or rapist
while they're jimmying your window.
• Get outdoor motion sensor lights.

• Consider installing an alarm system from a reputable security company.

• Join your Neighborhood Watch program, or form one if it doesn't already
exist.

• Keep your valuables out of easy sight and away from ground floor windows.
• Make sure that your garage door is secure. Many thieves or more violent
criminals gain access this way.
• Have peep sight and /or an intercom system installed in your front and
a
rear door. Don't open your door for anyone. If they're in an emergency, call
911 for them. Rapists, robbers, and murderers often use this ruse. They may
pose as plumbers, letter carriers, or telephone or power company employ-
ees. They may be women or children with adult male backup. Fake injuries
are also used to get past your front door.
• If you reach the door to your house or apartment and the key won't go into
the lock or your entry is damaged, get away immediately and call the po-

lice. Don't enter your home without the police checking it out first.
• If you're on your way home and suspect you're being followed, you can
verify thisby making four left or right turns around a block. If the vehicle
behind you, don't go home. Criminals simply follow and jump you
is still

in your own driveway. Drive to the local police or fire department or some
other highly public area. Use your cell phone and call 911.
• Reinforce your bedroom door with a secure lock to slow down an intruder.
Keep phone and gun (that you've been trained to use) by the bed.
a cell
This may seem extreme, but think of the simple logic behind this plan: If
the intruder is not discouraged by motion lights, alarm, and dog and is still
determined you've got a serious problem. All the previously listed
to get in,
obstacles and the reinforced door are meant to slow him down, while the
cell phone gets around a cut phone line. You know what the gun's for. If it's
come to this, don't hesitate to empty it into him.
ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

• This is all well and good if you've got no children or there's no other exit.

Remember: the first line of defense is awareness and the second is escape.
Create and practice an evacuation plan for your entire family. Everybody
tries to get out through the nearest window or door and get a neighbor's
attention.

Safe Jogging
Pepper spray has limited effectiveness against an enraged and determined at-
tacker. In John Perkins's personal experience it has only worked about half the
time, even when it's shot straight in the eyes at close range. Use it in conjunction
with a defensive strategy: spray and run, or spray, hit, and run. Here are more
commonsense tips for jogging safely:

• Never jog with headphones on; you jeopardize your awareness, making
yourself a sitting duck.
• Stay away from unlit, thick shrubbery adjacent to trails and paths. Remain
at least 10 feetaway from the sides of buildings and parked cars as you
round blind corners. This can provide the critical space you need to defend
yourself against an ambush.
• Do not jog alone.
• Vary your jogging times and routes. Predictability aids a predator's plan-
ning.
• Wear a personal alarm that you can set off with one hand.
• If you believe
any time you're being followed by a vehicle as you're out
at
jogging, turn around immediatelyand run in the opposite direction pref- —
erably toward home or another secure area. Don't be assertive. Don't be
coy. Just get out of there!

Awareness can prevent you from getting into other potentially hazardous situ-
ations,from entering a strange bar at 4 a.m. on New Year's Eve to leaving your
drink unattended (and susceptible to a "date rape drug" cocktail). In addition to
the awareness guidelines provided throughout this chapter, two excellent books
that promote self-defense awareness are Strong on Defense by Sanford Strong
and The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker.

Establish Your Personal Comfort Zone

It'san unfortunate fact of life, but there are people in this world who simply
can't live in peace with their fellow human beings. You try to cultivate a "love
your neighbor" philosophy, and then some mutant wrecks it by jumping you.
Regrettably, it's that one violent encounter that can cut short a lifetime of good
deeds. So you must make a personal decision either to be wholly trusting (and
vulnerable) or ever-vigilant. Vigilance doesn't mean you have to walk around
angry Indeed, if you take the emotion out of it, vigilance merely becomes a
relaxed practical exercise for fully participating in life.

For example, establish a personal comfort zone that no stranger is allowed to

enter. At a minimum, the zone is about as far as you can extend your arm. Main-
taining this zone may require that you walk around people so they don't get too
close. Refusing to give space needlessly is a senseless provocation and another
 Awareness

liability of so-called assertiveness training. Don't create or let yourself be pulled

You never know who you are dealing with. Main-
into senseless confrontations.
taining your personal comfort zone is difficult in a crowded subway or elevator,
but in these situations your awareness is already heightened. Also, potential
attackers are discouraged from attacking in such crowded conditions: there are
witnesses, and the attacker's escape route is usually obstructed.

Practice Hostile Awareness

What you think and do before a fight is often more important than the fight
itself. We'll call this next section your "prefight orientation" because you have
to make some decisions about your attitude as a victim. But first, try this: from
time to time, strictly as an exercise, when you walk down a busy sidewalk with
people going by at different angles, directions, and speeds, visualize how you
would respond to a random attack from a stranger. Calmly imagine counterat-
tacks that are appropriate to their position in space in relation to yours. How
would you strike? When could you run? Do you have sturdy shoes with which
to kick? If you're really aware, you may need to make a practical decision about
your footwear. Shoes can be and still pack a punch. Are there natural
stylish
weapons (bricks, sticks, bottles, and the like) nearby? Perhaps you have a
ballpoint pen handy to use as a stabbing weapon to the head or soft body parts.
Don't get nervous, this is your life we're talking about protecting. This is only a
drill, but drills are best practiced while you are calm; it will become easier as

you learn and practice the methodologies in this book. After a while, it will
become second nature, and your subconscious won't be so startled if the real
thing should happen. The point is, practicing hostile awareness isn't an exercise
in creating social or emotional dysfunction. Instead, you're looking for potential
hostility inyour environment, not building your own. This prepares your ner-
vous system to respond in an attack.
Remember, anger can be detrimental to your self-defense, because it robs you
of your ability to stay loose and be physically sensitive. You're merely engaging
in neural programming, what's called visualization in advanced sports training.

The Decision-Making Process

Does this attitude of passive vigilance seem extreme? Remember we're giving
you your prefight orientation here so you can make some important philosophi-
Perhaps some sobering statistics are in order. If you're involved in
cal decisions.
a mugging or some other form of assault in which the assailant attempts to take
you to another place (in other words, a kidnapping, carjacking, or a robbery
moved to a remote location), do you
a. try to reason with your captors,
b. go along quietly so you can escape or be rescued later, or
c. tell him that you're expected someplace and that people will come looking
for you?
Once again, the correct answer is none of the above. Police statistics show
that if you go along with the attacker to a second crime scene, the odds of being

killed or being so severely injured that you might wish you had been killed are
10 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

extremely high. By the same token, if you make your stand right there and ei-
ther run (if you can) or fight for your life, the odds are reversed. So, you see,
your decision-making process is greatly simplified. But let's be absolutely clear
about what we mean by this:

• If you're asked for money by a mugger, be very polite and respectful, and
give it to him. Give him whatever he wants, quickly. In some situations

where you have a little distance, you can throw your wallet and run the
other way.
• However, if the mugger wants you to come with him, it's because he has a
lot more in mind.

This is the moment We detail what you actually should do in your

of truth.
counterattack in chapter but it's important to know the reality of the situation.
2,
Despite what you may have been told or seen in movies, there's no magic solu-
tion that will get you out of this situation completely unscathed. You'll probably
sustain some sort of injury even if you get away successfully. The key thing,
however, is that you survive. If you don't run or fight back, you probably won't.
Now, for example, with a knife right against your throat or a gun in your face,
this changes, but only to the extent that your attacker needs to be taken slightly
off guard. We detail specific maneuvers to increase your chances in these situa-
tions in chapter 10, but the point we are trying to make now is you still shouldn't
wait until the attacker has taken you to a secure location. By the way, keep in
mind that most assaults take place without a weapon being introduced, at least
initially.

Using Hostile Awareness During a Carjacking

Hostile awareness can be extended to other dangerous circumstances that de-
mand immediate What if you're in your car,
action to prevent later tragedy.
boxed in by and one or more carjackers come in suddenly through care-
traffic,

lessly unlocked doors and windows and demand to take you someplace? Pre-
vent the assault from moving to a second crime scene by doing whatever it takes
to crash the car quickly. Bite, scratch, and rip his eyes out; then grab the wheel
and smash into something big. Carjackers lose interest in you fast when this
happens, and the injuries you might sustain will probably be less than any the
attacker might give you. A crash also attracts a lot of attention. In short, don't go
with them if you want to live.
Here are some other tips to help you survive a carjacking:
• Scan the parking area before you approach your car. Have your keys ready.
Once inside, lock the windows and doors.
• Avoid driving through bad areas of town. If you must and you get a flat
tire, drive on the rim as far as you need to in order to leave the area. The

cost of a new wheel is a small price to pay for your life. If while you're
driving, someone points to your wheel and says you've got a flat, say "thank
you" and keep driving to the nearest safe area. They may even have put a
slow leak in your tire and followed you. This phony good Samaritan sce-
nario is the oldest trick in the book.
• Always carry a cell phone with an extra battery.
 Awareness 11

When in traffic, always maintain some space in front and behind your car
so you can escape or at least ram another car and then escape.
Beware of fender-bender scams. If never pull over in a deserted
you're hit,

area. Signal to the other driver that you want to drive to a populated area
or some business establishment where you can trade insurance informa-
tion. If he doesn't like it, too bad. You can tell the judge you were afraid for
your safety. Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
If you're stopped on the highway with severe car trouble, your cell phone

won't connect, and someone stops to "help" you, tell them you just called
the highway police for assistance, but you'd also like to call AAA and your
battery died. Ask if they could go to a phone and call for you. If they insist
on helping you and then get out of their car, leave the ignition key and get
out immediately, putting distance between you and the good Samaritan.
Don't get trapped in your car. Remember, a law-abiding person would never
put you through this.

Prepare your family for carjacking incidents. Practice escaping through the
nearest window or door and scattering in different directions at the first
indication of danger or at a prearranged signal from you (e.g., "Run!").
Ifyou're alone and a predator suddenly enters through a window or door
before you can hit the gas, leave the keys and run out the other door. Give
him the car.
Don't go with your abductor. Crash the car. Hard. If the abductor is driv-
ing, wait until you're doing at least 25 mph and then scratch his eyes out,
bite his ear off, go berserk, and make him lose control. That's what you
want. Grab the wheel. Don't reach for the keys; it's a dangerous waste.
Ifyou're placed in the car's trunk, rip out as many wires as you can once
the car starts moving. Inoperative tail lights may attract a cop's attention.
In many cars you can punch out the tail lights from inside the trunk and
actually stick your hand out and wave to attract attention.
Always scan the area before parking your car. Always park in well-lit The three linchpins of
areas. Scan again before leaving your car. When returning to your car, scan self-defense awareness
the area before approaching. This applies especially to parking lots in malls. are
Ifsomething looks suspicious, go back to the mall, tell a security guard or • scan,
—
use your cell phone to call the police don't second guess yourself. Many
• avoid, and
recent horrific tragedies in the news could have been prevented by follow-
• carry a cell phone.
ing this ridiculously easy and simple advice.
Fill your tank in the daytime. Scan the gas station and the store before pull-
ing up.

Understand Your Perspective as a Victim

Law enforcement personnel are in an unenviable position. With their lives on
the line, they must subdue and arrest extremely dangerous individuals who are
often quite willing to take their heads off. The question each cop in such a situ-
ation asks is, "Does this suspect actually harbor this intent or is he just bluffing?
Can I take the risk?" Then, once a fight begins, only "reasonable force" may be
used. In the heat of battle, every cop is expected to have a legal computer
12 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

implanted weigh the results of his actions and to avoid "exces-

in his skull to
sive" tactics that may save his life and those of innocent victims, yet provoke a
lawsuit by the perpetrator.
The impending legal implications of every action have created a market for
tactics that don't use lethal force (locks and holds rather than strikes and chokes),
which protect the criminal more than the cop or other victim. Even so, the effec-
tiveness of these nonlethal tactics is also controversial. This book is not the place
to discuss this issue in depth without getting into an argument over department
policy, local politics, and civil rights; however, we will say that geared-down
"lethal" force training often winds up being safer for both perpetrator and po-
liceman than locks and holds: a cop who can't fight will more likely use his gun.
The point is that as a civilian you are under no such constraints.
For example, a melee took place one Thanksgiving Day at a football game in
Yonkers, New York. Knives were involved and many people were hurt. A police
officer, who also happened to be an instructor of control tactics, applied a wrist
lock to one extremely large and belligerent individual and was actually raised
off the ground by his lock and tossed like a toy against a four-inch iron pipe
protruding from a fence. This teaches us the following:

• Training for life-and-death situations by practicing controlling tactics is like

taking major league batting practice with a flyswatter. In both cases, you'll
strike out big time.

• As a private citizen, you're under no obligation to respect the rights of some-

one who is trying to maim or kill you. You have the right to fight back and
be left alone.
• By training to use deadly force instead of training to contain the attacker,
you have the ability to decide the level of punishment. You can always
back off from maximum force.

Challenge No One
We are teaching the pacifism of a warrior. Unless you or a loved one are in im-
minent physical danger, no worth it, because you never know who you
fight is
are dealing with. Even when you win, you can be seriously injured. Remember
that self-defense isn't about honor, it's about survival, and macho posturing is a
form of insecurity. What are we talking about? Suppose you are in a bar and
someone bumps you, then makes some remark intended to insult your sexual
orientation or claims to have intimate knowledge of your sister. You say "Ex-
cuse me," admit you're a eunuch, and wish him well with your sister. If neces-
sary, claim you're a coward and leave. Walking away from confrontation has
three advantages:

1. You avoid petty squabbles and later entanglement with the legal system.
2. It restricts fights to those you absolutely must undertake to physically save
your hide.
3. It relieves you of moral indecision and guilt when you have no other choice
but to do what you have to do.

The principle of challenging no one, although philosophical, will also pre-

pare you for its vital physical counterpart when we launch into the guided chaos
principles in part II.
 Awareness 13

THE BATTERED KICKBOXER

John Perkins
Mercy can be a liability, even for the well-trained. Mary (not her real name), a competi-
tive kickboxer, was assaulted out of nowhere by a man who spat Fritos in her face and
then lunged at her. To her credit, she reacted instantly, punching and kicking him with
full force. The man fell to the ground, apparently hurt badly.
Unfortunately, what she did next almost got her killed. Mary leaned over him to make
sure he wasn't seriously injured. Suddenly, he leapt up, struck her face, and started
pummeling her. She recovered and again fought back, only to be suddenly pulled off him
by the authorities. At first, they thought he was the victim because he was covered with

blood. In actuality, his first strike at her face had been with a concealed punch knife,
and it had pierced her nasal cavity between the eye and the nose. The blood had poured
out of her onto him. Mary was lucky to survive. After much reconstructive surgery, she
eventually healed.
The moral of the story? Do what's necessary, and then run. Often, weapons aren't
pulled until later in the fight. If you can't get away, then finish the job. After all, he
attacked you, and your family or loved ones won't be consoled if an act of pity deprives
them of you forever.

Respond According to Your Environment

Your environment can play a part in your response. If you're in an area with
other people, such as a crowded train, it's effective to be loud, assertive, and
vocal to attract attention to your position, especially if it's a stealthy harassment
situation with a pickpocket or a groper. Simply screaming at the offender will
turn heads and discourage him. However, if the person is not discouraged, or if
you're in an area where no one is likely to help you (or care), the material in
chapter 2 comes into play

Preventing Common Mistakes

Trying to be polite with a stranger who gives you a "bad feeling" is

potential suicide. Run.

Self-defense skills are useless if you can't release and channel your fear.

Memorized self-defense techniques are too slow for the nervous system
to process in a rapidly changing crisis.

Being inappropriately or unnecessarily assertive with a criminal is an

invitation for disaster.

Standing up to verbal bullying in a bar is not self-defense. Don't be

manipulated.
Don't resist a simple robbery. Do resist an abduction with everything
you've got.
Don't look on a conflict as a personal challenge. Avoid confrontations at
all costs. Run away first. Fight only when you have no choice.

Be a pacifist warrior. Obscurity is the best security.

 CHAPTER TWO

gASIC STRIKES
AND STRATEGIES

You've developed your awareness, you gins with a verbal distraction, such as "You got
avoid dangerous situations, and you claim the time?" or "You got some change?" or the ever-
cowardice and walk away from confrontations. popular "Do you know how to get to .
?" It
. .

Nevertheless, some mutant has picked you as also can refer to that all-important point in the
his target du jour. If jumped without
you're beginning stages of a confrontation in which
notice or your attacker wants to move you to one person attempts to provoke you with
another location, you now know, at least men- "what-you-gonna-do-about-it" talk. If the per-
tally, that it is time to take your stand. But what son gives you the slightest bad feeling (a feel-
do you actually do and how do you train for it? ing based on your awareness, which you need
to trust), your verbal response is to say "Noth-
ing," "No," or "I don't know" and back away,

The Interview and keeping your eyes on him. In short, since* you
challenge no one (see chapter 1, page 12), you
Preemptive Strike give him every opportunity to disprove your
suspicions and reveal himself as relatively be-
Unless you're the victim of an assassination- —
nevolent while you retreat. A Law-abiding
style attack in which you're simply ambushed person will accept your reluctance. You read
and executed, most confrontations begin with to the interview in this way so you can take
an "interview." The interview situation refers full responsibility for what might happen next.

to an impending mugging or attack that be- Despite your withdrawal, it a stranger (or .1

15
16 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

hostile acquaintance) physically enters your personal comfort zone (see page 8)
with a gesture, strike, or attempt to touch you for the purpose of causing you
—
harm, and you can't escape, you need to resort to a preemptive strike an ac-
tion that Bradley Steiner, President of the International Combat Martial Arts

—
Federation, has coined as "attacking the attacker" quickly and decisively.
You don't want to spar with the enemy. You want to disable him or her as
quickly as possible and run. This may involve using deadly strikes to the eyes
and throat immediately. Indeed, if a fight lasts longer than four seconds, you're
in trouble.
In close combat there are some basic defensive postures that enable you to
effectively use the preemptive strike.

The Jack Benny Stance

If you're old enough to know who the great comedian Jack Benny was, you'll
picture this immediately (but no
it's joke!). Jack used to stroke his chin while he
pondered his next punch line. This is the same stance you want to take during
the interview at the first inkling of danger (which you tend to feel almost imme-
—
diately even with scam artists).
To assume the Jack Benny stance, stand sideways to your aggressor (far enough
away so that he must step forward to reach you) and bring your lead hand near
your face with the elbow down in a seemingly nonaggressive position (figure
2.1a). Or this could be a nervous gesture of indecision such as scratching your
head, rubbing your mouth, or, if cornered in an elevator, raising both hands up
in a kind of meek "why me?" posture (figure 2.1b).

FIGURE 2.1
 .

Basic Strikes and Stategies 17

Don't attempt to look threatening with an "en guarde" attitude as if you know
how to fight. The last thing you need is to get his adrenaline flowing faster than
it already is. Instead, like Jack Benny, look small, con-
fused, and harmless. your hands near
Better yet, with
your look relaxed, or,
face, depending on the situation,
terrified (and this may be closer to how you feel than
you'd like), in other words, nonthreatening. This im-
mediately lets the other guy think he won't have to
break a sweat to get what he wants. If it's money, give
it to him promptly. If he wants more than you can give

and attempts to harm you, or especially if he wants you

to go somewhere with him, you must act. In either case,
he'll relax a little, because up to now, you've looked
like "easy pickin's." This is good, because you'll be at-
tacking him preemptively, by striking in the middle of
a sentence, while you're cowering (attacking the at-
tacker). If you're getting the idea that playing possum
has its advantages, you're on the right track. In a nut-
shell, you're assuming a physical posture that does three
things:

1 Itmakes you less threatening to the attacker and

relaxes him slightly.

2. It automatically provides cover for your head and

throat.

3. It aligns your arm for a straight shot to the thug's chin,

eyes, or throat while deflecting a strike from him.

With your arms in the Jack Benny stance position, in

the midst of acting meek, shoot your lead (upraised)
hand you step forward onto your lead
straight out as
leg with all your weight moving in a falling motion.
Simultaneously jab your attacker under the chin with
your palm while you drive the fingers of your lead hand
as deep into his eye sockets as you can (figure 2.2a).
(This type of combination strike is called a chin jab.) Or
chop to the front or side of the throat with the pinkie
edge of your hand (figure 2.2b.) Follow instantaneously
with the other arm by blasting your palm up under his
chin again as you continue to step forward, as if launch-
ing a shot put. A relatively weak person, under adrena-
line, can wrench a larger person's neck with this strike
because the vertebral support is weak.
This is only the first in a series of rapid, straight, and
screaming blows you should unleash like a wild, enraged
cat. (You'll learn others, starting on page 19.) The key is to

hunch your shoulders up and drop your head down so

that you protect your face and neck. By doing this, your
arms occupy the line your attacker might take to attack
you. This accomplishes your deflection automatically.
FIGURE 2.2
 18 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

When you're standing sideways in the Jack Benny stance, because both hands
shoot out (one behind the other), you'll deflect a strike from either of his hands
automatically if he should move first. This forms a kind of instantaneous defen-
sive arc around your head. To understand how it works, imagine the hull of a
No strike occurs in iso- boat, or better yet,an icebreaker. The V-shape of the hull cracks the ice at the
lation. prow or point. This is the area of maximum force combined with the narrowest
surface area. The ice then slides around the sides. Similarly, without blocking,
your hands go straight for the chin, eyes, and throat while your arms (the prow)
shield against his attack.
If your energy is directed at blocking his hand, you'll be committed to this
direction and will waste perhaps your only opportunity to strike unimpeded.
Also, he'll probably overpower your block anyway. Since what you really want
to do is disable the attacker, focus on driving his head back, spearing his eyes, or
chopping the side of his neck. Because of the shape of your response (the posi-
tion of your arms in the Jack Benny), you will block his attack incidentally any-
way. If he reaches for or strikes at you from the outside left (figure 2.3a) he'll be
deflected and struck at the same time. If he reaches or strikes from the outside
right, the outcome is the same. If he reaches straight forward (figure 2.3b), he'll
either be deflected or both your first strike and his will neutralize each other,
except that your other hand, which has been simultaneously traveling to the
same target, will hit its mark.
If he reaches for you with both hands (typically attackers don't hit with both

hands simultaneously), the shape of your attack will split his two hands like a
wedge. Remember, your chin jab, eye gouge, or chop is not happening in isola-
tion. You are not posing to strike like Jean-Claude Van Damme. It's merely the
first in a continuous barrage of screaming, ripping, wildcat-like, buzz-saw strikes.

In short, forget about looking good or pausing to admire your handiwork. Just

FIGURE 2.3
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 19

go absolutely wild. Again, attacking the attacker is simply efficient, because you
arc only incidentally blocking. We detail these strikes as well as drills to help
you practice using them later in this chapter.
It is a waste of time to
block, since this may
be the only opening
Blind Attacks and the Fright Reaction
you ever get. If the at-
More dangerous than the interview is the blind attack. In the blind attack, you're tacker reaches for you
ambushed with no prior warning (as described in "The Williams Brothers At- first, resist the temp-
—
tack," chapter 5, page 86). Provided you aren't killed instantly with a knife or tation to stop his hand.
—
gun your defense depends on your body's natural fright reaction, and not on Go straight for the eyes
a rigid, stylized technique. There's virtually no defense against a planned assas-
and throat. Done cor-
sination, even if you're Mike Tyson armed with an AK-47. However, since most
rectly, your strike will
assaults have a different objective in mind (such as robbery, rape, or intimida-
deflect his strikes.
tion), you have some options.
The fright reaction uses your body's natural adrenaline-fired response to sud-
den shock or fear. Have you ever been attacked by a swarm of angry bees? What
did you do the last time you heard a loud, unexpected noise in an isolated, dark
place? Ever had a firecracker thrown at you? Or worse, ever heard unexpected
gunfire near you? What did you do? Your whole body instinctively dropped its
center of gravity, your back curved out protectively, your head sank low be-
tween your upraised shoulders, and your arms came up around your face and
neck. Dropping your center of gravity in this way strengthens your stability and
adds to your power and balance. This fundamental and instinctive reaction in-
volves a motion principle we describe later in this chapter and enhance and
capitalize on in the guided chaos principles in part II. For now, though, under-
stand that simply lowering your head, hunching your shoulders, and raising
your arms protects vital areas (especially your throat) from strikes and rear-
approach strangling attacks. And you do this all without any training. This is an
ideal defensive position and should not be discouraged by instead assuming a
rigid, classically trained stance. What would classically trained martial arts skills
such as an X-block, wheel kick, or reverse punch do against a swarm of bees
anyway? It's the same with fighting people you may confront outside of a mar-
tial arts school. So why train this way?

What you do immediately after this split-second fright reaction is critical, and
must be simple and focused. Turn toward the attacker and chin jab, strike his
neck, or simply spear your fingers straight into his eye sockets. If you've ever
been accidentally poked in the eye, such as in a basketball game, imagine how
devastating a purposeful strike could be. We describe these and other follow-up
strikes in the next sections.

Basic Close Combat Strikes

Many of the strikes detailed in this section can be lethal if practiced properly.
They do not involve complicated movements. Most of them are culled from
methods taught to United States soldiers during WWII to defeat the Japanese,
who were all presumed to be skilled in judo, jujitsu, and karate. These strikes
are also the elementary weaponry that we use in showing you how to apply
guided chaos principles, beginning in chapter 3.
Speaking of guided chaos, there is one principle we briefly illustrate here be-
cause it is something that, although not originally part of close comb.it, car
20 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

nevertheless augment all its strikes. Simply put, we want you to deliver every
strike as you were sneezing through the strike. Not straining, not winding up,
if

but convulsing spasmodically, as if your strike had been shot out of your body
like your breath during a sneeze. We call this principle dropping, and it involves
an instantaneous and complete relaxation of the whole body. This principle will
make more sense when we discuss it in relation to the energy principles in chap-
ter 6, but for now, apply this sensation to every strike you practice.

Chin Jab
You direct this strike at the face while moving forward. The idea is to cause
massive trauma to the head and spine by striking with the heel of the palm,
especially underneath the chin. You actually walk through the strike, driving
your attacker back. By striking under the chin, the head snaps back, creating
pressure on the spinal cord and either knocking the assailant unconscious or
breaking his neck.
Deliver these palm strikes exactly as if you were throwing a shot put or push-
ing half a grapefruit under someone's chin. A common mistake beginners make
when delivering palm strikes is to get too close and overbend the elbows so that
they wind up pitty-patting the target. Rather, drive through his head, not with
—
muscular strength, but with your root your connection with the ground. This
is something you should do on all strikes. Your root is an esoteric principle from

martial arts, but what it basically means here is your ability to drive all your
strikes with your legs. You will train yourself to root automatically when you
learn more about the principles in part II, but for now for the gross application
of power, recognize that your legs are far stronger than your upper body. There-
fore, drive from the ground through your legs at high speed, extending the en-
ergy through your hand to your fingertips, as if you were pushing a stalled car.
When you come right down to it, it's your legs that'll get the car moving not —
your upper body strength. Using your arm muscles exclusively will make you
tight and slow. You only need enough muscle to keep the elbow joint from
overbending (this is actually an example of tendon strength). Then use your
fingers to gouge out the eyes or to drive through the eyes with power, pushing
them back into their sockets. Yes, it's gory, but your goal is to survive.
You may wonder "Why not use a fist?" There are many disadvantages to
using a closed fist (see page 24). One advantage of the chin jab over a closed fist
strike is that it usually slips under an opponent's block because the hand is shaped
more like a spear when it comes out, offering less surface area for the attacker to
block.

Chops, Spears, Ridgehands, and Claws

You direct these strikes at the side of the neck, Adam's apple, eyes, or back of the
neck base of the skull. A relatively unfamiliar but extremely effective tar-
at the
get for the spear is the center of the armpit. Executed correctly, these blows are
deadly.
When employing a chop, hold your hand flat with your wrist straight and
your fingers together but relaxed. This is different than many styles where you
are told to tighten your hand strongly; we have found this tightness slows the
speed, power, and reaction time of your strikes significantly (see chapter 3). Aim
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 21

for the soft tissue of the neck and strike with the pinkie side of your hand, using
either the bony prominence of the wrist or the fleshy area one inch above it.
Create a loose, dropping motion when striking to the side or back of the neck,
using the weight of your body and not the tightening of your muscles. Drop
your entire body weight like a sack of potatoes. When striking, you want to
almost fall into the chop, so that the power is not a by-product of muscular
exertion but of body mass in motion. You do this by lunging forward and relax-
ing the front leg so that for a split second your knee collapses about two inches.
This dropping action adds power to the strike, because you're turning and drop-
ping your body weight down onto the opponent's neck like an ax. If you look at
old films of world champion boxer Jack Dempsey, you'll see that he would often
step and suddenly drop his weight onto his lead leg as he jabbed. This aug-
mented his punching power.
When hitting the throat, blast through it, using the same dropping motion.
Again, this adds power to your attack, even if the chop is upward. The body
propels the chop outward. The chopping shoulder moves to the inside, while
the other shoulder moves away; this is because the whole body is turning like a
windmill, as you can see in figure 2.4. You can deliver chops at an almost infi-
nite number of angles. When you become familiar with the principles of guided
chaos in parts II and III, you'll see how they're used in the context of a real fight.
Ridgehands are similar to chops, except that you deliver them with the thumb
side of the flat hand.
When using a spear hand strike, keep your fingers together and almost straight,
aiming for the eyes and throat. These are your primary targets. No matter how
big or strong a person is, no matter how much he lifts weights, there is nothing
he can do to make Your eyelids will not stop a
his eyelids or throat stronger.
person's fingers from going through them. your hand is in a clawing position,
If

like a bear or a cat, you do not need to press your fin-

gers together. At least one of your fingers will find an
eye socket without precise aiming. Also, as a bonus,
the momentum of a clawing strike sends your palm into
the nose or chin. If you imagine you're throwing a shot
put or a banana pie into someone's face, your hand will
be in the right position.
A yoking, or V-shaped, spear hand strike to the
Adam's apple is also potentially lethal. With your hand
in a chopping position, move your thumb out about
three inches to create a V, which you thrust out and drive
into the throat. This is useful at close range, where you
don't have to reach.

Rips and Tears

Contrary to what you may have beentaught in classi-
cal methods of self-defense, rips and tears can comprise
some of your most effective weaponry. Rips and tears
have the effect of opening the attacker to other strikes.
Rip using your hands to squeeze and tear at any soft
tissue areas of the body. Any time someone pulls away
from you, it presents an opportunity to rip and tear.
IC.URE 2.4
22 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

any lose fold of

Pull at the eyes, neck, throat, ears, groin, lips, hair, fingers, or
around the underarms, waist, corners of the mouth, or the like. This
skin, like
and pinching (discussed shortly) are the only tactics for which we recommend a
regimen of pure strength training for the hands, because the stronger your grip,
the more it will hurt your attacker.

Pinches
If, despite everything you've done, you wind up with your arms pinned to your

opponent's body, dig your fingers in or grab some flesh between the bent sec-
ond joints of your index and middle finger and pinch and twist with every ounce
of strength in one, fast, convulsive movement. If your attacker is experiencing
an adrenaline rush, a pinch may not cause him to collapse in pain (unless you
pinch him in vital areas such as the throat, face, or groin). Pinches are dramati-
cally more effective on some body types than others, but this is not a calculation
you need to make. Nevertheless, pinches often provide an opening for you to
hit through when he reacts. If it allows you to follow with a stab in the eye,
perfect. One other particularly effective target for a pinch is the edge of the pec-
toral muscle where it overhangs the armpit. This can be very nasty —
which leads
us to the subject of biting.

Bites
You're being held tightly by his arms; you can't move. Chances are, however,
that your mouth is free. If so you can use it to rip and tear into his flesh like a
wild dog. Don't be shy: this is your life we're talking about, and you could die if
you don't act. Worry about diseases The second he flinches, start gouging
later.

with your fingers, hitting with your elbows, and doing the following.

Head Butts
You've probably seen this in movies, but it's impor-
tant to know what part of the head to hit with or
you'll suffer more damage than you'll dish out. Use
the thickest part, which is the front of the forehead,
right at the hairline. The straight butt is particularly
effective in an upward strike against tall opponents
(figure 2.5). Your target can be any part of the face,
temple, or jaw. Just don't hit your attacker's forehead.
You can also slash with this part of the head sideways,
not just straight on. Be sure to practice head butts at
all possible angles, but remember to warm up and

stretch your neck muscles first and start slowly.

Elbow Strikes
You can use elbow strikes anywhere: to the head,
neck, throat, base of the skull, chin, upper and lower
arm, hand, shoulder, chest, rib cage, and so on.
When done correctly, an elbow strike is equivalent
to hitting someone with a baseball bat, because the

FIGURE 2.5
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 23

elbow's striking power penetrates deep into the body with the devastation of a
bludgeon. Moreover, you can use the elbow strike in a spearing motion. This
tool is virtually limitless in its applications and the variety of angles at which
you can deliver it. It is vastly underused in most martial arts. Practice elbow
strikes using a variety of angles. (Part II teaches other uses for the elbow beyond
striking.) The only limitation of this weapon is that you can only use it at short
range.
Some of the less familiar angles that we recommend you practice include the
up elbow (figure 2.6a) and the downward spearing elbow (figure 2.6b), deliv-
ered as a thrust with the upper body, rather than as a swing. The downward

FIGURE 2.6
24 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

spearing elbow is similar to the horizontal spearing elbow (figure 2.6c). You
deliver the inverted up elbow (figure 2.6d) like a shoulder shrug, and you can
use it as part of an upward-turning body rotation that ends in a chop to the throat.

Closed-Fist Strikes
You may be wondering why we placed these strikes at the .end of the list of
offensive hand weapons: because, although these strikes are the most popular,
they're the least effective for self-defense, especially when striking to the head.
Ironically, using the fist is practically a conditioned response in most people.
Believe it or not, a fist has too much "give" in it to be an effective weapon
unless it is highly trained; the wrist is likely to bend on impact. The hand itself is
constructed of many small bones and tendons, each with the cushioning poten-
tial of a small shock absorber. When makingcontact, the hand must first com-
press until there is no more flex remaining before it can deliver any power. Along
the way there is great potential for injury to the puncher. This is why boxers
tape their wrists before a fight.
When you use an open-handed strike like the palm heel, it's already in the
position needs to be when it makes contact. There's little skeletal movement,
it

because the bones in the lower part of the hand and arm are already in line with
each other. There's little flex or give because the hand sits right on the end of the
forearm bone. This allows maximum power to transfer to the target.
This is not to say that closed-fist punches have no use. When you do use

Is the Groin an Ideal Target?

One myth that needs to be dispelled is the effectiveness of a single strike to
the groin. Typically, we've been conditioned through TV and movies to think
that one shot to this area will instantly incapacitate an assailant. This is

usually emphasized as an option for women in "street" self-defense classes.

Unfortunately, this is a dangerous fallacy.
Over and over, in police reports and testimony from average civilians, we
have found that most often all a strike to the groin does to an enraged or
crack-addicted thug is anger him in a really big way. So much so, in fact, that
what might have been mugging can turn into a psychotic
a quick hit-and-run
bloodbath. Granted, if you're simply being harassed by a nonserious, sober
pest, a kick to the groin will leave him gasping and doubled over after about
a five-second delay. Under adrenaline, however, this target has little stopping
power unless it is accompanied by a barrage of other strikes. This is why we
emphasize going straight for the throat and especially the eyes in a preemp-
tive strike. Or you can strike these areas immediately after a strike to the
groin with the hand or knee, if that's what's available. Remember, though,
that in all these scenarios, all you have to do is poke a 300-pound sumo
wrestler in the eye with your thumb or finger, and the fight is essentially over
before it starts. You can now run away or attack at will if necessary. Even here,
however, you should always learn to use multiple strikes, because you can
never rely on only one "magic" blow.
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 25

them, target the soft areas of the body: the nose, ribs, kidneys, and the like.
When delivering them, keep the hand loose and relaxed. When you strike, tighten
the hand on contact as if grabbing a bar and then instantly relax it. This creates
a snapping or slashing effect on the opponent's body. But you need to under-
stand that the strike has limitations. If you're still not convinced, slam your palm
into a brick wall. Sure it hurts. But would you want to repeat that with your fist?
A punch to the skull would have a similar effect. Unlike in the movies, when
you punch someone in the head, it's your hand that breaks. Save shots to the
open-handed strikes, which have the ability
skull for to deter your attacker by
snapping the neck back with a whiplash-like action.

Learning how to make a

Knee Strikes
proper fist takes a lot of
Keep your knee them on your attacker's thighs, hips, sides of
strikes low, using practice and is actually
the knee joints, tailbone,abdomen, or groin. Use a convulsive action, to drive difficult to execute in a
the knee forward as if you are coughing. This contracts the stomach explosively
panic, compared to a
pulling in the stomach muscles and adding speed to your knee strike. But don't
palm strike.
jump up to knee-strike someone in the head, like you see in the movies, unless
you want to get slammed to the ground. Instead, if you have to knee-strike some-
one in the head, bring his head down to your knee.

Kicks and Stomps

Practice low kicking without chambering, or setting up. Chambering is a mar-
tial arts term for the practice of first raising the knee high before driving the kick
out. We consider this motion a big time-waster that merely serves to announce
your intention to kick.
You should be able to deliver a kick without telegraphing your intention to
your opponent. If you think you need to chamber to get power, remember this:
The kick is useless if you can't get it off the floor in time to take advantage of an
opening. It's better to deliver short, snappy, crushing, stomping, or stabbing
kicks with the point of your shoes or the edge of your sole or heel, than to thrust
out a big, looping, flat sidekick like you see in the movies. Such big kicks are
easy to block and may only push the attacker back, giving him a chance to re-
group. Your most practical kick could well turn out to be a crushing stomp on
the toes. Deliver your kicks quickly, economically, and loosely as if kicking a
soccer ball or merely taking a step. Understand that most
Unless you're attacked in the shower or on the beach, you'll never need to kick men have an almost
barefoot. Wearing sturdy shoes changes the dynamics of your kicks and effectively sixth sense when it
puts a hammer at the end of your feet. You should always practice with them on. comes to getting hit in
When do you kick? In terms of the interview scenario, kicking has limited the groin. Remember
usefulness because usually the person is on you in an instant if you do so. If you
that this strike has little
watch ultimate fights on TV, the first kick against an onrushing attacker is usu-
effect if not aided by the
ally absorbed or deflected and the fight goes right to the ground. This is why
element of surprise and
your kicks need to be low and short and delivered in a sneaky manner without
the chambering mentioned earlier. If you're only being harassed and your op- accompanied by other
ponent wants to spar, just walk away, keeping an eye on him. If he then ap- strikes.

proaches you, you can turn to him and employ the stomping drop-step kick. If
you're just beyond arm's length, stomp with your lead leg right where it is or
move it forward a few inches, instantly bringing your rear leg forward to kick. If
the attacker is farther away (because you tried to back away first and he moved
 —
26 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 2.7

toward you) then make up the distance by first stepping forward with your rear
leg and stomping with it as it lands. Immediately follow that stomp with a low
kick with the other leg. In either case, deliver the whole stomp-step-kick at high
speed to your attacker's shins; there should only be a split second between the
stomp-step and the kick. It should look like you're kicking a field goal that gets
stopped by whatever target it strikes (figures 2.7a and 2.7b).
The stomp part of the kick is important because it gains power from the ground
and also stabilizes you on slippery surfaces, such as water, ice, blood, or oil. In
many instances, police officers and bar bouncers who have used this strategy
have proven its effectiveness. Don't, however, stomp at an angle or you may
slip. Your lower leg must hit the ground at 90 degrees.

Do the stomp as if your lead leg had been kicked out from beneath you and
your weight collapsed downward as you recovered your footing. This "inten-
tional stumbling" forces you to involve your complete body mass whether you
want to or not. The momentum the stomp generates then drives the kick. Thus,
if you weigh 110 pounds, your kick has more than 110 pounds of force behind it

because momentum is mass times velocity. When you're within arm's length of
your attacker, use a lead leg stomp to close the distance and add power to a chop,
spear, or chin jab. This adds significantly more force than you could generate with
pure muscular arm strength. Not using pure muscular power also helps you
remain loose and therefore less likely to be seriously injured in the fight.

Close Combat Drills

Now that you have a basic understanding of predator methodology and a vo-
cabulary of basic strikes, we can begin to speak the language of close combat
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 27

and combine these Be aware that many of the following drills

strikes into drills.
are completely different from what you may be used to doing in classical mar-
tial arts. In addition, they may seem sadistic, but this is necessary to train you

for reality. (Note: We've provided a method for structuring all the drills in this
book into a regular training regimen on page 204.)
Visualize your attacker as clearly as you can. This mental component of train-
ing is often neglected, but it is vital for programming your nervous system and
fright reaction for danger. Although it's important to perform these drills seri-
ously and realistically, maintain an attitude of play and improvisation at all times.
As we get further into the methods discussed in part II, it's important to not
only keep your movements free but also your mind.
The first drills are so simple you may overlook them. Neglecting them, how-
ever, could create the biggest gap in your self-defense, which is learning to over-
come the paralysis of fear (refer to "Lightning Strikes Twice," page 32).

Run and Scream

After awareness, your first line of defense is to run, run, run. Get used to the
idea. Then, if you must, you'll fight and will be prepared to do so. This drill
teaches you to channel and focus your fear, allowing you to run or successfully
mount a counterattack.

1. Go into a room, close all the windows and doors, and turn off all the lights.

2. Close your eyes.

3. Stand completely relaxed and slowly breathe through your nose deep into
your belly.

4. Visualize tension leaving through your exhalation and the power of the sun
entering through your inhalation, flooding every cell of your body. Do this
for a full five minutes.

5. Now imagine that the most depraved criminal you can think of is about to
attack and psychotically torture the person who depends on you most, the
person you're closest to in the world. But first, he's going to torture and kill

you. Not if you can help it.

6. Take all your and helplessness, and crush it deep into your
fear, frustration,

stomach. Take wrongs and humiliations that have been dealt you in
all the
life, all the anger and blind rage, and set it to burning. Ignite it with your
sense of justice.
7. From the pit of your gut, drive the fire into your feet and then let it roar
back up through your legs, hips, chest, and out your hands and mouth in
the loudest, deepest animal scream your diaphragm can handle. We call
this the "warrior cry." You may have to yell into a pillow or wait until you're
alone in the house. But you need to release the potential paralysis that can
—
moment of crisis and become familiar with it. You need to know
occur in a
thatyou can explode and deliver the goods when you're terrified and your
family depends on it.
 —
28 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

8. Do this once a week to sharpen this skill even after you've become profi-
cient at everything else in this book.

In our society we are conditioned to and behave. The

be polite, to listen, obey,
psychopathic criminal knows this. He relies on your tendency to be socially
correct. You need to relearn what an animal knows to do at the first sign of
danger. It runs for its life!

Not in every instance, but often enough, there is a moment of suspicion be-
fore violence or an actual abduction takes place. If you question the victims of

violent crime you will find that nearly all of them had an inkling beforehand
that something was just not right. At this first inkling of danger is when you

run, not after. Forget about being polite to a suspicious stranger. Your personal
safety is your first responsibility.

Fright Reaction I
In some segments of society today, individuals (especially teenage girls) have
separated themselves from their basic instincts. Due perhaps to the inundation
of popcorn violence in film and television, there seems to be a widespread blase
attitude among young people when they are first presented with simulated as-
sault drills. In short, many are desensitized to violence. Unless they've been
actual victims, kids are hip, cool, detached, and nonchalant, as the teen culture
has taught them to be. It's almost like their instinct for self-preservation has
been drained out of them. Nothing could be more dangerous. (There are politi-
cal and sociological implications to this also, but we won't go into that.) This
drill helps you channel fear-generated adrenaline into defensive reaction instead
of frozen terror.

1. Find a partner to perform this drill with.

2. Stand quietly with your eyes closed and your arms at your sides. Relax and
quiet your mind. Tune into the sensation of air moving over your skin.
3. Now, have your partner touch you, as gently as a fly, somewhere around
your head (it may kind of remind you of annoying mosquitoes on a hot
summer night.)

4. The instant you feel anything, drop explosively into the fright reaction
lower your widen your stance, bring your hands up around
center of gravity,
your face and sink your head low between your shoulders.
5. Have your partner make the touch lighter and lighter (thus making you
more sensitive) as he goes for annoying areas like your eyelids, ears, and
hair.

6. React as early and as quickly as you can, each time returning to the starting
position with your eyes closed and arms relaxed at your sides.
7. Do this drill 30 or 40 times per session, and you'll begin to feel very jumpy.
In a dark alley or other remote location, this feeling is exactly what you want.
Your partner should try to get his touching hand out of the way as fast as he
can while you try to keep it off you. However, you're not trying to grab or hit
him directly, you're simply reacting reflexively without thought or plan (which
 .

Basic Strikes and Stategies 29

would slow you down). The key is to develop your reflexive sensitivity so that,
in a blind attack, your whole body begins to move as early as possible.

Fright Reaction II
This fright reaction drill and those that follow it are vital for understanding that
fear is good when used to your advantage. This drill helps you channel your
fear-generated adrenaline into defensive reaction instead of frozen terror.

1 Find a partner to perform this drill with.

2. Stand quietly with your eyes closed and your arms at your sides. Relax and
quiet your mind. Tune in to the sensation of air moving over your skin.
3. Spin around several times and then walk, keeping your eyes closed.
4. Within a few steps, your partner will shove you forcefully with a padded
shield (available at martial arts stores). The shove should come from an
indiscriminate angle.
5. At the first contact, open your eyes and go into the fright reaction.

6. Your balance, of course, will be totally blown. Regain your balance by bending
your knees and widening your stance, thus lowering your center of gravity.

Fright Reaction III

This modification of the previous two fright reaction drills takes your skills a
step further.

1. Find a partner to perform this drill with.

2. Stand quietly with your eyes closed and your arms at your sides. Relax and
quiet your mind. Tune in to the sensation of air moving over your skin.
3. Now spin around several times, keeping your eyes closed, and walk.
4. Within a few steps, your partner will shove you forcefully with a padded
shield. The shove should come from an indiscriminate angle.

5. From whatever position you end up in, open your eyes and launch yourself
into the shield with straight alternating palm strikes.

6. Step forward with each strike. Nothing fancy here —simply drive forward
as fast and straight as you can.

7. Scream like a banshee on each strike.

8. Keep advancing on the but don't get so close that you cramp the full
target,
extension of your arms. (This is a common fault of beginners they wind —
up pitty-patting the shield with just their hands because their elbows re-
main bent at less than 90 degrees).
9. Turn your back and shoulders into each strike, so that your trunk and hips
(rather than just the unbending action of your elbows) are driving your
arms out. Ideally, you should also step in with each strike. Hit as fast and
hard as you can.
10. After four or five shots, run away.
30 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Interview
This drill incorporates the personal comfort zone and the Jack Benny stance. It is

so simple you might think it's silly, but it's important to practice because, unfor-
tunately, in danger, most people who don't practice react to the wrong
when
stimuli at the wrong time.
Remember that the interview, as opposed to a blind attack, involves a short
period of time in which the assailant is sizing you up. Having been selected at
all is the first stage. You may discourage the assailant from selecting you as a

target if you appear to be aware of your surroundings, but don't count on it. For
whatever reason, there's someone almost in your face, and he's an uninvited
and dangerous intruder.
In chapter 1 you established your personal comfort zone (see page 8). If he
makes a move that crosses this boundary with either a touch or strike, or the
content of the conversation begins to set off alarm bells in your stomach (that's
your good friend Mr. Adrenaline ready to help you), you must strike like light-
ning, stopping only when you can run.
Now since your first contact with this person is verbal, and you probably will
be surprised, you might feel a slight fright reaction coming on. However, the
interview stimulus is still not so dangerous that you'll just go off, as you would
in a blind attack, so you instead raise your arm by assuming the Jack Benny
stance (page 16) or a similar nonthreatening posture. This is not so unnatural,
because touching your face nervously and shrinking away sideways slightly is
a sign of fear and discomfort. If you think standing tall with your chest out is
going to discourage a predator, remember, he's already picked you out. Short of
your turning into Superman, he's going to go through with whatever he's got in
mind. It's better now to appear weaker, so that he lets down his guard slightly.
This drill helps you practice delineating your comfort zone, shrinking away,
and deciding to avoid petty squabbles. By doing these three things you give the
enemy every opportunity to change his mind. If he enters your zone, he will
have to deal with a wild animal. He has made your choice for you.
1. Find a partner to perform this drill with. Have your partner hold a "focus
glove" (available at martial arts stores) with two eyes drawn on it.
2. Spin around in circles with your eyes closed, and then stop and walk.
3. Open your eyes when your partner, holding the focus glove, stops you with
a verbal interview.
• If your partner says "Come with me" or "Get in the car," run away im-
mediately.
• your partner starts with some seemingly innocuous chatter like, "You
If

got change?" "You got the time?" or "How do you get to ?" say "no" and
. . .

keep on walking but be alert for a rear or side attack from the assailant or an
accomplice.
• For the purposes of this drill, respond the same as in "Fright Reaction
III" (page 29). If, however, after opening your eyes you see that your escape
is blocked by a wall, furniture, or other objects, then immediately adopt the

Jack Benny stance and back away slowly as far as you can. Backing away is
important to justify what is to follow. (By the way, a scam artist, kidnapper,
or rapist will often address you with reassuring conversation. Don't be taken
in; it's meant to lower your guard before he gets physical.)
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 31

4. Somewhere in the conversation, your partner should reach for you or, to
make it more belligerent, he should strike at you. If someone physically
enters your personal comfort zone under these circumstances, attack the
attacker right now with everything you've got.
5. Stomp-step, and strike with your lead hand, using a chin jab.

6. Spear straight for the eyes (on the focus glove) or chop to the front or side of
the focus glove throat (the wrist of the gloved hand). Make sure both your
hands come out almost simultaneously, with the closer one hitting first.
7. Without pausing, continue ripping at the focus gloves' eyes or slam the glove
with palm heels, driving your partner back, screaming from the gut the
whole time. Keep your arms pumping like a jackhammer, driving with your
legs and powering your arms with your back and waist. If you're clawing
at the eyes like an insane alley cat, try to actually rip the leather from the
skin of the glove.
8. Hit 5 to 10 times and then run away. Keep in mind that when your partner
reaches or strikes at you, his hand will be deflected incidentally by the curve
of your arm as you go straight toward your target, like water is deflected by
the hull of a boat. This holds true for your other arm also, in case he strikes
with his other hand, which will happen half the time. Remember, it's a waste
to block the attacker's hand; practice to eliminate this dangerous habit.

When you are practicing this drill, remember that you should not perform
the stomping first strike in isolation. It's merely the first in a series of snarling,
slashing, crushing blows. In general, as initial strikes, chin jabs and eye gouges
work better for smaller individuals than throat chops. However, if you do prac-

tice eye strikes, train yourself mentally to spear right through the eye sockets.
Ghastly as this may sound, we have experience with students who trained physi-
cally to perform them, but not psychologically. In an actual fight, with their
lives in peril, they had their fingers right on their attacker's eyeballs but couldn't
bring themselves to drive through them. Luckily, the students were advanced
enough to use other strikes and get away with their lives.

Meet Jason
Besides being used in Halloween, a goalie's mask taped to a focus glove is an
excellent training aid for practicing eye-gouging.

1. Have your partner wear a focus glove with a goalie's mask taped to it.

2. Practice eye-gouging through the holes of the goalie mask. Learn to deliver
the gouges one right after the other like an enraged alley cat.
3. Have your partner keep the target moving.
4. Try with your back to the glove, so that when you turn, you have to find
it it

and hit without pausing.

5. Alternate eye gouges with palm driving in with full extension and
strikes,
body weight. What you will find ispalm strikes and eye gouges actu-
that
ally blend together because the fingers of a palm strike tend to drift into the
eyes anyway, while the heel of your hand collapses into a palm strike dur-
ing an eye gouge.
32 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Surviving Rape
Rape is horrible enough. However, many women can
through a rape and live

recover psychologically. The problem is that there's no guarantee the monster

will stop with just rape. Often, the rape is followed by torture and murder.
What you need to know is that most rapes are committed without a weapon.
So chances are you won't have to deal with that factor. With most rapes, there
are slim windows of opportunity where the rapist is vulnerable. You need to seize
those opportunities like a cornered wildcat, because your life may depend on it.
If the attack is going down and you haven't been able to escape, you could

appear to submit slightly to get to those moments of vulnerability. If the

rapist is armed with a gun and you are in a standing position, you
or a knife
can use the strategies outlined in this chapter and chapter 10. If, however,
you are in a prone position, you could wait for the attacker to put down the
weapon for a second while he undoes his pants. You could be just a little
difficult to handle so he is taken off guard giving you the opportunity to
attack him in the eyes. When his pants are down, submit momentarily and
bite or crush his testicles. Immediately get up and launch into eye and throat
strikes and then run.
Another strategy that could cause your assailant to reconsider is to pick up
the knife or weapon your attacker puts down and plunge it into his neck. If
the rapist is bare-handed and pulls you from behind, respond as in "Fright
Reaction II" (page 29). If you go to the ground, the strategies on ground
fighting in chapter 10 will be useful.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

John Perkins
At one of my classes I was told a story by a group of female students. They related that they
knew of a woman who had been raped and beaten by an unknown assailant. As part of her
recovery she was advised to take up a "martial art." She did just that. She attended one of
the major karate "mills" and trained for four years, receiving a first and then a second degree
black belt. She was good at both forms and sparring, and was in great physical shape.
One evening, she and a female coworker were the last to leave their office when suddenly
out of a utility closet appeared a man holding a short stick in his hand. He was about 5 feet,
10 inches tall and approximately 180 pounds. He stated to the women that he did not wish
to hurt them and was only interested in robbing the office. He then instructed both women
to take off their clothes and go inside the utility closet until he left.
While both women were naked inside the closet, the monster jumped in, beat, and
then raped them. Despite all her training, the woman with a second degree black belt
could not fight back because she had never been taught how to deal with paralyzing
fear. She is still under psychiatric care today.
I know that this is an extreme example of not receiving the right psychological as well as
physical training. And truthfully, it may have been the first trauma that made the woman a
victim twice. But when you are face-to-face with a psychotic criminal bent on a mission,
you have to be charged with the survival energy and mind-set of a cornered sewer rat.
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 33

How does a "civilized" person prepare for these life-and-death struggles? By

practicing guided chaos. Consider the following case.

COURTHOUSE FRENZY
John Perkins
Just one of the many documented cases of the use of the Jack Benny illustrates its
usefulness. With only a few classes of close combat under her belt, a smallish woman
was in a New York courthouse, entering an elevator. Just before the doors closed, a huge
300-pound man rushed in and immediately hit the button for the basement. Ironi-
cally, he was a paroled rapist wandering the halls of the courthouse, looking for a
victim.
As he turned to face the diminutive woman, she cowered (she was terrified) and put
her hands up to her mouth in horror (a modified Jack Benny stance). This put the giant
more at ease. Smelling her fear, he lowered his hands, brought his face closer and
opened his eyes wide, practically salivating at the prospect of easy prey. The woman's
hands suddenly exploded straight out, her fingers stabbing deep into his eye sockets.
The man screamed in pain, and she continued to hit and kick him while she simulta-
neously hit every button with her elbow. The elevator stopped and the doors opened six
inches too low. The man fell out, tripping on the floor, while she continued to kick and
pound his head. When security arrived on the scene, they pulled her off him, thinking it
was a domestic fight. The man was severely hurt, with a torn retina among his injuries.

Gang Attack I
you will have five training partners for this drill. This drill trains peripheral
Ideally,
awareness and your ability to react and move powerfully in random directions.

1. Have four individuals arrange themselves in a circle facing you, the "vic-
tim." They should each be holding kicking shields (available at martial arts
supplies stores). Have the fifth individual stand outside the circle and act as
an instigator.

2. Face the instigator with your eyes closed.

3. The instigator preselects an attacker from the circle by pointing to him.

4. Now open your eyes. The engage you in conversation. The

instigator will
content need not be hostile. In he should pick a subject that you be-
fact,
come involved in and have to think about. For example, how to fix a car or
bake a cake. The point is for the instigator to create an innocuous mental
distraction (something scam artists do well).

5. Somewhere in the midst of

exchange, the preselected attacker simulta-
this
neously yells and charges at you.
6. Whip around to face the attacker, scream, stomp-step, and chop with I hi'

hand closest to the attacker, and palm-strike with the other.

This drill brings up an interesting point. In a multiple attack situation, if you're

standing still and focusing on one stranger's spiel, you're a silling duck. So,
when engaged in conversation with someone who makes you uncomfortable,
 .

34 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

even if you think it's rude, look around (without turning your head), and keep
your hands and feet moving, as if you're a nervous commuter waiting for a
train. The slightest shift in body position can be enough to keep a lunging at-
tacker from getting a perfect fix on you. This has been especially useful for cops
when questioning a suspect on the street. Very often he has unseen friends nearby.
Don't become hypnotized or be made unaware by a stranger's chatter.

Anywhere Strikes I
If you surveyed 100 martial arts books, chances are not one of them would train

you the way this drill does. This extremely vital exercise will build your ability
to hit randomly, freely, and powerfully from any angle without plan. This will
come into focus with guided chaos in part II, but for now, you can start training
your nervous system to simply react and recognize bizarre openings without
interference from your brain dictating the angle or type of strike.

1 Choose a target such as a hanging heavy bag (available at most sporting goods
stores), tree, or basement support pole.
2. Take any strike, let's say a chop, and begin hitting the target slowly using
onlv
J
one hand.
3. Practice turningyour body behind every strike, so you're generating more
energy than you can by only unbending the elbow. Drive from your feet,
through your legs, and turn your hips. Unwind your back and align your
shoulder so that you have one continuous, uninterrupted chain of power
coming up from the floor and into your hand on every chop.
4. Now, begin to change the angle of delivery so that the pattern of strikes
moves around like the hands of a clock. You will see that the mechanics of
the strikes change as you go beyond the range of a specific joint. For ex-
ample, with your right arm at about one o'clock (figure 2.8a), you begin to
look like a very nasty waiter delivering a bowl of soup. At about four o'clock,

FIGURE 2.8

a
 .

Basic Strikes and Stategies 35

the chop becomes a ridgehand to the thigh or groin (figure 2.8b). At seven,
it becomes a chop again (figure 2.8c).
5. Work around the clock three times with about 60 strikes, moving slowly
and concentrating on delivering each chop with your full body weight.
6. Switch hands and go around the other way.

Anywhere Strikes II
You have to practice spontaneity to be spontaneous. Get loose and let fly.

1. Perform the previous drill, "Anywhere Strikes I," but this time, add speed
and rhythm, using fast-paced music as your guide.
2. Despite the increase in speed, be sure your feet move and readjust for maxi-
mum power delivery with each strike.
3. Try a different weapon, such as your elbow.
4. When you hit, retract the strike faster than it goes out, so you're bouncing
your shots off the target.

Anywhere Strikes III

We cannot emphasize enough that it's best to have no preconceived plan of what
you're going to strike with. The crazier you get, the better. This drill takes "Any-
where Strikes I" and "II" one step further to sharpen your ability to deliver
spontaneous, random strikes.

1 Perform "Anywhere Strikes II," but now use both hands, and strike with no
pattern whatsoever. Let yourmind go blank and hit with totally random
chops and ridgehands. Don't plan; just let them come out however your
imagination makes them, the moment they're delivered.
2. Double and triple up occasionally on the same strike to the same spot. For
many people accustomed to rigid, classical self-defense training, hitting this
randomly presents a problem, because they want to work like a boxer, in
fixed combinations. You must, however, forget about looking cool and just
letthe strikes flow. With time, you'll have no idea what you're doing, nor
should you. And if you don't know what you're doing, heaven knows your
opponent won't have a clue.
3. Apply this entire method of practice to any weapon. With the elbow, you
will find thatyou can deliver certain angles with a spearing action, rather
than a bludgeon. Try head-butting from every conceivable angle; just don't
—
knock yourself out butt against a heavy bag! Remember to use your fore-
head just below the hairline.

4. After trying each different strike solo, mix them up. Creativity is the key.
Add your shoulders. How many different ways can you hit with them? It's
up to you to find out. Add your knees and feet. Remember to use the prin-
ciples described earlier in this chapter regarding close combat strikes. The
idea not to hit hard (although you can go for full power later). The idea is
is

to develop familiarity with the motion of random hitting, so that no matter

what position you find yourself in, you can deliver with power and balance.
36 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 2.9
After a while, you'll notice something interesting. You'll see that certain strikes
flow right into others, within the same movement. For example, a right back-
handed elbow strike to the head flows nonstop into a right backhanded chop to
the head (figure 2.9a), which in the same full-body turn a millisecond later flows
into a left inside palm strike, followed by a left inside elbow (figure 2.9b). This
has all occurred within one whole-body, step-and-turn movement to the right.
Your arms are merely acting like the teeth of a rotary blade and your waist like
the drive shaft. This multihitting principle, discussed in chapter 8, is extremely
effective when combined with the other guided chaos principles you will learn
in parts II and III.

To continue with this example, after your body has completed the ape-like or
pendulum-like swing of blows to the right, it can immediately unleash another
similar barrage of blows as it swings back to the left. Using the anywhere prin-
ciple, you can also direct this swinging vertically or diagonally. For example,
merely change the angle of your waist and back and the position of your feet,
and the blows serve to knock the assailant's head skyward in one direction and
into the ground in the other (figure 2.9c). As you can see, practicing this drill
adds a vital attribute to your self-defense skills.

Mexican Hat Dance

This drill teaches how kicks are actually used combatively while moving around
your attacker. silly name applies to a maneuver that's no laughing matter if
The
you're the "dance" partner. If you have one or more opponents, an effective
tactic is to go into a wild, rapid, foot-stomping dance as if you were trying to
crush 50 beer cans in five seconds and then kick them into hockey goals. You
won't believe how fast people back up to avoid getting their toes smashed, only
to get their shins kicked. Since they can't find a place to put their feet down,
their balance is upset and this creates openings for you to run or attack further.
Your foot is effectively bouncing or ricocheting from stomp to kick to stomp to
 Basic Strikes and Stategies 37

kick, gaining speed and energy from each impact Ping-Pong ball. In short,
like a
learn to instantaneously switch feet as you stomp so you look
like you're doing
a Mexican hat dance. This is not simply a technique but a way of moving. If you
want your kicks to look like Jean-Claude Van Damme's, this isn't for you. If you
want to cause great havoc and survive an attack, it is.
1. Find a target such as a low, heavy bag or large tree.

2. Bounce or ping-pong your foot between the ground and the target as if you
were trying to stomp 50 cockroaches and kick 50 soccer balls in five sec-
onds. The ground itself is a target because you are simulating crushing toes
and insteps with your heel.
3. Drop your body weight like a loose sack of potatoes every time your foot
hits the ground and pick up speed as your foot ricochets back up to a low,
short, shin kick, front kick, or roundhouse kick. Relaxation is the key, not
muscular exertion.
4. Start deliveringknee strikes with a convulsive action, as if on every strike
you were coughing or sneezing violently. This causes your back and stom-
ach muscles to pull your legs up at reflex speed (as fast as your nervous
system can operate).
5. Be sure you bounce between strikes from, for example, a knee to the thigh
or a heel stomp to the toes, scraping the shins along the way.

Gang Attack II
This drill simulates actual upright fighting conditions very closely. Be warned,
however, this particular drill is exhausting; do it at maximum speed and inten-
sity for no longer than 10 to 15 seconds at a time. Make
sure you're in good
physical condition first. This drill also requires a heavy bag.

1. Find four or more partners, three of them each with their own large kicking
shield. Have the fourth person stand by the room light switch and rapidly
flick the lights on and off (mostly off).

2. Close your eyes and spin.

3. Have two of your partners slam you with their shields while the third throws
several loose shields at your feet, trying to trip you. Not surprisingly, this is
very disorienting.
4. At first contact, in an instant, you open your eyes, regain your balance, find
the heavy bag, and attack it.
5. Simultaneously avoid and attack the partners holding shields, but focus on
the hanging heavy bag as your primary target.
6. Continue stomping, both to get your balance and to crush the loose kicking
shields on the floor as if they were the attacker's feet. Because of the flash-
ing lights, you will need to keep reorienting yourself; at the same time, try
to keep the heavy bag between you and the nearest shield-carrying attacker.
Just go nuts. Have no plan. Simply be fast, loose, balanced, and relaxed.
Scream on every blow.
7. As with the anywhere striking drills, insert as many strikes as randomly
as possible within your flow of movement. As you move in, elbows fol
low palm strikes, head butts follow elbows, knees follow both, mu\ biting
38 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

follows clawing. However, this is not a rule. In a real fight, remember, there
are no rules. Spontaneity is king. Move with your whole body.

If you do this drill several times a week, the results will be incredible. What
you will find is that, just like in a real fight, all "techniques" and "planned
counters" will go right out the window. The way to get better is by becoming
looser, quicker, and better balanced and by not fighting your body's natural
motion. Classical purists will be uncomfortable with this training and will make
all kinds of excuses about why they can't get their "stuff" off. As you learn the

guided chaos principles in parts II and III, however, you'll become more cre-
ative, efficient, and lethal with "Gang Attack II."

While knives and guns can enter into close combat, most assaults take place
without a weapon, and if you have a weapon, you still need hand-to-hand com-
bat skills to create enough room to get it out. For this reason we present these
basic hand-to-hand close combat principles and skills in isolation from weapons
in this chapter. We specifically address how to deal effectively with knife and
gun attacks in chapter 10. We've chosen not to include them in this chapter be-
cause they introduce higher levels of sensitivity and awareness that you will
gain with the principles and exercises presented in parts II and III of this book.
If you never do anything but study and practice the skills and strategies pre-

sented in this chapter, you will become quite formidable to an attacker. How-
ever, what if you become the victim of someone possessing the same or similarly
devastating skills? This was the problem confronting John Perkins when he was
a child. His father and uncles who were training him to be a warrior were all
highly proficient in fighting arts similar to close combat. In addition to having
these warrior skills, John's father could punch a hole in a Philco refrigerator, and
his uncle could lift the front end of a Buick. This is why the guided chaos prin-
ciples were devised —
to give you a fighting chance against the physical mon-
sters of the world and the most advanced practitioners of other martial arts. The
material coming up in parts II and III is radically different from anything else
you may have ever encountered.

Preventing Common Mistakes

Trust your instincts early on. Run from danger.
When protecting your personal comfort zone, don't block or reach for
the attacker's hand. Go straight for his eyes and throat. Deflect and
strike in one motion with the arc of your arm and shoulder, your head
tucked low.
Stand sideways in the Jack Benny stance. Beginners usually stand square
to their opponents, creating a much larger target area.

When practicing multiple palm strikes, don't crimp or overextend your

elbow. Drive with your legs, hips, back, and shoulders.

Don't forget to breathe, scream, and run.

 pART^pVO

GUIDED CHAOS
BODY AND MIND
PRINCIPLES
main concept underlying guided chaos is this: Why train patterned move-
'he
t:ments when every real fight is comprised of unpatterned movements?
Throughout a lifetime of fighting, and as a forensic scientist reconstructing ho-
micides for the police, John Perkins has meticulously analyzed the movement
dynamics of horrific life-and-death struggles. Unlike fight scenes in movies, these
are far from choreographed. Through research and plenty of savage "hands-on"
experience, he's concluded that the main thing all melees have in common is
utter chaos and mayhem. Any system of self-defense training that doesn't ap-
preciate this fully misses the point. In our methodology, you endeavor to be-
come a master of mayhem and unpremeditated motion; in short, you learn to
master guided chaos. How do you do this?
In most classical martial arts schools, you're taught from the outside-in. They
tell you "This is what you're supposed to do against 'such-and-such.'" They

give you choreographed moves to deal with every kind of attack. They impost 1

form upon function, as if you were preparing to learn the tango. Eventually,
after decades of external practice, what you're supposed to achieve is .in internal

39
 —
40 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

state of balance, relaxation, and sensitivity —what some people would call "chi."
What they don't tell you is that brawls aren't ballets. Your attacker is not going
to dance the same steps as you.
In addition, to their credit, many of the newer, more innovative styles try to
borrow techniques from other adding spokes to a wheel, they
disciplines. Like
try to make their styles well-rounded, complete, and natural. There is, however,
a potential trap in this: if the techniques are never integrated- subconsciously
and absorbed, all you'll have are a million defensive moves waiting for a mil-
lion matching attacks. When the spit hits the fan, will you pick the right one?
And should this even be a job for the brain to handle at that instant? The last
thing you want to do is lock up your brain with calculations and defense formu-
las during a fight.

Guided chaos does not

Guided chaos bypasses this neural traffic jam entirely by teaching principles
of effective combat through play and experimentation, so you can quickly ab-
train technique. It trains
sorb information subconsciously. V/hen you were a child, you learned to walk
"response-ability."
and talk not from a textbook, but by natural trial and error. Similarly, guided
chaos will teach you to defend yourself using your own instincts, through maxi-
mization of your human physical attributes.
It has been said that there are many paths up the mountain, but from the top

everything looks the same. Similarly, after 30 years of tai chi (if your patience
holds out) or taekwondo (if your body holds out), what you might finally begin
to develop after endless, arduous hours of memorization, imitation, sweat, and
"perfect" execution, are the four pillars of combat that everything else rests on:
looseness, body unity, balance, and sensitivity. Well here's a wild idea: Why not
train these principles first?
Don't misunderstand us. High quality classical training turns out superb fight-
ers. But in parts II and III we present a realistic approach to self-defense, an
approach that stresses principles, not techniques. The reason we harp so much
on principles is that they're easier to apply to a lot of different situations in a
pinch. In this methodology, you still train hard, just different. With guided chaos
principles, you train like a jazz musician improvising on a theme, letting it flow
and evolve with the rhythm and energy of the music. A martial artist learning
only forms and techniques is akin to a jazz musician practicing only scales
he'll never be able to "iam" with confidence.

The Language of Combat

Combat, as opposed to a sparring match with rules, is not like a song you know,
with a beginning, middle, and end. Extending the improvisational jazz analogy,
no one, not even the musician, knows exactly where the song will go or how it
will get there. Yet, there's a method to the madness. The musician who is more
relaxed, adaptable, and loose with her talent, balanced with her instrument, sen-
sitive to the flow of notes, and able to put her whole body and soul into the
groove will make the better music.
In terms of self-defense, training guided chaos will hypertune your balance,
allowing you to hit with power from any position. It also allows you to get your
entire body mass behind every blow —
what we call body unity. This is impos-
sible unless you also train supreme looseness in all your muscles and joints so
you can achieve angles of attack and defense most people would think impos-
 Guided Chaos Body and Mind Principles 41

sible. Developing this kind of looseness makes you as hard to hit as water, but as
nasty as a bullwhip on offense. When you combine these attributes with highly
trained sensitivity, you are able to detect the slightest change in your opponent's
—
attack often before he changes anything. This allows you to reflect and am-
plify his own energy back at him with devastating consequences. None of these
principles will work unless you employ them simultaneously. Though training
them does not involve specific techniques, concentrating on these principles will
make you the better fighter.
To get this "formless" art down on paper, we have had to compromise some-
what, reducing movements that characterize guided chaos to general principles
that follow natural laws and human anatomy, instead of forcing the body into a
"classical box." The principles provide guidelines, while the actual execution
and shape of the movements are determined by you and your experiences. We
—
have given these principles and the typical movements that arise out of em-
—
ploying them names as a matter of convenience. You should know, however
that John Perkins's best student, who's lethal beyond comprehension, employs
all these principles masterfully, yet has no names for most of them. He believes

some things are better left unspoken, undefined, and "unintellectualized." His
advice to other students while training is to "Stop thinking!"

Your Anatomy and Motion

Your training in looseness, body unity, balance, and sensitivity takes advantage
of a natural resource: your body. We all share certain physical attributes that
guided chaos capitalizes on. In guided chaos, as stated earlier, we emphasize
—
natural movement motion that best suits the anatomical structure of whatever
living thing we're talking about. Apes, who structurally resemble us most, have
no claws, horns, or giant canine teeth. What we have in common are rope-like
appendages that can grab, strike, rip, tear, crush, hammer, and strangle. Watch
films of apes fighting. Without knives or guns, they achieve a ferocious lethality
that involves no poses, X-blocks, reverse punches, or spinning-wheel kicks. They
have a loose, powerful, "heavy" way of moving that employs their entire bodies
as coiled, whipping bludgeons. Any movement that goes against these attributes
is unnatural motion.
The power in guided chaos comes from perfectly balanced mechanical align-
ment, not raw muscular strength. Think of your bones as a collection of levers.
With a lever, you can multiply your strength many times and move objects far
larger and heavier than your own body. However, a lever is useless if it is not
positioned properly. The same holds true for your bones as leverage applies to
striking, balancing, yielding, or using any other combative motions.
For this reason when defending yourself and fighting back, you need to relax
your muscles and suspend your body from your skeletal structure as much as
possible. Like any bludgeoning weapon or striking tool (e.g., an ax or a ham-
mer), once it's in motion, additional muscular input will not enhance its impact
significantly. The looser the swing, the more the implement will make the most
efficient use of its own mass.
To understand your muscles, think of them not so much as power plants, but
as giant elastic fibers, anchored to your bones by cables. When properly cond Ltioned,
these "fibers" allow the body to articulate, react, and change with lightning speed.
42 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

However, when you are conditioned to fight with constant maximum contrac-
tion (using all your strength), your muscles lose their elastic properties and cause
the joints to seize up, like the pistons of an automobile engine with dirty oil.
Mobility, articulation, and speed are severely compromised. This is the last thing
you want to happen in a fight to the death. What does this teach us? Change the
oil in your car and train in a loose, relaxed manner.
Now you may say "I know where this is going, because I do train to have a
loose, snappy jab." This represents a limited understanding of what we mean
by looseness (see chapter 3). Even if your punches are loose, you may tighten
your whole body dramatically to initiate them, creating a rigid platform to launch
them from. This is not the ideal. You will be learning to initiate strikes using
your own body's momentum and that of your opponent's. You can only do this
with supreme relaxation and looseness.
The human body is over 70 percent water. Make use of this fact. Water is
heavy, dense, and infinitely malleable. A drop of water can stick to your skin
and follow your every motion (sensitivity). Bundles of energy can cause water
to gather into an ocean wave that hits like a ton (body unity), yet splits easily
when you dive through it (looseness). In an unconfined state, water has great
mass yet no fixed center of gravity and is therefore impossible to pin down (bal-
ance). These are the qualities (and not those of mechanical robots) the principles
in part II will help you apply to your fighting.
 CHAPTER THREE

JOOSENESS

best defense for any type of strike—

The
kick, or gunshot— to not be there when
is
fist, or flight for them. In contrast, the frozen ter-
rorand indecision humans experience during
the strike arrives. This is a central tenet of combat is actually a combination of
guided chaos, but you cannot accomplish it memory for appro-
1. the brain searching its
—
without looseness the ability to change direc-
priate physical defense responses, and
tion with any part of your body with the tini-
2. the body's execution of those responses
est impetus, with no conscious thought or
with muscular tension because it has been
physical restriction. It requires becoming re-
trained that way.
laxed, reactive, rooted, and yielding.
The result impedes all movement. Tension
lengthens your reaction time and cuts down your
Relaxed Looseness speed and power. It also makes your body easier
to break. Thus, it is self-defeating to practice strik-
We have found that muscular tension is so ing and blocking with full-force muscular con-
deeply ingrained in many people that they are tractions as if you were performing a 300-pound
astonished to learn that it isn't natural. Watch bench press. Ironically, practicing with such
the way animals fight, especially apes, who muscular tension is an error found in virtuall)
most resemble us anatomically. They are liv- all classical hard-style martial arts training.
ing embodiments of loose, powerful ferocity. You can't achieve looseness without relax-
In the heat of battle and at extreme speed, com- ation, and as most top-level sport training re-
mon alley cats bend and arch away from strikes search reveals, relaxation aids physical and
like rubber, yet their teeth and claws are al- mental performance. Later in this chapter, we
ways readily positioned and in their attacker's introduce drills to help yon develop your
face. ability to stay loose. It is important thai you
Animals don't need to make a moral or stra- practice these drills with lull seriousness,
tegic choice when challenged. It's simply fight because reacting with tension, espe< tally in a

43
 44 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

life-or-death situation, is a very hard habit to break. In addition, physical tension

encourages mental tension, which narrows your awareness dangerously.
In an effort to stabilize and strengthen our motions, we regularly use muscle
groups that in fact interfere with the motion we are trying to perform. That is,
the muscles tend to work against one another. When the muscles work against
each other, the body has a tendency to drag. For example, if you extend your arm
to strike and you exert strong muscular force, you are restraining your joints.
You begin to involve other muscles (called antagonistic muscles) to overcome
this drag, so you even harder. This creates a vicious cycle. The more force
strain
you use, the tighteryour joints, the less relaxed you are, and the slower you
respond to your opponent's moves.
No matter how hard you think you're punching, you're not punching nearly
When you practice pat-
as hard as you could be if you loosened your muscles and thereby limited the
terned movements, you interaction with and among other muscle groups. This is what you'll endeavor
expect your opponent to to do with the drills and principles of guided chaos in this book. By remaining
move in a certain way. loose and pliable at all times, you automatically remove the resistance created
Trust us: unlike in the by your antagonistic muscles when you strike or are struck. This allows you to
movies, he rarely does. hit with uriinhibited power as well as to absorb the strike of a stronger adver-

Your brain, shocked at sary. In a nutshell, you'll do this by using your muscles as little as possible and

this discovery, may tem- relying on momentum, relaxation, and a concept you'll learn more thoroughly

porarily freeze, putting

in chapter 4 —body unity.

the brakes on your

All muscular movement is controlled by the mind. A loose, relaxed mind cre-
muscles and nervous
ates a loose, —
relaxed body it's that simple. Relax the mind, and the body will
relax. To relax your mind, you'll need to put your brain on autopilot. It must
system and increasing
remain focused and aware, yet placid. To do this, you need to relieve your brain
the strength you need to
of the job of thinking while fighting and train it to simply sense instead.
apply, which makes the
situation worse.
Reactive Looseness
Being loose also means never being static. As long as you're either receiving
energy (yielding) or transmitting energy (striking), you're in a continuous state
of movement and flow. This characteristic of looseness is important to remem-
ber. In a fight there is always enough energy coming from the opponent to pro-
pel you into a constant flow of motion. As soon as you stop, the opponent gets a
fix on you. These behaviors obstruct the flow of energy:

• When you think, you stop.

• When you pose, you stop.
• When you strain or grapple, you stop.
• When you execute a technique, you stop (because you're thinking).

You will learn to develop your looseness so that any input of energy from
your opponent causes your entire body to respond, like the ripples caused by a
leaf falling into a lake or the swing of a pendulum set into perpetual motion.
You can only be hurt or killed if you can be hit. You must be able to disappear
from where your attacker wants you to be and reappear where he doesn't want
or expect you to be. You must become like a phantom or mongoose. The mon-
goose is one of the only creatures that can stand directly in front of a poisonous
snake and avoid being bit. It pops up and strikes from seemingly impossible
angles. Learn to hit and articulate your body to strike wherever and whenever.
 .

Looseness 45

Avoid, however, the limp-noodle looseness characteristic of many tai chi prac-
titioners who lack true combat training. Their intention is sincere, since extreme
looseness does protect from hard impacts. Unfortunately, it can also leave you in
which you can't get out of your own way
a position in to deliver a counterattack.
You must develop reac-
The problem is threefold in that extreme looseness
tive looseness and ex-
1 can leave you unprotected if you don't keep some part of your body be- tend it throughout your
tween your opponent's weapon and its target (more on this in chapter 7),
entire body. Don't limit
2. has no power if it's not connected to the ground (see "Rooted Looseness," it to only your arms.
next section), and
3. can get your limbs twisted into positions it's impossible to launch a coun-
terattack from (you can actually wind up blocking yourself).

Instead of just limp looseness, you want the kind of steel-spring looseness
that's exceptionally flexible and reactive, yet able to slice your attacker to rib-
bons on the rebound. This kind of resilient energy has a name in tai chi: peng
ching. It is often unfamiliar or overlooked, yet ironically, it's critical to making
looseness a combative attribute.

Rooted Looseness
The other factor for making looseness powerful and combative is your root, your
ability to transfer energy from your foot to any external body part through a
balanced connection to the ground (see also chapter 5 for more on rooting as it
applies to balance). If you're unbalanced, you have no root. If you're stiff, you
have no root. If you carry your body weight too high, you have no root.
To understand looseness without a root, imagine that your entire body is a
—
"whip": limp and flexible just a hanging rope. Your root (foot) is the handle of
the whip. Your hand is the tip. When you learn to drop (chapter 6) and create an
instant explosion of energy that bounces off the ground back up into your legs
and body, it's your root that anchors and cracks the whip, even if the root or drop
Great ocean waves build
is just for a split second.
because they have an
Imagine if,when someone cracked a real whip, he let go of the handle pre-
entire hemisphere to
cisely at the moment of impact. The wave-like power of the whip would com-
pletely disintegrate and hit you with all the force of overcooked spaghetti. It's traverse. The action of
the anchoring action of the handle that roots the transfer of power to the tip. the wind and currents
Beginning students tend to limit their looseness to their arms. Think of it this increases the flow of
way: the crack of the whip has more power if the wave of looseness is allowed to energy over time and
traverse its entire length before reaching the tip. Limiting looseness to only your distance. This is why you
arms or shoulders or even your hips is akin to grabbing the whip in the middle don't get nine-foot
and trying to snap it hard. breakers in ponds.
Looseness anchors at the foot, like holding the handle of the whip anchors the
rope. The hand is like the tip of the rope. The power of your strikes is directly
related to how much body mass you can get moving loosely. When doing the
"Psycho-Chimp" and other looseness drills (pages 54 through 64), remember
that you should initiate all your movement with stepping, dropping, or transfer-
ring weight in your feet and lower legs.
What does a strong root feel like? You can create an exaggerated sense of root-
ing when you do a dance that involves swinging your partner around, like the
jitterbug or hustle. You counterbalance your partner's swinging body weight by
 46 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

firmly anchoring your At that moment, you feel like your feet are nailed to
feet.

the floor. When you them go into a spin or whatever, you feel a
release, letting
tremendous uncorking of energy. You need to develop that same rooted sensa-
tion in your feet throughout the entire range of your own combative movements.
We'll work on developing this sensation of suspending and releasing in the more
advanced drills in chapter 6.

Yielding, Looseness, and Pocketing

Achieving looseness requires your body to become totally receptive and yield-
ing, to challenge no one (see chapter 1), and to assume that everyone is stronger
than you are. This is not "wimping out," but is actually tactically superior in that
it will help you survive a strike. The principle of yielding, however, does not

mean you become a punching bag or a leaf blowing in the wind. To learn yield-
ing you adopt the fluid nature of water. Water is never stopped, just redirected.
If you plunge your fist into water, the water moves out of the way and engulfs

your arm all at the same time. It avoids you, yet sticks to you. (Think how this
applies to grappling.) You also cannot compress water. No matter how hard or
softly you squeeze it, it instantly moves to an area of lower pressure. Nothing is
as soft as water, yet, if it's completely contained, it can be as hard as stone. It is at
once extremely mobile and heavy. It can wash away whole towns and moun-
tains. Your body is 70 percent water. Why fight nature? Use it.
To be loose, move your arms and body with the fluid nature of two king co-
—
bras yielding, expanding, contracting, sliding, redirecting, engulfing, and nul-
lifying. Just as the head of a serpent is always moving into position to strike, so
Looseness enables you
should your hands always be seeking a path to destroy. If a python meets a stone
to achieve entry angles
head-on in its path, does it try to smash through it? Of course not. The snake isn't
of attack and defense
anatomically constructed to slam through rock. When its sensitive tongue en-
that would otherwise be
counters an obstacle, its entire body moves to accommodate it. It effortlessly,
totally unavailable to
gently writhes around and past it. Yet, when necessary, it can crush the life out of
you. its prey. Likewise, you are never blocked, merely redirected to a more advanta-

geous position from which to strike or avoid an attack.

Reality is not a movie. You can't withstand a barrage of blows like Clint
Eastwood in an old western barroom brawl and remain standing. When an el-
bow is slammed into your neck, your neck breaks. When a fist is buried deep
into your kidneys, you land in the hospital. Tightening your neck muscles won't
stop a chop to the throat nor will closing your eyelids stop an eye gouge. It's
simply a joke to think the ability to do 500 sit-ups will protect your midsection.
What muscles protect your ribcage?
To apply the principle of yielding to your body's survival chances, you have
to do something called pocketing. The whole concept of pocketing is very, very
simple. Remove the target, and the target only, so the rest of you can remain
close. That is, get the part of the body that's about to be hit out of the way of an
opponent's strike by becoming sensitive to his intentions and relaxing the muscles.
For example, if the target is your stomach, make it concave so it shrinks away
from the blow, but leave the rest of your body relatively where it is so you can
counterattack simultaneously.
If your opponent's intended target suddenly becomes even one inch further
away than he expects, you will lessen the impact significantly. Whatever the
 Looseness 47

target, pull it away, as if the opponent's fist were covered with a deadly virus.
Get the imagery? Don't let him even touch you with it. Self-defense is not about
how "tough" you are. It's about survival.
Accordingly, in practicing the drills in this chapter, you will learn to modify Yielding has a strange
your whole body's shape like rubber so it molds to avoid blows. Your head will influenceon your oppo-
yield like a jack-in-the-box, and your midsection will stretch like Silly Putty. Para- nent. He expects to
doxically, you will later discover that yielding can also put you in prime posi- make contact and finds
tions to attack from. Yielding invites the attacker in closer until, like a Venus's- nothing. He will often
flytrap, you strike. fall over himself as if
Yielding is a kinesthetic response to stimuli. As soon as you feel so much as a drawn by some invisible
hair of your body becoming compressed from an attacker or even the intent of magnet.
an attack, you should already be moving. How do you know which part of you
to yield? This is not something a rigid technique can teach. Rather you will learn
to use your awareness (see chapter 1) and hone your sensitivity (chapter 6). Like
radar, you will learn to interpret the incoming attack's direction and speed be-
fore the strike makes contact.
If you loosen your body to avoid a strike to the point where you can loosen no

more, then you must step to a new root point. If you've exceeded your pocketing
space limit, step in closer to the attacker either directly or to his side. In either
case the step should put more advantageous position from which to
you in a
deliver the coupe de grace. How do you know when to step? When you feel that
you're losing your balance from excessive pressure. We discuss balance in more
detail in chapter 5. For now, know that even if losing balance is a by-product of The first law of war is the
your own don't be too proud. Cut your losses and move. Don't get in
rigidity, preservation of yourself
the habit of challenging your opponent or you will fall into the trap of strength
and the destruction of
contests and ever-increasing rigidity. You will also get pummeled.
your enemy.
The following are a few examples of the principle of yielding. Understand
these are only a few of many thousands of possible movements, which are only
limited by your imagination. Master the principle, not the technique. The move-
ments will vary from opponent to opponent due to different body types, physi-
cal abilities, and so on.

Yielding a Strike
B is dealing with an attacker, A, who is
trying to strike him in the chest or face.
Rather than try to take the blow straight-
on, B yields, or contorts his body, to re-
direct the force of the strike, thus avoid-
ing it (figure 3.1a). If B attempts to block
the strike straight-on, he must meet that
force with equal or greater force. The
strike may get through in some fashion.
It go through his block or it
will either
willknock his own hand into his body,
thus allowing time for A to gain an ad-
vantage over him. Or, if B's blocking
arm is rigid, his whole body will also
be rigid, allowing a well-trained oppo-
nent to move him and throw a quick
FIGURE 3.1
48 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

secondary strike. However, by

redirecting the strike, turning his
body, and pocketing the target
area (figure 3.1b), B can control
the direction of A's force with
little no effort.
or
For your opponent to hit you
with power, you must "cooper-
ate" a certain amount. Typically,
you harden your body and gird
yourself against impacts. You try
to be tougher than your attacker.
You thus become a rigid bull's-
eye, basically a deer caught in the
headlights. By yielding, however,
you become uncooperative with
FIGURE 3.1 your attacker. When a person
throws a strike at you, there is a certain expectation that you will be there when
the strike lands. This gives his mind and body a point of reference from which to
balance. Because most people, including fighters, never train to develop dy-
namic balance, they need the resistance of your body to maintain their own
balance and stay in the fight. By taking away their reference points, you take
away their balance, however slightly. If you have balance and your opponent
doesn't, no matter how hard he can punch or kick, he can't strike with effective
power. When his energy is neither rooted nor focused, his energy is negated.

Spike-in-the-Sponge
When you are pushed or hit, you should imagine yourself as a sponge. No mat-
ter how hard you hit a sponge, it always returns to its original shape. Now,
imagine yourself as a sponge with a steel spike in its center. Notice how by
pocket made by
falling into the
A walks into
B's collapsing chest,
B's elbow (figure 3.2). He has
been impaled by the spike-in-the-
sponge, a key example of the
guided chaos principle of pock-
eting.
Your vitals are the sponge, and
your weapons (hands, elbows,
and so on) are the spikes. The
harder the opponent hits you or
the more force he exerts against
you, the more damage he does to
himself. This is why some people
who can break boards, bats, and
bricks cannot fight to save their
They don't understand the
lives.
dynamics and chaos of combat.
The human body is not like a

FIGURE 3.2
 Looseness 49

brick. flexes, moves its position, and fights back. There's a night-and-day dif-
It

ference between striking objects and hitting people. Besides, do you really have
time to focus all your power into one killing blow when you're attacked? Do
Let your body remain as
you think he'll stand there and wait for it, like in the movies? There are other
supple as a blade of grass,
ways of becoming powerful.
yet as rooted as an oak.
Being extremely loose and pliable leads to being extremely hard and power-
ful for the split second of impact. This is the same principle behind the power of
a whip —or a wrecking ball.

Pressure Responses
The following are some simple examples of what we mean by responding loosely.
Remember, these are not techniques. When your body becomes familiar with
the principle and you develop the feel that characterizes looseness, you will
spontaneously invent your own movements.

Down Pressure on Your Arm

A'sarm exerts down pressure on B's forearm at close range. B yields the forearm
downward, simultaneously rolling the elbow of the same arm up and over, strik-
ing the head or shoulder or spearing straight into the gut (figure 3.3a). A's down
pressure results in a seesaw action in B, using no strength whatsoever. The whole
body rises and falls with the rise and fall of the elbow, and it's all started with
the impetus of A's down pressure.
Another example of a loose response to down pressure is remarkably simple.
Nevertheless, it would be impossible to perform with a tight body. B, yielding to

A's down pressure, simply punches down into the top of A's groin (figure 3.3b),
bounces off, and up-elbows into A's jaw (figure 3.3c).
You can see that this bouncing strike principle becomes effective for deliver-
ing many strikes within one motion. You won't, however, have the required

FIGURE 3.3
 50 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

springiness unless you're loose. Another pos-

movement is B drops the down-pressured
sible
arm and turns his whole body away like a
windmill, driving his opposite elbow into A's
face.
You may say to yourself "How am I going to
remember all these moves?" 'We can't stress
enough, if you're loose and sensitive and have

learned and practiced applying the principles,

you won't have to. You'll just fall into them and
say: "Oh! Look what I just did!" or "He made
me do it!" and you will be right. Techniques
will emerge from the flow, not vice versa. In
classical training, you practice 100 techniques
and hope they'll work just like they did in class
if reality rears its ugly head. Or you learn one

technique, perfect it, and hope to apply it to

every situation you run across. This isn't prac-
tical. Would you bring a screwdriver to a job

that requires a hammer?

FIGURE 3.3

Up Pressure on Your Arm

B can simply slide in with a horizontal chop to the face (figure 3.4a) or he can
punch down by simply rolling his elbow up in a yielding response to A's rising
pressure into the crook of his arm, thus giving room to drive his fist in (figure
3.4b). Or, B circles over and underneath in yielding to A's up pressure and drives
a spear hand up into A's throat (figure 3.4c). Or, A's up pressure on B's forearm
causes B to simply rotate his shoulder, raising into an up-elbow strike under A's
arm and up into his chin (figure 3.4d). The possibilities are endless, but they're
all created by looseness.

b r^

FIGURE 3.4
 Looseness 51

FIGURE 3.4

Inward Pressure on Your Arm

A pushes in against B's arms to collapse them (figure 3.5a). B letsA's hands go
where they want to, which is right at B's throat, except that B won't be there
when they arrive. Because of body unity, when B yields to A's pressure, his en-
tirebody pivots out of the way and to the side of A. This actually brings B in
closer where he can easily pivot like a windmill into an elbow strike to A's head
(figure 3.5b).
In doing this, B has yielded his hands and forearms inward and rolled his
elbow up, over, and down on A's head or shoulder joint. B has actually sucked A
into the spike-in-the-sponge. Remember, with proper looseness, all these mo-
tions have a flip-floppy kind of feel, as if you were a drunken puppet.

FIGURE 3.5
52 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Outward Pressure on
Your Arm
Very often, in an attempt to
control his victim's arms, an
attacker will actually pull
them into his midsection to
smother them. In addition,
sometimes an attempt to
block a strike downward
winds up pulling the strike
in. If you're loose and sensi-

tive enough, you flow with

this energy and actually aug-
ment it by striking him in the
same direction he's pulling
you. For example, B is now
counterattacking by punch-
ing at A's throat. A, panick-
ing, attempts to smother the
blows by pulling them into
his chest (figure 3.6a). B, by
being loose and sensitive, de-
tects this change and flows
with it by stepping in and
augmenting A's directional
energy, striking to the chest
with the palm (figure 3.6b).

FIGURE 3.6
Elbow Pressure
B is in a right lead, standing a little too sideways, so A pushes against B's right
elbow to keep him from turning back (figure 3.7a). Instead of resisting, B loosens
the right shoulder completely and lets it go, yielding and turning away with A's
push just enough to release the pressure (figure 3.7b). The speed with which B
yields is directly proportional to the amount of force A exerts on the elbow. In
fact, B reacts to this touch on his elbow the same wav as if he had been touched

with a red-hot frying pan. Notice also that A's pushing hand has inadvertently
fallen into B's other hand. With a spring-like action, B's whole body has jerked

— —
away perhaps only one inch and then bounces back in with a loose, smash-
ing chop to the throat (figure 3.7c).

These are all examples of what you can accomplish with looseness. If they

seem absurdly simple, it's because they are. If you're wondering if they work,
they do. If you haven't trained yourself to be loose, however, even if you're highly
trained in other ways, you won't be able to perform them. Here are some drills
to develop your ability to be loose.
 ^A
I^H fek|
IH^
^'~-Z 'Ik
Wkx
'
.

. i

b
1
9 1
r
r
r
rfr^H o

FIGURE 3.7

53
 .

54 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Looseness Drills
The point of these drills is to develop the overall body feel that characterizes
looseness. If you focus on pummeling your target or your partner, you'll miss
the whole point.

Relaxed Breathing
The key developing looseness or pliability is relaxation, not only physical but
to
also mental relaxation. Remember, the mind controls the body. When the mind
is agitated, so is the body. When the mind is calm and focused, the body be-

comes more responsive to whatever the mind wishes it to do. Conversely, if you
practice with a loose, relaxed body, the training acts as a moving meditation,
and the mind becomes relaxed. This drill helps you focus on relaxing your breath-
ing, thereby relaxing your mind and body.

1. Stand in a relaxed stance, feet shoulder-width apart, sinking your weight

into your legs. Keep your back straight, knees slightly bent, and arms hang-
ing at your sides like wet noodles.
2. Empty your mind of all the day's tension. Relax your upper body and breathe
through your nose deep into your belly, loosening your diaphragm. (Note:
breathing high in the chest, the way most people do, creates neurological
tension.)

3. Imagine your skin is inhaling also, absorbing fresh air and sunshine through
every pore like a sponge. Feel this absorbed air and energy adding relax-
ation to your body and your limply hanging arms.
4. Your stomach appears to actually expand like a balloon with each inhala-
tion of fresh, soothing air.

5. Exhale by releasing your expanded stomach so air flows out naturally

through your nose (don't force it out). Imagine all negative energy leaving
with your expended breath. Feel fresh blood pumping into the vessels of
your arms adding weight and liquid relaxation.
6. movement of air across your skin. Imagine a gentle breeze swaying
Feel the
your body like a blade of grass.

Fold Like a Napkin

This kind of looseness is not combative because you are not going to fall off

your feet in a fight. However, because the concept of completely relaxing local
target areas of your body is so alien, we are going for total surrender in this drill.
1 Stand with your eyes closed.
2. Have one partner stand behind you and one in front.
3. Have your partners take turns slowly pushing you.
4. Let your body be so relaxed that as soon as you're pushed, you fold like a
napkin and fall totally limp into the arms of the other partner. Let yourself
go completely (obviously you'll need partners you can trust).
 Looseness 55

Dead-Fish Arms
So how do you know if you are relaxed? Try this.

1. Stand with your arms hanging at your sides.

2. Have another person take your arms by the wrists and raise them outward
for you. You'll be amazed how difficult this is for most people. They try to
raise their arms themselves. They simply can't "let go."

3. Your elbows should hang loosely below your wrists and shoulders (since
this is the "folding point" of the limb).

4. Ifyour partner were to suddenly release your wrists, your arms should flop
to your sides like two dead fish.

5. Now have your partner place his hands under your armpits and push
straight up.Most people will be immovable, because their shoulders are
locked to their chests. If you are truly loose, your shoulders will rise inde-
pendent of the rest of your body, as if you were shrugging.
6. When the upward pressure is released, your arms should flop down like
two heavy, wet noodles.

Weaving Python
The sort of body isolation and pliability you demonstrate with this drill is vital
to your survival. You must assume that every person who attacks you is far
stronger than you, deadly serious, and can hurt you wherever he strikes.

1. Stand with your arms hanging at your sides.

2. Have your partner place one hand about six inches away from the center of
your chest, palm in. His other hand should be six inches away from the
center of your back, also palm in.
3. Without moving your feet or raising or turning your body, expand your
chest directly outward so you can touch his hand. This requires you to throw
your shoulders and arms back, loosen your stomach and pectoral muscles,
and bend your knees further to sink your weight backward into your hips
and buttocks. This is a compensating move to keep you from falling on
your face.
4. Now, reverse the movement and touch his rear hand with the center of your
back.You will have to cave in your chest and throw your shoulders and
arms forward, loosening your back muscles. You'll also have to rotate your
pelvis down and forward and sink your weight into your knees to avoid
falling backward.
5. Now, in one loose, continuous movement, like a python weaving back-
ward and forward, touch one hand and then the other repeatedly. Keep this
motion completely horizontal. Your head should remain the same height
above the floor. Your knees should remain bent and your feet flat on the
floor.

What is the point of all this? If the two palms were knives, it would be imme-
diately apparent.
 .
.

56 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

The Hula
You simply want to keep your weight low and balanced, like a downhill skier or
a middle linebacker, rather than high and precarious like a ballet dancer. This
drill encourages you to keep your rootedness mobile, like that of a big jungle cat
or a tank on ball bearings.

1 Stand with your arms hanging at your sides.

2. Imagine that the air has weight, like seawater. Feel the currents drift across
your skin. Feel that your arms, indeed your whole body, could easily float in
the air through no effort of its own. Imagine, however, that your pelvis is
attached by a steel cable to a 500-pound weight hanging below you.
3. Now gently raise your arms in front of you, about as high and wide as your
shoulders. Help to raise them by straightening your knees slightly. While
doing this, use only enough strength to keep them up. Keep your upper and
lower arms totally flaccid without any muscular tension whatsoever.
4. Practice raising your arms up and down, back and forth, in a super-slow,
graceful manner like a drunken hula dancer, keeping your feet well-rooted
to the ground. As if your whole body is moving in a current of water, your
legs, hips, back, and shoulders drift with your arms as they move. Breathe
slowly and deeply into your belly at the same time.
5. Perform the above while walking around slowly with the knees bent like an
ice skater or Groucho Marx.

At first your arms may unnatural and heavy, but as you become more
feel
proficient at this exercise, you your arms beginning to feel weight-
will notice
less. Develop the sensation that your arms are suspended on a cushion of air, so

light and responsive that a fly landing on them would cause them to move.
Apply this sensation to your whole body. This is what it feels like to be loose.
Remember, though, that a 500-pound weight is keeping your pelvis anchored
low to the ground. Although your hips and knees can sway with the current
easily, you are rooted to the ground through your feet like an oak tree. A common
mistake, however, is to glue your feet to the ground and refuse to move them,
even if you're losing your balance. This is both unnecessary and dangerous.

Turning
Perform this simple movement manner, as if driven
in a dream-like, meditative
by ocean waves. Breathe deep your belly. If some part of your body were to
into
hit a pole as it moves, it should wrap around the pole like a heavy sausage chain.

1 Startby standing relaxed, with your knees bent deeply and feet a little wider
than your shoulders. Use only enough muscle to completely shift your weight
from one leg to the other.
2. Empty your entire body of muscular tension as if you were asleep or drunk.
Imagine your arms, shoulders, back, chest, waist, and hips are simply dead
meat hanging from your skeleton.
 Looseness 57

3. As you slowly shift your weight com-

pletely from foot to foot without rising
or leaning, initiate a slow, twisting mo-
tion. Keep your whole body fairly low.

4. As you increase the twisting motion, let

your arms leave your sides and begin
limply swinging in the air from the cen-
tripetal force. At the end of each weight
shift, they wrap around your body one
way and then unwrap as you shift to the
other leg (figure 3.8). Don't make your
arms move. This is critical. Let the mo-
mentum of your body dictate their en-
tire motion.
5. Increase the twisting slowly until, with
your knees bent, your shoulders turn
almost 90 degrees beyond your feet.
6. At the end of each turn, your hips should
be above the foot toward which you have
turned. Thus, your hips travel a linear
distance that is as far as your stance is
wide. At no point in this exercise should
your body rise. Keep your knees bent
deeply.

FIGURE 3.8

Swimming
Now instead of just drifting with the waves, you will begin to glide and swim
through them. The swimming analogy is useful in correcting an error often seen
in beginning students of guided chaos. When blocking, beginners often actually
pull a strike into the body in an effort to smother it. However, if you do this
against a more experienced student or opponent, he will "push your pull" (see
chapter 6) and use your energy to catapult his strike into you. In other words,
when you pull his arm in, he'll add to your pulling energy by beating your
— —
energy back to its source you and actually strike with both, like a rubber
band. When you swim, as you pull your arm back, do you pull the water into
your chest? Of course not. You pull and then push the water past you. You do
the same with an opponent's strike when you employ the swimming motion.
This drill develops your ability to use your pulling energy to push your
opponent's strike past you.

1. Do a swimming crawl stroke through the air as if it were made of water.

Loosely articulate your shoulders, back, and waist to get the maximum exten-
sion; keep your body low with the knees bent (figure 3.9a) but don't lean.

2. Step forward with each stroke, with the leg opposite the arm you're using.
 —
58 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

3. Turn your feet as you accommodate the

extra reach required to make the mo-
tion. Reach as far as you can with each
stroke, but without leaning.
4. However, keep the path your arms take
as economical as possible. In other
words, don't windmill them. Try to cut
through the "water" with a flat stroke;
move your body and arms with as little
resistance, or "splash," and as much ef-
ficiency as you can.

5. As they retract, sweep your hands

down a few inches away from your pec-
torals and make tight circles as they ex-
tend back out. Once again, make your
shoulders do the circling so your hands
don't take on a wide, windmill-like
path.
It's a lot harder to move a flat surface

broadside through water than if you turn it

edge-wise. So, too, a wild, sloppy stroke will
slow you down as you try to swim. The ap-
plication is that in combat you should
"swim" through your opponent's defenses
and knife through his resistance, rather than
challenging it head-on.
For example, if an opponent exerts down
pressure on your arm, yield with it and
swim out of it, circling your arm down and
then over for a dropping palm strike to the
neck or a spear hand to the eyes. This is
yielding with the same arm. As your arm
circles down, the tight arc it makes across
your pectorals will serve to cover you as it
yields. If your whole body yields, it turns
away like a propeller on one side and
crashes in with borrowed energy on the op-
posite side (figure 3.9b). This is not some-
thing you plan, it just happens, because
you're loose and without a thought, like a
drunken puppet.
If your opponent is applying up pressure

against your arm, guess what? That's right

backstroke out of it. As the pressured side
of your body and turns away from
yields
the force, the other side turns in and deliv-
ers a devastating rising spear hand to the
throat (figure 3.9c). Practice swimming back-
ward and forward and at different angles.

FIGURE 3.9
 Looseness 59

FIGURE 3.9

Swimming Sidestroke
Exactly as the name implies, practice doing the sidestroke. As with all swimming
movements, fully turn and extend your back and shoulders (figure 3.10). It helps to
step forward with each stroke, with the leg opposite the arm you're using. This
helps to get your entire body weight moving behind each movement. This mo-
tion is useful for warding off strikes to your side, as from multiple attackers.

FIGURE 3.10
 .

60 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Solo Contact Flow

This drill is not a fighting technique. simply an exercise for emphasizing
It's

looseness and full body weight transfer. As you understand the movements in
this drill you can begin performing the more random movements that character-
ize guided chaos any way you choose.

1 Using the same, slow, relaxed side-to-side swaying motion used in the "Turn-
—
ing" drill (pages 56-57), make small circles no wider than the perimeter of
—
your body in front of your body with your hands and arms. (When de-
flecting strikes, it's a waste to protect empty space.)

2. Synchronize the movement of your arms with the flowing, side-to-side

weight transfer from leg to leg, so that as you move to the left, your right
hand is pushing the air across the front of your body and down to the left
from the top of its arc, and your left hand is doing a backhanded sweep to
the left along the bottom of its arc (figure 3.11a).

3. As you transfer your weight and sway back to the right, the arms reverse
and complete the other halves of their circles (figure 3.11b).

4. Drive with the legs as you flow loosely with your upper body from side to
side. Make believe the air you're pushing weighs 1,000 pounds, but use ab-
solutely no tension.

FIGURE 3.11
 Looseness 61

Sticks of Death
This drill requires great looseness, balance, and sensitivity so that you don't
swing wildly at the sticks but instead glance off them as you use pocketing to
avoid contact.

1. Your partner stands with two four-foot-long padded sticks behind a heavy
bag or padded dummy, hold-
ing the weapons like cue sticks
dummy.
against the
Stand three feet away from
your partner. Your partner
should randomly poke the
sticks at you.

Evade and redirect the sticks,

sliding through them while si-
multaneously attacking the
dummy's eyes and throat with
both hands (figure 3.12). (Refer
back to the Jack Benny stance
in chapter 2.) The object is to get
in to biting range, while simul-
taneously remaining unavail-
able to the sticks.
FIGURE 3.12

Sticky Fingers
Maybe should be called "Stinky Fingers." All kidding aside, your sense of
this
smell is example of heightened sensitivity in that it forces you to extend
a superb
your awareness out beyond your skin. This drill is vital in overcoming the deeply
ingrained, macho habit of overcoming strength with strength by trying to with-
stand incoming blows.

1. Have someone try to poke you randomly with both hands at ever-increas-
ing speed anywhere on your body.
2. You back up, and you can't block. It's like when you were
can't five years
old, and your older brother tried to tickle you to exhaustion.

3. Ithelps to imagine some vile substance on the tips of his fingers to aid in
your pocketing reaction. Revulsion is a good source of yielding energy. Some
people put on old clothes and try to dot each other with paint.

Small Circle Dance

This may qualify as the strangest looking of all the drills. At all times while per
forming this, stay balanced, no matter how wild it gets. Try it with music. If you
start looking like Elvis on acid you're on the right track. This drill helps develop
 . .

62 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

your ability to hit with several parts of

your body simultaneously, without direct
control from your rational brain.

1 Startwith one part of your body, say,

your hand, and begin making small,
loose circles in the air with it.
2. Begin making circles in the opposite
direction with your other hand. This
trains your brain to handle various
parts of your body in motion simul-
taneously. From here it gets crazy.
3. Begin making circles with one elbow,
then add the other (in the opposite di-
rection).

4. Start circlingwith your knees. Add

your hips, your head, back, buttocks,
and shoulders. In short, try it with as
many parts of your body as you can
manage, loosely, simultaneously, and
in complete balance (figure 3.13).

What is the point of all this silliness?

Looseness. Police reports show time and

again that when people
a car full of
crashes, drunken passengers, ironi-
it's the
cally, who walk away. They're too crocked

to panic, and their bodies stay loose on

FIGURE 3.13 impact.

Psycho-Chimp
Second only to the previous drill in terms of wackiness, this exercise will have a
very liberating result on your looseness and savagery.

1 Begin with a relaxed stance, feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly
bent and loose, arms outstretched to the left. Your arms should feel like
dead weight, with what seem like the finest strings barely holding them up
by the wrists.

2. With a strong, dropping motion of your knees, let your arms fall and swing
to the right, using only the turning momentum of your body, drive of your
and weight
legs, of your arms to propel them. Without pause, drop and
swing them back in the other direction.

3. Don't stop. As you continue to do this, your arms should maintain com-
plete, dead-weight relaxation. They will begin to take on snapping, chaotic
trajectories that get wilder and wilder.

4. Drop on each motion, like cracking a whip, with your entire body (the whip)
and your connection with the ground (the handle). Step around as you drop.
5. Increase the speed gradually until you're going as fast as you can, and you
 Looseness 63

begin to look like a psycho-chimp. Be free, but try not to hit yourself!
6. While maintaining looseness, merely modify your arms' trajectories (using
your body's momentum, not your arm muscles) so they don't swing be-
hind your body, which would be wasteful movement.
7. Pocket and yield your body severely to keep you from hitting yourself and
to create more room for your arms to move. At the same time, modify the
wildness so it occurs mostly in front of you.
8. Now, without stopping this swinging, dervish-like craziness, merely recog-
nize the inherent strikes within the flow, without forcing them. Without
much plan, have the snapping motions turn into chops, spears, uppercuts,
and other strikes we don't have names for.
If is properly guided by your whole body
the wave-like energy you're creating
weight, the power, speed, and savagery of your movement will be plainly evi-
dent. If your arms encounter each other, they will whip and coil like live snakes,
yet avoid entangling each other because of your looseness.
Notice that as the arc of some whipping movements tighten, their speed in-
creases. We call this slingshotting, a method for increasing the power behind
strikes. For example, the arm after connecting with a loose, rising backhand
strike to the chin will increase in speed greatly if its arc tightens asloops all the
it

way around into a hook punch to the ribs. This is akin to the speed of a spinning
figure skater increasing as she pulls in her arms.

Circle Clap
This very important for developing a feeling of explosiveness
drill is at high
speed while maintaining muscular relaxation.

1. Clap your hands as fast as you can. Your clapping speed and endurance
will be dictated exclusively by your ability to relax your muscles.

2. Simultaneously,move your hands above your head and make a wide circle,
down to your waist, back above your head, and in and out.
3. Now circle them side to side. Clap at any angle you can think of. Do it on
one leg and with your eyes closed as you twist and turn your body into
bizarre contortions. Try generating the power for the claps not in your arms,
but in a vibration that wells up from your legs into your hips. Think of your
whole body as spasming with your arms loosely attached. You will prob-
ably find that your hands are most comfortable about two inches apart.
5. When tension overcomes motion, stop, breathe, and visualize your exhala-
tion spreading relaxation throughout your arms. Start again.
The reason you make the circles is that you want to maintain the relaxation
no matter what your position. What is the application? Later, you will learn to
deliver blows with no windup or room to move. In a fight, most people's muscles
clamp up with supreme adrenaline-fired exertion. This renders the person fro-
zen with tension as he fights the movements of his own body. With the "Circle
Clap" drill, you reprogram your nervous system to tense only in tiny microbursts
separated by total relaxation. This allows you to change direction at any time
and thus flow with the fight.
64 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Split-Brain Air-Writing
Since you are learning to fight spontaneously with total freedom, your nervous
system needs to be able to keep pace with your increasing sensitivity in order to
handle uncoordinated motion with different parts of your body simultaneously.
This bizarre exercise helps you to develop a loose, relaxed brain.

1. With your right hand, write the letter "B" in the air. At the same time, write
the same letter with your left hand, but flipped, as if it were a mirror image.
Do a few more letters.
2. Now it gets fun. Simultaneously, write a different letter with each hand.
Start at the same time and end at the same time with each hand.
It's not easy. Do a few of these until your head hurts and then stop. If you do this
a little every day, the brain begins to adjust, and your fighting will become freer.
Fighting multiple opponents requires just this kind of split-brain awareness.
Learning guided chaos is more like having an "aha!" experience than study-
ing for a black belt exam. Sudden realizations of how all the principles come
together will happen with increasing frequency. As such, even though we've
only gone through some drills to encourage looseness, you will be using what
you've learned in this chapter to develop the principles explained in the re-
maining chapters of part II: body unity (chapter 4), balance (chapter 5), and
sensitivity (chapter 6). It's important, therefore, to come back to these drills and
imbue them with your heightened understanding as you advance. Moreover,
many of the drills you will perform in upcoming chapters will continue to train
and hone your looseness as well.

Preventing Common Mistakes

Maintain a strong root at all times while doing looseness drills. The
tendency is to stumble around with your new-found looseness like a
drunkard.
Step to a new root point only when your balance is overchallenged.
Keep your feet connected to the ground like the roots of an oak, while
everything from your ankles up should be like ribbons of spring steel.
Even so, you're not glued to the ground. You should be able to glide to
a new root point as easily and powerfully as a jungle cat.

In solo contact flow, make sure your arms move in sync with your body.
In other words, as you transfer weight to your right leg, your left hand
sweeps to the right and down in an arc in front of your chin. It should
have all your mass behind it. If your right hand swept to the left as your
body moved to the right, all your momentum would be dissipated.
Be aware that looseness doesn't mean you become a helpless noodle. In
chapter 7 you will learn to move in ways that help you instead of hurt
you as you remain loose.
 CHAPTER FOUR

gODY U NITY

is a necessary foundation for bal- no such rules. Therefore, you must really un-
Body unity
ance and a source of power for looseness. derstand what's going on behind attributes
Simply put, body unity means that if any part such as body unity, balance, looseness, and
of your body moves, no matter how slightly, then sensitivity in order to apply them to a situa-
the rest of it moves also. If you weigh 180 pounds, tion of total chaos.
then every movement, even a finger strike, In Eastern martial thought, the terms are dif-
should have at least 180 pounds of momentum but the goals are the same. The esoteric
ferent,
behind it. (We say "at least" because the phenom- term for perfect alignment is translated
tai chi
enon of dropping energy that you will learn as "moving the chi like a thread through the
fully in chapter 6 will increase this amount.) nine pearls." The nine pearls are the joints of
We're not talking mysterious secrets to the body: the ankle, knee, hip, waist, spine,
achieve body unity. In almost any sport, you've shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fist. If we take out
got to get your body behind the ball. Top ath- the obscure symbolism, what we're left with
letes, with little strain, with
are able to do this issimple physics. Chi, is "threaded" through
grace, balance, power, and accuracy. Their the joints, with each alignment augmenting
body unity is manifested by a perfect, relaxed, and reinforcing the others with a smooth,
mechanical alignment of all the skeletal joints. unkinked flow of power from the floor to the
This is vital. Without it, you cannot develop hand (or whatever weapon you're using).
relaxed power. "Great," you say, "but what is chi?" The sim-
The movements in fighting, however, are far plest definition of chi is "energy" We bring up
more varied and anarchic than in sports. There the mysterious subject of chi here because it
are millions of tiny differences in the way ten- directly relates to all our principles, espe< tally
nis players serve, but the parameters and the body unity, with its concept of delivering the
end result are always the same: they must most power with the greatest efficiency. Bui to
stand behind the baseline, toss the ball verti- speak of chi, we must first explain the concepl
cally, and hit it into a box. A street brawl has of internal energy.

65
 66 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Internal Energy
One way of differentiating the styles of martial arts is to divide them into two

categories depending on whether the source and application of available en-

ergy is "external" or "internal." In an external art, the source of power is almost
purely muscular; strength and speed are emphasized through learning and re-
peatedly executing fixed drills in unvarying patterns. The full-power muscular
contractions that are characteristic of external-style arts are typically marked by
a battle cry, or kiai. External-style arts place a substantial amount of stress on
your tissues, as is evidenced by the high incidence of tendon, ligament, and
muscle injuries in external-style schools. These injuries often occur without even
making contact with an adversary. Ideally, after decades of training (if his or her
body holds out), the external-style martial artist sometimes develops an easy,
effortless grace that requires little muscular exertion. This begs the question "Since
this is what you're really after, why not learn grace from the beginning?" This is
what we do in guided chaos by developing and training the attributes of body
unity, balance, looseness, and sensitivity.
Although our approach is different from all the others, you could consider
guided chaos one of the internal-style arts, along with the more traditional Chi-
nese styles of tai chi, hsing I, and bagua. In an internal-style art, the mind and
nervous system are relaxed and amplified with both static and moving medita-
tion exercises. Internal-style energy methods emphasize perfect, relaxed mechani-
cal alignment of the bones and tendons to achieve the most efficient application
of energy while using the least muscular force. It's the same with body unity.
Your body, even if you're a small person, has significant mass irrespective of its
inherent strength. In other words, even if you can't punch your way out of a
paper bag, if you simply dropped the dead weight of your body on another
individual, the force generated would be substantial, especially if the contact
point was something hard, like an elbow.
The goal in using your internal energy is to have the entire mass of your body
perfectly aligned with all the bones in your body so that this mass is behind
every movement. This way you can strike, block, and so forth, and still maintain
muscular relaxation because you are not forcing the motion but remaining loose.
Body unity does not
An example of perfect misalignment would be trying to push a car with your
mean "body rigidity." feet pointing in opposite directions, standing sideways, your head near your
Effective, combative knees, using the backs of your fingertips. Even if you can bench-press 400 pounds,
body unity requires the if you are positioned this way, the car is not going to move, and you'll probably

ability to change direc- break your hands, too. "So," you might ask, "wouldn't the ideal combination be
tion effortlessly and in- perfect alignment with massive muscular strength?" Yes, if you're pushing a
stantaneously. You can- car, because in such a case, the goal is to move one object (the car) in space from

not respond to change point A to point B in a straight line. You can commit all your force to one direc-
if all your force is com- tion, because you're not expecting the car to suddenly jump up and down or

mitted to one direction. sideways. Unfortunately we're talking about combat, where there are no rules
and where everything changes, including force, speed, angle of attack, oppo-
nents, weapons, and traction — millisecond by millisecond. In the famous film
Enter the Dragon, a bad guy tries to impress Bruce Lee with his power by break-
ing boards with his hand. Bruce, unimpressed, remains calm and says enigmati-
cally "Boards don't hit back!" In short, your assailant is not going to stand still
while you take your best shot.
 Body Unity 67

When the muscles of your arm strain to do heavy work, the triceps and biceps
oppose each other to stabilize the joint. These muscles have what is called an
"antagonistic relationship." This hinders either one from accomplishing their
respective tasks: extending and contracting the elbow joint. Using intense mus-
cular effort anywhere in your body activates antagonistic muscles, making you
rigid, hard, slow, and unresponsive —
just what you don't want to be when fight-
ing for your life. Most people (and many trained martial artists) get very hung
up on this because they think pure strength is the end-all of fighting. Unfortu-
nately, the simple reality is this: No matter how strong you are, there's always
someone stronger.
Internal energy, however, is more than just perfect alignment, more than just
having a long lever to, say, pry loose a boulder. Cultivating internal energy in-
volves developing an explosive nervous system as a conduit for chi. You can
achieve this through the unique principle of dropping (introduced in chapter 2
and detailed within the context of guided chaos in chapter 6). "Chi?" you ask,
"Isn't that the supernatural force you see in movies that can hit people without
physical contact?" Let's look at this concept more closely.

Chi
There are many intriguing accounts of the much-sought-after phenomenon of
projecting chi outside your body without actual physical contact as a source of
self-defense. While decades of day-long meditation may or may
not actually
make this possible, this expectation continues to foster the image of your being
able to develop superhuman powers with an average body. This only adds to
the mystery, confusion, and eventual frustration over how to make ordinary
self-defense work for you and not get caught up in the illusion of becoming
Chuck Norris or Luke Skywalker overnight. You may think no one could be
quite this gullible, but this expectation lives in many dedicated tai chi practitio-
ners, as a longed-for end However, there is a danger in
result of their training.
anticipating the long-term development of an almost unattainable weapon when
the short-term prospect of taking your life in your hands could be a much closer
reality.

Since we've never seen a demonstration of chi projection (and some of us

have spent large sums of money in China looking for it; see page 68), we can
only speak of chi as it has been defined in other classic literature and experi-
enced by us. Chi is not a myth. Nor is it mystical. The simplest definition of chi
is "life energy." In classic Chinese literature this energy can take many forms,

which we won't go into here. For self-defense purposes, let's simply call it "in-
ternally applied grace and balance." A close reading of classic Chinese texts will
yield a definition that can be understood in a firm, scientific light. The Tai Chi
Boxing Chronicle by Kuo Lien-Ying (1994) defines chi as the "circulating point of
finesse within the body." What's unclear in the English translation is that chi is
not some indefinable, supernatural force (although it can appear so), it's merely
a code word for describing multiple, simultaneous attributes. Even the English
word finesse can be hard to define. But don't worry, you won't need a crystal
ball to get it. Diligently practicing and applying all the principles of guided chaos
will develop chi in you to the extent that others will not understand how you're
doing what you're doing to them.
 68 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

In Search of Chi Projection

A group of John Perkins's friends spent thousands of dollars on a trip to China
where they were invited by a particular school to witness a demonstration of
authentic chi projection. When they finally met with the masters of this school,
they were told they could not have it demonstrated on them because, it would
kill them. The masters performed great pushing and throwing techniques, but
not one would demonstrate chi projection.

Another analogy through a unified body is to

for the flow of energy, or chi,
visualize your tendons and bones as a garden hose with water rushing through
them. If the joints or muscles are not loosely, gracefully, and mechanically
aligned, the "hose" becomes kinked, and the "water" does not flow. When you
apply body unity to the definition of chi as a "circulating point of finesse,"
you can see that this implies that chi also embodies automatic physical aware-
—
ness and skill awareness of your own body's position and movement as
well as your opponent's. This kinesthetic awareness requires a foundation of
balance and sensitivity, which you will learn to develop in upcoming chap-
ters.
Where is this "rushing water," or chi, supposed to come from? It comes from
a relaxed, unified body that knows how to react instantly to outside force. Out-
side force generated by your attacker should compress your whole body like a
spring, provoking a reaction: absorptive, yielding, and collecting of energy on
the side of your body in contact with your opponent, and explosive, steel-spring-
Enhance body unity when
like releasing of the accumulated energy on the opposite (striking) side. When
striking by training so
you're balanced, some part of your body will be rooting the energy (absorbing
that when your knee the energy in your feet like a coiled spring), and another body part the hand, —
stops bending (when elbow, or other foot —delivering it.

dropping or stepping), Viewed from the outside, unified body movement is often undetectable, be-
your hand stops moving cause might involve only internal energy changes or slight muscle and joint
it

also. This prevents you realignments. As you move toward mastery of this methodology, your large
from leaning or overcom- body movements and circular redirections of strikes will become more and more
mitting and ensures full economical. The sensation of body unity becomes obvious only to yourself or
body mass behind every the person you are hitting. At this point, the energy is truly internal, and you
strike. Another way to may seem to hardly at all. This occurs, for example, when some part of
move
enhance body unity is to your body (like an elbow) is in contact with your opponent's trunk. Using drop-
experience every strike ping energy and body unity, you can achieve (with apologies to Bruce Lee's
you deliver as pressure
one-inch punch) a no-inch punch, that can either send your attacker flying or
cause internal damage, depending on how you deliver it. And this is with no
building in your feet.
winding up. To summarize, when you move to strike, your opponent should
always feel as if he's getting hit with an object that weighs at least as much as
your entire body, even if it's only your finger.
—
There is a more common term for body unity grace. When a person moves
with grace, he or she epitomizes coordination, finesse, balance, power, and body
unity all coming together as one. In fact, maybe we could call grace a mystical
Western technique!
 Body Unity 69

TALES OF CHI
John Perkins
While teaching in a New York City school in 1980, I saw a demonstration given by a
group of Japanese martial who claimed some amazing powers. I observed one
artists

practitioner kicking to the throats of three others who were kneeling, without in-
flicting injury. I thought there must be something in the way the kick was performed

and absorbed that would be significant.

The problem arose when these practitioners stated that no one could hurt them,
because they covered themselves with a protective shield of energy. Although they
did not specifically call this energy chi, that was the implication. Demonstrations
such as this are typical of those who claim to have supernatural chi. I then requested
if I could simply poke the kneeling men in the trachea with my index finger. They
looked at me with contempt but would not allow an "unbeliever" to try it out. Later,
when I engaged in some not-so-gentle kumite (free sparring) I found them suscep-
tible to being thrown, pushed, and struck.
Now I'm not saying that chi flow or iron-shirt techniques don't exist. In fact, I've
seen ordinary people struck many times with bludgeons (including blackjacks and
nightsticks) and have even broken my own heavyweight police baton over a few
heads without stopping the attackers. I have seen other authentic demonstrations,
but they have always involved some kind of absorption of energy. I have also
seen many fakers, who used tricks analogous to those used in professional wres-
tling.

Yes, the professional boxer or highly skilled martial arts practitioner can toughen
his or her body to what seems a supernatural degree. But as far as projecting a shield

of energy around the body, all I can say is, try this acid test: ask the claimant if he

would allow you to poke him in the eye. See if he can bounce your finger off with
pure energy.

Body Unity Drills

Body unity drills focus on training you to move with the intent of driving a
thousand pounds but not the strength. In other words, you position your body
to overcome that degree of resistance, but actually use only enough muscular
strength to move the weight of your own flesh. Why? Because you want to avoid
the tightness that comes from straining. As you learned in chapter 3, you need to
remain loose enough to react instantly to a change in your attacker's energy so
that then you can take advantage of your superior body position and amplify
your opponent's energy to use against him.

Body Writing
Many beginners have a lot of trouble understanding the concept of body unity.
They wave arms around as if they were disembodied serpents. This exer-
their
cise may help you begin to feel what body unity is.
70 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

1. Stand facing a wall and raise your arm as if to write on a blackboard (if

you've got a real blackboard, use it).

2. With your right hand, sign your name in big letters at least three feet high.
Notice your wrist and elbow do all the work.
3. Now do it again, but this time, lock your wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder so
they are absolutely immobile. So how are you supposed to write? By step-
ping, sinking, and turning your body from the waist down, you actually
write with your legs.
4. Do the same thing with your other hand.
5. Repeat this drill, writing the whole alphabet, until you can achieve the same
fluidity in your "body writing" as you have writing the normal way.

Granted, body unity should also involve free movement of your hand, wrist,
elbow, and shoulder, but most people can do this after a short while anyway. It's
and back involvement that eludes most begin-
the foot, leg, hip, waist, trunk,
ners. That's why it's do this drill, writing the whole alphabet, until
helpful to
you can achieve the same fluidity as you'd have writing the normal way.

Starting the Mower

This drill involves another visualization of another common movement. It re-

quiresyou to follow the principle of positioning your body to do 1,000 pounds

of work with none of the exertion.

1. Imagine you're starting the world's most stubborn lawn mower.

2. Without using any strength or tension, stand with your feet wide, bend your
knees, turn, and reach deeply to your left or right and loosely "grab" the
mower's starter "cord." Keep your head and back relatively perpendicular
to the ground. Turn as far as you can, shifting your weight to your forward
leg (figure 4.1a).

3. Moving slowly and loosely, breathing deeply, begin to pull until you have
shifted your weight to your rear leg. Your elbow should be behind you
all

and your pulling hand, near your shoulder (figure 4.1b).

4. Slowly reverse the movement, pushing the cord back to its source, while
aligning your body as if the cord is pushing against your hand.
5. Repeat several times, moving as slowly as possible with zero muscular ten-
sion. This is not an isometric exercise, however, so don't "flex" while doing
it.

Opening the Door

No, this is not some mysterious drill from Outer Mongolia. Anytime you open a
door and walk through it, you have an opportunity to practice body unity. This
works best on spring-loaded doors that close on their own.
 Body Unity 71

FIGURE 4.1

1. When you open a door, don't lean or stretch to reach the knob. Walk up to it
so that your arm, elbow, and shoulder remain in a low, relaxed position.

2. To open the door, don't yank with the biceps or shoulder. Step away from
the door and rotate your body and feet to generate the necessary torque, so
you use only minimal finger strength to hold it (pull with your legs, not
your hand). If you examine this motion, with the exception of your hand
position, you'll see that we're asking you to move with the same mechanics
you'd use if the door weighed 500 pounds.
3. As you walk through the door, stay as close to it as possible. Release your
arm and swing it through, yielding your upper body so the door won't
touch any part of you.
4. As you swing your arm through, bring it up at the same time in an answer-
the-phone motion to keep the door off you, yet whisker close (figure 4.2a).

5. The "phone" should transition in one smooth movement into a reverse rocker
(discussed in detail in chapter 7, pages 165-166) with your elbow or finger-
tips until you're clear of the door (figure 4.2b). Your fingertips should touch
the door as lightly as a feather. Thismovement acts as a check to be sure the
door (or an attacker's strike) is clear or, at least, is not about to swing back
on you. You can do this slowly to accentuate the feeling of powering the
door with your whole body or at normal speed.
72 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 4.2

__ Preventing Common Mistakes

While performing "Body Writing" or any other body unity drills, the
object is not to move your whole body together as one rigid object, like
a statue. Instead, move your body as one unit in the same loose way the
entire length of a whip lends its power to the snap of its tip.

"Starting the Mower" is not a tension exercise. Remember, move with

the intent of moving 1,000 pounds but not the strength.
 CHAPTER FIVE

JJALANCE

Now when most people

may imagine
they
think of balance,
a tightrope walker or
attempt to adopt a "stance," form, or tech-
nique under duress will meet with catas-
something similar. This type of balance is one- trophe. This is a fact and, as explained in
dimensional. The rope is always the balance the introduction, is born out by police re-
point. In a fight, your balance point is always ports (and anyone, for that matter, who's
changing. Your foot positions move constantly, been in a fight for his or her life). Balance
or you may be against a wall, on one knee, or must be dynamic.
on your back (yes, you still have to be balanced,
It's cumulative. You must first feel a sense
even on your back), but even this is not the only
of balance in each individual part of your
kind of balance we're going to be talking about
body in order to then get each part to act
or having you practice.
collectively in a powerful manner. Imag-
Body unity and looseness are both funda-
ine each bone as a scale, or better yet, a
mental components of balance, in that they help
seesaw. If your attacker pushes down on
develop grace as well as the ability to deliver
one end of your forearm, let's say the
tremendous energy by loosely controlling your
hand, the other end of the forearm (the
body's mass. In guided chaos, we're not talk-
elbow) should swing up and hit him in
ing about developing everyday balance, but
the jaw. Its power is augmented by all the
hyperbalance, balance on steroids, balance that
other bones in your body through body
is fundamentally different in two unique ways:
unity. Thus, balance also refers to the po-
1. It's dynamic. You can attack and defend sition ofeach bone in relation to the posi
in body positions and angles that other tion of every other bone. It also rotors to
people just don't have, because they don't the ability of each bono (and the heavj
learn and practice them. You can't train connected flesh) to deliver its delicatel)
hyperbalance with a fixed drill or static balanced momentum to each succeeding
exercise, because all fights are chaotic; any bone in turn.

73
 74 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

To understand this further, imagine every one of your bones as a "sledgeham-

mer," finely balanced on the end of every other bone and connected by "ball
bearings" like a big chain. The ball bearings are all the joints in your fingers,
hands, wrists, upper and lower arms, and shoulders and every vertebra in your
back and every joint in your hips and legs. Your job is to whip them so that their
individual momentum is cumulative like a big wave. When the bones move
counter to each other, there's no body unity, and they detract from the total amount
of momentum, even if they're all loose. It would be like five people grabbing a
whip at different points along its length and attempting to snap their individual
sections with force.
With the progressive drills provided in this chapter, you will train your body
Balance acts as the axis to balance so that every part of it is counterbalanced and influenced by every

between yin and yang, other part, so that if one part moves, even the slightest bit, every other part moves
also. For example, think about when you pass through a subway turnstile. If you
soft and hard, force and
push and
walk through one slowly, the other side simultaneously rotates behind you. If
yielding, pull,
you were to run through, the back side would whip around and smack you in
and attack and defense,
the rear violently. This is also a simple example of yin-yang energy transforma-
allowing for one to flow
tion. Briefly, yin and yang are two Chinese Taoist terms that define opposite
into the other, with no
energy states (e.g., hard and soft, or attacking and yielding). The side of the turn-
discernible interruption,
stile that moves away when you hit it is receiving energy and is thus in a yin
so one becomes indistin- state. The part of the turnstile that swings around and hits you in the rear is
guishable from the other. transmitting energy and is thus in a yang state. Understand that the balanced
looseness of a turnstile happens in a single horizontal plane. Your joints are infi-
nitely more mobile, moving in directions multiplied geometrically by all your
other joints and by how each one influences the other. Now you can see why we
talked so much about internal energy in the previous chapter: balance is the axle
that the wheel of internal energy turns around; external energy actually disrupts
the individual and collective balance of your bones by committing you to full-
force movements in one direction.
When your body has momentum, it has latent energy without the input of
muscular force. Guided chaos makes extensive use of this. But to generate mo-
mentum and get it to go where you want, you have to be both balanced and
loose. The total momentum of a guided chaos strike will come from the weight
of all the flesh and bones in motion, not a continuous muscular contraction. This
allows for two different kinds of loose, powerful strikes:

1. Whipping strikes. When it's used correctly, a whip conducts its energy in-
stantly from the handle to the tip where it is amplified and focused. The tip
can cut like a knife or smash like a wrecking ball depending on how it's
delivered and how much mass it has. This occurs even though every point
of the whip's length is totally soft and flexible. If it strikes a solid object, like
an iron pipe, the whip merely wraps around it. Every point of its length has
a balanced energy relationship with every other, like a visible sine wave.
This whipping motion is also perfectly suited for the human body to de-
liver strikes with.

2. Jackhammer strikes. In addition to circular whipping blows, balance and

body unity can manifest in loose, linear pile-driver-like strikes. As explained
in chapter 4, having a relaxed body allows you to drive from your feet
through your hands with uninhibited power. This is why each bone must
be balanced in relation to every other bone. If the bones are not lined up,
 Balance 75

however, energy will be frittered away into space. Whipping and jackham-
mer strikes will both be augmented by dropping energy (chapter 6, page
96).

Your Balance Foundation

In guided chaos you're going to be moving your body's mass so dynamically to
avoid and deliver strikes that without extreme balance you'd be spending half
your time on your backside. To keep your balance, you must move your body
mass around your center of gravity so it's constantly counterbalanced. No mat-
ter how you bend and gyrate, if you can move a compensating amount of mass
in the opposite direction from the part of your body that's avoiding a strike so
your center of gravity remains directly above one or both feet, you will remain
balanced.
For example, if your chest col-
lapses to absorb a blow (see "Yield-
ing, Looseness, and Pocketing,"
page 46), the target area moves out-
side your center of gravity. But be-
cause you're still balanced, it's pos-
sible to deliver a counterattack at
the same time you're avoiding the
attack. To remain balanced, your
knees, hips, and shoulders need to
compensate by bending forward
(figure 5.1). This keeps your center
of gravity in the same place and
maintains your rooted connection
to the ground (see the following
section).

FIGURE 5.1

Rooting Your Feet

Just as a building must have a firm foundation on which to stand, you must
have a firm foundation from which to fight. You need to develop the surefooted
balance of a cat, so that no matter which way you're pushed, you always land
on your feet in a balanced and stable position to launch your attack.
When we say "root," we simply mean your body's completely relaxed, or
"dead," weight sinks into your legs and distributes evenly through both feet,
Fighting for your life
like the balancing of a scale, perpendicular to the ground (with no leaning or
without balance is like
bouncing). This applies even when you are gyrating and contorting your body
trying to run in quick-
to avoid or deliver strikes because you are keeping your center of gravity over
your feet by compensating your body mass in opposite directions. If you don't sand: no matter how
—
compensate, you lean and then you fall. When you lean, you have no balance hard you try, no mat-
and no power. ter how much force you
You must not overcommit to either leg, but instead try to maintain the rela- exert, the more you
—
tionship of neutral balance no leaning, posing, or rising onto heels or toes. struggle, the faster you
When you transfer your weight for a strike, return to your neutral position in an sink.
 76 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

easy, relaxed manner, like a buoy in the ocean. This is true whether you're bal-
ancing on one or both feet.
Don't balance on one foot to satisfy some stylistic stance, however. Rather,
you may have to balance on one foot when, in the course of combat, you dy-
namically move your entire body mass around to avoid or to deliver a strike as
a sensitive response to your opponent's energy. This pouring of your loose, re-
laxed body from an area of high pressure to low is accomplished by dropping
from a high center of gravity to a low center of gravity, on both feet or by flow-
ing from one foot to the other. Even then, the one-legged root is achieved instan-
Develop your ability to
taneously, then abandoned for a new one. In other words, your feet don't need
balance as well on one leg
to be glued to the ground, but they must act like magnets on a metal floor that
as on both legs, not be-
are capable of instant attraction and repulsion, as you desire. You should be so
cause you want to pose, aware of your balance that you can step to a flat foot, sinking your weight into it
but because you may in- as if you were drunk, yet glide off of it like a jaguar.
advertently end up there. Despite rooting, your feet must be able to move to a new root point at any
Be ready to balance and given moment. Trying to be tough by maintaining a static stance can get you
to fight on one or both killed. Remember that you're not stepping out of the fight, but to a more advan-

knees, your back, but- tageous fighting position, which is often even closer to the opponent. You will
tocks, or any other part actually learn to pour yourself onto him like syrup. You should be light and heavy

of your body.
on your feet at the same time. This creates a sensation of "relaxed springiness."
Furthermore, you want to develop a root that can't be found. Your opponent
will discover that no matter where he pushes you or where you end up, you can
always deliver a strike with rooted, balanced power. Whether you are on one or
both legs, your feet must also be able to turn on the ground while remaining as
flat as possible. This will allow you to direct the force of your strike or to maneu-

ver your body out of the way instantaneously. A flat foot also transfers drop-
ping power better without the flex associated with being on your toes, such as
when sparring.

Bending Your Knees

Bend your knees at all times. Since the knees are attached to the largest muscles
in the body (in the thighs), your knees must properly return energy without
buckling, yet remain springy. The bend must be natural to allow for freedom of
movement. In other words, don't use excessively low classical or posed stances
that compromise your stability in any way (you martial artists know which ones
we mean). If the stance wouldn't work for an NFL middle linebacker or a pro-
fessional tennis player, it won't work for you in a real potential bloodbath.
Once the fight begins, the amount of knee bend can vary. Under zero pres-
Understand that when sure, always return to neutral. As you turn your body, keep your knees pressing
righting, regardless of inward slightly. Your stance becomes weak when one knee bends out further
who is faster, stronger, than the stance requires. It also makes it susceptible to injury and attack. More-
or larger, if you have over, the straight leg, prevalent in many styles of martial arts, is a mechanically
balance and your oppo- poor position and a bad habit to fall into. Not only does it take away from your
nent doesn't, he loses, ability to balance yourself, it also puts your leg in a position where it can easily
period. be broken.

Balancing Your Breathing

Breathe deep into the belly through your nose using your diaphragm muscle
(located under your ribcage). Your stomach should expand outward. Breathing
 .

Balance 77

high in the chest (chest breathing) tends to raise your center

of gravity, disrupting your balance. Chest-breathing also
neurologically increases your tension and anxiety.

Balancing Your Posture

Your posture should not resemble a West Point cadet's, but
rather, an upright ape's. Your arms, when raised, should as-
sume a relaxed, sunken position with the elbows down, as
if you were riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle (figure 5.2).

Balance Drills
These exercises may seem unusual, but they have their roots
in many established fighting styles, including tai chi and
Native American fighting arts.

FIGURE 5.2

Ninja Walk
The key with not to build up forward momentum, where you could
this drill is
propel yourself from one step to another by pushing off your toes, but rather to
slowly place each foot down, so you create the maximum stress, challenging
your balance as you tap and change supporting legs.
1 Stand with either foot forward, hands up in a relaxed fighting position, with
your knees bent, elbows down and relaxed, back straight, and head up.
2. Slowly redistribute 99 percent of your weight over your forward leg, just
enough to balance on it, yet keep your rear foot flat and barely on the floor
(figure 5.3a).

3. Keeping your rear leg relatively straight and the foot flat, point only the big
toe of your rear leg up in the air without changing the angle of your foot.
This will force you to keep your rear foot flat as you perform the following:
Raise your entire body by straightening your supporting (front) leg, as if
you were doing a one-legged squat. This one-legged squatting action will
bring your rear foot off the ground an eighth of an inch. The purpose of
raising the toe of the rear foot first is to make sure you come off the ground
with a flat foot (i.e., parallel to the ground and without benefit of a heel-toe
pushoff). Do this at an extremely slow speed. Do not raise your rear foot off
the ground by merely curling your rear leg's knee. For the moment, your
rear knee should actually remain fairly straight (figure 5.3b).
4. Once your rear foot is off the floor, bend your rear knee and point the toe of
the raised foot toward the ground.
5. Tap slowly and lightly on the ground behind you twice with your toe. How-
ever, don't tap by straightening the knee of your rear leg. Rather, maintain
the bend in the knee as it is. You will reach the floor with your toe by lower-
ing your entire body with the one-legged squat performed by the front leg
(figure 5.3c). Don't cheat on this or you'll defeat the purpose. Depending on
how low you are, the burn in your thighs can be tremendous. You can ma ke
this harder by bending the knee of the tapping leg more and maintaining
FIGURE 5.3

78
 Balance 79

that bend as your supporting leg's knee bends, raising and lowering your
entire body. Since the tapping leg's knee is bent more, your supporting leg's
knee must bend more for the tapping foot to reach the ground.
6. Slowly bring the tapping leg forward and tap lightly two times on the ground
in front of you with your heel. Be sure you're tapping by sinking and squat-
ting down on your supporting leg. Remember, do not bend the tapping
leg's knee independently to make the foot reach the ground (figure 5.3d).

7. After slowly tapping twice with the heel in front of you, flatten the tapping
foot, slowly placing it on the ground. Redistribute your weight so that 99
percent of it is on the new supporting leg.

8. As your entire body with your new supporting leg so

before, slowly raise
thatyour rear leg comes off the ground with the foot flat and parallel to the
ground without any kind of toe pushoff.
9. Repeat this process over and over in the same fashion, alternating legs so
you are "walking" forward.
One complete cycle should take no less than 40 seconds —the slower, the better.

Vacuum Walk
By doing this walk correctly, you develop tremendous balance in areas where
most people don't have balance, so you will begin to glide low and powerfully
on the ground like a cat. Both the "Ninja Walk" and the "Vacuum Walk" drills
develop and strengthen the small muscles in the hips necessary for powerful
but subtle weight shifts that occur during a fight as you constantly struggle to
regain your balance and step to your new root points on uncertain ground. This
walk is vital for developing the rooted, one-legged, instant balance essential to
dropping in awkward positions as well as redirecting kicks or delivering mul-
tiple counterkicks "Rockette-style."

1. Begin with steps 1 through 3 of the "Ninja Walk" (page 77).

2. Once again, raise your rear foot parallel to the floor. Remember, do not raise
this foot independently. Don't bring the foot in proximity to the ground by
merely bending and unbending the knee of the leg that is in the air.
3. While bending the knee of your supporting leg even further so that your
whole body sinks lower, bring your rear foot alongside the front supporting
foot but do not put it on the ground. While doing this, maintain the bottom of
the foot at an eighth of an inch above the ground and parallel to it (figure 5.4a).
4. From there, circle your raised leg from the front to the rear in the shape of
an outward crescent, keeping the foot no more than an eighth of an inch off
the ground at all times, as if you were vacuuming the floor.
5. Keep the bottom of the foot parallel to the floor, no matter where it moves.
This requires you to constantly change the angle of your ankle as well as the
bend in your supporting knee.
6. The slower you do all the movements, the better. Each foot circle should
take no less than three seconds and should be no less than two feet in diam-
eter (figure 5.4b).

7. Circle the leg slowly twice, then place it silently on the ground in front of
you, redistributing all your weight onto that leg.
80 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 5.4

8. Repeat this process with your other leg. Continue to do this so you are slowly
"walking" forward (or backward if you choose).

The you to be sensitive to the surface of the ground as you

foot circles force
battle in the dark or on uneven terrain. The leg muscle isolation strengthens
your lower body while your upper body stays loose. If you are doing this hon-
estly you won't be able to perform the "Vacuum Walk" drill for more than a few
minutes. Here are a few more points:

• Keep your back straight and don't lean.

• Remember to keep your head and hands up in fighting position.

• Breathe slowly, deep into your belly.

Advanced Ninja and Vacuum Walks

You can increase the difficulty of the "Vacuum Walk" by doing the following:

• Lower your supporting leg and bend the knee of your circling leg so you
have to sink your whole body further down to keep your foot an eighth of
an inch off the ground.
• Do both walks slowly up and down stairs. (On the "Vacuum Walk," circle
behind you to avoid hitting the step in front of you.)
 Balance 81

• Do the walks outdoors on large rocks with your eyes closed. The best place
dry streambed or rocky shoreline. The mental concentration
for this is a
and muscular control required are considerable, but the development of
your fighting root and stability will accelerate quickly.

We have found after teaching the walks to hundreds of students, that consci-
entiously performing these exercises alone five minutes a day for a year will
effectively develop the same kind of balance and root you might get after 10
years of doing the tai chi form. This is because you're specifically working on
the attributes the form is designed to develop, without spending years perfect-
ing the exact movements. When you combine the walks with "Polishing the
Sphere" (page 111) and other random-flow drills described later, you teach your
nervous system to be balanced while it is becoming comfortable with spontane-
ous movement.

Box Step
This develops the box step, a key movement principle of guided chaos.
drill
With it you develop a feel for your body's equilibrium while in motion, and you
learn to move your entire body in a balanced, coordinated manner, without re-
treating, leaning, hopping, or crossing your feet. In guided chaos, feeling where
your body is and how it's balanced is more important than adopting a stance or
technique. For a real-life example of how the training principles of balance and
kinesthetic awareness can aid you in an attack, see "The Williams Brothers At-
tack" (page 86). This drill will train you to land positioned, balanced, and ready
to strike, with no extra movement, especially in the dark, against multiple op-
ponents.

1. Mark out a box on the ground, roughly three feet by three feet.

2. Stand in an L stance, with the heel of your right (forward) foot in one corner
of the box and the left (rear) foot, at about a 90-degree angle to it (figure 5.5a).

3. From there, step with your rear foot to another corner of the box, landing in
an "L" but with your left foot forward.
4. Continue stepping to a new corner with your rear foot, which, when it lands,
becomes the new forward foot. If your right foot is forward, stepping with
your rear (left) foot to the corner on your left is the easiest. A little tougher is
stepping with your rear foot to the corner directly across the box. This re-
quires you to turn 180 degrees in the air clockwise and land facing in the
direction from which you came (figure 5.5b). Most difficult is bringing your
rear (left) foot all the way to the corner of the box, directly to your right.
This means you have to turn your body 270 degrees in the air clockwise
(figure 5.5c). As you can see, with all these movements, you never cross
your feet, and you never step behind yourself.
5. Continue to do this back and forth in both directions, stepping to any corner
at random without pause.
6. Ifyou feel your weight is off when you land, you are off balance, and you
need to adjust in the air. This will present a challenge with the more difficult
steps. To get your feet to land properly without twisting, you will have to
get your hips moving early while you're still in the air.
 82 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 5.5 a) Starting position. b) After 180° turn. c) After 270° turn.

Keep in mind the importance of how you step:

• When you step to your new position, don't hop or jump. Glide softly and
smoothly, like a cat hugging the ground (or like Groucho Marx).
• Rise as little as possible, as if at the apex of your step, you might hit your head
on a very low ceiling.

• Be careful not to lean too far back or too far forward when landing in your new
position.

• When you land, be sure your feet are in the final L-stance before they make
contact with the ground so you don't have to readjust or twist either foot in
any way.
• The new front foot should land smack in the middle of the new corner.

This is the simplest way to do the box step. Once you are capable of landing
without making a sound and getting your entire body balanced and positioned
without readjustment at each corner, you can begin to add some of the following
drills. These drills will also apply to sensitivity and other guided chaos prin-

ciples, which you will learn in later chapters.

Free-Striking Box Step

Perform the box drill, but each time you land, throw a strike. This drill trains you
to land balanced and ready, to throw the strike, and to then immediately go into
the next box step.

1 . Begin with low kicks such as short front kicks, roundhouses, sidekicks, knees,
whatever. The type of kick is not important.
 Balance 83

2. Try the kicks using either your front or rear leg

as soon as you land. This will require you to be
dead center in your equilibrium, otherwise you'll
lean, fall, and have no power.
3. Ifyou do this drill with a few partners, each of
them can be positioned outside a corner of the
box with their own kicking shield, which you will
kick after each box step (figure 5.6). Your part-
ners will step in toward you from the opposite
corners with their shields.
4. Try this using upper body strikes. Remember, the
type of strike is unimportant, but you should try
everything you can think of. Refer back to the
"Anywhere Strikes" drills (I, II, and III) in chap-
ter 2 (page 34) if you need some ideas. Try this
exercise holding light weights or a baseball bat.
Using a sledgehammer is a real challenge.

FIGURE 5.6

Battle-Ax Box Step

This purposely challenges your balance while teaching you to not tighten
drill
up on grabs (which is itself a unique concept; see chapter 9). The goal of this drill
is to work up from using a heavy stick to a sledgehammer. The key to handling

a heavy sledgehammer like a paperweight is in flowing with

its momentum, rather than fighting it. This way, you make

gravity and inertia your ally. This is a process of self-discov-

ery, however. No one can teach it to you. But when you even-
tually get it, the application to empty-handed fighting is
obvious and powerful. It means you have mastered body
unity as it applies to balance.

1. Perform the "Box Step" drill without pausing between

As soon as you land, you begin a new step.
steps.

2. As you box-step, use a heavy stick, swinging it above

your head, softly and slowly, one revolution per step

(figure 5.7a). Hold the end of the stick in both hands
with the least amount of tension necessary.
3. Once you get good at this, begin using a sledgeham-
mer while you're box-stepping. This will take some
practice. Number one, you must center and balance
your body with the added weight. Two, you must keep
your hand and arm relaxed while you hold the handle.
Ultimately, you should be able to hold the sledgeham-
mer with only the thumb and index finger of one hand.
Three, you must generate the power to move the sledge-
hammer with the momentum of your body, not your
FIGURE 5.7
 .

84 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 5.7

muscles. Obviously, you must also gently stop the hammer's motion be-
tween each step before changing the direction of the circular swing with
your new step, without tightening up or throwing yourself off balance. Do
this by imagining that the sledgehammer is a baby that has fallen out of the
window of a speeding car, and you must catch it without causing the slight-
est harm.
4. During moments of weightlessness and transition between landings, try
twirling it along its axis in your hand (figure 5.7b), spearing the hammer
with either the handle or the head (figure 5.7a) and releasing and taking up
slack by letting the hammer handle slide through your hand as you extend
it. Let its momentum carry it just out to the end of the handle before, like a

relaxed pendulum, you swing it back and box-step to a new position.

5. Perform this drill for 5 to 10 minutes every couple days to reap its benefits.

The "Battle-Ax Box Step" drill develops relaxation in your hands and gets
you to step around and closer to your opponent to take his space (see "Taking
Your Opponent's Space, chapter 7), yet avoid being hit yourself. It generates
momentum for striking as a yielding response to pressure. How this applies to
fighting will become more clear as you learn about developing sensitivity in
chapter 6.

Whirling Dervish Box Step

The motion practiced in this drill is excellent for splitting multiple attackers if you're
surrounded or for getting past your current attacker to the one behind you.

1 Box-step continuously, so that you are whirling without pause, moving for-
ward like a spinning running back in football, avoiding tacklers.
2. Strike as you turn, using your motion to augment the blows. For example,
you're in a right lead. As you begin to box-step to the right by bringing your
left foot forward, your right arm chops like a helicopter blade to the right

while your left arm palm-heels straight forward.

3. As you continue to spin, this chop-palm strike com-bination comes out again
every time you face in the direction of your forward movement (figure 5.8).
 .

Balance 85

4 . However, don't make the mistake of moving high

on your toes, like a twirling ballerina. When you
spin, land, and strike, your body should feel
mobile but heavy, like a tumbling boulder crush-
ing trees as it rolls. Your arms are loose like flex-
ible steel whips.

Try this exercise on uneven, rocky, or slippery ter-

rain; fights rarely take place on favorable ground so
to train on flat, even martial arts school floors is de-
ceiving as such surfaces don't challenge your bal-
ance. Indoors, you can tune up your balance by do-
ing this drill over platforms such as those used in
aerobic step training. Then do it with your eyes closed.
How do you keep from stumbling? Practice. This is
why this is such an important balance drill. The
chaos of a fight is no different. Keep in mind that
all your movements should be free, loose, relaxed,

and heavy.

FIGURE 5.8

Wood-Surfing
The benefits of doing this drill daily for a few minutes are substantial. You build
up tremendous strength and sensitivity in all the tiny foot and lower leg muscles.
At the same time, you form new neural connections in the
motor reflex areas of your brain, areas that become vital in
the chaos of a fight. This exercise makes you extremely
aware of your center of gravity and of moving your body
mass in opposite directions to keep it over your feet.
1 Find a board, preferably a two-by-four, cut to a length
a little wider than your shoulder-width.

2. Make the board unstable, using one of many methods.

The simplest is to roll up a piece of carpet and cut a
pair of two-inch-diameter cylinders that you'll attach
securely to the bottom of each end of the board.
3. Stand on the board with your feet about shoulder- width
apart and work to balance yourself and not fall off. This
is similar to Canadianlog rolling.

4. Ifyou feel yourself losing your balance, just step off the
board. In this way, you teach yourself to step to a new
root point without struggling excessively to stay on the
board. This can be a fatal tendency in classical training,
where a practitioner will strain to maintain his stance
even after his balance is shot. You need to learn how to
flow smoothly to a new balance point.
FIGURE 5.9
86 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

5. Try slowly turning at the waist, staying low, until your stability is compro-
mised.
6. Twist the other way.
7. Try this while doing the various "Swimming," "Weaving Python," and "Solo
Contact Flow" drills (chapter 3). Try the "Small Circle Dance" (figure 5.9).
8. Next, position the board two to three feet away from a pole or tree and slowly
perform random anywhere strikes (chapter 2). Do them on one leg.
9. Vacuum-walk and ninja-walk on the board. Try the walks with your eyes
closed while swimming.

There are other drills you can do while doing the "Wood-Surfing" drill that
you will read about in chapter 7. For now, while balancing, visualize attack and
avoidance as you move with your anywhere strikes. Eventually, you should push
the envelope with your twisting and writhing to hypersensitize your balance.

THE WILLIAMS BROTHERS ATTACK

John Perkins
No match in a ring or martial arts school is as deadly as real-life armed and unarmed
murder attempts by one or more would-be street assassins. Nearly all attacks on police
officers are potentially lethal. Also, anyone who would attack a person in uniform know-
ing beforehand that he has a weapon, has to be at least slightly psychotic. But anytime
a grown person assaults another person in the real world, you should consider it an

execution. Why? Because you don't know what's in the mind of a stranger or mob that
wants to do you harm. Will he stop at the point of rendering you unconscious or maim-
ing or paralyzing you? Or will he stop only when you're dead? If you are a police officer
armed with a handgun, any fight you lose could be your last. When you're down, your
assailant(s) could take your weapon and finish you. When you're in the ring, even
though there's a tiny chance you could be maimed, paralyzed, or killed, the combatants
are known, there are referees, doctors, spectators, and, most important, rules.
I was walking foot patrol one weekday evening. I had just finished my "glass check."

A glass check is where you look over all the churches, schools, and stores for broken
glass or any other signs of forced entry. I would do this in the middle of my tour and
again at the end. It was a summer night, and people were out enjoying the weather.
However, some blocks in the commercial area were deserted. As I passed a gas station
that was closed for the night, I noticed the outline of a man that seemed to disappear
into the shadow of the building. I followed, tracking him by sound only because it was
too dark to see. I had no time for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
As I got a few feet into the rear of the garage, I could still hear the man I was
following. Then, out of nowhere, I suddenly saw stars. I was struck from behind with a
terrific concussion, and my head was thrown forward until it slammed into the wall of

the garage. I fought to maintain consciousness, and as I did, the strangest thing seemed
to be happening: heavy sandbags were being dropped on top of me from above with
crushing force, and I couldn't get away. Then I realized that the sandbags were actually
men jumping down on top of me. I didn't know how many there were, but I knew I might
be killed.

I later found out that they had jumped off the back of a flatbed truck, which was
parked in the rear. Their eyes had had time to adjust to the dark while mine hadn't. Of

course, I know now that you should never follow someone into the dark, even if he isn't
aware of your presence. You might surprise a gang of five men and have them attack
youall at once. Later, I puzzled over why these men would continue to attack me so
 Balance 87

and running. Usually most thieves just take off when a cop
brutally instead of just hitting
arrives on the scene. These guys were hell-bent on destroying me. (I'll reveal why later.)
They were all dropping on me, and I was getting pummeled from all directions in the
dark. Luckily at that time I knew how to yield with punches, and even back then, I had
the rudiments of what was to become the box step and contact flow programmed inside
me. My balance training came into play in the biggest way. My gun was unavailable to me
at this point, due to the retention device I used and the barrage of blows I had to
contend with. Under the worst conditions, in the dark on uncertain ground, with an
unknown number of attackers coming from all directions, it was my ability to retain my
balance in the midst of chaos that kept me from going down.
My return attack was explosive and devastating. I struck outward with palm-heel,
hammer-fist, and side-of-hand strikes (the whirling dervish box step), while at the same
time, Ibegan stomping blindly and with full force (the Mexican hat dance). This seemed
to free up my left side so I could get to my nightstick. As I drew the stick with my left
hand from the ring on the left side of my gun belt, I remembered to grab it in an
underhand position so I could strike with the tip of the handle as I drew it straight
upward and forward. This first blow hit pay dirt. I felt the impact, catching one of the
attackers solidly in the jaw. Once I got my nightstick into action, I was able to hit with
more power. If I wasn't already used to getting hit and yielding prior to this melee, that
first kick to the back of my head would have finished me. Maybe they would've been

merciful and just left me there, but my survival response was in full swing, and swing,
swing, swing is what I did with the nightstick (the battle-ax box step).
Training took over when the assailants seemed to rain down from the sky. I remem-
bered to flow with the blows and made myself a moving target by swaying and striking all
at once. Dropping my weight also saved me at the onset of the attack. By dropping into
my blows and stomping my feet, I kept my balance and my footing and attacked simulta-
neously. It was fortuitous that I knew how to hit with my bare hands hard enough so I
could finally get to my night stick. I was also lucky that only one of the assailants had a
weapon. This was a wrench about a foot long, but I don't think he was able to hit me
solidly with it because there was such ferocious and wild movement in all directions. He
also may have been afraid to hit one of his accomplices.
As I was delivering mostly two-handed jabs and butt strikes with my stick, I was
perplexed as to why these guys kept on attacking. I knew they were getting seriously
injured, but they just kept at me. I finally finished off the last attacker with a blow to the
nose with the side of my stick. My sight was getting sharper, and when I finally took out
my flashlight, I saw the mess around me. The groaning was loud. I couldn't believe I was
able to hold onto my stick with all the blood on it. The solution to the mystery as to why
they never ran off after ambushing me was that three of them were brothers, and the
other three were friends. They weren't about to leave someone behind.

Preventing Common Mistakes

Keep your head up while ninja-walking and vacuum-walking. Don't lean.
Don't tap the floor in the ninja walk by bending the knee of your tap-
ping leg. Raise and lower your whole body by bending your supporting
leg.

Don't hop while box-stepping. Glide.

Don't twist your foot into position when you land in the box step. It

should already be there.

 CHAPTER SIX

SENSITIVITY*
TTHE WAY OF ENERGY

Sensitivity, looseness, body unity, and bal- As you probably know, hand-eye coordina-
ance are the "big four" of our guided chaos tionis the skill you use to whack a baseball,

methodology. They all work together. Aside catch a pass, or block a punch. In terms of re-
from the other important subprinciples in this sponse time in an attack, however, it's too slow.
book, if even one of these four is missing from What are we talking about? For the answer, we
the mix, you have nothing. Although we've need to conduct a little experiment.
mentioned sensitivity before, we've held off ex- Get into a traditional boxer's stance, with
plaining it completely until now because the your hands up and about 6 to 12 inches apart.
depth and power of this principle would be Have your training partner pick a mutually
meaningless without first understanding the agreed-on spot on your chest that he will try
other three. It is also the prime mover of all and touch. Your job is to block him. Your part-
the other principles. ner should stand the same distance away thai
Simply put, sensitivity is the ability to de- he would be if he were sparring with you. He,
tect and create changes in energy, whether in of course, should move as fast as possible to
type, amount, or direction, and to do so with- touch that spot, and you should move .is
out conscious thought. This requires using a quickly as you can to block it (figure 6.1),
part of your brain and nervous system that you Guess what? Even though you know where
never have to think about. Something that is he's going,if he's reasonably fast, you can al-

actually faster and more sensitive than good most never block him, try as you might \n\
old hand-eye coordination: your sense of form of fighting that relies on hand eye
touch. coordination exclusively for sell defense is

89
90 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

at an inherent disadvantage.
Think about this carefully. This
includes almost all styles of
fighting (especially sparring)
that rely on distance, space, and
visual timing; however, there are
some notable. exceptions. The
following styles have a distinct
fighting advantage, because they
all to some greater or lesser de-
gree address the subject of sen-
sitivity: wrestling, wing chun,
judo, aikido, ultimate fighting,
and the tactile, internal "soft"
martial arts styles such as tai chi,
bagua, hsing I, and ki chuan do
(the art that guided chaos is
drawn from). All these styles in-
FIGURE 6.1 volve constant close physical
contact with your opponent. The difference is that in guided chaos, we put a
premium on developing sensitivity first and last, and through a different train-
ing protocol than other styles.

Sensing Energy
Our focus in this book is on fighting to save your life, not fooling around. This
may dictate some notable philosophical alterations in your self-defense strat-
egy. also bodes well for maintaining a personal philosophy of nonviolence.
It

Why? Because, unless you're cornered, if you have enough space to spar, you
have enough space to run. Typically, if your attacker stays at a sparring dis-
tance, he's not really serious about hurting you. Real mayhem begins only once
you are in close physical contact with your attacker. This is where most of the dam-
age dished out and, coincidentally, where most traditional training breaks down.
is

This is because in a controlled environment like sparring or boxing, there are

rules that govern the action. Strikes come at a cadence of one, retract, one, re-
tract, and so on. Even in a flurry, each strike is separate from the one before and
the one after. Strikes to the back of the head are prohibited. And how do most
flurries end? With a clinch. And the fight stops. This is not reality.

Let's return to the previous experiment, but with a slight modification. Set up
like before, only this time, gently rest your fingertips on your partner's hands,
as if you were playing an expensive piano. Close your eyes, take a slow, deep
breath, and try to completely relax your muscles. Clear your mind and think of
nothing. All you want to do is react to the slightest change in pressure against
your fingertips and nothing else. You might think "This is ridiculous. What fight
looks like this?" But consider the fact that no real fight begins, nobody is hurting
anybody, until you actually make skin contact. Until you reach that point, re-
member, running away is your first and best option. When both of you come
close enough so that with arms fully extended you only touch at the fingertips,
tactile sensitivity begins.
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 91

Now, moving as explosively as he can, have your partner again try and touch
the spot on your chest. Keep your eyes closed. (What? You've never been at-
tacked in the dark?) With practice, if you can relax enough, you'll find that he
can't do it, not even once.
No amount of practice will enable you to stop him if you break off tactile
contact and rely solely on hand-eye coordination. Why? Because the attacker is
always one step ahead of you in terms of nerve impulses. When you use tactile
sensitivity, however, you're relying on your sense of touch, which is hardwired
into the primitive centers of your brain. You're bypassing the whole hand-eye
coordination system wherein you see the punch, the image is sent to your brain,
and your brain processes it, calculates an interception angle, and sends a signal
to your muscles to carry out the response. With tactile sensitivity, you react at a
gross animal level, the same way a cat responds to an attack, antennas on a
garden snail retract from touch, or your eyelids respond to dust. There's no
middleman. This is what you're going to learn and practice to defend yourself.

Tactile Sensitivity and Sticking

In guided chaos, tactile sensitivity is concerned with achieving constant contact,
or sticking, with your opponent with any part of your body that stands between
his strike and its intended target. This could be almost anywhere, depending on
you never with him. Your skin will be-
lose contact
With increasing sensi-
the situation. Regardless,
come your eyes. This contact should be featherlight pressure at the beginner tivity, you eliminate the
level, progressing through body hair sensitivity, to body heat or even energy middleman of your reac-

field sensitivity at the highest level. tive intellectual mind,

We make the point of saying any part of your body, because different styles of which acts as a "drag" on
fighting may use different reference points of contact exclusively. In wing chun your response time.
and tai chi, the reference points tend to be the hands, wrists, forearms, and el-
bows. Wrestlers have an advantage because they're used to "sticking" with their
entire bodies. They have developed a certain level of sensitivity over their whole
skin surface. Similarly, in guided chaos, we believe the entire body is the battle-
ground, so we teach from the beginning that the contact reference points are
anywhere on the body. The difference between wrestling and guided chaos, how-
ever, is in how we respond to close contact.

The Disengagement Principle

In wrestling, most training is focused on overpowering your opponent (although
the best wrestlers have developed an elusive, slippery quality). In guided chaos,
by contrast, we stress sensitivity and loose, balanced responsiveness over your
entire body, first and last. Everything else is of less importance. With increasing
sensitivity, you actually react subconsciously to your opponent's intentions of
movement before he moves because his energy precedes him. How do you do
this? By attempting a paradox: You want to be as disengaged as possible from
your opponent, yet still be engaged.
We call this the disengagement principle. You stay as close to him as you can
without actually exerting any pressure. To paraphrase a tai chi principle, when
an attacker strikes, he should never reach you, but when he retreats, he <\\n
never get away from you. You are flowing with him, following his every move,
while you simultaneously mount your attacks. There's a great advantage to this.
 92 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

When you match with someone twice your strength,

are involved in a death
you will fail you attempt to engage him, that is, to match his strength. As
if

we've reminded you, no matter how strong you are, there's always someone
stronger. This is true whether you can do 200 knuckle push-ups or break two
bricks in the air. When you attempt to overpower a stronger opponent, your
antagonistic muscles come into play as you strain to vanquish him; you become
rigid, hard, and inflexible, and you are likely to be crushed or snapped like a dry
twig. In addition, by resisting forcefully, you actually present your opponent
with a road map of your intentions.
To survive the onslaught of a more powerful opponent, you need to be so
light, soft, flexible, and sensitive, that to your opponent, you feel like a phantom
or a cloud, dissolving like the liquid-metal Terminator, materializing only for
the millisecond needed for your strike's impact. You should be like a wet dishrag
that is soft and malleable until it's whipped and snapped. At the point of im-
^ pact, the formerly limp dishrag then takes on the solidity of steel and the effec-
to sayyou'rebothunavail-

able and unavoidable.

tiveness of a j^
jQ use a different analogy, you should feel to your opponent like all your
limbs are made of steel springs, connected by ball bearings and lubricated with
super silicon. Thus, when you hit, you feel like a tire iron, but when you absorb
an attack, you feel like a turnstile. You never oppose your opponent's energy:
neither he nor you should feel any resistance at any time (except when pulsing,
which we explain later in this chapter).
Or think of yourself as a block of ice. The enemy can either move the ice,
shatter his arm, or shatter the ice. Now take that block of ice and melt it. Your
opponent's job is to block all the water. The result, of course, is that he gets
soaked. How do you block water? Liquids merely seek the path of least resis-
tance. In this example, the water has both offensive and defensive attributes: it
mindlessly slips through obstacles to attack, and it effortlessly "sticks" to his
skin, following his every move and avoiding "harm."
Sensitivityand the disengagement principle offer you an alternative beyond
yielding (see chapter 3). When you become supersensitive, you can let the
opponent's energy slide right past you while still maintaining contact. This is
analogous to a farmer trying to catch a greased pig. The instant your hands (or
any other sticking surfaces of your body) sense a rise in incoming force, they
simply let the offending limb slip by. By keeping your body loose and yielding,
you ensure that the target won't be there when the strike arrives. Meanwhile,
your hands are still in contact with his arms, but further up and closer in. This
offers an opportunity to either move in to yet a closer reference point on his
body or to strike.
Comparing a fight with skiing down a mogul-filled trail that's as steep as a
wall at 20 miles per hour can help you grasp the need for the sensitivity prin-
ciple. Skiing the bumps can being a passenger in a multiple car wreck.
feel like
In fact, it feels like Now, the sport of skiing is jam-packed
you're being assaulted.
with techniques. However, as you're flying down a hill, if you keep your head
down and try to concentrate on the correct technique for the bump that's di-
rectly beneath you, the one that's slamming your knees into your face, you will
never be able to deal with the 200 more bumps coming up that are about to
break you in half. If your brain is turned inward and focused on technique, you
won't be getting the whole picture. You need to look outward and focus on the
run ahead of you. Otherwise your nervous system will be overwhelmed by the
 .

Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 93

deliberations of your brain, instead of being allowed to focuson feeling the ter-
same with fighting. Sensitivity means to lose yourself and follow
rain. It's the
the opponent. You simply feel his motion. If you think only of what martial arts
technique to use right now against his punch, you'll never feel the intent of the
200 strikes that are right behind it, and your opponent will break you into 1,000
pieces.
in tai chi, you should be so sensitive and responsive that a fly land-
As is said
ing anywhere on your body is enough to set your whole body in motion. "Well
then," you may say, "to be so immaterial to my opponent, why don't I just re-
main completely disengaged, dancing beyond his reach?" Because then he would
also be beyond your reach. Which is fine if you have the speed and space to run
away. Unfortunately, if you're cornered, unless you're the Roadrunner, escape is

usually unavailable. We're not talking about sparring. We're talking about life

and death. You want to mold to him, to be all over him, and yet to be completely
unavailable. You need to be at close range to cause damage to your assailant and
yet stay alive yourself. This is attainable by learning sensitivity, not by learning
technique.
You will find that as you train, your standard of what you call "grappling
force" evolves. What the average person might call a light touch, you will call a
hard push. This means you are developing your sensitivity. If you overcommit You want to stick— but
to a block or forced strike in which you try to blast through your opponent's not get stuck. You stick
—
defense when there is no opening, you're stuck you can't react. You've com-
barely enough to sense
mitted yourself to one direction and can't recover in time to deal with his next
his intentions, but
strike. Because you've committed yourself, you won't recognize openings or be
enough
—
able to take advantage of them. This is why you stay soft until you actually
lightly to avoid
entanglement or grap-
make contact with your own strike.
You're not training sensitivity to become yieldingly passive like limp spa-
pling. If you grapple,
ghetti. You're developing sensitivity to change (direction, force, yin versus yang). you're stuck.

These changes will then be amplified by you into deadly force. By being sensi-
tive and remaining connected to your opponent, you follow his every move.
When you move into some wild contortions in response to your opponent's
energy, it will be impossible to deliver a rooted, powerful strike unless you also
have hyperbalance that instantly readjusts with the same rapidity and fluidity
as your sensitivity.
When you have developed your balance and sensitivity, you can deliver any
strike from any martial art with devastating consequences. So you see, learning
to punch and kick is actually the easy part. Now that you have built your foun-
dation of looseness, body unity, and balance, you are ready to see how sensitiv-
ity can also help you create energy.

Creating Energy
As both Eastern mystics and contemporary physicists will tell you, everything
is comprised of energy. A punch, pull, kick, or block is an embodiment of bio-
electric synaptic energy. Even the opponent's intent is latent, or potential, en-
ergy.Your nervous system is both a receptor and initiator of kinetic energy. This
receiving and initiating of kinetic energy is enhanced by heightened sensitivity.
In guided chaos we propose to become experts at raw movement, or energ)
both in its delivery and reception. The principle of sensitivity has the effe( oi I
 —

94 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

liberatingyou from concentrating on obscure techniques and configurations,

allowing you to focus on feel. Feel is subconscious, and you are the only one
who can develop it. Once you have it, the type of strike you use or that is used
against you is irrelevant. Your feel will dictate what is appropriate, not your
brain (thinking brain, that is).

Yin- Yang Generator

As you learned in chapter 5, the principal of yin and yang delineates the uni-
verse in terms of opposites that can either be sharply separated or intermixed.
Hard and soft, up and down, in and out, push and pull, attack and yield —these
qualities need to be understood separately yet blended and applied simulta-
neously at all times to achieve the unmatched power that is available to the
practitioner of an "internal" art. There are many more qualities defining yin and
yang, including male and female, heaven and earth, hot and cold, and so on, but
these are not central to our discussion. Without getting philosophical (and to
avoid the often intentional mystification and confusion associated with this vi-
tal topic), simply train yourself to be aware of and do the following: Push the

opponent's pulling energy and pull the opponent's pushing energy.

This has the effects of both augmenting your opponent's energy and putting
it at your disposal. We can categorize the push as yang energy and the pull as

yin energy. This concept is not really so esoteric. When you push a child on a
playground swing, you feel the right moment. Although you don't actually pull
the swing back toward you once it's in full motion, you do retreat to stay out of
its way. Given the swing's full arc, a six-year-old on a swing can knock a grown

man's head off if the pusher's timing is wrong. But what does this have to do
with fighting? With guided chaos, we're going to turn you into a yin-yang gen-
erator.
Consider what your stereo amplifier does to the signal it receives from an old
phonograph. A vinyl record's grooves consist of millions of tiny wiggles tiny —
frozen waves of energy that are an exact duplicate of the music it copied. Your
stereo amplifier takes these tiny waves of energy and amplifies them dramati-
cally, but it doesn't alter the information they contain in any way. It doesn't
oppose them. It follows them exactly and adds to their energy, using electricity
and magnetism. Differences in volume and frequency are translated into pow-
erful waves of magnetism that have gigantic peaks and troughs opposites —
that your speakers turn into loud, pulsing music.
These opposites are exactly analogous to the movements of your assailant as
he struggles against you. You're going to follow these opposites or yin-yang- —
—
push-pull movements and amplify them. Using your loose, relaxed, balanced,
body-unified connection with the ground as your "electricity," you're going to
generate additional energy.
As you flow with your opponent's intention (remember, intention is a form of
energy), learn to pull with one side of your body while you push with the other
side. Your opponent's energy drives you like a seesaw. Your sensitivity tells you
when pull becomes push. This simultaneous push-pull could be a ripping or
yielding action with your left and a reciprocating
side in response to an attack
punch with your right side. This seesaw action can occur at any angle or along
any direction. What's important is that this push-pull relationship happens si-
multaneously (not one then the other) and that your entire body remains re-
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 95

laxed and whip-like, or like a steel spring, and always perfectly balanced, like a
gyroscope. The classic tai chi texts refer to this as having "one side empty, one
side filled" and "not being double-weighted." The theory is, if you're pushing
rigidly with your whole body displaying yang, or hard, energy, you will have
no counterbalance. Hence, you would be relying exclusively on muscular
force.
In accordance with the principles of body unity, do not isolate the push-pull
action to just your hands. Move your entire body with this quality, even if the
attack or defense is the subtlest of movements. With these principles under your
direction, you will eventually be able to control your opponent without effort.
Remember, you need to have superior sensitivity to detect exactly when a push
becomes a pull, and vice versa. When you can do this, you are separating the yin To become a yin-yang
from the yang. The drills at the end of this chapter will help you learn and prac- generator, you must learn
tice this separation.
to recognize and separate
With a kinesthetic understanding of the yin-yang generator, you can begin to
the fullness from the emp-
develop an explosive slingshot kind of energy that is amplified by your focused
tiness, the tension from
fear (taught in chapter 2, "Run and Scream" drill, page 27). In tai chi they may
the relaxation, the yin
call this "borrowing jing," but I'd like to use a more modern explanation of this
from the yang. This is so
slingshot phenomenon using space-age science.
Because of the tremendous distances involved in space travel, NASA relies the yielding reception of

upon the laws of physics to generate more speed in a spacecraft than its own your opponent's energy
propulsion could ever generate. To get probes, such as Voyager or Galileo, way has someplace to go.
out into the solar system, they aim them at a nearer planet or the sun first. As the When your balance and
probe approaches the planet, the planet's gravity draws the ship in even faster, root are strong, this en-
in effect accelerating it as it "falls" toward the planet. Then, with a slight devia- ergy flows through your
tion in course, the probe is directed to narrowly miss the planet, whip around yielding side into your
it, and slingshot away at tremendous velocity. The space probe borrows the
feet and bounces back out
planet's gravity for energy while using none of its own. Sound familiar? This
through your attacking
is what happens when you learn to push your opponent's pull and pull his
side.
push.
Here are some actual physical examples of yin-yang energy generation. If
you think of every joint in your body as being finely balanced, a breath of air can
cause it to swing one way or the other:

• A touch on your elbow rotates your fist into the opponent's face.
• A touch on your hand swings your elbow down on his neck.
• A push on one shoulder shoots your other arm out.
• A strike to your chest collapses your chest like a sponge but shoots both
your arms out into his eyes.
• A slight challenge to your root shifts you onto one leg momentarily, which
swings your entire body weight into the returning blow.

These changes in balance are instantaneous. The energy is delivered in the

transition from one relaxed point of balance to the next. There should be no
pause in the flow between them.
Don't think of these balance points as slow or weak. Turning your body into a
yin-yang generator is like becoming a ferocious spring-loaded trap that instantly
resets itself. Where does this explosive spring-loading come from, and how do
you keep it from making you tense, causing muscular exertion? The next sec-
tion provides the answer.
 .

96 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Dropping Energy
We've introduced some of the basics of dropping energy in chapter 2 (page 20),
but now that you have an applied understanding of looseness, body unity bal-
ance, and sensitivity under your belt, you will be better able to understand the
full depth of dropping energy to defend yourself. Distilled from the art of ki

chuan do, dropping is an instantaneous explosion or wave of energy you can

use for striking, deflecting, uprooting, regaining balance, and virtually any other
movement.
Simply put, dropping energy refers to a spasmodic lowering of the entire body
weight into a current or new root. Whatever your body weight is, it becomes a
formidable weapon when you get it moving all at once in accordance with grav-
ity. The sensation of dropping is similar to having your legs kicked out from

In dropping you make under you, stumbling off a curb, or falling asleep at the wheel of your car and
then jerking awake. If you're a downhill skier, the sensation of dropping is like
gravity your friend. As
"down-unweighting," used for making the fastest possible edge change in a turn.
you drop, you create a
The feeling is similar to what it feels like when you sneeze and your whole body
shock wave of energy
spasms and drops. The energy is explosive, but involuntary. You want to be able
that travels down your
to control it at will, directing it to any weapon. When fueled by your fear and
body, rebounds explo- permitted to flow by your relaxation, the damage dished out by dropping can be
sively off the ground substantial.
and back up your legs to Dropping consists of three parts that all happen simultaneously:
be channeled any way
1 Stand with your knees slightly bent, then try to bend them more so quickly
you desire.
that for a split second your whole body becomes weightless, so that a slip of
paper could actually be inserted between your feet and the ground. Most
beginners make the mistake of actually jumping up first, which entirely
misses the point.
2. Halt the drop with a snap to start the shock wave of energy. You don't want
to drop more than a couple of inches at most. Think of it as snapping a wet
towel or cracking a whip; you're essentially trying to "catch the bounce"
your body makes as it's stopped.
3. Channel the energy through looseness (chapter 3) and body unity (chapter
4) to any weapon you desire (figure 6.2). You can just as easily drop and hit
off one leg as off both legs. Don't lean, though, or your energy will be dissi-
pated by your struggle to regain your balance .

What you achieve with dropping is creating a root no one can find. This is
Dropping is an instanta- because your instant balance allows you to step, root, and reroot as fast as you
can drop and redrop. You can switch legs and stances in one, instantaneous drop
neous act of total relax-
kicking with either leg powerfully) or drop and root on one leg.
(this facilitates
ation of your whole
The phenomenon of instant balance occurs remarkably and instantaneously
body. Just let go. You
whenever you drop correctly. For example, you could be in the middle of wob-
can drop into both legs
bling, and a drop would probably fix it. If you're off balance, dropping tends to
or one. You can be root you, giving you an opportunity to strike with power. Anytime you drop,
standing on one leg and you temporarily fix your balance to a spot and then almost instantly abandon it
drop into the same leg as soon as you step and drop again.
or into the other leg. It There are some vaguely similar concepts in tai chi, but they are rarely taught
all depends on what this way. Even so, in most cases, they don't crystallize the essence of the power

your sensitivity and bal- of dropping and its simplicity. There are also some individuals who have discov-
ance dictate in the fight. ered it on their own. The legendary boxer Jack Dempsey did a form of dropping.
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 97

And if you watch films of the famous

carefully
Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston fight, you will see that
the infamous mystery knockout punch was actu-
ally a drop, which is why it didn't look very pow-
erful. There was no windup: it simply wasn't
needed.

Dropping as a Source of Power

There are many advantages to using dropping as
a source of power:
• It requires no continuous muscle tension or
great strength.
• It requires no windup or chamber.
• It's perfect for fighting nose-to-nose, where
the most mayhem occurs and where there's
no room to pull back and chamber a strike.

• It delivers more energy in less time.

• You can deliver it at almost any angle, in-

cluding upward.
• It causes far more internal damage to the
enemy.
• It extends the reach of either a punch or kick.
• It doesn't disrupt your relaxation, sensitiv-
ity, or balance; instead, it augments them.
FIGURE 6.2
Dropping actually requirements of separating the yin and the
satisfies all the
yang: it completely relaxes and collapses the body, forming a yang wave of en-
ergy that falls into the now-emptied and relaxed lower regions of the body, rico-
chets off the floor, shoots back up through the joints of the body, and explodes
out through the strike. For the tai chi practitioners among us, dropping energy
is how you "seek the straight from the circular."

The injuries you inflict as a result of a dropping strike are different from those
you might inflict with a conventional strike. The opponent may not appear to
move at all, but the dropping energy reverberates inside his body like an implo-
sion. This is due to its suddenness. You want to time your strike so you halt your
drop and hit simultaneously. You want your arms loose and flaccid, with no
muscular tension whatsoever. Drop-striking becomes even more devastating
when someone is falling into your strike because you yielded simultaneously.
The effect is multiplied, depending on your opponent's falling speed.
Some manuals, like the T'ai call this type of dropping
Chi Classics (Liao 1990),
energy cold power because the explosive, snappy action generates shock waves
If you're not balanced,
that blast into the opponent's body, penetrating without actually moving him
dropping energy is frit-
much. It does catastrophic internal damage, however. Contrast this with long
tered away and misdi-
power that is designed to project the opponent a distance away. For our pur-
rected into space as you
poses, we don't want to launch our attacker away, where he can regroup and
attack again. Instead, we want to disable him where he stands. Remember, the try to regain your bal-

way you train is the way you fight. In tai chi, if you always use long power ance. Correct this situa-
during push hands (a tai chi training exercise), you'll probably do it in a lite tion by observing the
and-death situation also. principle of body unity.
 —
98 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

What's the logic behind dropping? When you strike an opponent, don't wind
up, chamber, or draw back in any way. This is wasted motion. When you draw
back to throw a punch, no matter how quick you are, you won't be able to get
the strike off if your attacker is staying close to you or charging like an animal.
When throwing a punch, the only motion that matters is the forward motion.
Now you may be asking "If I can't wind up to strike, then how am I suppose to
hit?" Yes, as with many of the principles that govern this art, not drawing back
seems to be a contradiction. This is because the principle is paradoxical to ev-
erything most of us have ever been taught about punching and kicking.
If you're relaxed and balanced, you can hit with enormous power with no

windup by using the principle of dropping. With a "no-inch punch," your

acceleration is virtually instantaneous. This is strategically efficient for two
reasons:

• If you draw back to strike, you create a natural opening for your attacker
that can't be defended.
• Since you're already sticking to follow his every motion, dropping allows
you to attack and defend simultaneously because you never lose contact
with your opponent. For example, if your hand is already near the
opponent's face and dropping would allow you to hit with effective power,
why draw back only to have to bring it forward again? In fact, in the time it
takes you to pull back on a strike, not only could you have thrown a strike
at your opponent, but you could have struck him twice: once on the exten-
sion and once on the return.

Bruce Lee taught that punches should be felt, not seen. Whether or not he was
the first to espouse this idea is unknown. Nevertheless, it's a very sound prin-
ciple of fighting, which the looseness of dropping energy encourages. First, the
strike is like steam —
vaporous, illusive, unknown. Then it becomes like water
fluid, continuous, ever-changing. Finally, on impact, it becomes like ice crush- —
ing, destroying. Dropping repeats the cycle over and over again.
Due to the dynamics of combat, however, it's not physically possible to drop
on every single strike you deliver, because you're continually loading and re-
loading your body weight. However, in your practice, you should try to drop as
often as you can.

Stealth Energy
Stealth energy is a term given to sensitivity so high you're in contact with your

opponent's intent only. When your opponent's sensitivity is untrained, you do

not appear on his "radar screen" while he is clearly on yours. Thus, his body's
targets are defenseless, as if you were a stealth bomber preparing to drop its
payload.
John Perkins can actually sense the heat of his attacker's skin. For most of us,
this is a lofty goal, but it is definitely achievable with practice and not the stuff
of legend. Training to be so light and responsive that you actually avoid bend-
ing the hairs on his arm (except when landing with a strike) is one approach.
Another is to visualize that you're sticking to a fatter version of your opponent,
a "Michelin Man," existing outside the skin of your enemy. This helps to keep
you from "bearing down" on your opponent.
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 99

Pulsing Energy
Pulsing any movement you make with any part of your body that adds en-
is

ergy to your contact. This may be a push, pull, tug, nudge, hip check, rocker (see
chapter 7), or the like. For the sake of clarity, we will call all tugging and pulling
actions inward pulses.
Now you may be thinking "Isn't guided chaos about not adding energy, about
being unavailable and sensitive to your opponent's intentions?" That's exactly
right, because the purpose of pulsing is not to overpower your opponent with a
titanic push or tug-of-war pull: You're merely instigating a reaction in your op-
ponent that you can flow off of. This is an important distinction to understand.
You're not trying to engage and grapple with him. You're messing around with
his balance and sensitivity, and thus trying to get him to grapple and engage
you. When he does this, he uses more energy that you can turn back at him
using push-pull principles. When you get him to react to a pulse, you can also
lead his energy away and slide into the opening. The sensation of pulsing is
very elastic and bouncy, kind of like a rubber ball bouncing rapidly between
two walls or quickly tugging and releasing a bungee cord. The amount of en-
ergy imparted can be very subtle. Remember, however, that even though the
pulse may be small you should still have your entire rooted body behind it.
You just don't use any muscle. An inward pulse that tugs down on an
opponent's arm could actually rip a tendon or cause him to stumble if it's
properly rooted.
A pulse can be as light as a touch; an inward pulse, as delicate as plucking a
guitar string. You then take his reactive energy and amplify it against him. This
is, in effect, what you're doing when you pulse an opponent. When he reacts, he

loads your spring, quite unconsciously, setting in motion a devastating sling-

shot or boomerang effect. In addition, by dropping as you pulse, you super-
charge your next strike. To summarize, with pulsing

1. you instigate,

2. he reacts, and
3. you amplify his reaction, using the yin-yang generator principle and
dropping.

The difference between the yin-yang generator principle and pulsing is that
in the former you are passively following the opponent and then amplifying his
energy. In pulsing you're actively provoking a reaction you then flow off of.
Up until now, the following has been a closely guarded secret, but we will
now reveal it. Moe of the Three Stooges was actually an ancient guided chaos
master. If you can picture him with his outstretched arm, telling Curly to "Hit
this!" and see Moe's fist flying around in the opposite direction from the impact,
you get the idea. The difference, to be serious, is that the wild, extreme swing
Moe takes would not be in keeping with the economical tight circles that come
from moving behind a guard (chapter 7).
For example, let's say you pulse an opponent's arm by pushing with your
elbow (figure 6.3a). He panics, and his immediate unconscious reaction is to
tense up, pushing you back. This loads your spring. Your arm and shoulder,
supercharged by his energy, move in a tight circle in the opposite direction, and
you palm-heel him in the face (figure 6.3b).
100 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Or, suppose you inward-pulse him by tugging on his forearm with your hand
(figure 6.3c). He tightens and yanks back, in effect pulling a chop into his throat
(figure 6.3d). This will cause an involuntary outward deflection on his part, al-
lowing you to pull his push. When you run this through your yin-yang genera-
tor, his attempt to block your chop to his throat gets his arm extended out, perhaps

leading to a break. This little exchange, as you can see, has a Ping-Pong sort of
quality, where one event (your inward pulse) starts a whole chain reaction.
Pulsing can get nasty very quickly, because once you set the chain reaction in
motion, it can feel to your opponent as if he's been thrown into a giant pinball
machine. If he's not sensitive, bal-
anced, and yielding like you, it will
seem that every move he makes is
wrong, putting him into even more
mayhem.
A pulse can also be something as
simple as a hand squeeze or pinch.
This could be all you need to provoke
a reaction. Just remember that when
you pulse, you become the spark of
an energy generator. It's easy to get

off balance due to the forces you'll

be creating. Learning to pulse is
easier than learning hyperbalance, so
be sure your training emphasizes the
latter. Don't cheat yourself on the

basics.
By the way, a fake is actually a
pulse, because, although you make
no contact with it, a fake adds energy
to the mix. Fakes provoke a reaction
in the opponent that you can take
advantage of. For example, if B fakes
a chop straight into A's throat and
circles into an overhand palm strike,
A, moving to cut off the chop, over-
commits to his centerline, leaving his
outside line open to the palm strike.
FIGURE 6.3
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 101

Once you understand you can use as much force as you want, as
pulsing,
long as it's rooted, dropping, nonmuscular force. But it's often not necessary
and sometimes wasteful. Stealth energy is of much higher value because the
opponent can't even follow you. It's important to aspire to this level. Then you
can sprinkle in some pulses randomly, without thought, and the combined ef-
fect will be overpowering.

Ricocheting Energy
Ricocheting occurs when you're moving at high speed and loading the spring
almost instantaneously. You strike and bounce off a block into a different target,
like a bullet ricocheting off concrete into an escaping felon (remember the scene
from Robocop?). The point here is that the bullet changes direction without us-
ing any of its own energy, just what it receives from bouncing off the wall.
Ricocheting occurs whenever you strike some portion of his body and the
resulting recoil bounces you you augment by dropping. The
into further strikes
potential for ricocheting is always there when you strike. The problem is, if you're
not loose and sensitive to the energy, it won't happen. Remember, don't tighten
up and bear down on your opponent when you strike, because this commits
you to one direction only.

Sliding Energy
In the process of being as disengaged
as possible yet engaged, you at-
still

tempt to slither through openings

like a snake, not blast through them
like a bull. This sliding energy re-
quires great balance, sensitivity, and
articulation, because you will be
moving at many angles as you simul-
taneously stick and slide through the
opponent's defenses. For example,
suppose B is sticking to A's hands
(figure 6.4a), and A decides to blast
through B's guard to push or strike.
B simply lets him go where he wants
by letting A's arms slide right past
his hands. By moving just his body
out of the way but sticking with his
hands, B remains in contact, yet
makes his targets unavailable (figure
6.4b). B maintains strong structure
the whole time by keeping his el-
bows low but does not use any force.
We also call this kind of energy
forearm-surfing. Using sliding en-
ergy, treatyour opponent's forearms
like ocean waves and your hands as
the surfers. Since you could never
hope to overpower a wall of water
FIGURE 6.4
102 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

that weighs perhaps 20 tons, you have to learn to ride the wave's surface. Simi-
larly,as your opponent's arms move, slide your hands along their surface, mov-
ing to the elbow to stop an elbow strike or to the wrist to stop a chop or punch.
To maintain a balance of yin-yang energy, keep sliding back to the middle of the
forearm until your opponent's energy tips you off.
A little move we call the rising ram is another example of sliding energy. While
fighting A, B's lead arm winds up in an extended low position, pointing toward
the ground. As B raises the arm, it is blocked by A's hand or forearm. The instant
the top of B's arm contacts the bottom of A's, the relaxed rising motion of B's
arm turns into a forward, sliding strike aided by dropping, turning, and step-
ping forward slightly. It's almost like shoving your whole arm through a greased
mail slot. This is a good example of highly tuned sensitivity, because if B is tight
and tries to fight upward through A's block with brute force, he'll miss the op-
portunity for an easy, sneaky, and decisive blow forward into A's torso. Although
we've given this strike a name out of convenience, we can apply the principle
behind the rising ram to almost any strike at almost any angle.

Sticking Energy
Sticking energy is an extremely subtle opposite of sliding energy. (This is not to

be confused with sticking, which is simply maintaining tactile contact with the
opponent.) As you let the opponent's body slide through your hands, you can at
any time press into his flesh slightly with your fingers, nails, or the V formed by
your thumb and forefinger. Create an extremely brief and elastic adhesion by
stretching his skin. Instantaneously rebound off this into a strike or whatever.
At no time do you grab onto him or squeeze with your hand in any way. This is
difficult, of course, if either one of you is sweaty. Sticking energy takes a lot of
practice but is extremely sneaky.

Skimming and Splashing Energy

Actually, you've already practiced skimming energy with the "Sticks of Death"
drill (chapter 3, page 61). Skimming energy refers to the glancing action a strike
or deflection may take, similar to a flat stone skirnrning the surface of a pond.
Note that the stone will stop and sink rapidly if its angle is too steep. Similarly, if
you become too engaged with an opponent, a skimming strike will get bogged
down and will not have a clean bouncing action. If the opponent strikes to your
face, skim by shooting your own strike in at an angle that glances off and de-
flects his attack and connects with your own simultaneously. For example, A
punches at B's head. B shoots a spear hand at A's face, which deflects A's strike
and skims off into A's eyes (figure 6.5). Skimming differs from ricocheting in that
the strike trajectory remains relatively unchanged. It also differs from sliding
energy because you are skimming past him, whereas in sliding, you allow him
to slide past you.
Splashing energy an interesting principle, in that it relates the human body
is

to a body of water. Being mostly liquid, the body has a lot of give to it, so you
must hit it differently than you would a brick. To make liquid act like a solid for
a split second, you have to splash it. If you punch the surface of a pool, your
hand will knife right in, but if you smack it as fast and snappy as you can with an
open hand, you create much more disruption.
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 103

For various strikes, you can ac-

tually cause more trauma with a
splashing action than with a strict
reverse punch. You cause shock
waves that travel deep into the tis-
sue. The other advantage of splash-
ing is that it doesn't overcommit
you to the strike. Your aim is to pen-
etrate the target to the depth of per-
haps two inches and then com-
pletely relax the hand. This allows
you resume sticking to the exact
to
spot you struck the instant after you
make contact. This is an enor-
mously important concept that
keeps you balanced and ready to
defend yourself further.
FIGURE 6.5
Suspending and Releasing Energy
Suspending and releasing energy more subtle and advanced form of puls-
is a
ing. It involves the synthesis of balance and sensitivity and requires you to de-
termine unconsciously the exact moment when the opponent is between push-
ing and pulling, striking and retracting, or yin and yang. In that split second of
frozen time, he is suspended and helpless.
What you're doing while sticking is encouraging this suspension with the
tiniest pulse so you are set up to release or catch his reaction and do with it
whatever you wish. This is analogous to pushing a child on a playground swing:
for that split second of suspension at the end of each arc, all the latent energy in
the swing is frozen. Before it begins to move again, the swing can be moved in
virtually any direction without the resistance momentum would give it. This is
also like a tight end in football tearing down the field and then leaping into the
air to catch a pass. Although he may weigh 220 pounds and be able to squat 500
pounds, for that suspended moment in time, a child could throw him on his
head. This is when the most dangerous injuries in football occur, with very large
men getting spun in the air by defensive collisions and landing on their necks.
You can create an exaggerated sense of suspending and releasing when you
do a dance, like the jitterbug or the hustle, that involves swinging your partner
around. You counterbalance your partner's body weight by firmly anchoring
your feet. Then you release, letting him or her go into a spin or another move.
You need to develop that same rooted sensation of suspending and releasing in
your feet throughout the entire range of your combative movements. You let the
pressure between you and your opponent build to whatever degree you want
and then release it so he practically knocks himself out running into your fist.

Isolation Energy
Isolation energy is another very subtle and advanced principle. An example is

placing your palm on someone's arm and being able to walk around him, rising
and sinking, all without his being aware of any change in pressure or direction.
104 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

This kind of sensitivity allows

you to confuse his nervous sys-
tem and set up for strikes with-
out triggering an alarm reaction
on his part. You can use this
point of contact as a fulcrum
around which you may rotate
to any new attack angle. For
example, if your palm contacts
his forearm so lightly that he
can barely feel it in the heat of
battle, you can move your body
just enough to change your at-
tack angle.
Here, A's forearm is in be-
tween B's palm and B's in-
tended target, which is A's face
(figure 6.6a). By using isolation
energy, B is able to subtly move
his upper body and shoulder
just enough to create a new en-
try angle, allowing him to launch
a chop to A's throat through this
opening (figure 6.6b). Understand
that this whole scenario takes
place in a fraction of a second.
There's no obvious posing or set-
ting up going on.
FIGURE 6.6
Transfering Energy
Your sensitivity heightened, and you're sticking, when all of a sudden, your
is

"radar" picks up your opponent's intention to strike with his fist. Instead of
only yielding or pocketing, you pass off his incoming energy to another part of

FIGURE 6.7
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 105

FIGURE 6.8
your body better positioned to redirect the in-
coming energy. We call this tool replacing, or
transferring energy. For example, your hand is
on his forearm (figure 6.7a). As soon as you feel
his forearm tighten as preparation for a strike,
pass it off, using no strength on your part, to your
other hand (figure 6.7b).
This action is similar to a waterwheel passing
water to the next paddle as it rotates, two gears
turning with their teeth intermeshed, or simply
climbing a rope, hand over hand. It's important
not to grab or wrench the forearm, as this would
tighten you up, destroy your sensitivity, and alert
your opponent to your intention. If you're skilled
enough, you can pulse, which gets him to push
harder (remember the average person tightens
up when pressed, in effect "fighting fire with fire").
Once he does this, you can clear or break his ex-
tended arm, opening up new angles of attack.
Since the tool-replacing described here is go-
ing from hand to hand, we like to call it passing
the apples. This implies that neither hand is go-
ing to keep the "apple," you're only transferring
it to its final destination. Tool replacement is a
flexible and powerful principle. You can essen-
tially tool-replace between any two parts of your
body, for example, your hand to your elbow of
the same arm (figure 6.8a) or the other arm (fig-
ure 6.8b), your elbow (in a rocker position; see
chapter 7) to the hand of the other arm (figures
6.9a and 6.9b), or your elbow to your chest. This
rit.URI b.9
106 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

lastexample is particularly interest-

ing, because your chest, acting as a
checking tool, frees both your arms
up to strike (figure 6.10).
One little tip about passing from
the hand to the elbow of the same
arm is that since you're constantly
trying to take your opponent's
space, try to have the elbow recon-
nect further up the limb you're
passing. If your left hand is on his
right forearm and he's pressing
hard, you can step in slightly,
pocket, and pass his right arm by
reconnecting to it with your elbow
at a point somewhere around his
With this done, his right
triceps.
arm completely cleared and out
is
FIGURE 6.10
of the picture, you've closed the gap, and your left hand is free to chop, spear, or
claw his face. In the meantime, your right hand has "received" the apple by
hyperextending his right arm.

Releasing Tension and Taking up Slack

While you're sticking to the opponent, you should let his limbs slip by while
maintaining contact (sliding energy). This can be the result of a missed push or
an attempt to retreat. What concerns you is when to stop giving slack and start
taking up tension. Do so at a moment and from a position that is advantageous.
At that point, you drop rapidly and pulse, then wait for his reaction. For ex-
ample, you can be pulling a shoulder; he resists. Like a fishing reel, you release
tension and let his arm slide out through your hand to his wrist. You then drop,
root, and snap in for a strike.

Recognizing Energy
After reading about the different energy principles, you'll probably recognize
that you've probably felt them all at one time or another already by accident.
These "accidents" can be the turning point of a fight, as they can constitute the
dynamics of effective self-defense. You may have deduced that they're all inter-
related and seem to happen simultaneously. That's the idea. It's very hard to
dissect spontaneous energy and movement. We've simply tried to define the
effects of certain kinds of motion and categorize them so that as you begin to do
the following drills, you'll recognize and encourage all these accidents to hap-
pen more frequently.

Sensitivity Drills
The energy drills presented later in this chapter will help you develop sensitiv-
ity simultaneously with other attributes. For now, though, here are three very
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy iQ7

odd develop sensitivity exclusively. You may think they're too wacky
drills that
to be any good, but that's their strength —
they force you to move in ways you'd
never think of, and they require great concentration.

The Coin Dance

The positions you get yourself into during this dance can be bizarre, but so are
the positions you need to assume in a fight. This drill heightens your sensitivity
by helping you focus on being relaxed and loose.
1. Place a penny on the tip of each index finger.

2. Have your partner carefully place the tips of his index fingers on yours, so
you are holding the two coins between you.
3. Moving extremely slowly, begin to make large random circles with your
arms without dropping the coins. The only things that should be holding
them are the extreme tips of your index fingers. This will require both of
you to forget everything else and really tune in to and follow the motion of
your partner.

In the beginning, you'll drop the coin frequently. But as you learn to stay fo-
cused, loose, and relaxed, you can actually strike at each other like two sloths
slugging it no leader or follower, so don't cooperate with each other.
out. There's
To increase the difficulty, move your arms in and out, high and low, and spin
your bodies 360 degrees so, at some point, you actually have your back to your
partner. Just don't drop the coins. If you have a third person available, add one
more coin and join fingers so that you have three people attempting to sense the
movements of each other. Also try holding the coins between your and your
partners' respective elbows.

The Coin Chase

To make things wilder and faster, hold a coin between your palm and your
partner's, both your and your partner's hands should stay flat at all times with
no cupping. Now you can both go crazy running, spinning, jumping, and whip-
—
ping your palms but don't drop the coin. You must learn to sense your partner's
movements. Yield when he pushes and follow when he retreats.

The Back Walk

This goes counter to most martial arts training, because you're not trying to
drill
bull or otherwise overpower your opponent. You're trying to listen to his move-
ments with your whole body.

1. Stand back to back with your partner with your shoulder blades touching
and knees slightly bent.
2. One of you becomes the leader and the other the follower. The leader trios
108 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

to disconnectfrom the follower (not too quickly at first or you'll both be on

your backsides) by walking forward, rising, sinking, and twisting.
3. No matter what happens, maintain contact between your shoulder blades
at all times.

When you get better at this, you can dispense with the leader-follower sce-
nario and try to freely chase and avoid each other. Your job. is to completely
eliminate any buildup of pressure between you, so he suddenly stops running
if

and comes toward you, you can immediately sense the change and reverse course.
At the same time, don't lose him. Beware, this puts a tremendous load on your
quadriceps. Do this regularly and you'll develop legs like Arnold's.

Dropping Drills
Beginners often misinterpret dropping as simply falling or bending the knees.
But the motion is more of a spasmodic jerking action similar, as we've said, to
the snap of a whip. To promote this feeling, notice what your body does the next
time you sneeze. Your whole body spasms and then relaxes. How do you know
if you are dropping correctly? Place your palm on a brick wall about chest high

with only enough pressure to bend a blade of grass. Now drop and direct the
rebound energy out of your palm without ever breaking contact with the wall.
If your relaxation is high and your timing is right, the shock wave that ricochets

back into you will feel like it could dislocate your shoulder. If your balance is
poor you will stumble backward.
The first two drills may help you approximate this snapping action. In addi-
tion, go back to the "Pyscho-Chimp" and "Circle Clap" drills in chapter 3 (pages
62 and 63) as well as the "Anywhere Strikes" drills in chapter 2 (page 34-36) and
add dropping to them.

Stumble Steps
Here's an artificial way of simulating the sensation of dropping.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.

2. Close your eyes and have a partner suddenly push you from behind with
moderate force. The shove should be enough to make you stumble and lose
your balance.
3. Catch yourself by landing on one or both feet as abruptly as possible. If
you're standing on a wooden floor, you should actually feel it give slightly
beneath you. All the dinnerware in the house should rattle. This doesn't
mean you should purposely kick the floor, however. The energy comes from
the sudden collecting of your balance. This, timed with a forward punch or
palm strike delivered simultaneously on landing, is the essence of drop-
ping power.
4. Try to duplicate the sensation without being pushed. Just fall forward and
drop on your own.
 .

Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 109

Stair Steps
Here's another way of simulating the dropping sensation.

1. Stand at the top of a sturdy flight of stairs.

2. Balance on one leg and extend the other leg out in preparation for walking
down to the next step.
3. Collapse your supporting leg abruptly as if someone had kicked out your
knee. Don't try to brake yourself, just let yourself go, falling hard into the
other leg as you land on the next lower step, heel first. Do not absorb the
impact by bending the landing knee but actually keep it only slightly bent
and immobile. You have only fallen perhaps 10 inches, but your whole body
weight should hit that lower step like a ton of bricks.
4. Continue in thisway down the stairs, pausing momentarily and then crash-
ing down to the next step. This exaggerates the feeling of dropping; when
you drop, however, you will sink only about an inch.

TV-Cut Drill
The beauty of the television as a training tool is that picture edits, without mu-
sic —
or sound, have no rhythm whatsoever as in a real fight. MTV works best
because of its fast-paced programming and quick cuts. This is a highly effective
drill that builds incredible quickness, looseness, relaxation, and reflexes as well
as dropping ability.

1 Make sure you're thoroughly warmed up first or you can easily tear a muscle
or tendon.

2. Stand in a relaxed ready position in front of the TV with the volume off.

3. Begin by performing one type of dropping strike every time the picture
changes. Explode out like lightning and retract the strike even faster.
4. Once your mind and body become extremely quiet and focused, work on
spontaneously changing the strikes without thought. When you can do this
with no plan whatsoever and still maintain perfect balance (especially when
kicking), you will have achieved an extremely high level of combativeness.
If you know when you're
going to strike, you can
bet your opponent
Beanbag knows also.

This teaches you to both drop and splash. For this drill you'll need to pur-
drill
chase an empty beanbag from a martial arts supplier and fill it with from 2 to 10
pounds of beans or shot.

1. Standing in a wide, loose stance, swing the beanbag from side to side like a
pendulum, turning with your whole body.
2. At the end of each swing, let go, so the bag rises into the air a few inches.
3. As it descends, drop strongly, palm-strike, and snatch the bag in one move
before it falls too far. After a few minutes of this, your forearm muscles will
 .

110 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

be very fatigued, but your tendons and ligaments will get direct stimula-
tion for growth.

Now bag on the way down, continuing the downward

try snatching the
motion of the bag uninterrupted so you can flow with it and swing it up to
do another release and snatch in the other direction; your whole body should
look like a pendulum. If you don't splash the bag, you'll knock it away and
won't be able to stick to it for the grab.

Ball Compression
This develops the no-inch punch from extremely close range, where most fight-
ing ends up. The beauty of these strikes is that they require no chambering or
pulling back of any kind. This drill develops body unity, balance, focus, relax-
ation, and, most importantly, full-power dropping.
1 Take an old tennis ball and find a fat tree trunk or telephone pole.

2. Select any tool, for example, a palm strike, and place the ball in your hand
against the tree (figure 6.11).
3. Orient your body using the principles of body unity into some rather strangely
angled strike, such as might occur in a melee. It could even be on one leg.

4. Hold the configuration, breathe deep into your belly, and relax your entire
body — muscles, joints, and mind —while palming the ball against the tree
as lightly as possible.
5. Now, as if you sneezed from the soles of your feet through all the joints of
your body and out your hand, drop so the tennis ball is instantaneously
and explosively compressed.
6. Change the angle and location of the strike and repeat.

7. Then change the tool (the palm is the easiest; chops are a lot harder; try with
the fist, elbow, shoulder,
knee, and foot).

Remember to be relaxed, bal-

anced, and sensitive when you
practice this you are not
drill. If

completely relaxed, you will

have no power. Muscle tension
will have you fighting your own
body's mass. Even if you are
unusually strong, you will not
compress the ball as much as
when you drop correctly. If you
aren't completely balanced, you
will actually blast yourself away
from the tree. If you aren't com-
pletely sensitive, the ball will
shoot out of your hand due to
the tree's curved surface.

FIGURE 6.11
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy \\\

[f you you will increase the availability

practice this drill five minutes a day,
and effectiveness of your dropping strikes. The shock waves reverberate inside
the assailant without actually moving him. Through splashing energy, they cause
internal damage from their concussive force. This is effective when you're grap-
pling with a larger opponent, especially when the strikes are slipped inside his
arms and directed against the five vital zones: the eyes, throat, spine, groin, and
kidneys.

Energy Drills
Energy drills help you develop a natural synthesis of all the guided chaos prin-
ciples in a free-form and spontaneous manner working by yourself. While do-
ing them, you must remain loose, unified, balanced, and sensitive to the energy,
no matter how much you contort, articulate, or pocket. Perform these flow exer-
cises with an attitude of play and improvisation. Work to develop a sensation of
natural movement that is both effortless and powerful, yet virtually random,
where you're both free, yet properly positioned to strike and deflect. Your move-
ments should augment and support each other without thought as to what you're
doing.
Moving spontaneously is a purely subconscious kinesthetic skill. Anyone can
develop it, since it relies on mastering looseness, body unity, and balance, not
mechanical techniques. The only thing you need to learn is how to develop and
use your spontaneous movement so it's unified and powerful for mortal com-
bat. Otherwise, you'll wind up looking like a puppet on angel dust. These exer-
cises are not only an excellent form of low-impact aerobics, they're also a form
of moving meditation. If you combine them with proper breathing, so that all
yang, or outward, movements involve exhalation and all yin, or yielding,
movements use inhalation deep into your belly, you'll achieve a level of re-
laxation and chi development equal to what you might find in decades of
doing "forms."

Polishing the Sphere I

This drill, when done regularly, will tremendously improve your looseness and
body unity resulting in greater power.

1. Breathe deeply into your belly, expelling all tension as you exhale.
2. With your shoulders relaxed and your knees slightly bent like a sleepy ape,
visualize all muscular tension draining out your fingertips and into the
ground. Your joints should be totally free and relaxed.
3. Imagine yourself standing inside a large glass sphere with a perimeter
as far as you can comfortably reach with the palms of your outstretched
arms.
4. Slowly and methodically, moving your entire body, polish the entire in-
side of the sphere with random circular movements in all sizes and direc-
tions. For example, you may polish a 12-inch section of the sphere in front
of your face clockwise with your left hand while, with your right hand, von
112 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

polish a six-foot arc directly overhead, to your side, or underneath your feet
counterclockwise. Your entire body rises, falls, and turns side to side with
you make, no matter how small they are. Drive with your legs to
the circles
reach the perimeter of the sphere and to make the circles just as you did
with body writing in chapter 4.

You don't want to stand stiff as a postwith your arms rotating at the shoul-
ders like two propellers. In baseball, you home run swinging the bat
can't hit a
with only your wrists. Likewise, during this drill you've got to stride, drop, and
turn your feet, knees, back, hips, torso, shoulders, and arms. A tennis profes-
sional chasing down an opponent's ground stroke is not going to merely stand
like a statue and flick at it with her wrist to smash it back. She has to reach,
plant, drop, and align her body. When one part of you moves, your entire body
must back it up.

Polishing the Sphere II

Perform "Polishing the Sphere I," but begin to polish using any and every part
of your body as the polishing implement. Polish with your head, feet, back,
chest, hips, buttocks, elbows, forearms, shoulders, and knees. Use everything in
any order you wish. This time the perimeter of the sphere is as far away as you
can comfortably reach with a maximum, balanced, full-body stretch, using what-
ever part of your body that's polishing. For example, by squatting with your
knees deeply bent and your back twisted per-
pendicular to the ground, you should almost
be able to polish the floor with your elbow. This,
then, would be the perimeter of the sphere for
this implement at this angle. Use big and small
circles, arcs, and brush strokes. Drive with your
legs and turn with your body.

Polishing the Sphere III

Now polish as high, low, and as widely as pos-
sible while standing on one leg (figure 6.12).
Close your eyes. Try using the flat of one foot
to polish the sphere both in front and back of
you at various heights. Ideally, you should pol-
ish using both arms and one leg simultaneously,
along with as many other body parts as you can
put in play. The object is to challenge your bal-
ance as drastically as possible, even if it's only
your pinkies that are polishing. These motions
mimic the kind of chaotic positions you might
find yourself in during a fight. For the ultimate
challenge, do all of this while doing the "Wood-
Surfing" drill (see chapter 5).

FIGURE 6.12
 .

Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 113

Rolling the Energy Ball

Yielding and redirecting, pushing and pulling, taking and giving away, twist-
ing and tearing happen at the same time. This relationship of opposite ener-
all

gies gives enormous power to guided chaos, and you need to practice this in a
completely unpatterned and nonrepetitive way. As such, rolling the energy ball
helps you to develop that all-important push-pull feeling, in which your body
moves with wave-like unity.
1 Imagine you have in your hands an invisible "energy ball." It has no weight,
but it has a volume that can change from the size of a pea to that of a beach
ball. If you roll it around in your hands, imagine it maintains its roundness
with an outward pressure something like the feeling of repulsion you get
when you try to bring together two magnets.
2. Take this ball in both hands and make it the size of a basketball.
3. Using the same side-to-side weight you practiced in the turning
shift that
drill in chapter 3 (page 56), carry the ball with your body. As you move to
the right, your right arm is on top (figure 6.13a). When you reach the limit
of how far you can move sideways, you roll the ball, so that as you carry it
back to the left, your left arm is on top (figure 6.13b). The top arm leads with
the elbow, so it helps to visualize an elbow striking with each sideways carry,
as your lower hand clears, redirects, or shoves the opponent.
4. Drive your hands around the ball by turning your back and hips. Get your
shoulders into it, as if the ball weighed 80 pounds, but without any tension.
"Carry" the ball, by completely transferring your weight from foot to foot,
but don't lean sideways as you shift from leg to leg.

FIGURE 6.13
114 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 6.13
5. Keep your upper body perpendicular to the ground, like a buoy floating in
the ocean. This emphasizes that all power comes from your legs while all
the joints and muscles in your upper body remain loose, like ball bearings.
6. Now, roll it clockwise, counterclockwise, horizontally, diagonally, and all

around — full arm's-length, in front of your face, in front of your stomach,

by your and then so close to you that you must actually pocket to get
hips,
out of its way (figure 6.13c). You will find that your hands move quite un-
consciously in a yin-yang relationship to each other as they roll the ball.
While one moves up, the other moves down. When one moves out, the other
moves in. No matter where one hand goes, the other, mirroring it, is never
far behind. This is a critical relationship principle, essential to all move-
ments in guided chaos. The application to self-defense is that while one
hand strikes, the other deflects (figure 6.13d), and while one hand rips, the
other hand tears.

The center of the ball is which your blocks and strikes

the pivot point around
whichever hand is closer to your body
effortlessly roll. It's also useful to think of
as the backup, or checking, hand, ready to deal with whatever gets past the
front hand. Thus, the checking hand is frequently employed to pass the apples.
The ball itself represents your opponent's energy, which you never oppose.
You roll around his attacking limbs and body, staying whisker-close, yet un-
available. When you combine the effect of your opponent's energy being ampli-
fied by the yin-yang generator and your body unity loosely flip-flopping your
arms between their opposite positions, the end result is that your rolling hands
become like the blades of a blender; anything that gets between them will get
torn apart or crushed, using little of their own energy.

Washing the Body

Washing the body is one of the most important drills for developing the main
four principles on your own. The goal is to turn you into a human sponge. Re-
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 115

member "Weaving Python" (chapter 3, page 55), where you alternately collapsed
and expanded your chest and back in response to your partner's palms? Simi-
larly, with this drill you can practice the limits of your looseness, but you'll be

doing it with every part of your body and by yourself.

1. Shrink the energy ball to the size of a pea.

2. As your hands roll the pea, again notice the yin-yang relationship between

theirmovements. Roll it between your hands, and between your hand and
your forearm, elbow (figure 6.14a), shoulder, chest, waist (figure 6.14b), and
head (figure 6.14c). Use the lightest pressure possible.
3. Perform this motion as if you were "washing" your hands or entire body
with a slippery soap. This is where the drill becomes a little schizophrenic.
As you wash, simultaneously avoid and pursue yourself.
—
Simultaneously attack and yield by pocketing moving
those areas of your body that are being washed away from
those that are doing the washing. At the same time, the
attacking areas chase them. For example, as your palm
washes your elbow, your elbow moves away while main-
taining a featherlight pressure on your hand the whole
time. Your whole body turns away with the elbow. As the
elbow avoids the buildup of pressure by the hand, it tries
to circle back on the hand at a different angle. Your whole
body circles back with it. The hand, sensing this change,
yields and moves away, while also maintaining a
featherlight pressureon the elbow. Remember, due to body
unity, even you are rolling a pea with your hands, your
if

shoulders and back rise and fall to move your hands

around the pea. In addition, your feet and legs stride and
reposition to get the best body unity. You want to move
with the intent of driving 1,000 pounds, but not the force.

^^^

FIGURE 6.14
\^k
 116 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

This will make your mechanics perfect in a real fight so for the millisecond
that you drop and deliver the goods, the power will be there. Otherwise,
stay completely relaxed. If your opponent resists, your mechanics will re-
main perfect as you instantly flip-flop and pull his push like a spring-loaded
mousetrap.
4. Try rising and falling, carrying the pea all the way to the ground. Continue
washing while lying on the ground. Wash any part of your body that could
—
be struck or grabbed in a fight in other words, everything. Twist and con-
tort your whole body like a beached catfish. Rolling on and off the floor
develops total looseness, grace, and balance even when ground-fighting (see
chapter 10).

Along with keeping your joints as loose as ball bearings with your flesh sim-
ply hanging off your bones, the washing action embodies the principle of being
as disengaged as possible yet still engaged. You roll around the pea (or in this
case, your skin) with zero resistance.
You can wash (attack) your own ribs with your elbow, yield, pocket, and check
or clear with the other hand. Meanwhile, don't forget to root and pulse your-
it

The key to developing self (again, asif you're your own worst enemy), looking to create suspend-and-

your sensitivity when release situations you can simultaneously escape from. Remember, the extremes
training alone is to imag- of your looseness and the rolling of your hands are actually balanced energy

ine that you are engaged opposites. The ferocious power of guided chaos comes from flip-flopping be-

with a real opponent. tween these opposite positions at a hair-trigger's notice by dropping.
Try combining all the energy drills: "Polishing the Sphere" (I, II, III), "Rolling
the Energy Ball," and "Washing the Body." For the ultimate challenge, flow from
one to the other while wood-surfing. In the end your nervous system won't be
able totell the difference between attacking yourself and attacking someone else.
So go ahead. Beat yourself up. The benefits are immense.

Relationship of Human Energy to Movement

(RHEM)
When you combine slow, deep breathing, the "Box Step" (chapter 5), the "Ninja
Walk," and "Vacuum Walk" (chapter 5), "Polishing the Sphere" (I, II, III), and
"Washing the Body" drills, you are performing the relationship of human en-
ergy to movement exercise (RHEM). RHEM looks like a tai chi form, but the
methodology is different. With a form, you try to imbue patterned movements
with qualities that are energetic and combative. After many years, the form is
supposed to dissolve, and its essence become available to you if you get into an
altercation.
RHEM more potent form of learning because instead of training fixed,
is a
patterned movements, you're teaching your subconscious to become comfort-
—
able with spontaneous, random motion the kind you would use in a real fight.
As we've alluded to previously, you give your nervous system what it needs
from the beginning for combative development instead of programming it for
hesitation. You develop creativity, governed only by guided chaos principles.
You perform the movements very slowly, doing the same things you would
do in a real fight, concentrating on looseness, body unity, balance, and sensitiv-
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 117

ity. As you perform the exercises, you will cultivate chi, because you will be
integrating internal energy (breathing, visualization, and calm, focused mind),
with physically coordinated, balanced, and aligned body movements. You
may recall that we support the definition of chi as the "circulating point of
finesse in the body" (chapter 4, page 67). As such, you will derive many of
the benefits of cultivating chi without locking that point of finesse into choreo-
graphed forms. Then the chi can really flow spontaneously, the way you actu-
ally need it.

1. Breathe deeply, slowly, and evenly. Continue to breathe this way through-
out the entire movement, exhaling as you move outward and downward.
2. Rise high onto one leg as you inhale deeply, simultaneously raising your
other knee as high as you can. As you slowly exhale, slowly step to a new
root point, anywhere you like. When you get familiar with RHEM, you
should slowly step to the most challenging spot you can find. There should
be a long period where you're suspended and balanced on one leg before
your foot actually touches the ground and settles in. Observe all the prin-
ciples of weight transfer you've practiced in the "Ninja Walk" and "Vacuum
Walk" drills (see chapter 5, pages 77 and 79).
3. As you inhale and rise and then exhale and step to a new root point, simul-
taneously and slowly do an energy drill: "Rolling the Energy Ball" (page
113), "Polishing the Sphere" (I, II, or III, pages 111-112), or "Washing the
Body" (page 114). Then, as you settle into your root point, slowly perform
one strike of any kind (it doesn't matter which). To maintain body unity,
three things should happen simultaneously:

• You complete the strike.

• You finish sinking into your new root.

• You do all this during one exhalation.

The slower you can do all these, the better.
4. Without pause, slowly inhale deep into your belly and begin to rise high
onto the toes of the new root point while doing one of the three energy
drills. Suspend yourself here for a split second and then exhale, continuing

one of the three drills and ending in a different strike. Don't forget to try
kicks, knee strikes, elbows, and head butts —
everything.

Ifyou do this exercise every day for 15 minutes, the improvements in power,
balance, and looseness will be remarkable. You will imprint your subconscious
with the necessary dynamics of combat instead of fixed choreography. In addi-
tion, you'll derive all the benefits of moving meditation: inner and outer har-
mony, stress reduction, and low-impact aerobic conditioning.
• The rising and falling emphasizes body unity and separation of the yin and
yang within dropping energy. Obviously, you don't rise this high or drop
this slowly when you fight, but we want to immerse you in the sensation
rather than fixate your brain on "perfect" execution.
• The rolling the ball, polishing the sphere, and washing the body move-
ments are for programming your nervous system to become spontaneously
evasive as it simultaneously attacks. This gets you as disengaged as pos-
sible, yet still engaged.
 —

118 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

and let the continuous, slow dropping drive you through

Feel the exhalation
the entire movement. Remember, gravity is your friend. Don't resist it. Learn
to use it.

Become familiar with the sensation of "swinging" your entire body's mass
through every movement.
Keep your hands in sync with your legs. When your legs stop moving, so
do your hands, whatever the relationship between them.
Throughout the entire exercise, visualize the enemy while focusing your
fear, mold to him, and destroy him.
This is not a form. Creativity is king.

Contact Flow
Let's face While training on your own will enhance your mastering of the
it.

principles, to get good at fighting with people, you have to either fight or train
with another person. There are at least a million ways a person can move (and
that's no exaggeration). You need a way to become comfortable with all of them,
without memorizing any of them.
The only way you can effectively practice all the principles in this book si-
multaneously is in a totally unchoreographed, completely spontaneous inter-
change, where you can train with another person, without getting hurt. The
"Contact Flow" drill is essentially free-fighting, and absolutely anything goes
except for hurting your partner. It's not about machismo. It's about energy and
movement.
There's nothing highly complicated about this exercise, no obscure mystical
secrets. You're simply learning how to deal with another person's motion. That's
it. Now you may be saying to yourself, "If two-person training is so critical,

then what value is there in training on my own?" The answer is that both types
of training complement each other. Each time you train, you get a little bit bet-
ter, even if you can't discern any progress in your ability immediately. When

you train on your own, you not only reinforce the basic principles but also dis-
cover and develop what works for you. This allows you to bring more things to
the table the next time you contact-flow with a partner. Also, if you practice
diligently on your own you won't regress if you later have little access to a part-
"Contact Flow" is the
ner. Because you're reprogramming your neural pathways, it's important to do
most advanced of all the
drills that involve the four basic principles a every day. When you're
little bit
drills, combining every-
alone, you can examine your development closely. But the last thing you want
thing you've learned and to do when performing contact flow is think, plan, or try to win.
will leam, allowing you Instead, simply feel. Your biggest enemy is your brain. Your subconscious,
to continue learning. the same part of you that carries out the billions of operations that keep you
Nevertheless, it's some- alive and upright without your thinking about it, is the part of you that will be
thing you practice with guiding your movement. By using visualization when you perform the solo drills,
a partner from the very the principles will creep in slowly by themselves. So relax and be free. When
beginning; it should be you're done, you can analyze what you did and refer back to the book all you
like. But remember, while you do this drill, empty your mind. After all, how
the foundation of all

your future training.

much analyzing are you going to do during a fight? This drill helps you prepare
to flow with your movements in any situation you might find yourself in.
 . .

Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 119

1 Face your partner in a basic Jack Benny stance (sideways, so you don't ex-
pose too much target area). Before beginning every "Contact Flow" drill
session, note the distance between you immediately and recognize that, if
he's safely beyond your personal comfort zone, you should run or back
away.
2. If he's not, reach out with your sensitivity, soyou make contact with his
intent before you even touch him. This way, your body is already in motion
by the time the action begins. Slowly reach for your opponent, both to slowly
strike and stick, simultaneously. When you first approach your partner, don't
be casual. You can actually begin with a slow fright reaction, chin jab, or
stomp-step-kick from chapter 2. This is basic close combat. Once contact is
made, however, guided chaos begins.
3. Stick to your opponent as closely as possible, but keep the contact as light
as a feather, except, of course, when you're hitting or gouging him. You
both want to strike each other and avoid being struck, without ever losing
contact with each other, all at the same time. Twist, bend, and pocket like
two weasels.
4. When moving, use whatever you want to on each other: elbows, palm strikes,
chops, locks, punches, gouges, pinches, hip checks, wrestling, kicks, head
butts,you name it. If you know a "technique" from some other art, try it.
Interestingly, what youwill find is that you will rarely be able to pull off
any techniques. This isbecause your logical mind plans them, which not
only makes you tight and slow, it practically "airmails" your intentions to
your partner (that is, if he has any sensitivity). Don't cooperate. One of you
is not defense and the other offense, as in some styles. There are no points,

pauses, breaks, or restarting. You stop when you both feel like it. You are, in
essence, fighting.

After much you will plan nothing. Everything will happen seem-
practice,
ingly by You should actually have no idea what you're doing or what
accident.
you'll try next. All you should be doing is developing a feel for your own and
your opponent's movement.
Throughout the drill, maintain a relatively slow, constant speed, proportion-
ate with one another. Move with your whole body with the intent of driving
1,000 pounds but not the force. Speed will come later, as you naturally learn to
move in the most efficient, natural, and powerful manner you can. You'll
find it's much easier for your brain to work toward developing a feel while
doing "Contact Flow" than to analyze, plan, and execute prescribed tech-
niques.
Another reason to go slowly at first is that all human beings have virtually
the same top muscle speed, no matter how much it's trained. Put a straight
razor in the hands of a sedentary woman and tell her you're holding her
children hostage, and she'll cut you up faster than lightning, black belt or no
black belt. Therefore, if you or your partner should suddenly accelerate to 10
times practice speed to "score a point," it's stupid and unrealistic. In a real psy-
chotic bloodbath, you'll both be going at maximum adrenaline velocity anyway,
which is virtually the same speed. If your partner speeds up, it's you, ironic.) 1\ 1

who'll benefit because you'll get a chance to see how calm and loose you can
stay while your opponent foolishly exercises his ego and wastes his own time
and energy. Moreover, if you get competitive or angry, you'll learn nothing
120 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

and bring tension and your development. The same is true in a

rigidity to
real fight situation. If either extreme fear or anger paralyzes you, your emo-
tions have inhibited your sensitivity. Your attacker is not a person, just en-
—
ergy motion you have been training to deal with. Train for life-and-death
combat, be real with yourself, and worry about looking cool later. You can
actually do "Contact Flow" as fast as you want, but in the beginning, go
slowly so your nervous system won't become overloaded. Keep your speeds
proportionate so your subconscious can digest the kinesthetic data it's expe-
riencing.
This same principle applies to using excessive muscular strength. We can't
emphasize enough that it's senseless to get competitive and try to "score" on
your opponent by overpowering him. This is not why you're training. Remem-
ber that, in reality, no matter how strong you are, there's always someone stron-
ger, perhaps even twice as strong as you. The rampant egotism in many disci-
plines can't get past this. This is not to say you can't experiment with excessive
speed and strength. It's just that as you get better, you won't need it, and if your
partner is far more balanced, loose, and sensitive than you, you'll be annihi-
lated, no matter how fast or strong you are.
How do you improve at this drill? There's no mystery, just lots of practice,
with as many different partners as you can find. If you have friends who are
schooled in different defense styles, performing "Contact Flow" with them can
provide a gold mine of experience. Most schools train students to move in char-
acteristic ways. But because you're not locked into any one way of moving, you
react to the motion and nothing else.
Once you've finished practicing, think about what you experienced:

How did he feel? How did you feel?

Did you turn your brain off to avoid thinking about what you were doing?
Did you observe the principles? Which ones?
Did you feel rooted? Balanced? Did you step when you needed to?

Did you challenge your opponent's strength or did you flow with him like
a ghost?

Were your mind and breathing slow, calm, and relaxed?

Did your body have unified motion?
Did your body feel relaxed, yet springy, like a metal whip?
Were you leaning?
Did you stand sideways to your opponent or did you face him squarely,
creating a giant target?

Was your sticking pressure light, like a butterfly's, or were you pushing
your partner to force openings?
Did you stick consistently without grabbing?
Did you drop at every opportunity?
Could you clearly separate the sensations of yin and vang in your body, so
your opponent's energy was reflected and magnified back at him?
Did you keep your elbows down?
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 121

• Did you with whatever part of your body was necessary or did you
stick
limit yourself by sticking only with your hands?

There's much to reflect on, including some additional principles in the follow-
ing chapters that you apply to this drill. Just don't think while you're
will also
training. If you've read all this without actually experiencing contact flow, you
may think it's wacky, New Age junk. All we can say is, try it, practice it dili-
gently, and you'll be shocked how much faster you'll learn how to protect your-
self than you would by doing 100 knuckle push-ups, board -breaking, forms,
splits, sparring, and "fighting by the numbers."

Contact Flow Variations

Most beginners over-rely on their hands and sensitivity. To break
for sticking
this habit, perform "Contact Flow," but stick using only your elbows. You must
learn that they can be as, or more, versatile than your hands. After that, try
doing "Contact Flow" with just your shoulders. That's right. Stick as if you had
no hands, forearms, or elbows. How much subtlety and sensitivity can you de-
velop? Explore all the deflecting and striking angles, using only your shoulders
as weapons. Note that this doesn't mean you should be shoving each other
around like bulls or sumo wrestlers. Instead, your goal is to develop extreme
shoulder looseness and isolation so the joints become as disembodied and ar-
ticulate as your hands. They should slide and circle into attacks and deflections.
To add the ultimate challenge, do "Contact Flow" with your eyes closed. After
understanding and practicing the information in chapter 10, add ground fight-
ing.
Once you become comfortable with the concept of contact flow, try it while
wood-surfing. First try it with both you and your partner on boards, then with
only one of you on a board and the other person standing on the ground, creat-
ing an obvious balance mismatch. This forces the person standing on the board
to further develop his or her hyperbalance. This is equivalent to fighting some-
one on the edge of a cliff. To make it even more difficult, stand on one leg with
your eyes closed.
As you contact-flow with every movement and in any position, remember to
learn to feel the separation of yin and yang. What part of me is relaxed, and
what part is tensed? Where is the energy building? Where does it want to go?
Where am I resisting its trajectory? How can I let go enough to guide it without
exertion and without planning?
Following is an example of a ferocious altercation where form went right out
the window. It is the same kind of situation you may come up against some
—
day with one big difference. In this case, the defending parties were police
officers who put their lives on the line trying to subdue the attacker without the
use of lethal force. Even if they had decided the situation warranted it, the ongo-
ing chaos would have prevented them form using their guns. Perkins was obliged
not to end the fight immediately with deadly strikes to the eyes and throat, even
though the opportunities were there. Remember, as a civilian, you're under no
—
such obligation and neither is your attacker.
122 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

MIKE THE SAILOR

John Perkins
Headquarters called us and said we had a 14B —
a person with mental illness in need of
assistance. The department rule on 14B calls at that time was to unload your weapon
before you engaged the suspect. The reasoning for this came from years of experience.
The last thing you needed was a person with an emotional disability getting your gun
during a struggle. (I don't believe this is as likely today because the new holsters are
much better at retaining the weapon.)
We arrived at a small apartment. My partner, myself, and two other officers began
interviewing a young man and his mother. The mother was very distraught and crying.
She told me they were originally from Europe and her son was a sailor. He was giving her
a very hard time, and she felt he might become dangerous. He seemed pretty calm to us.
The mother then revealed that her son would not take his Thorazine. Now we felt a little
more uneasy.
My partner and I separated the son and his mother into different rooms. While two
officers "mom" in the kitchen, we were speaking with "Junior" in the
were interviewing
bedroom. The young man was approximately 23 years old. He stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall
and weighed 190 to 200 pounds. He was powerfully built with a great deal of natural
strength. We spoke with "Mike" (a fictitious name) for a few more minutes until the
mother began to yell and make a scene. My partner (who was the senior member of our
radio car team) told me to keep an eye on Mike for a few seconds so he could see what
was going on.
As soon as my partner left the room, Mike started chuckling. I looked at his face and
saw that he was not in the same mood as before. He then stated in a thick accent that he
could have easily killed my partner. I guess he wasn't impressed with the size of Bill, who
was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and about 240 pounds. Maybe the outcry from Mike's mother and
the fact that Bill had stood with his chest in Mike's face precipitated the change in Mike's

behavior.
I looked at Mike's hands to see if he had a weapon we might have overlooked. He was
bare-handed. Mike then stepped a little closer to me and stated that he knew karate. My
back was facing an old wooden closet door. This door had panels three-quarters to two
inches thick, made of solid maple, which is a hardwood. As he finished saying the words
"I know karate," he flinched on his right side. At that point I knew he was going to try to
hit me. What I didn't know was how. I jumped and yielded to my right just in time to see
his right hand, with his fingers fully extended, fly past the left side of my face as he
lunged forward. His outstretched hand was aimed to take out my eyes. Instead, Mike's
hand struck the closet door and broke through a three-quarter-inch-thick section of
wood, whereupon his pinkie came off.

When I saw this, I realized I'd have to fight for my life. As Mike pulled his hand out of

the door, he spun around to find me. I had box-stepped and landed behind him. As he
started to turn, I hit him on the side of his head with a right palm-heel strike. It was a
solid shot. This unbalanced him for a split second and he bounced into the closet door. I

knew instantly that, given the amount of force I had hit him with, he would not easily
succumb to kicks and punches.
My blackjack was in my side leg pocket of my uniform pants, but before I could pull it
out, he was on me. I drove him away with a dropping two-handed palm-heel shove. (I
later found out from the hospital it had broken two of his ribs.) I felt the power of his
body at that instant and realized that, given his mental state, I was no physical match
for him. I knew that my fellow officers were only seconds away and that I had to hold out
until they arrived. As I moved backward, I found that the bed was now at my right side.
I dragged the bed for an instant and tried to place it between Mike and myself as I

attempted to get through the doorway. Somehow I lifted the bed up and pushed it
 Sensitivity: The Way of Energy 123

forward, sending Mike backward. At this point my buddies came crashing in behind me to
get at the enraged Mike. They got around and over the bed, and with blackjacks and
sticks flying, attempted to subdue him.
Mike proved to be even stronger than I imagined. With strength powered by his
mental illness, he was able to disarm two of the officers and to begin kicking them and
striking them with an absconded nightstick. I recognized that even if my gun was loaded,
it would be too dangerous to shoot because of the chance of hitting an officer. I then
leaped in, and through the barrage of hits and kicks from Mike and the officers, I got
myself onto Mike's back. Just before jumping in, I made the conscious decision not to
strike Mike in the eyes or throat. Mercy, and the hated paperwork I would have to do if I
blinded or killed him, guided my actions. I quickly applied a "sleeper" hold, which was
legal at the time. Thiswas dangerous, because he was trying to take out my eyes with his
thumb. I placed my head close to Mike's back, squeezed, and in a matter of seconds, he
went limp. We then handcuffed him and tied his upper torso and arms with the bed sheet.
We took Mike and his mangled hand to the hospital, where, after a long struggle, he was
finally sedated and repaired.

Preventing Common Mistakes

You can't be stiff and drop effectively. Dropping is a brief, instanta-
neous act of complete relaxation with your whole body that essentially
loads your spring, so you can't be totally limp either when you rebound
and strike.

Pocketing requires counterbalancing other portions of your body. For

example, when pocketing your chest, don't lean forward, stick out your
chin, sit back on your heels, or stick out your buttocks. This can throw
you off balance. Instead, drop your hips straight down and rock the
bottom of your pelvis down and forward. Keep your head in line with
your pelvis (unless it's your head you're pocketing). This allows you to
respond quickly.
When you don't want to stand stiff as a post
"Polishing the Sphere,"
with your arms rotating at the shoulders like two propellers. As with the
body unity drills in chapter 4 ("Body Writing" and "Starting the Mower,"
pages 69-70), you want to get your entire mass behind every nuance of
the circles you make, even if they're just an inch in diameter. In other
words, your entire body rises, falls, and turns side to side with the
circles you make, no matter how small they are.

When "Washing the Body," don't just rub yourself. You actually attempt
to move those body that are being washed away from
areas of your
those that are doing the washing. At any time the areas that are moving
away can turn around and chase the others.
With movements, keep your hands in sync with your legs. When your
all

legs stop moving, so do your hands, whatever the relationship between

them.
When you do "Contact Flow," don't think, plan, or try to win.
124 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

When you first approach your partner in "Contact Flow," don't be casual
and don't cooperate. One person is not offense and the other defense.
You're fighting. Your very first move is to simultaneously attack and
avoid, as in the Jack Benny. Reach out with your sensitivity, so you
make contact with his intent before you even touch him. This way, your
body is already in motion by the time the action begins.
Keep your elbows down (in general, not as a rule).

Don't lean.

Never oppose your opponent's energy: neither he nor you should feel
any resistance at any time. Don't power through blocks; go around them
or entice them away via pulsing.

You want to but not get stuck. Stick closely enough to sense his
stick,
intentions, but lightly enough to avoid entanglement or grappling.

You're not developing sensitivity to become yieldingly passive like limp

spaghetti. You're developing sensitivity to change direction, force, and
yin versus yang. You can then amplify these changes into deadly force.
 pART'pIREE

GUIDED CHAOS FOR

SUPERIOR
SELF-DEFENSE
Now you have an understanding of the fundamental principles of guided
that
chaos, we can begin to discuss more specific strategies and tactics that will
help you use the principles to move freely as well as efficiently, effectively, and
combatively. Although all fights are chaotic, the human body tends to move in
characteristic ways when attacking and defending. Part III addresses these ten-
dencies by showing how the guided chaos principles flow into related
subprinciples that deal effectively with the particulars of combat. We have waited
until now to go into these subprinciples, because to the uninitiated, they may
seem like techniques. In fact, they'd be useless unless we had first torn down
any preconceptions you had of "real" self-defense, so you could see them for
—
what they are "snapshots" in a continuous flow. Before we explore part Ill's
subprinciples, however, let's review the larger concepts you picked up in part II:

• The state of natural awareness is a combination of looseness, body unity.

balance, and sensitivity functioning as one, not as independent parts oi the
whole.

125
126 ATTACK PROOF: Your Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

• You cannot have looseness without balance. You'll simply be knocked over
or twisted into a pretzel.
• You have develop sensitivity to know
to when to yield or step around a
strike to a new position with balance.

• When you're better balanced, your opponent can't move you, yet because
of body unity, you can move him at will.

• When all four principles come together, you become an enigma. If your

opponent pushes you, he finds himself off balance, pushing against noth-
ing because you're loose and balanced, yet you're all over him constantly,
sticking like jelly.

• Because you're sensitive, you've already moved as little or as much as you

need to strike your opponent with deadly force from bizarre angles, seem-
ingly out of nowhere.
• When you're sensitive, balanced, and loose, you can be as hard as you want
to be and as soft —both at the same time.
• With extreme sensitivity and balance, you can move like the wind, strike
with the authority of lightning, then leave like the wind. Your strikes should
be felt, not seen.
• By dropping and driving from your feet through your legs, turning at the
waist, and extending the power loosely through your arm, you're able to
hit with immense power yet with little effort.

• You're able to do this because you have learned not to exert negative ten-
sion with antagonistic muscle groups. Without strain, power flows unin-
hibited.

• When attacked, you're able to negate the opponent's force by yielding and
redirecting. You can even "borrow" his power and use it against him.
• Inall this, you're developing your mind and body to function and fight
from any and every possible angle.
• You can't fool your subconscious mind. It knows what's real and what's
illusion when it comes to life-and-death struggles. Regardless of fighting
style,your mind and body will move naturally, responding purely to the
attacker's motion instead of following an internal script.

How is this natural motion manifested specifically? That is what we explore in

part III.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

APPLYING THE
PRINCIPLES
TO MOTION
The subprinciples discussed in chapter
this
are not some great secrets of the universe;
The Body as a Shield
they merely reflect the way the human body
You've already learned in close combat that
moves naturally. We emphasize natural move- blocking as a fixed technique is wasteful, slow,
ment because wild animals don't have a cog- and inefficient. Moreover, the understanding
nitive mind fighting for control over their ner-
of skimming energy that you picked up in
vous systems as we do. You can't, for example, chapter 6 shows you that it's far better to de-
teach a tiger to fight "better." It's always per- flectan incoming strike incidentally, on the way
forming at maximum capacity for its species.
to delivering your own. You facilitate this by
Similarly, there are ways of attacking and de- being aware of the natural deflecting attributes
fending that are naturally efficient for the hu-
of positioning certain parts of your anatomy.
man body. Part II explained these in terms of We explore these movements and positions in
looseness, body unity, balance, and sensitivity. the following sections.
Now, to help you understand how to apply
these principles to specific attack and defense
we have
Move Behind a Guard
scenarios, divided the material into
two sections: the body as a shield and the body In an effort to be really loose and avoid an ini-
as aweapon. tial strike beginners often twist themselves into

127
128 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

positions that leave them even more vulnerable. The solution is to always move
behind a guard. Keep some part of your body between your opponent's weapon
and its target. When you practice the "Contact Flow" drill, you learn to both
stick with your opponent's every move and still keep something (something
practical like a hand or elbow, not a toe or nose) in front of the nearest threat-

—
ened vital area your face, neck (front and rear), torso, and groin. You can cover
your face and neck primarily with your hand (and sometimes your elbow), your
torso with your elbow (and sometimes your hand), and your groin with the
angle of your hips or knees. Of course, keep the area you're protecting as unex-
posed as possible. Remember, by standing sideways, you reduce the size of the
target area. Also, turning sideways allows your lead leg to guard your groin.
"OK," you say, "so I'm loose, balanced, and sensitive, but when my opponent
punches through my hand and so punches me in the face because my hand
yielded like you said, I get a little confused as well as bloody. What's wrong?"
The answer is so simple it may sound like a joke, but there's a principle in-
volved: Yield in ways that are advantageous and not hurtful to you. And, of
course, still maintain balance. In the previous example, by putting up your hand,
you've only got it half right. Instead of yielding your deflection so your
opponent's fist drives your own hand into your face, guide it ever so gently past
you to either side. You only need to deflect the strike until it's one inch out of its
attack path; don't overblock. You then immediately slide or skim along the arm
and slam him with your own strike, maintaining contact the whole time.
Your guard is not a static thing, and your arms should still stick, following the
opponent's body within the flow. Moving behind a guard also dictates that the
— —
guard the arms in this case move in arcs that are no wider than the perimeter
of your body. Since the only thing they're protecting is you, avoid excessive
movement.
If your opponent swings wildly to hit or get away from you, slide into the

centerline opening this creates and attack. This is not a mental strategy. You will
simply "feel" a crack in his defense and fall through it automatically, like water
going through a bucket full of holes.
When do you change your guard? There's no rule; rather, it depends on how
you move. By practicing the flow exercise "Rolling the Energy Ball" (page 113),
you'll find that your lead hand is constantly changing into your rear checking
hand, and vice versa. This is a process of discovery. In line with everything else
you've learned, you'll soon see how moving behind a guard is also an offensive
strategy.

Moving Behind a Guard

Simple as this sounds, when most people move, they leave vital areas wide open
all the time. Now, your arms won't be locked into
of course, in guided chaos
"guard" positions because they'll be flowing freely with the attacker's limbs.
This is simply a reference position, something you'll return to when under lower
pressure. You'll see this more clearly as you read the coming sections.

1. Raise both your hands so that they're 18 inches in front of your face, palms
outward and elbows down.
2. Adopt a stance about twice shoulder-width, and raise and lower your whole
 Applying the Principles to Motion 129

body by bending your knees deeply. In ad-

dition,move sideways by shifting your
weight completely from one leg to another.
3. While you do this, turn your body in the di-
rection you're moving. You should look like
a bobbing and weaving python peaking
from behind your arms. The key point of this
drill is that however you move, your vital
areas should be covered as much as possible
by whatever body part is practical. There is
no rule or form to this. To keep this drill
simple in the beginning, one or both palms
should remain in front of your eyes and
throat (facing out) in the direction you're
moving, and your elbows should be within
12 inches of your kidneys. The elbow should
be down with the lead arm in whatever di-
rection you're facing.

As a variation, same drill but move so

do the
the elbow of your lead arm sticks out in front of
your face with the arm bent and held horizon-
tally like Count Dracula. Keep the palm of your
rear hand facing forward, near your solar plexus.
As you turn and face a different direction, your
hands reverse, with your new lead arm doing the "Drac" elbow and the other FIGURE 7.1
palm guarding your solar plexus (figure 7.1). Try having your lead elbow ran-
domly move from a vertical to a horizontal or to an inverted position (see the
"Elbow Strikes" section in chapter 2, pages 22-24).

The Formless Stance

Don't equate "formless" with "ineffective." To generate the most power by sepa-
rating the yin from the yang, your body needs to adopt a neutral position that
allows it to move between extremes. Your stance, therefore, should be dictated
by function. It needs to provide efficient cover as well as the ability to move
freely in any direction.

NEUTRAL BALANCE. When you stand in the formless stance, you attempt to
distribute your weight evenly between both feet, creating neutral balance and
thus a strong root. Since you're in constant motion, you'll never have perfect 50-
50 weight distribution; however, as you fight, you'll continually attempt to re-
vert to your neutral balance when you can to create a stronger platform. When
you have neutral balance, you can move in any direction, redistribute your
weight, and yield or change positions at any given time without the need to
"dance on your toes." Focus on adaptability, not choreography.

YIELDING VERSUS LEANING. Don't confuse "yielding" with "leaning."

Leaning means you're committed from the start to a poor body position, which
prevents you from adapting to the chaos of a fight. When you yield, even though
you may be gyrating your whole body into bizarre contortions to avoid being
struck solidly, you're still in balance. It doesn't matter what it looks like/ as long
130 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

as you can deliver an effective counterattack. This is why you need a formless
stance.

COUNTERTURNING. Through practice, learn to move loosely in ways

you
that help rather than hurt you. For example, when you turn, you want to be able
to counterturn: pivot or swivel your waist fully around your body's vertical
your shoulders and hips, sinking, and driving with your legs. How-
axis, twisting
ever, you should maintain a proportionate relationship in your twisting. In other
words, as you twist to the right to absorb a push to your right shoulder, your left
hand comes out and hits automatically. This is like the turning of a subway
turnstyle. You're using your opponent's energy to launch your counterstrike.
When turning, your back foot should move more than your front. This is easy
to do if you simply stand sideways, keeping your front foot pointed at your
opponent. This creates a stronger platform. You can easily prove this to yourself
by doing the opposite and overturning the front foot in either direction. When
you overturn, your balance is carried out beyond your center of gravity and the
overtwisted knee is susceptible to injury, especially if your front foot is turned out.

ELUSIVENESS. Keep your feet as flat to the ground as possible (refer to the
"Ninja Walk" and "Vacuum Walk," pages 77-79). This is easier if your lower
back remains relatively straight as it comes to rest in the neutral position, be-
cause it prevents you from leaning forward on your toes or backward on your
heels. Leaning is a reactive handicap common in many classical fighting stances.
If you must root off one leg, keep the foot flat and drop into it, then get off it
immediately.
This makes you extremely hard to pin down. Every time you drop and root,
you're delivering a strike, and then you're gone. Even if your feet have only
repositioned one inch, you become a ghost because your center of gravity has
moved with the bounce characteristic of dropping energy. Your own strike is
delivered like a slingshot, but to your opponent, you feel like a blob of mercury.
You flow right through his fingers.

EFFICIENT GUARDING. Apply the principle of moving behind a guard to

your formless stance to make you hard to hit. Seek to root yourself so you face
your opponent sideways and your profile becomes narrow enough to protect
with one arm. Your lead hand covers your face and wards off all head shots with
the palm facing out. Your lead forearm protects your chest, and your lead elbow
covers your kidneys and ribs.
Try an experiment: stand sideways to your opponent with your lead elbow
low and your palm facing your partner. Keep your body positioned like a fencer's
with your feet in an L so your lead foot always points toward your opponent
and your rear foot points to the side. Imagine that you're both boxers. Have
your partner throw left and right hooks at your midsection. With the smallest
rotation of your shoulders and hips, your lead elbow can easily pick them off
(figure 7.2a). In fact, if you drop a little, you can actually bust his knuckles. Now
have him throw left and right hooks at your head. If you're in a left lead, by
turning to the right, you can ward off a left hook with your left palm (figure
7.2b). You could then chop with the same hand. Make sure your whole body
turns so you have full-body unity behind the palm. If he throws a right hook,
turn your upper body fully to the left and again block it with your palm (figure
7.2c). We call this a hello block; we explain it more fully later.
 Applying the Principles to Motion 131

Each part of the arm takes care of its own re-

gion. If your opponent tries to circle you, simply

pivot slightly on your front foot, keeping it

pointed at him so you retain a narrow profile.
He'll have to travel five times further than you
to get around your lead. See how little you have
to move to defend yourself? And you haven't
even used the other arm! This is how efficient
moving behind a guard should be (and you're
not even sticking or using sensitivity at all). Ev-
ery time you block with your lead elbow, your
lead hand is free to immediately strike. When you
block with your palm, you can easily slide your
hand into his face, as long as you only protect
your head and not the empty space around it.
FIGURE 7.2
Follow these important guidelines for creating an efficient guard:

1. Don't stand square to your opponent. It creates too much target area to
defend economically. Stand sideways, behind your guard.
2. When you turn your body, turn fully so you then present your other side to
your opponent. This is an example of separating the yin from the yang.
Don't hang out in between; the target it creates is equivalent to the broad-
side of a barn. This is a common beginner's mistake. Remember you only
3. If you turn your upper body only your right hand, shoulder, and left
(e.g.,
need to protect yourself,

foot are forward), you'll be poised for a split second, suspended like a wreck- not the empty space
ing ball or a rubber band before you release and fly back the other way to a around the perimeter of
normal lead. With your wound-up energy, as you return, you can deliver a your body. Don't go
strike out of both lead positions like a whip. chasing his strikes.

Take Your Opponent's Space

Taking your opponent's space is something you try to do continuously in guided
chaos. It doesn't mean, however, that you bully your opponent. That would run
 132 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

counter to everything we've discussed so far. What you want to do is enter, but
remain unavailable. This is a paradox that may seem difficult to understand
without showing some parallels in nature.
Think of water flowing out holes in a bucket. Similarly, you flow through the
holes in your opponent's defense. But you'll only be able to find them if you're
loose and sensitive. This means moving in where there's no pressure. If you're
not loose, you may not recognize an opening even when it's right in front of
your face.
For example, A is firmly controlling B's hands with his hands. He's on top of
them and forcing them inside. If B isn't loose, he'll perceive that there's no way
he can throw a punch at A's face because he thinks he's blocked. Typically, he'll
reason the only way out is to draw his arm back. If B is loose, however, he'll
sense that the hand-to-hand reference point is actually a pivot point, much like
a door hinge. He'll perceive that there's actually nothing standing between his
—
elbow and A's head if he merely relaxes his shoulder and box-steps in on ei-
ther side.
This actually brings B in closer, yet takes him away from A's hands. This is an
example of taking his space. Now, suppose as B box-steps around, he's stopped
by A's elbow in the side of his chest (figure 7.3a). Once again, if B is tight, he'll
perceive an obstruction and (wastefully) either back off or attempt to muscle
through. If, however, B is sensitive, A's elbow will feel like a red-hot poker, and
B will pocket his chest out of the way, allowing him to box-step to A's rear with-
out interference (figure 7.3b). Now that B is closer, he can drive his knee into the
side of A's knee, further taking his space as well as causing significant pain.
Any time you fold a limb under pressure to bring you closer to your oppo-
nent, you're taking his space. If A pushes up on B's forearm, B merely folds in
underneath with a spearing up-elbow strike, which he steps in with (figure 7.4).
All B is doing is folding into an area of lower pressure that also happens to be
closer to his attacker. In addition, as he steps deep between A's legs,
B steps in,

severely disrupting his balance and leaving him wide open for strikes, not the
least of which could be a knee to the groin.
Another parallel from nature: a boa constrictor often kills animals far stronger
than itself. Does it crush them with brute strength? Of course not. It loosely wraps

FIGURE 7.3
 Applying the Principles to Motion 133

itself around its victim and waits

for it to try and shrink out of its
coils. When it does, the boa con-
tracts a little. If the prey struggles,
the boa just relaxes, using its own
mass to hold its position. When the
prey exhales, the boa squeezes its
coils a little tighter. This goes on
until the animal can no longer ex-
pand its lungs to breathe, and it
suffocates. So too, you should re-
lax, allow your opponent to panic,
and guide his energy just out of
your way as you slide in closer.

Overbending
In the act of yielding, don't let your
elbow bend totally or you'll wind
up crimping yourself. This is a
mechanically weak position that
your opponent can easily lock. You
FIGURE 7.4
shouldn't need to overbend the el-
bow anyway, because the yielding should be taken up as your shoulder joint
rotates, your trunk pockets, and your waist and feet rotate or reroot.

Riding the Harley

Ifyou are relaxed, loose, standing formless, and aware, with your back straight,
arms up, and hands facing out (on the "handlebars"), you might look like you
are riding a motorcycle (although slightly sidesaddle). Most important, your
elbows are down in the "home" position (see figure 5.2, page 77).
Structurally, you're stronger with your elbows near your body's center of grav-
ity —basically a point halfway between your hip bones and below and behind
your navel, with your weight sunk. (Many beginners keep their elbows aloft
and flapping like bird wings.) With your elbows low and protecting your ribs,
they can swing like pendulums in either direction, efficiently blocking strikes to
your midsection and still leaving your hands free. This position, combined with
the awareness that the elbow can stick, deflect, strike, and flow as naturally as
the hand, often allows you to block a strike to your head and ribs simultaneously There are a million
with only one arm. This is because when you stand with your side turned to
counters possible
your opponent, thus presenting a smaller target, your elbow covers your lower
through taking your
torso by swinging left and right (see next section), and your hand covers your
opponent's space, but
head and neck area.
all you need to know
When your elbows come near your sides, either from pushing, pulling, or
is thatif you remain
yielding to your opponent's pushing or pulling, you should get even looser than
you already are so your elbows don't get trapped against your sides. Your body loose and sensitive,

should turn, your sides pocket, and your shoulders articulate. As your elbows you will simply flow
pass the home position, they gain energy from the center of gravity due to the into the openings
slingshot effect of dropping. without effort.
134 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

For example, B has

deflected a shot to the
ribs with his elbow, using
a rocker motion. As his
elbow swings through the
home position, it gains en-
ergy like a roller coaster,
shooting his arm up into
a "shovel" punch (figure
7.5). It is important to
feel the effect of relaxed
acceleration through this
movement instead of
forced muscling.

FIGURE 7.5

The Rocker
The rocker an effective movement that arises from combining the principles
is

of yielding, pulsing, tool-replacing, and moving behind a guard. It also capital-

izes on the elbow home position. Because of its usefulness, you'll find yourself
in a rocker quite often.
With your elbows down and relaxed, your whole arm rocks from side to side
from the shoulder like a pendulum, sweeping across your lower midsection.
Envision your shoulder as the fulcrum and your upper and lower arm as the
pendulum, roughly maintaining a V position as your elbow swings through the
widest portion of an arc near your waist. This protects an area from one side of
your ribcage to the other. At each end of the arc, your body turns also, so you
have a pendulum swinging from a horizontally rotating base. If it swings in-
ward, we call it a rocker. If it swings outward, we call it a reverse rocker.
Whether you do one or the other depends on the direction of the force ap-
plied to the arm. They both serve to gently lever and redirect energy away from
your centerline as you yield, setting your opponent up for what may come next.
If the strike to your trunk takes an inside line, the rocker uses the outer ridge of

your forearm down to the elbow as a blocking surface. You pocket simulta-
neously, so there's little chance of getting hit (figure 7.6a). The rocker can also be
a smash that destroys the attacking limb (see "Tool Destruction," page 157). If
the strike to your trunk is coming from the outside, the reverse rocker deflects
it, using your lower triceps area (figure 7.6b).

A variation of the reverse rocker is to use your hand as the clearing tool, by-
passing your elbow entirely (figure 7.6c). This is a delicate, sensitive maneuver
because your hand is structurally weak in this position. Ironically, that's its ad-
vantage. Your arm and body act as a finely balanced pendulum in this maneu-
ver, because if your opponent exerts the slightest resistance, he loads your spring,
and you can come smashing back with a variety of strikes. Furthermore, be-
cause this kind of reverse rocker is so subtle, your opponent often doesn't notice
it. Using just your fingertips, you clear his arm perhaps half an inch (suspend

and release) before you explode through the tiny opening straight forward with
a punch to the throat or solar plexus.
 Applying the Principles to Motion 135

The rocker is a natural position if you're relaxed,

loose, and rooted with your elbows down in the
home position, moving behind a guard. The beauty
of the rockers is in how their wedge shape works
with tool replacement (see page 104). Reverse rock-
ers are good for fending off attacks to the ribs as
well as for wedges that create openings inside.
Here, with A in close, B circles his elbow over A's
forearm and reverse-rockers it outside slightly (fig-
ure 7.7), creating an inside line to punch through.
This could be a short shot to the ribs or a punch
straight down to the groin.
The rocker and reverse rocker are energy oppo-
sites: one arm rockers, deflecting an inside attack FIGURE 7.6
inward (yang), while the other arm reverse rockers, pulling the attacker's other
arm outside (yin). You may have also noticed that if you do a rocker with one
arm and a reverse rocker with the other simultaneously, you've assumed the
shape of an energy ball (see "Rolling the Energy Ball," page 113), which you can
roll to your advantage.

Triangle Defense
This elaborates on the principle of moving behind
a guard. The name isderived from the shape cre-
ated by keeping a forearm in front of your neck
and head with your head tucked low behind your
shoulder and your elbow always threatening to ex-
tend into your opponent's face at close range, like
a spear or a spike, forming the point of a triangle
or wedge. You can create the triangle by position-
ing your elbow either horizontally or vertically (fig-
ures 7.8, a and b), although neither position is some-
thing you should pose with. Let it do its job, and
then return to the elbow home position.
FIGURE 7.7
 136 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 7.8
Standing sideways in an L position (exposing the least amount of your body
to attack), think of the triangle as the prow of a ship. It easily slips through
water or ice, diverting them to either side. Can you imagine a boat trying to
move through the ocean broadside? Well, that's how dangerous and inefficient
it is for you to stand square to your opponent.

The triangle is never static. You're constantly moving behind your guard, so
the guard also moves. Usually, what your opponent feels is that he can't hit you
(because you divert his attacks to either side) but he feels threatened by an el-
bow spear or smash to his hands or face in his centerline any time he presses
you. Like a finely balanced sledgehammer, your arm can roll either way, with
the elbow occupying centerline and the middle of the forearm acting like the
balance point. A breath of air should be enough to set it in motion. Of course,
your feet and body must move to set up the right range. Your hand should main-
tain light contact, while your body drives inside and your elbow folds left, right,
or up underneath. You swing the triangle up when defending your throat and
eyes becomes more important than guarding your kidneys with the standard
elbow home position.
It's also not a throw an up elbow every time you cross centerline
bad idea to
when you move side to side. You can even fake the up elbow as a pulse to get a
reaction, then circle over for a down-elbow strike. When combined with the
hello block (see next section) and high sensitivity, the triangle makes a formi-
dable defense.
Use your palms, edge of
hands, inner and outer
Hello Block
forearms, elbows, shoul-
ders, and hips as primary When your opponent's hands are on top of or outside yours and you feel the
sticking surfaces. pressure of his hands release without his stepping back, usually it's because he
intends to retract his arm and take a high outside line to attack you (like with a
big Hollywood roundhouse punch). If you're moving behind a guard as you
ol'

stick, your hand will come up and fill the area he's vacating by the side of your
face with a blocking move that looks like you're waving "hello" to someone
standing on that side. In addition, after your palm blocks, you can easily slide it
right into a strike to the face (figure 7.9).
 Applying the Principles to Motion 137

Ideally, the palm intercepts his arm be-

tween the wrist and the elbow. If it checks his
punch at the biceps, he may have enough le-
verage to blow through it. Practice turning
your body toward the side the hand you're
using is on to maintain strong alignment.
Most important, avoid using the back of your
hand to block. Face your palm outward, as if
you were saying "hello" to someone on that
side. This is a much stronger position struc-
turally than the back of the hand, which can
easily be bent, breaking the wrist, or merely
blasted through with a strong roundhouse
punch. Which would you rather catch a
Nolan Ryan fastball with, your palm or the
back of your hand? Which would you push a
stalled car with?
There's also a tendency in the beginning
to block hooks to your head with either a high FIGURE 7.9
elbow or a traditional boxer's "fist by the temple." The elbow may work, but
what if your opponent's arm is longer than yours? It will just snake around your
elbow and find your head anyway (figure 7.10). Furthermore, this approach
leaves your kidneys wide open. The hello block prevents this situation entirely
because your elbow is in the home position protecting your midsection simulta-
neously. It might only have to drop a few inches. The boxer's block, with the
palm toward the face and only an inch away, was meant to be used only with
big soft boxing gloves, which act as cushions. Without the gloves, your own
hands would only serve to hit you in the head as the opponent's punch comes
barreling through. Moreover, in a real-life attack there's nothing to prevent your
attacker from punching you in the back of the head, a move that is illegal in
boxing.
By the way, the high elbow block mentioned earlier could work very well if —
it's not used as a block. Typically, blocking an overhand right with your left

elbow is not tactically efficient, unless you're

diving inside with it to take your opponent's
space, which simultaneously deflects the
blow and smashes him in the face like a spear.
Following the principles of the triangle de-
fense and taking his space if or when you feel
the pressure release on the top of your arms,
you simply tuck your head behind your up-
raised shoulder and spear your elbow straight
into his face (as in figure 7.8b). In this way,
you could stop an attack cold as well as be
inside its arc.

The hello block and the triangle defense

underscore a very important subprinciple of
moving behind a guard: the guard must be
structurally strong. This may sound obvious,
but often even well-trained people use

FIGURE 7.10
138 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

naturally weak parts of their bodies or hold their arms in weak positions to fend
off strikes. Instead of yielding, some styles train a reliance on highly developed
neck muscles to protect the head and neck from impact. Others have the mis-
taken belief that tightly closed eyelids protect you from eye gouges. But the
prime example is using the back of the hand as a blocking surface. It has no
strength in this position and, in fact, is very easy to lock up and break. The back
of the hand is suitable only as a sensitive antenna, and even then, you should
use it only for an instant.

Hello Block-Triangle Combo

When you combine the hello block with the triangle defense, you've got two
natural motions that work together to turn away most attacks. For example, A
has his hands on top of and in control of B's.But as the backs of the hands are a
structurally weak place for B (figure 7.11a), he needs to move them to get to
better control surfaces. This is because from here A can do almost anything:
punch straight to B's face, hook to B's ear, and so on. B needs to entirely cut off
this whole line of attack in a way that doesn't require muscling A's hands off. By
being balanced, loose, and sensitive, B can turn in either direction to take both of
A's hands out of his attacking centerline and move them outside. For example,
if B turns to the right, he does a hello block with his right hand and a smashing

down elbow with his left (figure 7.11b)

The hello block tool replaces the sticking surface of B's right hand from the
back of the hand to the palm, which forces A's left hand outside. B's down-
elbow strike tool-replaces the sticking surface from the top of B's left hand to the
bottom of his left elbow. This elbow comes over A's right hand and either strikes
A's upper arm or the side of his face, as you can see in the picture.
What are the energies that prompted these movements, and why aren't they a
technique? The elbow strike was actually motivated by a loose, seesaw response
to the mere weight of A's right hand on the top of B's left. Notice, too, that turn-
ing right has brought B's left side closer to A, driving A's right arm down and
out of B's centerline. By being
loose and thus turning fully, B's
left elbow now occupies
centerline (instead of A's arm),
and his left side is facing A. Also,
turning to the right has allowed
B's right hand to simply yield to
pressure from A's left hand and
thus rise up into the hello block,
keeping A's left arm outside.
All B has done is respond to
stimuli. This is a different mind-
set from intending to pull off a
flashy technique. Now for the
coup de grace: following the prin-
ciples of suspend and release,
looseness, and multihitting, B im-
mediately turns back to his left
like a spring-loaded door hinge,
FIGURE 7.11
 Applying the Principles to Motion 139

FIGURE 7,11
whereupon his left inward elbow strike
turns into a left outward chop to A's
throat and his right outward hello
block turns into a right inward palm
heel (figure 7.11c).
We have painstakingly broken this
movement down so you can see the
simple physics behind it. In reality,
though, you shouldn't get too hung up
on each part of the movement, because
the whole feel of this thing is actually
like a gorilla swinging his body back
and forth with his arms flying. Pro-
gram that into your brain instead.

Flipper
The flipper is insurance against having
a wrist broken. While sticking to an op-
ponent, if his hand slides down to
yours and your hand bends downward
and inward in an attempt to yield, it
can be easily broken by an aikido-type
wrist lock (figure 7.12a). This is an ex-
ample of moving in ways that hurt
rather than help you. You can prevent
this potential mishap by being sensi-
tive to the attempt and merely flipping
your hand up in a hello gesture (figure
7.12b).

FIGURE 7.12
140 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

This stops the sliding action leading to your opponent's wrist lock and gives
you yet another springboard from which to launch either a rolling elbow, trig-
gered in a seesaw fashion by applying pressure against the flipper, or an inward
pulse toward you with the back of your hand acting as a hook, which then spring-
loads a palm strike forward in response to his resistance.

The Body as a Weapon

Without having fangs or claws, the human body nevertheless has some formi-
dable natural weapons. Any system that minimizes their importance for some
"artful" purpose does its followers a grave disservice. All of them are for close
fighting, where the most damage is dished out. It's important in your training,
from solo anywhere-striking to two-person contact flow, to incorporate the fol-
lowing weapons at all times.
• Head butts from every possible angle
• Biting (yes, you can just go through the motions with this, but it's impor-
tant to visualize doing this so you won't flinch in reality)
• Heel stomps (see "Mexican Hat Dance," page 36)
• Spitting into the eyes (as a visualization, of course)
• Multihitting with the knees
• Pinching and clawing loose skin
• Eye-gouging

We apologize for the graphic nature of these suggestions, but survival is rarely
pretty.

Fighting Like You Have Four Hands

You want to think of your elbows as an extra pair of hands, sensing, deflecting,
and blocking in a state of constant flow and movement. Rather than using your
hands exclusively to clear an opponent's arms you want to work from your
elbows as much as possible. By doing this, you free up your hands while allow-
ing yourself the same degree of control. After all, it doesn't matter whether you
control a person's movements with your hands or elbows. The principle to un-
derstand is that control is control.
When extending the elbow or doing a tool replacement from the hand to the
elbow, don't lean forward or hyperextend your arm to control the other person's
motion. Step in. Your elbow shouldn't stretch away from your body as if it's a
flapping wing. This will only place your body off balance. Remember that your
elbows, no matter how loose they are, must move proportionately with the rest
of your body (body unity). In other words, if you rocker your left arm to the
right (inward), your hips, back, and legs turn that way also. Even though you
align your body to push forcefully, you use little muscle, only the power gener-
ated by dropping. As you're moving and sensing your opponent's intentions,
the motion of your body creates a moving platform
your elbows in
that keeps
proximity to your opponent's weapons. Don't reach for them. He'll be reaching
for you, and then your elbows will meet his weapons, either directly or from
folding due to pressure on your hands.
 Applying the Principles to Motion 141

Place the elbow of your rocker

against your opponent's outer el-

bow; you don't need to use any

muscular tension to do this just —
rooting and body unity. This will
pin his arm and prevent him from
striking you with it. From here you
can either push and clear with the
elbow rocker, push and pass the
arm to your other hand, or deflect
with the elbow and slide a chop in
with the same arm. You can also
reach underneath your own elbow
(figure 7.13a), clear, and chop (fig-
ure 7.13b).
Ifhe offers resistance to the
rocker moving inward (i.e., pushes

back), simply reverse-rocker out-

ward with your fingers, letting his
resistance spring-load you. This
opens an inside line you can snap
back and strike through with the
same or other arm. Execute this
movement smoothly in one fluid
motion, so to your opponent it ap-
pears seamless.
You can push from your elbows
with incredible power as long as
they remain close to your body.
Having them near your center of
gravity gives you a distinct me-
chanical advantage. The action of FIGURE 7.13
the elbow can also be subtle. Depending on its position, it can lift, pull, pulse,
depress, or nudge the opponent's guard sideways, creating limitless opportuni-
ties. It's up to you to explore them.
• Getting hit with an elbow is like getting hit with a baseball bat.

• Keep your elbows close to but not touching your sides when moving. This
helps protect your ribs.

• This doesn't preclude you from throwing down-elbow strikes. simply It

means they shouldn't resemble independent flapping wings. You should

deliver the elbow strike while dropping by turning your back, shoulders,
hips, and legs in proportion to the movement of your elbow.
• To loosen your elbows even more, you must loosen your shoulders. By do-
ing this, you give your elbows an extra three to five inches in range and
mobility.
• Stab the elbow against the soft parts of your opponent's body with an abrupt
thrusting motion. This spearing (accompanied by dropping) feels to him
like being jabbed with a crowbar and it creates openings for you by knock-
ing the attacker back.
142 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

• Used conjunction with taking his space and dropping, your elbow can
in
uproot an opponent while it slashes back and forth in a rocker motion,
continually moving through the home position to gain power.
• In line with the principles of the triangle defense, remember that when
you're in close and sticking your elbow in your opponent's face, it should
have the same sensitivity as your hand. If it's pushed or pulled, it can yield
with a small circle and come right back in his face like a rubber band. You
can use the elbow to pulse his arm slightly in any direction so you can
move it in a small circle and wedge it into an opening from another direc-
tion. Thus, the elbow slithers in with the same sensitivity as the hand.

The best way to practice using your elbow is with the "Anywhere Strikes"
drills(pages 34 to 36) against a pole and with the elbow contact-flow option.
When striking a pole, also practice pulsing (inward, outward, and side to side)
from every possible angle.

Open Hand Versus Fist

As you learned in chapter 2, open-handed strikes using the palm and the side of
your hand are better designed than your fist for striking hard targets like heads
and jaws. Try smacking an iron radiator or a brick wall with a palm strike and a
chop. Hard. Now try this with a clenched fist. No? Good thinking. If you ap-
plied the same force on both strikes, then your hand would be broken.
The palm can deliver more force than a punch (fist) because there are fewer
bones interspersed with tendons acting as shock absorbers. With the palm strike,
you have almost a direct connection to the forearm because the hand essentially
sitson top of it. A fist needs to compress through all the joints of the fingers and
the hand before it can deliver a solid blow. Also, to make a proper fist, you need
lots of practice. You must learn to align your wrist bones and make your hand
tight, employing antagonistic muscles throughout your arm. This slows you
down, decreases your sensitivity, and makes the rest of you rigid.
By considering the palm or chop your primary hand position, you're already
set up properly for using skimming energy. Like a flat stone skimming the sur-
face of a pond, the palm and chop combination skips in more easily over blocks
than a fist.

You should only punch against soft targets. When striking, keep your arm
and fist loose until the moment of impact. At this point, close your hand as if
grabbing a bar and then instantaneously relax it. Combined with dropping, the
effect of the hand's relaxing and tightening is like the crack of a whip: the fist
remains fluid and loose until the wave of energy reaches it, whereupon it solidi-
fies into steel.

Skipping Hands
As developing your hands by making them tough as
far as sensitivity goes,
stone also makes them dumb as a doorknob. Through skipping hands you'll be
able to play the attacker's body like a piano.
When sticking with your hand, try to use two points of contact: the tips of
your fingers and the heel of your palm. Think of them as having a yin-yang
relationship: your fingers act as delicate probes and the heel of your palm as a
structurally strong guard. When the opponent's pressure builds beyond what
 Applying the Principles to Motion 143

your fingertips can handle (which isn't much), they tool-replace to the heel of
the palm of the same hand.
As you already know, the reason you stick with your fingers is so you can
remain disengaged. It's easier, and you've got more clearance to throw a strike,
than when your hand is clamped on his body. In addition, if your fingertips
sense so much as a muscle twitching in his forearms, you'll know something's
coming. It may help to think of the hand as a smaller version of the rocker: with
the slightest increase in the opponent's energy, the hand rockers from the fin-
gers to the heel of the palm, allowing his arms to be redirected. With your elbow
down low in the home position and your body lining up behind it and your
palm, you can exert tremendous checking power with no muscle. This is all in
accordance with moving behind a guard.
From the heel of your palm, you can tool-replace back to your fingertips with
a walking, or skipping, action. This allows you to alternately scoot and check
along the surface of an attacking limb as you redirect it. This is a very sneaky
and effective concept you should play with while doing the "Contact Flow"
drill (page 118). Although a
little different in principle,
the effect is the same as with
sliding energy, allowing the
attacking limb to slide past.
For example, B's fingertips
are delicately poised on A's
forearms with the heel of the
palm barely touching. B
picks up that a muscle is
tensing slightly a millisecond
before A launches a strike. B's
fingers rocker, or "skip," to
the heel position with the el-
bow low and supported by
the alignment of your whole
body and both legs (figures
7.14a and 7.14b).
This position is structur-
ally powerful, needing little
muscular exertion. This stops
A's attack as well as occupies
the line he was going to en-
ter. If A attempts to slide
around this, B forearm-surfs
and takes his space, in effect,
letting A slide into an even
more disadvantageous posi-
tion. B's hand actually skips,
or scuttles rapidly like a crab,
along the outside surface of
A's arm as it "runs" from heel
to fingertips, heel to finger-
tips, letting A's arm go by. B's

FIGURE 7.14
 144 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

hand has thus skipped from an

initial contact point on the fore-
arm up to the outside of A's el-
bow, which is a better control
point. From the palm, B can let A's
elbow fall into the groove between
thumb and index finger for more
control (figure 7.14c). If A at-
tempts to power through the
heel of B's palm, B does a reverse
rocker with the fingers, clearing
A's arm in the same direction it

wants to go (figure 7.14d). B slides

right into a strike that A practi-
cally falls into with his chin.

Ripping and Tearing,

Crushing and Breaking
In line with your understanding
of looseness and separating the
yin from the yang, you should
be aware that learning guided
chaos makes a whole different
way of hitting available to you.
As you become more comfort-
able with whipping your body
around with full body unity,
you'll find that strikes often
come about because the attacker's
body simply gets in the way.
FIGURE 7.14 After a strike, you may find that your body's turning and contorting momen-
tum makes your arms fly apart of their own accord. You can learn to use this by
grabbing with both hands on different parts of the attacker's body. What you
will find is that you begin to create situations where you're literally tearing your
assailant limb from limb with virtually no muscle strength. This works best when
the two areas you grab are obviously designed not to be pulled in opposite di-
rections. For example, in the course of practicing "Contact Flow", you may find
yourself pulling your partner's face to the left with your left arm in a back-
handed grab (twisting his head clockwise if viewed from above) and pulling his
right arm out to your right with a two-fingered grab with your right hand (per-
haps because you were redirecting his punch). If this were an actual fight, you
could easily see how the assailant's neck wouldn't resist this against-the-grain
tearing motion for too long.
Similarly, in the process of rolling the ball, you might find yourself pushing
the back of your partner's head forward to the right with your left hand while
pushing his left shoulder to your left (or clockwise if viewed from above) with
your right hand. You do this almost as if you were trying to make them meet in
the middle. Like the previous example, if this were a real fight, the assailant's
neck couldn't endure this crushing motion for more than a second or two.
 Applying the Principles to Motion 145

THE POWER OF THE PINKIE

John Perkins
In the chaos of a fight, any part of the body can become a nasty weapon. In one
incident as a police officer, I was fighting a raving man with psychiatric problems on
a stairwell who had me so tied up I couldn't punch, fire my gun, or swing my
nightstick. The only thing I could get free was my pinkie. This I drilled into the
corner of my attacker's eye. After the man started going into convulsions, the fight
was over.

— Preventing Common Mistakes

Being loose doesn't mean your defense should collapse like a house of
cards when you yield. Train yourself to be loose and move behind a
guard at all times.

Moving behind a guard is not merely a defense. Remember, within the

triangle principle, pressure anywhere against your hand or forearm is a
stimulus for folding and striking simultaneously with the elbow like a
seesaw, while, conversely, pressure on the elbow unbends it, turns your
body, and drives your palm into the attacker.
Don't stick with the backs of your hands. They'll be overpowered and
locked, maybe broken.
Don't rocker with only your elbow. It requires a loose shoulder, rotating
waist, pocketing ribcage, and turning feet.

Don't stand square to your opponent. It creates too much target area to
defend economically. Stand sideways behind your guards. When you
turn your body, box-step, and turn 180 degrees so you then present
your other side to your opponent, which is now also behind a guard.
When you turn, it can also be a simple twist of your upper body. Your
legs can remain in a reversed stance (e.g., right hand, right elbow, and
right shoulder forward with your left foot in the lead position). This is

because you're here for just a split second — suspended like a rubber
band or a wrecking ball — before you release and fly back the other way
to a normal lead.

Use yielding as an opportunity to get in, not run away. Take his space.
Don't box-step to the side and away from your opponent. Box-step to
the side and in or, better yet, behind the opponent to throttle him.

When yielding, don't totally fold your elbow joint or you'll get your arm
broken. Your yielding should be taken up by other areas of your body,
like your shoulder or waist (by turning away).
 CHAPTER EIGHT

ECONOMY
OF A/[OVEMENT

keeping with guided chaos's inverted

Inlearning structure, you'll notice each suc-
Defensive Economy
ceeding chapter in Attack Proof is more specific. To begin, let's address a commonly asked ques-
From recognizing some of the body's natural tion: "How can I move with maximum loose-
offensive and defensive attributes in chapter
ness and not windmill wildly to take myself
7, we move on even more specific combat
to
out of the fight?" The answer is to follow the
subprinciples. Though you can easily see that
economy of movement principle: Move your
everything in this book is interconnected, in
body and feet more so you have to move your
this chapter we attempt to point out more pre-
arms and hands less.
cisely the economic qualities of guided chaos When you're balanced enough to step and
movement that you should foster in your train- move your body more, you accomplish three
ing. Within guided chaos exist many power-
critical goals:
ful ways to economically cover your target ar-
eas as well as to deliver the most damage with 1. You remove vital targets from direct attack.
the least movement. The elbow home position 2. You generate tremendous counterattack-
and the triangle defense discussed in chapter ing energy through body unity.
7 are examples of the former. In addition, you
3. You are ready to attack as your arms .in-
already know that chambering, or setting up,
close to centerline in the home position.
is a wasted attacking movement. We now ex-

plore manyother offensive and defensive Ifyou keep your body static 1 i kt* a statue bul
methodologies that promote efficient fighting. swing your arms independently like propellers,

147
148 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

your balance will your power weak, and your arms twisted, pinned, or
be off,

generally taken out of the fight. This is even more evident when you develop

looseness without moving behind a guard.

Move as little as possible. Don't block beyond the perimeter of your vital
areas. Better yet, don't block even an inch beyond an imaginary cylinder formed
by the width of the weapon and its attack path toward its target. In other words,
if the attacker is punching at your face, you only have to be' concerned with

intercepting an area that is four inches wide (the diameter of his fist) and about
two and a half feet long (the distance to your face). This will keep you from
performing superfluous movements that will only take you out of a fight. Be
sure, however, to move enough so that you can survive.

Zoning
How do cats and dogs confront danger? They either run or fight. When they
fight, they dive in with their teeth for the kill. Rarely, however, do they go straight
in.They penetrate at a slight angle, far enough to get past their enemy's teeth
and claws, but close enough to get a death grip on their throat. They go in be-
cause backing up can be fatal. It's
easy to trip and fall. When you
dive in, you move in at a slight
angle; we call this zoning. You
can then actually avoid big loop-
ing blows as well as close-in
strikes as long as you remain
loose, flexible, and relaxed.
If you are fighting, it's as-
sumed you have no other re-
course. In guided chaos, you
rarely back up. When you need
to relieve pressure, you zone by
stepping in and to your
opponent's side, staying close.
This is the purpose of box-
stepping (page 81). By pocketing
and passing the apples (pages 46
and 105) you get their energy to
bypass you. Thus, you attack
and defend simultaneously. This
is why zoning is an economy of

movement principle. When you

box-step, your outside foot goes
directly to the side of or behind
You tool-replace to keep his
his.
limbs from impeding your
progress. In addition, your chest
or shoulder can become a
checking tool replacement,
leaving your arms free to hit
(figure 8.1).
FIGURE 8.1
 Economy of Movement 149

An important economy point about zoning and any other stepping move is
that you should almost always be hitting simultaneously as you step. This uni-
fies your body and power, giving the opponent more to deal with. Although in
Remember, you have
if

guided chaos it's a basic principle not to use two of your hands on only one of room you
to retreat,

the opponent's, zoning gives you the opportunity to violate this. Usually when- usually have room to
ever you try "two-hands-on-one" (if the other guy is sensitive enough), he will run.
immediately hit you with his free hand. Since zoning effectively takes you out
of reach of his far hand, you can safely use two-on-ones for a variety of breaks,
strikes, and so forth.

Riding the Vortex

How would you deal with an advanced internal art practitioner who is also
moving at top speed? If you attempt to stick with him directly, your nervous
system will become overloaded, and you'll get sucked into his vortex of spiral-
ing energy. Your limbs will become tense and susceptible to fakes, grabs, and
other nastiness.
You'll need to become even less engaged, while still remaining in contact.
Here is where you must amplify your sensitivity. To ride the vortex, imagine
that your opponent is the Tasmanian Devil. As in the cartoon, his moving limbs
form the surface of a spinning tornado. Even though the area between his arms
is mostly air, his speed creates the illusion of solidity. As such, treat the perim-

eter of this tornado as you would skin. Do not attempt to penetrate it directly.
Flow with it as if it were one solid object. For those spared in childhood from
this Warner Brothers character, you can visualize a potter molding a vase on his
rapidly spinning wheel. Without losing contact, he deftly alters the shape of his
creation as it flies through his fingers. The potter is at once engaged, yet disen-
gaged. Similarly, you can use sliding energy (page 101), forearm-surfing (page
101), releasing energy (page 103), and taking up slack (page 106) to control your
opponent's motion.

The Three-Part Insurance Policy

We have broken down a typical defensive response so you can see how several
things happen at once. If you're attacked down your centerline, take the follow-
ing actions:

1. Yield (figure 8.2a), fold (figure 8.2b), slide (figure 8.2c), or skim (figure 8.2d)
the "sticking limb."
2. Pocket the intended target area (figure 8.2e).

3. Turn your body to cut off the attack angle and channel out the attacking
limb, once it's been pocketed (figure 8.2f).

It isimportant that you do all three things simultaneously. If your attacker is

extremely large, or if he takes your space, step to a new root point and zone if
you run out of turning and pocketing room.
In addition, make sure you don't trap your inside elbow as you yield and
turn. Do this by rolling your elbow over so it doesn't get stuck between your
chest and his arm. Pocketing the chest gives the elbow the breathing space it
needs to get out. This ensures that you always have a weapon on line. You might
then chop or elbow-strike with your inside arm, depending on the distance.
FIGURE 8.2

150
 FIGURE 8.2

151
152 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 8.3

The Steeple
Ifyour attacker is much taller than you and you're in close, an economical move-
ment while skimming his blows is to steeple. Both hands shoot straight up over
your head, skimming and deflecting his downward strikes inward (figure 8.3a)
or outward (figure 8.3b), and clap together against his ears, possibly rupturing
his eardrums. This attack is unorthodox, and you can do it without looking.
Don't forget to drop on impact.

Drop to Deflect
As part of moving behind a guard, remember that most of the deadly damage
an assailant can inflict is against your head, neck, solar plexus, and kidneys. As
such, develop an extra sensitivity field that extends about a foot away from
these areas. Remember, keep his hands off your body. A big part of this involves
dropping simultaneously as you pocket and deflect an attack away from you.
This is vital, because the dropping gives you power, rooting, and stability at the
moment you need it most, while your looseness evades the strike. This enables
you to take his space while defending and attacking simultaneously.
By dropping a split second before you yield, you create a situation in which
you can loosely but powerfully deflect a strike, yet slide in and strike, all in the
same motion. The yielding and articulating allows you to slither in and strike
simultaneously, but it's impossible to pull this off without dropping. Dropping
anchors you to your root so you avoid the floating and light-footed sensation of
instability common in beginning students who are learning to yield.
 Economy of Movement 153

Another advantage to dropping as you yield is that your explosion of energy

loads your own spring, because you bounce off the attacker's strike. This acts as
a pulse, which makes the attacker push even harder to knock your hands off.
But it's too late for him. You pull his push and crush him or fold around and
impale him (see the "Spike-in-the-Sponge", chapter 3, page 48).
As long as we're in the defensive category, it would be neglectful not to men-
tion such martial arts fundamentals as tucking your chin (except when yielding
the head) and keeping your mouth shut.

Offensive Economy
We're now in the category of economical attacking principles. The first one is
unique to guided chaos, and it totally depends on your ability to develop loose-
ness. If you refer back to the "Circle Clap" drill in chapter 3 (page 63), you'll
better understand what we're going to talk about here.

Multihitting
The goal of multihitting is to insert as many strikes within one flow of move-
ment as possible. This is tactically efficient, so you can mete out maximum dam-
age in the least time. However, do not force superfluous or awkward blows into
the mix. What you should find is that the enemy's targets are just conveniently
in the way of your body as it moves from a yang state to a yin state, and vice
versa. All your strikes should be empty and unformed until contact. Remember,
do not clench your fist until impact. This prevents stiffness. Here are some ex-
amples of multihitting, some of which you have already practiced in your "Any-
where Strikes" (I, II, and III) drills in chapter 2 (pages 34 through 36).
• When you step straight in with a palm strike to the head or chest, continue
the motion without stopping so that, immediately after contact, your el-
bow folds and blasts up into the attacker's chin. Obviously, you must step
in and take his space simultaneously to do this.

• If you deliver a right palm strike along a more circular path (like a right

hook to the head in boxing), continue rotating your body to the left, fold
your elbow slightly, and slam him with a horizontal right elbow to the side
of his head within the same motion.
• When you turn out with an elbow strike to the side of the head, continue
turning so becomes a chop to the same spot. This can obviously be linked
it

with the move just described in the previous bullet.

• Explode with a palm strike to the face, and as you retract, you might claw
the eyes or clear an obstructing arm.
• If you're punching into the stomach, you can slide into an uppercut.
• Using ricocheting (chapter 6), you can bounce the opponent's head between
a hooked backhanded chop and an elbow from the same arm repeatedly,
like a yo-yo (figure 8.4).

• Ifyou've just punched with a right into and past the assailant's midsection
so your right arm is "backhand" to the left of his body, why waste time
chambering the arm to strike again? As you retract the arm, do it with a
slashing backhanded chop or forearm against his side.
 154 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

To make things more interesting, you can

combine all of these, so, for example, the
palm-elbow combination happens on the
way in and the elbow-chop combination
happens on the way out. So with a simple,
swinging yang-yin motion, you have de-
livered four blows with -one arm in the
time it takes most people to throw one.
To make things even more interesting,
note that these combinations have tran-
spired within the motion of only one side
of your body. If you think of yourself as a
gorilla, swinging your arms loosely from
side to side, you can double the number
of strikes by performing this with your
right arm moving in and out, immediately followed by your left arm moving in
and out and back again. That's eight strikes in the time it takes most people to
launch two. Combine these with a couple of drops and your opponent will think
he's in a Cuisinart. If this all sounds familiar, it's because you've already practiced a
more basic version with the "Anywhere Strikes HI" drill in chapter 2 (page 34).
There are an infinite number of combinations possible with multihitting, but
All strikes and blocks
you won't need to memorize them because your looseness and sensitivity will
are merely motions
create them spontaneously. As we've asserted throughout this book, focus on
within the flow. As acquiring the feel of the principles, and the strikes will arise automatically. Try
soon as you separate to have your blows bounce from one to another, as if your opponent had fallen
them out in your brain into a giant pinball machine. With enough looseness and dropping, you can
and say, "Now I will actually ricochet repeatedly between hooks to the head and the ribs. The reason
"Now I will
strike," or, many boxers can't do this is that they're concentrating on smashing through the
block," you become body rather than splashing or skimming it. Remember that a flat stone thrown
rigid, slower, weaker, too steeply into a pond will sink without bouncing across the surface. When
overcommitted, less you splash your target (chapter 6, pages 102-103), you will cause great damage
sensitive, and less bal-
without having to blast through it. This allows you to remain loose and to —
multihit.
anced.

Vibrating
An extension of multihitting, vibrating occurs when you deliver no-inch punches
so rapidly that the striking weapon seems to vibrate with energy. This linear
ricocheting energy doing a drum solo or blasting with a machine gun. An
is like

example is if you bounced five palm strikes off an attacker's head or chest in
one second, dropping with each shot (recall the "Circle Clap" drill, page 63).
Still another example of vibrating is a movement coming from Native American

martial arts called "shaking the tree." The vibrating energy spasms your entire
body as you take the opponent in both hands and shake him violently. You do
this loosely, powerfully, and quickly, so that at any moment you can explode off
the shake into a barrage of multihitting elbows.

Taking Something With You

Ifyour punch goes past your opponent's face (or any other part of his body),
why not strike on the return (e.g., while retracting your arm as with a chop or a
 Economy of Movement 155

claw)? This concept — taking something with you— an important economic

is

corollary to multihitting and something you've already practiced with the swim-
ming drills in chapter 3 (pages 57 to 59). After every strike, if possible, take a
piece of the opponent with you as you retract the weapon. Here are a few ex-
amples:

• After you turn through your punch, as you pull back your arm, you might
grab the back of the opponent's elbow, opening his ribs to a strike from
your other arm, which is simultaneously moving toward them.
• Grab the side of his head and wrench it sideways after a palm strike (while
pulling his lead arm in the opposite direction).

• Grab his wrist or some hair, pulling his head past you into an elbow smash
as if you were clearing your way through bushes in the jungle.
• Palm-heel under his chin on the way up, rake his eyes, or rip at his chest
hair on the way down, then spring up into another palm heel.

Typically, your opponent is still trying to push you away as you withdraw a
so you'll end up pulling his push.
strike, It's important to combine this with
checking and passing the apples to cre-
ate and briefly maintain an opening. For
example, B chops at A with his right (fig-
ure 8.5a). A's block misses, but his en-
ergy continues to carry the blocking arm
outward (remember, we're talking about
responses that last only a few hun-
dredths of a second). B's right arm is al-
ready retracting after the chop, but on
the way back, it takes A's right hand with
it, using a delicate two-fingered grab. Al-

most instantaneously, B's left hand or

elbow checks or destroys A's right el-
bow to the inside, clearing the line (fig-
ure 8.5b).

Shortening the Weapon

Shortening the weapon is a subtle but
powerful economic principle that affects
virtually all your movement. The reason
we've waited until now to explain it is that
without first understanding sensitivity and
looseness it would be meaningless.
You're already familiar with the con-
cept of sensitivity and being as disen-
gaged as possible, yet still engaged.
We're now going to take it a step further
to make your sensitivity more ballistic.
By mixing in constant pulsing, skim-
ming, and ricocheting energies, we now
want you to experience contact with
your attacker a little differently.
FIGURE 8.5
 156 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Imagine that your training partner's skin is red-hot. If you touch him for longer
than a fraction of a second, you'll burn yourself. At the same time, remain close

The energy behind enough to sense his motion. This paradox sets up your nervous system for ex-
plosive movement, because you are constantly loading your own spring.
shortening the weapon
This approach trains you to instantly open new entry angles and protects you
is like having to hold a
from grappling. Basically, any time you contact your opponent, you should shrink
hot potato in your hands
from his touch and then reacquire him, over and over at high speed. This can be
and carry it from the
extremely subtle (compare with vibrating energy and multihitting). To an ob-
oven to the table with- server, in fact, it might look like you've never broken contact at all. What this
out dropping it on the does, however, is keep you from becoming overly engaged with your attacker,
floor. You must rapidly except when you have clean openings that you skim, slide, or stealth your way
engage and disengage through. This forces you to probe for different entry angles. It also has another
the potato to maintain dramatic effect: your opponent has a hard time getting a fix on you because you
control over its motion. know what you're doing, but he hasn't a clue. As his frustration quickly mounts,
he tries desperately to hit and grab you except that this only increases your
reactivity. As his energy rises, you react as if his skin were getting hotter and
hotter, which loads your spring even further. Eventually, he overcommits him-
self, which explodes you into action.

Consider shortening the weapon something you need to apply to all your
motion. For example, B chops at A
who manages to block it. When B first
senses contact with the block, his ner-
vous system should react like he just
touched a red-hot frying pan (figure
8.6a). This causes him to shorten his
weapon, pulling his shoulder up and
back while he continues to step in
(taking his opponent's space). Simul-
taneously, B readjusts, turning his
torso and shoulder slightly and fires
the same or a slightly different
weapon (like a spear hand) at a
slightly different angle (figure 8.6b).
In the meantime, A is still reacting to
the feel of the block he just made, be-
cause he expected the contact with B
to be longer-lasting and more substan-
tial. As if sucked away by a vacuum,
B is no longer there. This begins to es-
tablish a pattern of overcommitment
on the part of A who searches for
something to get a grip on. When you
throw in pulsing and dropping, short-
ening the weapon becomes very nasty.
When shortening the weapon,
however, you're not pulling your
hand back dramatically as if winding
up. Instead, the shortening should be
whatever the maximum range of your
shoulder joint is. Shortening the
FIGURE 8.6
 Economy of Movement 157

weapon can also be a completely internal movement, in the sense thatyour

nerves, muscles, and tendons reverse suddenly without actually moving your
arm. This makes you even harder to read. Ideally, you should be able to strike
his arm with power and then instantly relax so your fingertips stick to the target
with featherlight pressure, never once breaking contact (compare with splash-
ing, pages 102-103).
An extremely important point about shortening the weapon is to never let
anyone get control of your elbow. Your elbow is one of the most critical control
points of your body. If your opponent possesses any sensitivity at all and gets
an opportunity to grab, pull, or press it, it could put you in great peril. There-
fore, at the slightest touch on your elbow, shorten the weapon and get it the
heck out of there immediately.
By the way, you can take advantage of the reverse scenario: take control of his
body while forearm-surfing to slide to the back of his elbow. With just two fin-
gers, you can pinch the joint, wait for him to panic, and either pass his arm off to
your other hand or hit directly with the same hand.
It is vital in guided chaos to develop a full, isolated range of motion for every

possible angle in the shoulder joint so that you look like you are shrugging up,
down, backward, and forward. When you accomplish this, your hands can be in
contact with your opponent's limbs and remain relatively motionless, yet have
a multitude of different attack angles available because of the dynamic, isolated
movement of your shoulders. For example, B is in contact with A, whose arm .is
in the way of a direct strike. B raises his whole shoulder joint while leaving the
rest of his body still so that a new angle opens up, which he can strike through.
Practice shortening the weapon with the "Row the Boat" drill (page 159) and
the "Contact Flow" shoulder option drill (chapter 6, page 121).

Attacking the Attacker

To attack the attacker you must get past his guard as efficiently as possible,
clearing a line of entry to his vital areas.You already know you should never
force your way in, nor forcibly move a block to get to a vital area, because it's
typically a waste of energy against a stronger opponent. Instead, use as much of
the opponent's energy and as little of your own as possible. When your guided
chaos skills become highly honed, you'll be able to use stealth energy and ghost
your way in virtually untouched. Until then you can clear the line with skills
you already know like passing the apples, pulsing, and taking something with
you. In this section, you'll learn a few more ways to clear the line.

Tool Destruction
While this initially sounds like you're forcing your way in, the reality of tool
destruction in guided chaos is that you're actually going to be using your
attacker's energy. You're already familiar with tool destruction if you've used
rockers to smash incoming punches with your elbow. Since rockers involve a
loose turning of your body like a turnstile, it's the force of the incoming strike
that does the damage. A rocker performing a tool destruction is initiated like a
see-saw by your sensitivity. For example, your fingertips, perched on the arm of
the attacker, sense the intention of a strike. As it comes, your arm folds rapidly
at the elbow into a rocker as your midsection pockets and turns. Instead of the
rocker simply redirecting, the rapid folding of your elbow caused by tin-
158 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

incoming force of the opponent's blow smashes the rocker elbow into his arm.
The power is augmented by the turning and dropping of your whole body. This
has a popping quality, quick as lightning, while your rear hand accepts the passed
apple (the attacker's fist) and clears it. The ricochet off the destruction immedi-
ately launches you into further strikes with both hands. Note that this can't be
done if you linger or grapple with the opponent's arm in any way. (Note that
tool destruction also appears in chapter 9 as a sensitive reaction to grabs.)

Checking
Checking refers to a short, snappy pulse that pops an opponent's tool slightly
off line. Usually done with the palm, checking can be used to initiate an attack,
create an opening, maintain an opening (by knocking an arm out of the way), or
ensure that an opponent's attack, like an elbow to your stomach, never reaches
its target. This is merely a safeguard you can combine with pocketing. Checking

and its more aggressive cousin, tool destruction, are both far more effective with
dropping.
Don't overcommit with a follow-through motion in a check or tool destruc-
tion.Splash his striking arm and shorten your weapon, so you can take his space
without being thrown off balance. Your splashing hand penetrates only a maxi-
mum of a few inches beyond the point of contact. If your check or tool destruc-
tion knocks the opponent's arms away and wide, you still need to be sure he's
not going to come back and nail you as you step in to take his space. If you pass
the apple by guiding his arm and elbow past you, a check with your other hand
makes sure his arm stays out of your line for the split second you need to enter
and attack. Palm-strike or splash the elbow and dive through the opening into
another strike. Just remember whenever you enter to get as close to your oppo-
nent as possible.

Dog-Dig Entry
The dog-dig entry qualifies as one of the simplest and most effective entries you
can do. Skip in and kick the assailant's shins while rapidly rolling your hands in
a dog-paddling or dog-digging motion. Similar to a swimming sidestroke entry,
you smack his lead hand out of the way and either gouge out his eyes, chin-jab
his head, or spear his throat repeatedly like a buzz saw.
If he dog-dig motion, make sure the second, third,
resists the first clearing
and fourth are right behind it. If he pulls back against the dog-dig, use his en-
ergy to pull your strikes into his face. If he pushes them away with superior
force, skim over them or circle in the opposite direction and use rising spear
hands to the throat. By rolling with his energy, not against it, you avoid tight-
ness and wasted motion.

The Drac Entry

While relatively close, jump
sideways with your lead arm's elbow extended
in
out horizontally in front of your face, so that you're peering out from behind it
like Count Dracula. Keep your rear checking hand underneath by the center of
your chest. Simultaneously with making contact with this front-spearing elbow,
knock your attacker's lead hand away to your inside with your rear checking
hand in a clearing move (figure 8.7a). Instantly thereafter, unbend your Dracula
 Economy of Movement 159

FIGURE 8.7
arm as you turn into him with backhanded chop to the side of his
a dropping,
head (figure 8.7b), followed immediately in the same turning motion with a
palm heel from your checking hand. Your attacker will either eat the elbow when
you whip it out or succumb to the chop, because the clearing hand was hidden
from view by the Dracula elbow. You can substitute a straight, spearing strike to
the eyes with your lead arm for the Dracula elbow if you desire. The spear hand
has the advantage of skimming off and deflecting an incoming strike as it simul-
taneously hits its target. Note the similarity of this move to "Swimming Side-
stroke" (page 59), a totally natural motion.

Economy of Movement Drills

Many of the principles in this chapter can really only be practiced during "Con-
tact Flow." They're simply too subtle to be extracted out into separate drills. You
can, however, practice shortening the weapon with a drill you already know.

Modified Anywhere Strikes

If you review the "Anywhere Strikes" drills in chapter 2 (pages 34 to 36), you

can modify them by imagining that the pole you're hitting is red-hot. Strike
from every possible angle, remain close, but don't get burned. You have to hit,
instantly relax, and lightly stick. You can also practice isolating your shoulder
by shortening the weapon through moving your shoulder joint only. Thus, the
rest of your body remains motionless while your shoulder pulls your hand or
any other weapon away from the pole by stretching backward dramatically. You
can also enhance this movement with rowing the boat.

Row the Boat

Aside from gaining new entry angles for the hand, this motion is also useful for
pulsing, raising, and clearing the opponent's arms when you're nose to nose.
160 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

1. Touch your hands together in front of you like you're grabbing oars.
2. Leaving the hands relatively stationary, pull both arms back simultaneously
by shrugging your shoulders backwards.
3. Roll your shoulders in a circle as far forward, upward, backward, and down-
ward as you can, initiating a rolling movement
in your arms. By rolling the
shoulders, entry angles are created covertly while the hands are allowed to
remain relatively motionless, sticking to the attacker's limbs and safely guard-
ing your centerline.

_ Preventing Common Mistakes

When zoning, don't step away from your opponent. Instead, step to the
side and in.

During "Contact Flow" drills, don't tense up when your partner goes at
high speed. Relax, and ride the vortex.
The three-part insurance policy is for explanation only. Don't try to do
each part alone. Perform them simultaneously.
Multihitting is not like a combination in boxing. In multihitting, by

moving your whole body in loosely for a punch, body parts, like your
elbow, simply seem to fall into line during the same motion and strike
the opponent as well. This also happens as you pull your arm back.
Mulithitting should have a relaxed, bouncing quality, like doing a drum
solo.

If you force your movements, they will fail. If a movement doesn't feel
natural, as if it could spring out subconsciously, it will fail.

Never force your way in, nor forcibly move a block to get to a vital area.
Use as much of the opponent's energy and as little of your own as pos-
sible. Slither in like a snake, skim in like a flat stone, or ricochet in like

a bullet.

Checking and tool destruction are far more effective with dropping.

Don't overcommit to a check or tool destruction. Splash his weapon, so

you can take its space without throwing yourself off balance. Your splash-
ing hand penetrates only a few inches, at maximum, beyond the point
of contact.
 CHAPTER NINE

QRABS AND LOCKS

Grabs and locks are excellent tools for ex- eral, don't take any grab you can't accomplish
plaining guided chaos principles for two with two fingers (the thumb and index or
reasons: middle finger). Striking should always be your
priority.
1. They represent opposing forces and con-
If you need to use more force than you can
densed combat on a small scale.
generate with two fingers, you're too engaged
2. They are highly revered by many and thus with your opponent. Don't be fooled, however.
are ripe for a little debunking. The fact that you're not clamping down doesn't
mean you can't generate a lot of energy. The
Grabs reason is that the energy comes from your root,
and it may feel to the opponent like you're
Since we never want to be overcommitted and using a lot of muscle strength. What he's feel-
thus involve antagonistic muscles, limiting our ing, though, is your body weight, sinking into
ability to flow, an effective grab should be a your fingers. This comes from a relaxed elbow
gentle and elastic maneuver. This is because that is near your center of gravity in its home
in guided chaos you almost never grab to re- position.
strain someone, and, if you really clamped You don't
necessarily need to use a grab to
down when grabbing, you wouldn't be sensi- opponent toward you. Doing so al-
pull the
tive enough to deal with his response. If your ways runs the risk of using antagonistic
attacker is stronger than you and adrenaline- muscles, leading to a tug-of-war. Instead, use
be crushed. Moreover, don't count
fired, you'll the grab as an energy gauge and distance
on being able to grab at an attacker moving at finder. Now, you walk toward your opponent
high speed. It is nearly impossible. Instead, use while simultaneously reeling him in. This t\ pe
grabs as a probing tool to instigate a reaction of action is usually so soft and unexpected that
from your opponent that you can flow off of. you can literally pour yourself over tlu> oppo-
Grabs need to be subtle to remain undetected nent and crush him. Remember, grab is not<i

and to pass the apples or tool-replace. In gen- something you hang onto. II you use grab as .1

161
 162 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

a pulse, drop with your whole body weight for a split second, and then release
it.Applied this way, it can unbalance him or create an opening. It's often useful
to grab an elbow and move it just enough so you can punch right into the spot
the elbow just occupied. Your grabbing hand then becomes a target that your
punching hand can lock onto. A good example of all this is puppeteering.
Puppeteering involves lightly applying a two-fingered grab (with thumb and
middle or index finger) on each of your opponent's wrists and merely following
his limbs around without adding any energy of your own. This causes a very
curious thing to happen. The opponent panics because he hasn't the slightest
—
idea what you're doing and all he wants is to hit, wrestle anything to get you
off him.
It's doubly annoying to your attacker because you're following him around

and can thus easily redirect a strike. You're connected to a control point as if —
you were a matador leading a 2,000-pound bull around by a nose hair. Keep
your elbows loose, relaxed, and near the home position to keep you structurally
strong. As soon as he commits or overextends himself, release, tool-replace, and
attack. You can use his first arm strike to block his second by redirecting the first
into the path of the second. But the key here is his reaction. Whatever move he
makes, flow with him and hit him. Hold on only as long as you need to get a
reaction.
he yanks, you follow him back, release, and hit. If he strikes, you step in,
If

pull his push, extend his arm,pop or check it out of your way with your other
arm, then let go with your grabbing hand and strike. If he attempts to pull his
hand away behind his back, follow him up and lock his wrist. When you de-
velop the principles, puppeteering can be unnerving to the attacker.

Locks
In any real fight, it's virtually impossible to apply a lock if you're looking for
one, when everyonemoving at maximum speed. Under adrenaline, locks,
is
Never look for a lock. even applied by experts, become less effective (see chapter 1, page 12). The rea-
They either happen or son you see locks working in ultimate competitions is that, although the com-
they don't. batants are trying to win, they're not necessarily trying to each other; as they
kill

grapple, they leave limbs vulnerable as they probe for "legal" maneuvers. Also,
grappling involves committing and fixating
your arms on restraining moves, leaving
them static and susceptible to counterlocks;
this becomes a vicious cycle. This is not re-
ality. In fact, locks are trained unrealistically
in many arts. Often they're worked and re-
worked cooperatively, flowing from one to
the next with the choreography of a dance.
When you train in guided chaos, you never
cooperate, even in the beginning.
In general, we don't advocate locks be-
cause they fixate you. Having said all this,
locks can still sometimes be used effectively,
but they should be fast, snapping actions
that last a millisecond then flow out into a

FIGURE 9.1
 a

Grabs and Locks 163

strike. You may know of or be shown a lock

from some other but it's up to you to dis-
art,

cover the moment to apply it. This will be

dictated by the flow and energy of the move-
ment. If you don't train this way from the
start, you'll be lost.
For example, if your opponent punches,
you stick and yield, breaking his arm as you
pull his push, extend his punching arm, and
apply a rising palm to the elbow (figure 9.1a).
But suppose he's sensitive and picks up on
his overcommitment to the punch and re-
tracts. You might follow him back, tucking his
wrist under his armpit (figure 9.1b), thereby
breaking it.
FIGURE 9.1
At any moment, if there's resistance to the
movement, fine: he's loading your spring. Don't bear down and hang on. Aban-
don the lock and release the energy. If you fall into a two-hands-on-one situa-
tion, and he fails to do the flipper (chapter 7), his yielding will result in a crushed
wrist when you apply inward pressure.
Don't fall in love with locks. They are restraining maneuvers that act as drags
to your flow. They make you move as if
you were mired in mud. If you bear
down on a lock, it employs antagonistic
muscles that can start wrestling
matches, possibly with opponents twice
your size. Bad move.

The Vise
A different type of lock is the vise —
quick, springy action you suspend and
release. While fighting, if A's limb gets
caught between B's limb and B's trunk,
B can quickly drop and clamp down
with the elbow (figure 9.2a). This abruptly
disrupts A's balance, causing him to resist
forcibly with upward pressure. This is

great because the vice has acted as a

pulse or springboard to further hits.
From here B instantly springs up into a
chop to the throat. B simultaneously
passes the arm he has in a vise to his
other hand (figure 9.2b).
B wasn't loose, but instead only
If

clamped down with the vise and held it

with all his might, he would become as
fixated and vulnerable as A. This is an
obvious display of strength, and its di-
rection gives the opponent a virtual road

FIGURE 9.2
 164 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

map of your intentions. This is also the antithesis of stealth energy, guarantee-
ing an unsuccessful counterattack on your part.

The Cross-Tie
The cross-tie is an opportunistic lock that occurs frequently when you train with
someone unskilled in guided chaos. It occurs when one punch is pulsed, passed,
deflected, or thrown down and into the path that an anticipated second punch
would take (figure 9.3a). In the process of rolling the ball or passing the apples
during contact flow, the hand that was doing the deflecting circles under and
cross-grabs the second punch while your other hand cross-grabs the first (figure
9.3b). Since his hands are crossed and yours aren't, and since his momentum
carried him to this position, you can easily twist his arms up while continuing to
roll. Just remember that your body's turning drives the cross-tie, not your arm

muscles.
What's interesting is that once he's tied up, you can let go (and strike), be-
cause he will actually tense and resist against himself, causing an instant open-

FIGURE 9.3
 Grabs and Locks 165

ing to his torso or head (figure 9.3c). Or you can just twist, drop, and break. If he
resists strongly, just roll back with him in the other direction, release one or both
grabs, and punch, using his resistance to propel your strike. It's usually easier to
let go with the hand that's holding his lower arm (since it's trapped by his own

upper arm) and punch. You can also instigate a cross-tie by actually knocking or
throwing one arm into the other, then grabbing and twisting. Sometimes it helps
to pop-check his elbow with your palm to keep him in the tie a split second
longer to ensure your opening (figure 9.3d).
You can avoid being caught in a cross-tie yourself by staying sideways to
your opponent, turning 180 degrees, separating the yin from the yang, and not
presenting him with two outstretched arms.

Resisting Grabs and Locks

Since you should imagine your enemy as either covered with some foul-smell-
ing slime or as hot as a frying pan, being touched, much less grabbed by him,
should put your sensitivity on high alert. This mental image will condition you
to avoid entanglement. Resist the temptation to grab back with your other hand.
This gives you no advantage; instead, it leaves you with both hands involved and
no guard available. At best, you end up in a stalemate. If he's stronger, you lose.
If you're grabbed anyway, his clamping down should be as successful as

squeezing an angry alley cat or a handful of mercury: The more pressure is ap-
plied, the faster it squirts out through the fingers. Your sensitivity, since it's con-
fined, acts like an incompressible liquid, exploding toward freedom through
any convenient opening. Since the move is rapid, you must shift your balance
and readapt just as rapidly, with your entire body moving in concert.
Remember, using body unity principles, you'll generate more releasing power
by repositioning your whole body to free the grabbed arm than if you strain
with all your arm's muscular strength. While driving with your body, your arms
can move wildly in any direction to free themselves, as long as it's in the direc-
tion of a strike to a vital area. In other words, it makes no sense to release straight
up, down, or far out to the side. This leaves you totally open, a sitting duck. The
releasing movement by its very nature should be a direct blow to your attacker,
satisfying the principles of economy of motion and moving behind a guard.
If you're grabbed anyway, your free hand should go right for his eyes or throat.

It's amazing how so many techniques rely on some elaborate maneuver against

the grabbing arm when all you need to do is simply poke in the jugular notch or
eye socket with your free hand.
Avoid excessive contact from the start and shoot your hand forward through
his grasp and into his face. Just say to yourself "Don't touch me," and you'll be
in the right frame of mind. Slap his hand out of the way or evade the grab and
strike with the same hand or both. Despite all this, you may be successfully
grabbed anyway. Read the following material with an eye toward developing
the underlying feel of the movements described without necessarily obsessing
over their specific components.

Answer the Phone

This is an extremely common, multipurpose movement related to the tri
angle defense. It can shield against strikes, punches, rakes, chokes, or other
166 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

harassment to the head. Due extremely dynamic use of body unity, it's
to its
also a terrific grab-breaker. For example, B is in a left lead, properly standing
sideways to A to create a smaller target. A grabs B's left wrist to get control of
him (figure 9.4a). B can stab A in the eyes with his right, but if A is ready for it, B
can "answer-the-phone" by relaxing and circling his shoulder down, inward,
and up, raising his whole left arm from the shoulder. But as B brings the arm up,
he keeps it near his side to gain the mechanical advantage of being close to his
center of gravity (figure 9.4b). The action is like scraping your ribs with the in-
side of your palm, forearm, and elbow. As you can see, this involves turning to
the right from the waist, stepping in closer with the left foot to take A's space
(A's grab was pulling B in anyway), and pocketing the left side of the ribcage in
case of an attack to the kidneys and to make room for B's arm to slide past. B's
palm moves close by and then past his ear as if raising a receiver to listen (figure
9.4c). Raising the arm this way forms a protective wedge around the side of the
head, which can also ward off strikes to the rear. It also tool-replaces the attack or
grab from B's wrist or forearm to B's
shoulder, freeing his arm.
Because A's grab pulled B in, B fol-
lowed the energy and took A's space,
moving behind the guard that the
phone motion provided. This, com-
bined with turning away from A as he
raises the phone, generates tremen-
dous torque against A's wrist, break-
ing the grab. After B answers-the-
phone, he turns back out to the left,
whipping a chop to the left side of A's
neck through the huge opening the
phone just made (figure 9.4d).
After answering the phone, B de-
livers the chop as if he were saying

"Here, it's for you!" This action is one

continuous movement, like swim-
ming. It's also a swinging, yin-yang-
type motion, because you twist one
way and then immediately whip the
other way. This immediately brings in
a palm strike with your other hand.
Answering the phone is also a good
response any time an opponent's arm
contacts your arm between the elbow
and shoulder, because he's too high on
your arm for you to roll your elbow
over (and he's too close for comfort to
your face). It's also great for warding
off a flurry of strikes to your head by
multiple attackers. Under these cir-
cumstances, answering the phone
looks like you're fighting a swarm of
bees.

FIGURE 9.4
 Grabs and Locks 167

FIGURE 9.4
Swarm of Bees
Ifyou were being dive-bombed by a swarm of angry bees, would you drop into
a deep karate stance and throw reverse punches or perhaps use an esoteric tai
chi technique such as "grasp the sparrow's tail?" Of course not. While guarding
your face, you'd whip your hands around as fast and lightly as possible with
great sensitivity to avoid being stung. This is natural. However, if you examine
these movements you'll notice they look like multiple answer the phones, com-
bined with short swimming and chopping movements.

Breaking the Double Grab

Ifboth your arms are grabbed despite applying what you've learned so far in
this chapter, your looseness just flows into the next available weapon —
your
elbows. Turn your body and take his space by stepping in deeply and loosen
your arm and shoulder muscles, firing one
or both elbows sequentially with a rocker
motion at one or more of the following tar-
gets: the face, upper arm, chest (figure 9.5),
or uppermost restraining hand. A nice,
multihitting follow-up to this one is to
slide straight up and chin-jab with your
palm. This works against a single grab
also.
When you smash the top restraining
arm with your elbow, don't try to pry or
wrestle it off. If you simply turn, step, and
drop with your whole body, you'll have
all the mechanical advantage you need.

Multihit, bouncing your elbows from the

restraining arm to the face and back again,
using both elbows, one right after the
other. You can also spear them into the chest.

FIGURE 9.5
 168 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 9.6

Tool Destruction
Smashing grabbing hand to liberate your own is tool destruc-
a rocker into his
tion, as is slamming the knuckles or forearm of an incoming punch with your
elbow. Tool destruction is a common martial arts term for attacking the attacker's
limbs. What is uncommon is how we use it. Instead of trying to pick an incom-
ing strike out of the air like a baseball or a scud missile, a guided chaos tool
destruction often results from either folding or turning your body away from
pressure. In the latter case, you should use the principles of taking his space,
body unity, the triangle defense, and the box step to turn your whole body and
step into a horizontal palm smash at a grabbing arm (figure 9.6a, arrow 1). Within

—
the same movement, your elbow should slash his face provided the grab was
—
held high enough (arrow 2) and your now-freed hand should chin-jab (arrow
3). Instantly, using multihitting, your elbow slashes back in the opposite direc-

tion (arrow 4), followed immediately by a backhanded chop with the same arm
(arrow 5), and another inside palm strike or claw with your freed arm (figure
9.6b). This whole sequence occurs in less than half a second. This works against
both regular and cross-grabs. When executed, it looks like an ax tearing through
balsa wood. Remember, though, to turn with each movement so you're present-
ing your side to your opponent.

Grip Exercises
Two parts of your body that can really benefit from a strength-building regimen
are your hands. you think about it, other than our teeth (which are feeble
If

compared with those of most predators), the only raw weapons we have (other
than bludgeoning surfaces like knees, feet, and elbows) are our fingers. Lacking
claws, we nevertheless have great power in our fingers, relative to the rest of
our bodies. This pays off whenever you rip, tear, gouge, and pinch. Training for
grip strength is essential when you're totally tied up, and your hands are against
your opponent's skin. The amount of pain an iron-like pinch or claw can deliver
is sometimes sufficient to create room for further strikes.
 Grabs and Locks 169

The not to hang on. Your hand should have a snapping, biting quality
trick is
that instantly relaxes to avoid sustained tightness, allowing you to find other
targets. That said, here are some exercises for developing your grip.

Finger Creep
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the muscles that contract the fin-

gers, which are different from the ones that turn the wrist.

1. Take a full-length broom and hold the stick at the far end with only the
fingers of one hand, so the bristles hang barely above the floor.

2. Using only your fingertips, walk your fingers down the handle so you're
raising the broom off the floor while your arm stays at the same height.

3. Pull it up till you reach the bottom and start over.

You can weight the broom to make this harder by slipping two-pound barbell
plates over the broomstick.

Sand Bucket
You've probably heard that the crushing force of an alligator's jaws are immense,
but that an average person can hold the gator's mouth shut. To avoid the gator's
dilemma, you need to work the muscles that open the hand, not only the ones
that close it. When opening and closing strengths are balanced, they actually
augment each other. You need a bucket of sand to do this drill.
1. Form your hand an "eagle's beak." The tips of your fingers should be
into
pressed together and even with the end of your thumb.
2. Spear your hand into the sand and then twist it 2 or 3 times to drill it in.

3. While continuing to push down, spread your fingers as far as they will go,
angling your hand for the most resistance against the sand with all your
fingers, including your pinkie and thumb.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 at least 10 times per hand, and then try the reverse:
spread your palm wide on top of the sand, push down, and try to crush a
handful of it into a diamond like Superman. Do this 15 times or until your
forearms feel like they're going to explode.

Tendon Strengthened
The following which is far more important
exercises develop tendon strength,
for fighting than muscular strength. When moving loosely and powerfully at
high speed, large, strong muscles that have been trained purely for strength and
size tend to be slow and highly injury-prone. This is why strict bodybuilders
can't play in the NFL. Their tendons would simply blow apart. Tendons connect
muscle to bone and need to be strengthened carefully along their entire range of
movement. Some of the drills are extremely slow and others extremely fast. This
trains the tendons (and the muscles they are connected to) to withstand the bal-
listics of wild and chaotic combat conditions.
 . .

170 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Two-Minute Push-Up
High-speed looseness doesn't require big, bulging muscles, but rather tough,
tendons that resist tearing.
elastic

1. Perform a push-up very slowly, working to increase the time it takes for
you to go down and come back up.
2. Continue until you can take (after some significant training) two minutes
to go down and two to come up.

Iso-Strike

These are slow, isometric tension exercises that

build strength throughout the entire length of a
combative movement, rather than only through
the limited range of resistance found in most
weight training.

1 Begin with your right arm wrapped tightly

around your body in an exaggerated start-
ing position for a backhanded chop.
2. Standing against a wall, exert strong tension
against it in a slow, controlled effort to un-
coil your strike (figure 9.7).

3. Inch by inch, reposition your feet so you ex-

perience resistance against every part of the
chop's movement throughout your body
until the chop is fully extended.

4. Don't forget to drop in slow motion as well.

5. Try this with every type of strike you can
think of, continually repositioning your body
to offer the maximum isometric resistance
throughout the entire range of movement.
FIGURE 9.7

Speed Flow
As well asworking your tendons, these exercises promote high-speed muscle
strength, which is different from brute strength.
1 Make slow, circular, horizontal chopping motions with your hand and arm.
Your forearm should be parallel to the floor. Use a subtle dropping motion
with your knees as the chop comes out. Do this for 30 seconds.
2. Increase to three-quarter speed for 30 seconds.
3. Then go speed for as long as you can maintain
to full full looseness and
relaxation. Whip your arm, making the air move.

4. When you begin to fight against the cramping and stiffening of your own
muscles, stop.
 Grabs and Locks 171

5. Repeat with your other arm.

Apply this same procedure of speeding up the

flow in increments to the following:

• Dog dig: A repetitive digging motion that is use-

ful for clearing limbs or batting away a knife in
a last ditch effort as you backpedal. Similar also
to a cat rapidly clawing an enemy in a circular
buzz-saw motion. Also try this motion toward
your side where it would then look like a
swimming sidestroke.
• Stacked spears: Chop straight out in front of
you with both hands alternately so your up-
per hand comes out and then returns under-
neath in a rapid circular motion (figure 9.8).
Once you tire, reverse the motion. FIGURE 9.8
• Answer phone and chop combo: Do both motions with one arm and
the
then switch. Performing this as rapidly as possible takes on the appearance
of fighting off a swarm of angry bees. Don't overextend on the chop; it should
snap out and back like a whip.
• Free flow: Psycho-chimp and small circle-dance at maximum velocity. Be
careful not to hit yourself!

_ Preventing Common Mistakes

In general, don't take any grab you can't do with two ringers.

Don't clamp down while puppeteering. Your hand and arm should be
and follow the trapped
able to loosely rotate around wrist, allowing the
opponent to move as he wishes, without letting go.
Grabs don't necessarily have to pull the opponent toward you. This runs
the risks of using antagonistic muscles and getting into a tug-of-war.
Instead, grab as an energy gauge and distance finder. Now, you step
toward him.
Never look for a lock. They either happen or they don't.
If you treat your attacker's skin as if it is covered with a foul-smelling
slime, hell have a hard time grabbing you in the first place.

You'll generate more releasing power against a grab by repositioning

your whole body and dropping to free a grabbed arm, than if you strain
with all your arm strength.
Itmakes no sense to release straight up, down, or far out to the side.
The releasing movement should be in the direction of a straight blow to
your attacker's nearest vital area or limb.
Resist the temptation to grab back with your other hand.

Don't just wave your arms around in the "Speed Flow" drill. Move your
whole body, drop, and pocket so you don't hit yourself.
 CHAPTER TEN

QROUND
piGHTING AND
WEAPON J)EFENSE
Despite your training, and whether you like Ground Fighting
it or not, you may find yourself defend-
ing your life on the ground. The reason we've There are some vogue now that actu-
arts in
saved this subject until now is that ground- ally prefer to take the fight to the ground and
fighting principles are actually no different emphasize this in their training. Fans of "ulti-
than those you employ when fighting upright, —
mate" fighting no-holds-barred competi-
except that you have to translate them to a new tions— contend you should practice grap-
dimension where they become even more sav- pling because more often than not you end
age. These principles are very different from up there. Although highly skilled in Native
the way most other martial arts handle grap- American ground-fighting techniques, John
pling. The ground-fighting principles of Perkins went to the ground in less than 10 per-
guided chaos represent some of the art's most cent of the over 100 serious, violent, armed,
devastating aspects. Developed by John Perkins and unarmed confrontations he has been in-
in his early bouts with his father and uncles, they volved in.
reflect a great deal of Native American martial Intending to go to the ground as a form of
arts influence in that they are based on simplic- self-defense is a potentially fatal way of think-
ity, sober reality, and actual experience. ing for at least five reasons:

173
 174 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

l.By violating the principle of challenging no one you eliminate the simplest
and most effective form of self-defense there is running away.—
2. On the ground, your advantages of upright balance and rooting become
negated — bad news if your attacker outweighs you by 100 pounds or more.
3. The real worldnot a martial arts school covered with soft mats. In a
is

you want to do is smash your head, tailbone, or

dogfight, the last thing
neck on car bumpers, concrete sidewalks, fire hydrants, or broken glass to
gain a "ground advantage"!
4. Weapons, such as knives, eliminate most grappling techniques. Try wres-
tling with an opponent wielding a Magic Marker and see how long you
Remember, going to the can avoid being turned into a piece of graffiti.

ground to grapple could 5. You might be fighting multiple opponents. With standard grappling, you
mean going to your can only fight one assailant at a time! Meanwhile, his buddies will stomp
grave. If your opponent you into dog food.
falls to the ground, don't People ask "But grappling better than punching? Everybody knows a
isn't
follow him. Run away. wrestler can beat a boxer." To answer this, read the following excerpt from a
letter the President of the International Combat Martial Arts Federation, profes-
sor Bradley J. Steiner, sent to his associates:

During WWII, with the exception of Jack Dempsey, virtually every single unarmed and hand-
to-hand combat instructor for the United States, Canadian, French, and British forces had a
formidable and core background in wrestling, judo, ju-jutsu— yet every single one of those
instructors deliberately minimized, played down, arid de-emphasized all grappling in favor of
basic, simple blows, when preparing men for war. Why? Well, why do you think? Some of
these experts, like Pat (Dermot) O'Neil and William Ewart Fairbairn, were literally the first
Caucasian ju-jutsu/judo black belts in the world at that time! They were ranked 5th degree
black belt, and 2nd degree black belt, respectively. Fairbairn had personally participated in
more than 600 deadly encounters (armed and unarmed) prior to WWII, when he was Com-
missioner of the Shanghai Municipal Police! Don't you think that man knew what real com-
bat required?

Also consider from the former Director of Close Combat Training at the
this
Military Intelligence Training Center, Colonel Rex Applegate, who accumulated
his experience during wartime and trained over 10,000 military and intelligence
personnel for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (which eventually became
the CIA): "Blows should always be used in preference to throws."
If you've read through the book this far, you already know many of the prin-

ciples of guided chaos. You already know that if you use only strength, speed,
and standard wrestling, boxing, or no-holds-barred fighting skills, the odds of
your disabling a larger opponent with the same skills are virtually nil. Unless
you're extremely fast or lucky, you'll be crushed, mangled, and torn limb from
limb. However, the extremely nasty tactics of guided chaos and close combat
can negate an opponent's superior skills and physical strength. Why? Even past
ultimate champion Royce Gracie would find it difficult to fight with a finger
buried in his eye. This is why
they forbid these tactics in ultimate competitions.
You may wonder what might prevent your attacker from using these tactics
also. Actually, nothing, except that you will be better at it. Guided chaos levels
the playing field.The ability to both deliver and avoid these tactics for survival
is based solely on your looseness, body unity, balance, and sensitivity aspects —
virtually no one else teaches, especially on the ground.
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 175

Ground Avoidance
But how do you avoid going to the ground Extend your sensi-
in the first place?
tivity, so you can treat your opponent like a matador treats a bull. Avoid the
typical response of squaring yourself and stiffening at the prospect of a collision
o-r take-down move. Such tightening would provide a firm handle for him to
grapple. Remember, guided chaos is about making yourself unavailable and
bnot confronting force head-on. Don't look at him as the enemy. This makes you
angry and tense. Rather, regard him as a vile disease, not to be touched. This
change in attitude will be reflected in the way your whole body moves. Your
looseness and pocketing should accelerate until they turn into a kind of spasming
we call "shedding" energy. React to grappling like an angry alley cat. Instead of
tensing, squirm and writhe out of your attacker's grasp while you simultaneously
rake his flesh.
Let's look at a possible scenario. A threatens B from a distance of about 10
feet. B can back away or run, keeping A in sight as he retreats. If you know
you're fast, and the enemy doesn't look it, great. If it's the opposite, a preemp-
From this distance, look meek (Jack Benny-style), back
tive strike is in order.
away slowly, and wait for him to advance. If he does, explode forward, stomp-
step, and kick like you're making a field goal. Immediately spear-hand to the
eyes or palm to the face while stepping in with a knee strike. This is basic close
combat.
Suppose, however, that he's a grappler, and he dives for your legs. Fine. The
forward drop kick becomes a knee to the face. If this doesn't cripple him, you'll
be in the same situation as if he were closer in and decided to dive for your legs.
You drop strongly, spreading your stance, and jam your fingers underneath and
through his eye sockets like clutching a bowling ball. Pocket your vital areas
away from his grasp. If you need to, you can use his eye sockets, ears, and hair
as handles to wrench and break his neck with. (Remember, you fight to save
your life or your loved ones only.)
Because you're striking downward, you can use full dropping energy to power
chops, palms, elbows, or hammer-fists against the base of his neck. (Compare
with the "Beanbag" drill, page 109.) As your hands come up between blows,
take bsomething with you, like his Adam's apple, ears, hair, or his whole head
twisted violently (nobody asked him to attack you; he volunteered). If he picks
up his head to avoid the initial onslaught, your fingers again seek out and pen-
etrate his eye sockets. This in itself can cause convulsions, unconsciousness, and
death. Once again we apologize, but real self-defense isn't pretty. If you die be-
cause you didn't finish off your attacker before he regrouped, your grief-stricken
family won't be consoled because you showed your assailant compassion.

Falling in Your Favor

If the tactics just discussed whatever reason), you might still wind up on
fail (for

the ground. Think of a cat, perched on your outstretched arm. If it loses its bal-
ance, it digs its claws in and hangs on as it flops over, ripping your skin with its
full body weight. The lesson here is, if you're going to fall, fall and take some-
thing with you: hair, skin, ears, lips, or thelike. Not only may it do some dam-
age, but by borrowing from his balance, you might recover yours (of course,
there are no guarantees).
 176 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Suppose that as you're losing balance you hook your foot behind his leg and
pull (pulse). Sometimes this will allow you to recover your balance and hit him
at the same time — kind of like a yo-yo on the rebound. Or sometimes you're in
the air, falling, yet your hands are completely free — claw an eye socket or his
groin on your way down.
Use your falling momentum to rip at the opponent. Then use your momen-
tum and the moment of weightlessness to shoot your legs out at his or blast
your knee up into his groin before your backside hits the ground. This move has
great power because your upper body is rolling back while your lower body is
—
swinging out or up. If you're both going to the ground, get there before him,
and prepare to use your butt, back, and sides as your new root points. Just make
—
sure you fall with your head away from the attacker's feet and keep it away
by rolling and twisting. If you fall in a sideways rolling motion like a log,
use the momentum to loosely swing out a round kick to his shins as you hit
the ground.

Staying Mobile on the Ground

The typical response to a grappling situation is tightness, supreme muscular

exertion, and containment. It's when you are both on the ground that you must
really understand and feel the principles of suspend and release, loading the
spring, shortening the weapon, and spasming (shedding) energy. This is be-
cause your mobility, or disengagement energy, is dramatically altered by being
—
off your feet. Not limited only altered. This mobility is a very important aspect
of guided chaos ground fighting. Rather than the posed "sidekick-from-the-
ground" kicks you typically see in karate, this is much wilder and looks kind of
like a mix of log-rolling, break-dancing, and the moves of Curly from the Three
Stooges.
Therefore, your body must now learn to skitter, spasm, and jump around like
When on the ground, a freshly caught catfish in a bucket. To shoot your legs out, flip, roll, and change
your hands work the body position by 180 degrees while delivering blows, you've got to be loose,
same as if you were yielding, and sensitive. This is so you can avoid pressure and entanglement,
standing. You yield to then set up attack positions where you can pulse and react off the opponent's
the slightest pressure, energy, yet remain unavailable. Do not grab or otherwise wrestle your oppo-
clear the line, shorten nent with the intent of containing or pinning him. This is even more important
the weapon, and tool- on the ground, because you can be crushed and strangled.
While keeping your head away from the attacker's legs, you can roll side-
replace, going for the
ways like a log at extremely high speeds by pulling in your arms and legs like a
eyes, throat, and groin
figure skater going into a spin. You can violently jackknife your body to reverse
with chops, spears,
your head and legs both to avoid and deliver kicks. Using your hands to help,
rips, tears, eye gouges,
you can run in a circle on your side on the floor, which powers many of the kicks
palm heels, hammer- described in the coming pages.
fists, and elbows. Don't
forget to use your
FIND YOUR ROOT. One big difference on the ground is that your root is no
longer in your feet. The principle of having a root no one can find is never more
teeth.
important than when ground-fighting. Your root can be anywhere your body is
in contact with the ground and can change like lightning to any other part as
you spasm and skitter. An instantaneous drop and spin onto your backside,
back, shoulder, knee, stomach, or elbow can propel you into a completely differ-
ent alignment and pivot point to facilitate strikes and redirections.
Once you're on the ground, kick and knee-strike, using your buttocks, hips,
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 177

and hands to balance you crazed break-dancer. For a split second, you can
like a
root (be in contact with the floor) and kick or hit off your stomach, chest, shoul-
der, upper back, lower back, hip, or any other body part you land on while
spasming and jerking your body, both to remain disengaged from the opponent
as well as to find an attack angle for yourself. Don't just hang out like a flipped
turtle.

USE BOUNCING AND CONTORTING ENERGY. To gain power, kick, stomp,

or bounce your feet off the floor and kick again. In a flash, contract your whole
body into a fetal position (shorten the weapon) and then explode outward. Kick
through your opponent's head, bounce the heel off the floor, and kick again.
Immediately snap the leg back and hook-kick with the heel to the same target.
Bounce parts of his body off the floor like a basketball. Think of it as a form of
pulsing, because ricocheting off the floor propels you without requiring you to
—
become entangled something you must avoid at all costs.
Apply bouncing and contorting energy to all your strikes. Don't linger any-
While your attacker is
where; when your attacker is on the ground also bounce a shot off his head,
still upright, keep your
bounce your knee off his spine, or your forehead into his nose. Twist your body
around and mule-kick to the chest, knee, throat, back of the neck, and so forth. head away from his
Lying on your backside, shoot your leg into the air and then drop your heel legs. When you're both
down onto his neck. Bounce off the neck and drop your heel again onto his on the ground, remem-
thigh or groin. ber that if he concen-
trates on throttling or
SUSPEND AND RELEASE. The suspend-and-release principle is uniquely ef-
pinning you, you can
fective when you are both on the ground, because most people are hell-bent on
controlling and overpowering you. Think of the bony protrusions on your op- always snake a finger
ponent as tiny foot- and handholds a rock climber might use. Use your toes, into his eye or crush his

heels, knees, elbows, and hands to "climb" around your opponent's body. Do windpipe or testicles.

not, however, take and maintain a wrestling hold, either with leg scissors or
your arms. Instead actually stretch him out like a rubber band with your feet
and hands (suspend and release) and wait (usually a millisecond) for the re-
sponse. Let his panic propel your whole body into a snap-back reaction (as if
you're doing a jackknife off a diving board) either in the form of a strike or a
ripping, throttling action. The possibilities are endless. The simple action of dig-
ging the heels of your shoes into his ankles or knees and stretching him out for
a split second by straightening your legs causes such a bizarre feeling in your
opponent that he may freak out and forcibly pull his body in. You anticipate this
energy and use it to propel you like a stretched rubber band into horrifying
multihitting strikes that are virtually unlimited. Just remember, deliver your
crushing or choking assault as an instantaneous blow that you immediately aban-
don as you move on to the next attack. This way, he never gets a fix on you until
it's too late for him.
If he grabs and twists your don't resist, roll your whole body with it like
leg,
a log, kicking while rolling. you find yourself on your back and him on top,
If

your sticking comes back into play because your back is rooted to the ground
and your hands are free. If you're on your back and he's sitting on top, you can
crush his testicles, even if he weighs 300 pounds and there seems to be no room
to insert your hand. Convulse your stomach in and slide a spear hand, palm
down, under his crotch. Now make a fist. The amount of power you can gener-
ate closing your hand far surpasses the resistance created by his weight. Now
twist your fist over and crush. He'll probably get off you first.
178 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Defeating Chokes
One way attackers often bring their victims to the ground
through choking.
is

Obviously, the best defense is to prevent them If you're aware,

in the first place.
sensitive, and yielding, an assailant will find it difficult to choke you. The ten-
dency when you're all yang energy is to tense your neck and shoulder muscles
against the attack. This, of course, makes you even more susceptible to choking
and other mayhem. When you're yielding, retract your head and neck like a
garden snail's antenna. If you get choked from the front, it's better to simply
step back than to start wrestling with the offending arm. Or, you can poke him
in the eye with the other hand. No fancy moves. If it's too late for this, turning
sideways and shrugging one shoulder up into the choking arm can break the
choke, while leaving both of your arms free.

Defending a Front Choke

When he's choking you from the front, you can gouge or chop at his eyes, kick
his shins, smashthe points of your elbows into his arms, and springboard off
them into his face, then back to his arms, biting and kicking until you're free.
You have lots of options, although the simplest is the poke in the eye.

Defending a Rear Choke to the Ground

Despite all your training, a real predator can pounce on you undetected and

choke you from behind. If this is a serious assassination attempt and your aware-
ness has not prompted the fright reaction (page 19) or an answer the phone
(pages 165-166) to prevent him from locking down, you'll probably be uncon-
scious before you can try anything else. Nevertheless, if you have a split second
before passing out, there are some things you can do, but they each depend on
the energy he's giving you. Remember, it's a panic from the start, and there's no
time for thought. You have to be explosive and flow with the energy wherever it
goes. You simply try to augment it.
The instant response is to drop, turn and chop, gouge, or palm heel his
face. If your arms are already obstructed and the choke is locking down,
you'll feel this as you turn and flow into a chop to his groin or an elbow to
his gut. If he's on you fast like a steel vise, however, you'll probably be
throttled before you can react. This is why it's important to train your aware-
—
ness and sensitivity you have only a split-second-long window to effectively
mount a response. Turn your head and throat away from the bone of his fore-
arm and into the crook of his arm and bite and grab his forearm (or his fingers if
you can). Stomp on his toes. Do this all simultaneously. A backward head butt is
possible, but a powerful assailant will pull you back and stifle the movement.
We're talking about a possible assassination here, not simply restraint. It may
already be too late for backward finger pokes in the eye, but try these simulta-
neously. Adopt the attitude that you're not going to die without taking him with
you.
Ifyou're falling backward, actually help him and launch yourself that way by
driving back explosively with your legs. There's a good chance you'll make him
hitsomething hard, and you'll roll over him. Then you're both on the ground,
and things are more even. Rolling over your assailant at high speed is often a
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 179

good tactic because there's usually a limb sticking

out that can get crushed or dislocated with your full
body weight.
If you're falling forward, go with it and turn on

your side, keeping your head away from his feet.

Snap into a fetal position (loading your own spring)
and immediately explode outward, kicking. Like the
"Anywhere Strikes" drills, you need to practice all
the various ways of delivering strikes with your feet,
knees, and legs while lying on the ground.

Avoiding the Sleeper Hold

The sleeper hold, also known as the mugger's yoke
or carotid choke, has been outlawed by most police
departments because, although intended only to in-
duce unconsciousness, the carotid arteries of some
people will not reopen once the hold is released. We
advise extreme caution when practicing the hold
and its counters.
The hold is performed by placing the arm around
a person's throat from behind using the biceps area and the inner forearm of one FIGURE 10.1
arm against the carotid arteries on either side of the neck. The hand of the chok-
ing arm hooks into the inside elbow of the other arm (figure 10.1), which goes
behind the neck, locking it in. Press the hand of the locking arm forward against
the back of the victim's head to cinch it tighter. If you are aware of your sur-
roundings and know the principles in this book, however, you are unlikely to
encounter this deadly hold.
There are a number of escapes to combat this tech-
nique before the attacker can fully apply it (not all of
them may be available in a particular circum-
stance):

1. Stick your arm your neck and tuck

in front of
your chin as someone attempts to apply the
lock. Your arm will prevent a solid lockdown
(figure 10.2). (This is what the fright reaction
is for.) You can now use your free hand to reach

back and gouge his eyes out, which usually

causes him to release the hold.

2. Slam the assailant's groin with a chop or ham-

mer fist.

If you find yourself fully in the grip of this hold

because of various factors, such as being attacked

by multiple assailants or being stunned by a blow
to the head, you could attempt one or more of the
following releases. (When practicing them, have
your partner hold with full power without press-
ing on your arteries.) You must perform the releases
in less than five seconds.
FIGURE 10.2
180 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

1. Turn your chin into the crook of the choking arm. Simultaneously raise
your shoulders and bear down with your chin to relieve some of the chok-
ing pressure. Try to bite his forearm.
2. While holding the fingers of his front hand, practice reaching backward
and peeling off the fingers of the arm that is behind your head. This will
make the choke weaker if you are standing or being pulled off your feet.
3. When an attacker feels that you are releasing his grip, he may try to change
tactics. You must seize the opportunity and instantly twist out of the choke
as you do this.
Remember, you can easily be killed with this choke. It's you or him. Eye-
gouge to maximum effect. If necessary, push your fingers into his eye to hit the
brain.
Most people once their fingers or thumb are pulled or
will release their grip
twisted. There are, however, some who possess prodigious
rare individuals
strength and will not release. Here is where you need a sharp weapon or a hand-
gun. Even a ballpoint pen will do. If you are someone who carries a knife or
gun, you must practice getting these weapons into play in five seconds or less or
he'll take it from you. A man can't squeeze you if you cut through the muscles
and tendons of the choking arm. He won't hold on long if shot in the head ei-

ther.

Using Anywhere Kicks on the Ground

There's nothing flashy about the kicks you can use when on the ground; they're
simple and more wild, varied, and
savage than you might imagine.
Here are several kinds of kicks you
should try:

Scissoring. By gripping the ground

with your feet as you lie on your
hip, you can launch into a cleaving
action. This should propel you in-
stantly into something else. By po-
sitioning yourself sideways on your
hip instead of your butt, you can
anchor one foot on the floor to drive
the other one through horizontal
round and hook kicks. The an-
chored foot then launches and kicks
while the other one returns, mak-
ing for a devastating scissors effect.

A method unique to guided chaos

is to anchor the top foot when lying
on your side and use it to power a
round kick with the bottom leg,
which bends just enough to clear
the anchored top foot (figure 10.3).
You are, in effect, running on the
floor while lying on your hip (like
FIGURE 10.3
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 181

you've seen Curly from the

Three Stooges do).
Hooking and crushing. With your
hip on the floor, you pull one leg
in, some part of your op-
taking
ponent with it, and you smash
the other out.
Round-kicking. Lying on your
side, drive your foot off the floor
in a low horizontal kick that ei-
ther arcs through or over the tar-
get. At the end of its arc, bounce
the foot off the floor and heel-
kick back into the target.
Vertical ax-kicking combo. With
your butt on the floor, raise your
leg straight up and then drop
the heel like a guillotine onto a
floor target; bounce off and kick
up into a higher target like the
groin or a kneeling attacker's
chin (figure 10.4).

Mule-kicking. With your chest

facing the ground and your
hands push-up position,
in a
drive the heel of one foot
straight back into its target. As
with dropping, you should be
able to, if necessary, switch your kicking and supporting legs instanta-
neously.
Shredding. Like scissoring, but you use the feet and legs to scrape and crush
against each other and anything in between them. This can be sideways or
along their length (figure 10.5).
Remember, you can shorten the weapon on any kick to increase power or gain a
different entry angle.
Make sure every kick re-
bounds into another kick.
All this may tempt you
into wanting to go to the
ground, especially if you
get good at the following
drills. Don't be foolish.
No matter how formi-
dable you may get, escap-
ing multiple attackers on
the ground is no picnic.
Looking to ground-fight
could spell your doom.

FIGURE 10.5
182 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Leg Mania
This can become exhausting so be sure you're in relatively good aerobic
drill
condition first. Just keep in mind the following two principles of guided chaos:

1. Don't clamp down or maintain pressure on any kick or scissoring move.

Splash the target and instantly ricochet off it into something else. Grap-
pling with your legs against a larger opponent is suicide.
2. Whether he's standing or lying on the ground, keep your head away from
your assailant's feet at all times.

on the floor. For simplicity, you can practice any

Practice each of these scenarios
one component against a target before moving onto or combining with others.
Don't worry about form. It's not supposed to look pretty.

• Rollon the ground lengthwise while intermittently sending your legs

around in big arcs and circles. This looks a little like break dancing, but it's
more focused. With strong boots on, you have the equivalent of two sledge-
hammers at the end of your legs.
• Practice a wide bicycling motion with your legs. Use it to scissors-kick at a
tree, pole, or heavy bag. Now bring your legs in contact with the floor so
the bicycling action makes you spin in a circle on your hip or butt (it helps
if you've seen the Three Stooges in action).
• Practice rolling (lengthwise like a log, not curled up like a ball) and straight-
kicking simultaneously. Just contract and shoot your legs straight out sin-
gly and together.
• Practice scissoring with both round and hook kicks while on your hip. Use
a tree or post as your target. Practice explosively bouncing your heel off the
ground and target to add energy. Brace the other foot on the floor while
you do this, then launch that foot out into a kick while the other one hook-
kicks back in.
• Crescent-kick through the target (narrowly missingit) and rebound back

to scissors-kick The crescent kick from the ground is when you are on
it.

your backside and your foot sweeps up and over in an arc. (An ax kick is
straight up and down.)
• Immediately pull your knees to your chest into a fetal position and, with
no pause, explode them both out with heel kicks. This action should be so
convulsive that for a split second your whole body comes off the ground.
Try this on a mat. Be careful. Start slowly. As your legs fly out, twist your
body onto your chest (almost a squatting posture), pull them back in, and
blast them out again either singly or together, this time as a mule kick,
while bracing your palms on the floor.
• Pull in your legs fast as lightning while simultaneously landing on your
left hip. Split them wide scissors with the bottom leg forward and
into a
the bottom foot anchoring you to the ground. Arc the upper leg forward,
upward, and then backward in a sweeping circular motion clockwise to-
ward 12 o'clock as you simultaneously switch to your rear end. Smash the
heel straight down for an ax kick, bounce off the ground, and kick straight
up with your toe into a tree, wall, low heavy bag, or some other sturdy
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 183

object. Can you visualize the targets? The arcing kick could be to the head
of a kneeling foe, the ax to the thigh muscle, neck, or kidney of a recumbent
one, and the toe kick to the groin of a standing one.
Roll like a log or spinon your butt over to a kicking shield that is lying on
the ground. While on your side, smash it by clapping your feet together
with the shield in between. Commence grinding the heels and soles of your
boots together as if to rip the skin off the shield. Do this by moving your
legs in and out, pulling your knees alternately to your chest. We call these
"shredding kicks." Roll onto your butt, shoot a leg into the air, and ax-kick
down onto the shield, stomping it with your heel.
Instantly, tuck your arms and roll like a log to another tree or heavy bag
and use the momentum to spin out a round kick into it as part of the
rolling motion, then roll back and scissors-kick the first tree, lying on
your hip.

Snap your legs back into a fetal position, then shoot them straight out into
the tree, snap in again, and simultaneously round-kick forward with your
rear foot and hook-kick back with the heel of your front foot. Go wild. You
get the idea.

Gang Attack III

Ideally, do this drill with at least three partners. You'll need a low, swinging,
heavy bag and a bag lying on the ground (recumbent bag).
1. Dive onto your hip and roll horizontally like a log, using your momentum
to spin out a kick to the recumbent bag. You can try ax and shredding kicks.
You can roll over the bag, smashing your elbows backward and chopping
into it with your full, loose body weight.

2. One partner swings the hanging heavy bag at you, which you must kick no
matter what positions you get into. Roll or spin off the hanging bag to the
recumbent bag, kick it, and roll back into the swinging hanging bag (whose
position has already changed). The wildly different angles are very instruc-
tive.

3. Another partner simultaneously charges you randomly with a kicking shield.

4. A third partner throws assorted kicking shields at you on the ground while
he flicks the room lights on and off. It's vital to keep reorienting yourself so
your head stays away both from the swinging dummy and the attacking
shield.

This very disorienting as well as exhausting, and you need to be in good

drill is
physical condition todo it for longer than 10 seconds. You can drill all the ground-
fighting principles discussed here, including mobility, scissoring, rolling, jack-
knifing, shortening the weapon, disengagement, and so on. It may help to break
some of them down; for example, experiment with only scissoring or only
mule-kicking against the various targets. In general though, you should just
go wild.
184 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Guided Chaos Kicking

Although the close combat kicking described in chapter 2 is very nasty, it is
merely a small component of guided chaos kicking methodology. This is be-
cause close combat kicking primarily addresses the offensive aspects of kicking
and defending against assaults. If, however, you are fighting someone who is
also a skilled kicker (street or classically trained), you'll need to flow immedi-
ately into a guided chaos approach without thought. This is why we've saved
this information for now. One thing you need to know right off the bat is, if you
are in love with spinning-wheel kicks and other flashy maneuvers, you'll be in
for a rude awakening on the street.
In general, the same guided chaos principles apply to the legs, once contact is
made. The difference is that you're not in a position to stick with your legs un-
less you are very close and kicking or responding to being kicked. Here's where
your "Vacuum Walk" drilling applies (page 79). You can probe, stick, pulse, re-
direct, or tool-destroy with your legs the same as with your arms. The "Ninja
Walk" (page 77) develops the one-legged balance required for multiple kicks.
When you're out of range and the opponent kicks, it shows he's either inept
or not serious, so simply walk away carefully. If you're out of range and need to
enter (because you can't escape), follow his kick back instantly as if you're glued
to it and attack to smother any further kicks. You may get hit anyway, but it's
better than staying outside in the ideal range for a long-distance kicker, such as
a taekwondo expert. Ifopponent jumps backward as if he's sparring, you
the
should also jump back (if you can't get in on time) or run away. Force him to
charge you (if he means business). When he does, jump toward him and stomp-
step and drop-kick to the groin, while unleashing a barrage of full-power palm
heels, eye gouges, and chops to the head and neck.
If you're already in range of a kick, take

your opponent's space. Never give a good

—
kicker what he wants a cooperative tar-
get. He'll kick your head off if you stay out-
side. Most people hate to fight nose to nose,
where our methodology gets the nastiest.
If he's jammed, the tool is eliminated. Jam-

ming kicks with your knee rather than with

your foot is more efficient, because the knee
is harder to turn aside and closer to vourJ
center of gravity than the foot. It's also
harder to get your foot into play when
close, since it has farther to travel to inter-
cept an attacker's kick.
Deliver the kick with no setting up, ris-
ing, or chambering of the knee. Simply
shoot the foot out in a relaxed, low trajec-
tory, straight from the floor. You may not
kick like a horse, but you will get it there
faster. With a sturdy shoe on, that's all that
matters. Another approach if you're in
kicking range is simply to kick immedi-
ately. No matter what kick your attacker

FIGURE 10.6
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 185

uses, kick straight ahead into the groin area. Notice the simplicity of this. He
kicks with his leg, and his leg attached to his pelvis. No matter what part
is

of you he aims at, the base of his kick comes from the same now-unguarded
place.
he round-kicks, you'll hit his groin first and short-circuit his kick (figure
If

10.6a). Same for an ax, crescent, or sidekick. If he tries a spinning kick, you'll hit
him in the butt, knocking him down. If he tries a front kick, you'll intercept it.
Now all the principles you've studied come into play: sticking loosely to his leg,
using your body's mass and balance rather than muscle, guide his leg to a new
root point for yourself, either outside or inside (figure 10.6b).
This is almost always in a bad place for the opponent, since his root, if he ever
had one, is committed to his kick. If you deny him a place to land, he is likely to
stumble. Worse, since his leg unprotected and his balance disturbed, you have
is

the opportunity to break his leg with yours by dropping and driving your knee
into the back of his leg, sweeping his leg out with a motion similar to the vacuum
walk and stepping on his Achilles tendon. If your groin kick intercepts his kick
but glances off without sticking, continue through (see "Skimming Energy," page
102) and attack the supporting leg. When intercepting or kicking his shins, use
multihitting and ricocheting principles. Your relaxed knee loosely but power-
fully swings your foot into his leg. Your foot then bounces off and hits the same
or a different spot on the same or different leg multiple times. You can do this
with or without bouncing your kicking foot off the floor. By the way, you can
also use your hip and backside as sticking and pulsing tools.
By adding dropping energy, you increase the delivery speed of your kicks. If
you remember the skiing analogy with
down-unweighting's making the fastest
type of turn, you can see why. By instantly
dropping your weight, as if your knees
were trying to beat your feet in a race to
the floor, you can shoot out a close-range
kick to the shins with no chambering,
stepping, hopping, telegraphing, or any
other kind of preparation.
This gives you a precious millisecond's
advantage. Moreover, you can fire the kick
with either leg, weight-bearing or not.
This is because your body becomes
weightless when you drop. Accordingly,
you can rapid-fire one drop kick after an-
other, since no chamber is necessary.
When you drop-kick on the supporting
leg, you catch yourself by falling into the
other or both legs. When you drop-kick
on the nonweight-bearing leg, you can
catch yourself by falling into either or both
legs. Try these variations against a pole
or low heavy bag. Once again, the drop
kick is an incredibly fast, highly effective
close-range kick that you can do in the
context of the Mexican hat dance.

FIGURE 10.6
186 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Fighting Multiple Opponents

There are various scenarios in which you may encounter multiple opponents.
First, of course, if you see a loitering gang ahead, don't try to show you're a
graduate of assertiveness training and walk past them with your head held high.
Remember, don't merely cross the street. Go down a different street.
If, however, you're suddenly confronted and immediately feel endangered,

don't wait. Attack the attacker, shooting your fingers straight for the eyes of the
closest person. Keep your body spinning (like you did in the "Whirling Dervish
Box Step" drill, page 84) to get behind the first person you hit and keep him
between you and the next attacker. Keep up a barrage of chops to the head and
neck with palm heels and eye gouges using a swimming sidestroke motion to
get behind your attacker. Don't just back up or you'll be tackled. As you attempt
to get out of the circle and run away, hit, change direction, hit, change direction,
like a running back in football. As you spin, lift your knees and stomp, stomp,
stomp. This gives you balance, crushes insteps, and makes it more difficult for
someone to grab your legs.
If you grapple for even a second with one of the attackers, you're finished.

They'll all pile on. React as if they all have a contagious disease. It's hard to get
a grip on you with spinning chops and eye stabs flashing out while your feet are
stomping the Mexican hat dance. You can also hope that spinning will get you
in range of some environmental weapon you can hit with. Of course, if you've
already got a knife or gun, spinning will give you the precious space you need
to pull it.

However, simply because you're carrying a weapon doesn't mean you're pro-
tected. Many police officers have been shot with their own weapons because
they couldn't get to them first. If you're suddenly confronted with an interview
situation (as opposed to an immediate ambush), without drawing too much
attention, look around for accomplices while you assume the Jack Benny If a
circle is forming, step toward the outside of it. Don't let it close on you. Don't let
anyone get behind you. An important point is to keep your eyes, feet, and body
moving. Don't settle into a motionless stance. Sway, shuffle, and talk with your
hands. These little points keep your attackers from getting a fix on you when
they decide to dive in. You deny them the cues of prey frozen in panic.
If you're brought to the ground, you'll need everything you've practiced in

the ground-fighting section to keep them away from your head and stay alive. If
you ever want to see your family again, have the attitude that this may be your
last fight, so you might as well take as many of your attackers with you as you
can. This is why going all out in the "Gang Attack" drills (pages 33, 37, and 183)
is so vital —
and why most classically trained fighters' skills go out the window
under these conditions.

Stick-Fighting
The advantages of using a stick or other object are that it can physically extend
your arm and that it is strong, relative to its narrowness, which allows it to be
thrust through small defensive openings. We've briefly summarized the basics
here; however, for more on this subject, see John Perkins's video series, Attack
Proof, listed in the resources at the end of this book (page 208).
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 187

The reality of the stick is far different than that presented in many traditional
arts. Flashy patterns and spiraling, circling movements will get you killed. If
your opponent has a stick and you don't, your only defense other than running
is getting inside on him as fast as possible. If you attempt to time his swings,

and dance outside, you'll be pummeled. Think of it this way: if you absorb one
glancing blow as you dive inside, you stand a better chance than trying to sur-
vive and fight at a distance, which would only prolong the inevitable. Once
inside, the opponent's tendency is on freeing his weapon.
to fixate his attention
This actually hastens his demise as you fight empty-handed. This principle also
applies in reverse. If you both have sticks, and you get inside where you want to
be, if you can no longer get clean shots, immediately abandon the stick and go
straight for his eyes and throat with your hands. It's remarkable how instinctive
it is for most people to hang onto their weapon as if it's a life preserver when it's

no longer advantageous to possess.

If you have a cane (which is legal to carry), simply raise it into the palm of

your other hand, which you should position like a horizontal chop in case he is
too close to be speared with the cane (figure 10.7a). If there is still enough room
between you and your attacker, grab the cane with the chop hand and jab with
a flat thrusting motion, using both dropping energy and a jackhammer-like de-
livery. Hit him like a crazed sewing machine (figure 10.7b). Because of the pen-
etrating power, directness, and narrowness of the attack angle, this procedure
stops a whirling, twirling stick- wielder cold. Once he is stunned, you can swing
the cane, but not in the way you might expect. Hold it like a short ax with your
hands apart, and take short, rapid, hammering swings that limit your opponent's
openings (figure Don't change the direction of your attack. Break what-
10.7c).
ever you're hammering. With this wide grip, you have more leverage, enabling
you to hit with either side of the stick by simply twisting your body.

FIGURE 10.7
188 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Remember, wide swings are slow, wasteful, and dangerous. Once you're in-
side, you can use short, chopping, hammering, or thrusting strikes with your
cane. Remember, though, if it gets in your way, abandon it immediately and go
for more damage hand to hand, where you have more options and sensitivity.

Knife Defense
Despite what you've read or seen about elegant, wonderful knife defense tech-
niques, don't kid yourself. Put a knife in the hands of a 12-year-old kid, and he
or she becomes an automatic 12th degree black belt. Tell a 50-year-old, nonath-
letic woman you're kidnapping her grandchildren, and we don't care if you're
Grandmaster Moe, if you put a butcher knife in her hand, you'll be sliced up
faster than a Thanksgiving turkey If you need evidence of this, reread "Over-
qualified?" in the introduction to this book (page xi).
An important point with both knife and gun defenses is, if you can't run away
after the initial strikes, your only recourse is to be merciless and keep on striking
until you render the assailant unconscious. Keep hammering with palm heels,
chopping strikes, and eye gouges over and over. It's you or him.
That said, what can you do to survive a knife attack? First off, if it's a simple
mugging, be super polite, give him your whole wallet (don't stand there count-
ing out bills), and do it quickly. You can't spend your money if you're dead. If he
wants more than your money, if he wants to take you somewhere, if it's an am-
bush, or if you're with your family, you all must either run away (if possible) or
—
you must make your stand right now. Police re-
ports show that if you go with a captor, you'll most
likely die or wish you had. So don't think you'll be
able to get away later, like on TV. And don't count
on being rescued. Instead, train your family to
scatter in different directions when in danger.
First, though, a reality check: if someone
sneaks up on you successfully and attacks with
a knife with the intent to kill, you're dead. That's
it. No martial art in the world will save you, nor

will a gun. This is an unfortunate fact. Recidivist

felons in prison do little else but practice surprise
assassinations. Luckily, this is not the intent of
most attacks. The goal is to rob, rape, or injure,
and then get away. This is why awareness is al-
ways the first line of defense.
When you're in a secluded area such as a park-
ing lot at night, always scan the area as you ap-
proach your vehicle. One tip is to look into the
glass of other parked cars as you pass for the hint
of a reflection of an imminent attack. If you see
anyone approaching from behind, get a vehicle
between you and the stranger as soon as pos-
you see a knife or gun, run. Now, let's
sible. If
address what to do if you are cornered by an as-
sailant who has a knife.

FIGURE 10.8
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 189

Knife off Your Body

If your attacker is close and facing you, but the knife isn't against your body,
You can practice kick-
you need space so you won't be sliced. Skip backward as if you were a fencer,
ing against a moving
lunging in reverse to keep you from crossing up your feet and tripping. In our
tests, nearly half fall down if they don't do this. Keep your hands rapidly rolling
heavy bag that is low
in a "dog-digging" motion as if searching for a buried bone (figure 10.8). This to the ground. The
aids in keeping the knife away from your vital areas. If your hands get cut, faster you kick, the
remember, it's better than getting sliced across the throat. better. Remember to
Look around for anything you can throw at your attacker to slow him down practice dog-digging
or hit him with. Gain distance so you can turn and run. If you have a gun, you'll simultaneously.
die groping for it if you can't fight hand to hand or get far enough away to pull
it and shoot. If you have a knife, you'll get a chance to whip it out, in which case,

the attacker may change his mind. If you have neither, and you're trapped, kick
like a Rockette, with your foot tapping against the ground only long enough to
bounce back up and kick again. Remember to use only your lead leg to kick.
Don't change feet unless your opponent backs up. Aim for the shins and keep
firing until you do some damage.
If you wind up on the ground against a knife-wielder, you're toast, unless

you know how to ground-fight. Even so, you can't stay there; you'd still only be
trying to get enough room so you could get up and run.

Knife Against Belly or Chest

This is the robberymethod most often given as a scenario in martial arts schools.
In real life, it is seldom used. Holding the knife to the neck while holding on to
another body part or clothing with the free hand is actually the most common
technique. Here, however, we'll show you the defense for the former.
If the robber asks for an item you can give

him, hand it over. If you feel he wants to go fur-

ther or that he's deranged and going to cut you
anyway, you must act as B does here. B gets her
body off line, or out of danger, by twisting her
torso out of the way of the knife. Simulta-
neously, B strikes at and pushes the knife away
toward A's body. While keeping his knife hand
in check, B strikes with the opposite hand into
A's eyes with a clawing spear hand strike (or
any basic strike described in chapter 2, pages
20 through 26). All three actions occur simulta-
neously, which is why it's shown in only one
picture (figure 10.9). If they were depicted se-
quentially and practiced that way, they would
be sure to fail. Don't forget the crucial last step:
run away immediately, screaming.

Knife on Back
The escape here is the same idea on
as for knife
belly or chest: a robbery situation gone bad. If
you're not boxed in or being restrained, run.
FIGURE 10.9
 190 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 10.10
Otherwise, when you have complied with A's orders, but the attacker wants to
go further by taking you somewhere else or begins to give orders that might be
a prelude to rape or worse, you must quickly do as B demonstrates here. B twists
her torso out of the way of the knife, simultaneously pushing it further off line,
left or right (figure 10.10a). Instantly, B palm-heels A's head once or twice, drop-

ping into each strike (figure 10.10b). B runs away immediately. As earlier, get-
ting off line, pushing the knife, and striking are done in one movement. Don't
break it down when you practice; you have to keep it simple if you want to live.

Knife on Your Neck From the Front

If the knife is becomes another game. When you're in imminent
on your neck, it

danger of being abducted, you must act immediately. One tiny advantage you
have is that the assailant didn't choose to assassinate you immediately. Thus, he
has other intentions. If a knife is pressed against your neck from the front and
you're being held by his other hand from the front also, you must train to do two
things simultaneously: deflect the knife to the outside and perform the drop-
step palm-heel combo from chapter 2 (see also John Perkins's video series,
Attack Proof).
Even with a successful
For example, A holds the knife with his right hand against the left side of B's
escape, you still could be
neck. After B has offered his money and anything else the attacker wants, A
cut, perhaps seriously, decides to move B to another location (where he or she will probably be killed,
but you'll survive. The raped, or tortured). B, not without reason, acts scared and helpless and then, in
point is, don't try to be an instant, simultaneously smacks the knife hand away to the outside from the
fancy and don't go with inside with his left hand and drop-steps forward with a right palm heel or eye

your abductor to a sec- gouge. B's right hand should work like a jackhammer, blasting out three or four
ond crime scene. strikes in one second while his left maintains control of the knife hand. By "con-
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 191

trol" we mean anything that keeps it away from vitals (stick, parry, smack, or
grab if necessary). B should then immediately run away, screaming. When you
practice this defense against a target, use full howling intensity to be effective.
Practice using your adrenaline so it propels you to safety, not paralysis.

Knife on Your Neck From the Rear

The usual manner in which attackers use a knife is to reach around from behind
the victim and hold the edge of the knife against the throat. This is an extremely
difficult position to get out of. The assailant will also use his other hand, either
holding the victim's hair or shoulder or covering the mouth; this is scary, to say
the least. This is a method taught to specialized members of various armed forces
for "taking out" sentries (and similar to the method used on Nicole Simpson). In
this case, we're assuming the victim is not killed outright, but that the knife-
wielder is attempting to control and abduct him or her.
The method used to extricate yourself takes a great deal of practice, and you
should use it only as a last-ditch effort. The first step to getting free is to get the
blade away from your neck by moving several ways simultaneously. Picture the
knife being held by a right-handed attacker. His wrist and forearm encircle your
neck with the blade pressed against the left side of your throat. At the same
time, his left hand is covering your nose and mouth. The attacker is also usually
pressed close to your body to control you.
One option, and only you can make this decision, is to wait until the instant
he tries to move you to another place, like a car. This tends to loosen the blade
and restraining hand for a split second.
Just don't wait too long, because the clock
is ticking. When you do act, it must be
with total commitment. Dramatically lift
your right shoulder toward your right ear
while turning your head to the left and
tucking your chin. This will exert pressure
against the knife hand, forcing it away
from the neck. Simultaneously reach up
with your right hand and grab the hand
and /or blade and pull it down with drop-
ping energy. The action should feel like
you are doing a pull-up with your full
body weight on his hand. The combined
up-down effect of raising the shoulder and
dropping into the hand creates a power-
ful levering pressure against the knife arm.
Simultaneously, with full extension, drive
your left elbow repeatedly into his face,
jackhammer
throat, or solar plexus like a
(figure 10.11). Depending on his body po-
sition, you might alternately strike with
lefthammer-fists or chops to his groin,
then turn back to your right with a drop-
ping left palm heel to the side of his head.
This should get you free of the blade and

FIGURE 10.11
 . . —

192 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

allow you to run for your life, screaming "Fire! Fire!" Your ability to adapt to
changing circumstances is imperative here, because there are no precise formu-
las. For example, if the attacker grabs your left arm instead of your mouth, your

ability to strike may be impeded. Without struggling against his grip, it would
be easier to simply turn your left hand toward his groin and crush. You would
follow this immediately with elbows to the face. But suppose he has angled his
hip to cut off access to his groin; this would tend to bring his he"ad to the side of
yours, which is head butt into his face like you practiced
perfect for a sideways
in your "Anywhere Strikes" drills in chapter 2. You never know how an attack
will go down. Sometimes an inexperienced assailant with an extra-long knife
will actually keep his wrist against your throat instead of a blade. Since the
point of his knife would then be mere inches from his face, your best recourse
might be to grab his knife hand and drive it back straight into his eyes.
There are a few key points in practicing knife drills. The first is obvious
train against both right- and left-handed attacks. The second key point is vari-
ability. By being creative you will develop more subtleties than we can elaborate
here. However, the three things you must usually do with rear-choking knife
attacks are

1 drop and pull,

2. lift the shoulder, and

3. hammer repeatedly.

Furthermore, recognize that at any time the situation could change into a sce-
nario like the one presented next.
You should knowthat unless they're in vital areas, you can keep on fighting
even with multiple stab wounds. Kick, eye-gouge, and bite.
for a period of time
Unless you are facing an assassin with a death wish he'll probably lose interest
because he never intended to get hurt in the first place. Don't give up. You can
survive.

Knife Skip Drill

Use rubber knives, eye goggles, throat protection
soft (a foam collar), and shin
guards when performing this drill.

1 Stand with your eyes closed while your partner surprises you with a rubber
knife in the stomach. Open your eyes.
2. Dog-dig at the knife while skipping backward as fast as possible, using the
fencer's step (pushing off with one leg, leaping, without crossing your legs).

3. Once you're at a sufficient distance, turn and run.

4. Ifyou can't get a sufficient distance away for whatever reason, skip back-
ward and unexpectedly stop, drop, and kick into the knife-wielder repeat-
edly, like a Rockette, with your front leg only.
5. If you and there is a wall, run straight at the wall that is
can't get away,
trapping you, brace your body for impact with your palms flat on the wall
about chest-high, and then mule-kick backward with your heel at him re-
peatedly. Bounce the foot off the floor and at your attacker repeatedly like a
Rockette. This has enormous power.
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 193

6. If you trip and fall, use your ground-fighting kicking skills. Keep your
head away from his feet and the knife and kick mercilessly. If you practice
this against a partner who is holding a rubber knife and a kicking shield,
and wearing shin guards, you will find that the ground kicks are very effec-
tive.

Using a Knife for Self-Defense

If know how to use it well and
you're using a knife for self-defense, you'd better
be seriously determined to defend yourself. Many men who have spent time in
prison see the knife as a symbol of power. If you display a knife to a hardened

criminal, and he perceives you're not resolved on cutting him, he may go for
you and try to take your blade.
Forget about fancy techniques. Miyamoto Musashi, the great Japanese swords-
man, taught himself how to fight and killed hundreds of samurai, many from
the greatest schools in Japan, using only a wooden sword. Keep in mind that the
knife needs to become a deadly, free extension of your body, moving with all the
principles of guided chaos.
Using one of the newly available heavy bags shaped like the human body
(see resources), learn to thrust into the softer targets —the throat, groin, solar
plexus, kidneys, eyes —as well as the chest. Slash extended targets like the
at
arms and legs. Learn to cut the main arteries of the upper inner arm, the carotid
arteries of the neck, and the femoral arteries near the groin.
If he also has a knife, run. If you can't, all your yielding training must come

into play, except that now, instead of imagining that the attacker is holding a
knife to make you pocket his punches, you've got the real thing to deal with. Try
to cut his knife arm and keep your body away from him. Remember, you can
kick also. Don't try any kamikaze moves.
If you're forced to hide in your home or elsewhere, and you're not physically

strong, hold the weapon (whether a strong-lock back-folding knife or a stout

chef's knife) in your strong hand in a shake-hands grip with your other hand
over it for reinforcement. If you're discovered, stomp-step, scream, and simulta-
neously drive the knife straight forward into the assailant over and over like a
sewing machine needle, so you won't be disarmed. Drop your body and thrust
your arms rapidly, pulling them back faster than you send them out.

Basic Knife Fighting Drill

Using very soft rubber knives or a piece of rolled newspaper, eye goggles, and
throat protection (a foam collar), have one or two partners rush you from be-
hind or any random direction.

1. Hold the knife firmly in front of you and slash, chop, and stab at your
partner(s)from every conceivable angle. Don't patty-cake with this drill.
Actually make contact (which is why your "knife" must be very soft). As
with the "Anywhere Strikes" drills (pages 34-36), spontaneity is the key;
don't try to emulate some fancy attack you've seen in a movie. Mow
your
whole body and strike with the knife in a blinding flurry like a sewing ma
chine.
194 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

2. To avoid being cut yourself, yield and gyrate dynamically as you strike si-
multaneously.
3. Flow high speed. Your knife hand should be like a snake weaving in and
at
out. Ifyour wrist is grabbed, twist the blade into the attacker's hand and
forearm. Stomp-step and stab like a jackhammer.
4. Your other hand isalways available to strike as needed. Note that you can
spit in their eyes anytime as well as kick.
5. There's no magic to
this. By simply practicing freely in the manner out-
your subconscious will learn more useful information than if you
lined,
crammed your higher brain with 50 fancy knife techniques.

Gun Defense
The gun is a unidirectional (single-direction) weapon (as opposed to a blade,
which can slice sideways also), but it can penetrate you or your loved ones any-
where from contact distance to at least the length of a football field. Defense against
the gun is absolutely dependent on the gun's angle and distance from you.
Always remember when dealing with any life-and-death situation that al-
most all attacks are dynamic, easily flowing from one position to another with-
out warning. If you're ordered by the gunman to do something that would al-
low him further control of you, if he hasn't already grabbed you or put the gun
on your body, and if you're in a public area, such as a parking lot, run away
immediately, even if the gun is already drawn. The chances of his firing at you
in public are slim. If he does, the probability of your being fatally wounded are
even slimmer.
Everything changes if the gun is right on you, if he's holding you, or if there's
no place to run. First, remember that most assaults occur without a weapon, at
least initially. Second, you need to know there's no way to defend against a gun
out of reach. Defense is feasible only if the weapon is in close proximity or
if it's

in contact with your body. The best you can do is cooperate until it comes within
close range. Sometimes you can encourage this by feigning paralyzing fear (al-
though this will probably be closer to your true reaction than you'd like). The
gunman may need to come closer to move you if you no longer seem to be in
control of your muscles (voluntary and involuntary muscles, if you know what
we mean; you could also use this as a ploy).
Make no mistake, if you aggressively resist moving, he probably will fire, and
you may be hit. At the very least, you'll be deafened by the noise or suffer burns.
He may fire even if you don't resist. But your chances of survival are more rea-
sonable you fight back than if you go with your abductor.
if

As opposed to bare-handed combat, gun defenses are specific techniques you

must practice thoroughly, because they change with the angle of the weapon
and there's no margin for error. Not surprisingly, bullets are much less forgiving
than hand strikes, especially when the barrel is already on you. Because of lim-
ited space, we can't go into all the variations of gun defenses. Many of them are
more appropriate for video or personal instruction and are simply too advanced
to convey practically in a book. The principles, however, are similar. We have
included the most elementary ones here. (For more information, consult the re-
sources at the end of this book.)
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 195

FIGURE 10.12

Gun Extended Toward Face or Front of Body

If the attacker is extending his gun hand away from his body but the barrel is

within easy reach, move your body off line while using the same-side hand to
hit his arm from the outside-in (figure 10.12a). The reason you don't do this
from the inside-out is that the joints of the body are designed to fold inward, so
there's a slim chance the gunman's arm may simply bend with the strike and
shoot straight at you anyway (figure 10.12b). Simultaneously strike to the face,
chin, or throat with your other hand in a dropping motion and run away, scream-
ing.

Gun Against Front of Torso

The gun is against the front of your stomach or chest.
You press the gun off line and against the attacker's
body with the same-side hand. Immediately palm-
strike, eye-gouge, or yoke hand-strike the throat three
or more times with the other hand like a jackhammer
(figure 10.13). Drop on each strike and run when you
can. If you're in a confined area, you'll have to keep
hitting until the gunman is disabled.

Gun Against the Back

Here you may want to see which hand is holding the
gun. Say, "Hey! What's going on?" as you turn and
look. Then, turn in the direction of the gun hand so
your same-side arm and hand strikes the gun arm and
hand (10.14a). As you twist around, you step into the
assailant, pressing the gun arm against his body while
pummeling him with chin jabs to the jaw (figure
10.14b).

FIGURE 10.13
 196 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 10.14

Gun Against Back of Head

a
^^^
Put your hands up in the air. Throw
your head off line by twisting it back
and toward the side you're going to
turn toward (figure 10.15a). When you
whirl, your lead hand (which is already
up) pushes the gun further off line,
while your rear hand palm-heels two
or three times like a jackhammer against
his face (figure 10.15b). Run.

Gun-Choke From the Side or

Rear
This very dangerous scenario involves
an attacker behind you, covering your
mouth with his left hand, pointing the
gun in his right hand to the rear or right
side of your head. With a lot of prac-
tice, you can do the following: In one

movement, drop your weight while you

simultaneously raise your right shoul-
der and arm (figure 10.16a) and turn in
toward the right, so your right elbow
clears the gun, driving it into the
attacker's face (figure 10.16b). Instantly,
drop your right elbow into his face
while whirling to the right with your

FIGURE 10.15
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 197

FIGURE 10.16

left hand chopping to the side of his neck, striking

his eyes, palm-heeling into the corner of his jaw, or
smashing into his ear. Check his gun hand with your
left hand immediately after it strikes the first time

and continue hitting with your other hand.

Gun-Choke From the Front Side

Here, the gunman is in the same position (figure
10.17a), but the gun itself is pointing at you from an
angle somewhere between the side and front of your
head. Simultaneously drive your head backward out
of the line of fire (your head might hit his nose as a
bonus), bring your right hand up, and pull the gun
hand forward and down (figure 10.17b). You need to
drop as you do all these things simultaneously. In-
stantly, switch your grab on the gun arm from your
right to your left hand as you whirl to the right
with hammering elbows to the face or ribs (figure
10.17c). Remember to move into him while strik-
ing. Keep stomping while striking to maintain your
balance.

FIGURE 10.17
 198 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

FIGURE 10.17
There are also techniques for taking guns away from assailants that require
grabbing the weapon and twisting it out of their hands. These techniques are
more difficult to apply under real adrenaline-rush conditions. If the gun is held
with a choke combination behind your back, remember that the gunman still has
a free hand and his feet to attack you with. Twisting the gun has some value
when the gun is in front of you, but is dangerous when the gun is held behind
you. It's far simpler to push the muzzle away from you and into the attacker
while simultaneously jumping off line and striking.

Gun Defense I
Practice this drill with a partner and you have one that shoots
a plastic gun. If

toy darts, you can actually see if you'd get Note that you typically
hit or not.
have a half-second delay in the response time of your attacker. This amount is
increased by obvious paralyzing fear or feigned submissiveness and decreased
by assertiveness or apparent "setting up" for a counterattack on your part.
1. While spinning slowly with your eyes closed, have your partner press the
plastic gun against any part of your body he can think of. Variation is vital to
your practice.
2. Open your eyes and comply with your partner's command to give him
money.
3. Ifhe says or indicates he wants you to move someplace else, be totally sub-
missive (in real life you can cry, beg for your life, or whatever), and then like
lightning, twist around off line while simultaneously getting in and press-
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 199

ing the gun toward and against his body. At the first sign of your physical
counterattack, your partner should fire the toy dart. Be aware when you
practice that you should not try to push the gun in a direction where, when
it goes off (and it probably will), the bullet can strike an innocent bystander.
This is a split-second decision, and only you can make it at that moment.
4. Stomp-step and drop while delivering feigned blows to his head.
5. Practice similarly against all the various gun-choke combinations. You will
eventually develop subtle nuances in your responses that are more detailed
than can be elaborated on in a book. Note: This drill can be modified to
practice against knife attacks also.

Gun Defense II
Now practice with both a partner and a heavy bag. You can draw a face on the
bag or purchase one of the lifelike dummies commonly available through mar-
tial art supply distributors (see resources).

1. Spin with your eyes closed.

2. As you spin, your partner will touch you with a padded stick from behind
the bag.
3. Twist off line and drive the stick (gun-arm) against the bag while delivering
screaming, full-power dropping strikes.
4. Run away.

Using Handguns for Self-Defense

A well-trained person with a pistol in hand, ready for action, is a rarity. All
too often, people buy a gun and some ammunition and go to the nearest range
or empty lot and fire off a few rounds, thinking they're now ready for any-
thing. Conversely, a person can train for years firing at static targets, get high
scores, and still not be ready to defend him- or herself with a handgun. Over
90 percent of gunfights occur within 21 feet. More than half of these occur
within 5 feet. Most people, when put to the test, can't even get their guns out
in time to defend against a person rushing them from across a large room. You
must also know hand-to-hand combat.
The first step toward carrying a handgun for self-defense is to find a compe-
tent trainer through the NRA. After you've learned some basic home defense
and how to handle a gun safely, you should practice simple marksmanship for
10 to 20 hours. Once you can hit a man-sized target with sighted fire (i.e.,
using the gunsights), you can graduate to the more serious aspects of shoot-
ing for self-defense. At close range (0 to 21 feet), it's not necessary to bring
your handgun up to eye level. Here is where point-shooting, or what's called
instinctive shooting, comes into play. This information is not as widely avail-
able. Presenting this serious self-defense methodology would take more space
than is available here. Consult the resource list at the end of this book.
 200 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Attack With Close Combat, Defend With

Guided Chaos
When the attacker is unarmed, simple, basic close combat strikes will cut
through almost everything, unless he or she is also skilled in guided chaos
or similar training. Close combat strikes consist of repeated, jackhammer chin
jabs, eye gouges, chops, hammer-fists, head butts, foot stomps, knee strikes
to the groin and thighs, and kicks to the shins. They should be delivered in a
whirlwind, augmented by the dropping principles you've now trained into
every strike.
If you are mugged, keep your defense simple. Don't block; it takes too long.

In one movement, hunch your shoulders and shoot palm after palm into his
chin, dropping and turning fully with each strike. The hunching and turning
automatically takes most of your body off line, and the arc of your arms while
palm-striking occupies the only line the attacker could take toward your face.
The instant your strikes meet with a block or resistance, your guided chaos train-
ing automatically turns on. Remember, a snake can't drill through a rock, but it
can twist around it and bite you in the throat.
You're covered and unavailable as you get closer and strike. By attacking the
attacker and taking his space, you occupy his line, and thus the deflection of his
attack becomes incidental to your delivering your own. This is faster and more
efficient, bewildering your opponent.
There are many more principles contained within guided chaos. This book,
detailed as it is, represents only about 10 percent of ki chuan do, the art that
guided chaos is drawn from. If you train diligently and realistically, absorbing
only a small part of this material will yield remarkable improvements in your
fighting skills, whatever the style. You may surprise a few people with diligent
training in the following ways:

• You'll be more aware and better able to avoid dangerous situations. When
"Attacking the attacker" you're in one, you'll seem vulnerable to the assailant, which calms him
is guided chaos in a nut- slightly, but you'll actually explode into him preemptively.

shell. Using stealth en- • As the attack ensues, you go on autopilot. It seems like you have no idea
ergy, if you can slide what you're doing or what you're going to do next. To your assailant, you
through your opponent's seem invisible (which is why we call ki chuan do "ghostfist").
attack while dropping, • Nevertheless, you're dishing out tremendous mayhem. To your opponent,
multihitting, yielding, you sponge with steel spikes buried in it. A spring-loaded mul-
feel like a

and moving behind a tiple of your entire body weight is behind every blow, no matter what the

guard, your defense is ac- angle.

tually an attack. • You're without thought, tension, or form. You generate colossal force,
because you're not fighting your own muscles or balance. Your higher
brain is a mute witness to the melee, a mere bystander. Your primitive
brain, the one that houses the million-year-old animal, does what evo-
lution created it to do, except now the instincts have been electrified
and tuned.
Train and ingrain these instincts into every fiber of your being. Ultimately, you'll
be able to create what you need, when you need it, without thought, until you
become pure, unbridled energy.
 Ground Fighting and Weapon Defense 201

Common Faults Practicing

Two-Person Contact Flow
After reading part III you now have many more ingredients to add to your
"Contact Flow" drilling. Since this is your most important training tool, it's

important to approach it constructively. Actually "common faults" is too judg-

mental a term, because "Contact Flow" drillingall a method
should be above
of experimentation. We're not looking for "perfect" execution or, for example,
the exact position of the left pinkie toe. We're not looking to "score points."
You're training to become an expert at relaxed, random, and powerful move-
ment, with the accent on random.
Don't actually think about any of the following while practicing. In fact,
don't think of anything at all. Just feel. Later, during a quiet moment, relax
your mind and visualize the sensations each of the following ways of moving
would trigger:

Don't linger. Don't fixate. Keep moving; don't stop the flow.
When sticking, don't follow an opponent's limbs out farther than the
perimeter of his or your body.
If he blocks wide, simply slide straight in. Once you become aware of this,

you won't believe how many openings it creates. Of course, the same thing
applies in reverse. If you swing your arms wildly and wide in order to
attack or block, you make as many holes in your defense as Swiss cheese.

Don't reach across your body if your body is not turning with it. If you
do, you're violating yin-yang principlesby adopting a double-yang posi-
and you reach all the way across
tion. For example, you're in a left lead,
your centerline to the left with your right hand to block a strike. You'll
wind up folded like a pretzel. This unbalances you, because both sides
are sending energy out and neither is receiving. This leaves you open to
being tied up, locked, and uprooted, as well as hit. This also violates
body unity and moving behind a guard.
Don't hang out with an arm in a horizontal position. It's OK if it occurs
temporarily within the movement of sticking or striking, but it leaves
your midsection unprotected by your elbows. Also, your wrist and fore-
arm become susceptible to crushing, jujitsu-style breaks. Finally, it vio-
lates guard and home principles.

Except within a strike or a "Drac," don't raise your elbow above shoulder
level. This leaves everything too open and it unbalances you. There are
times when it may become the only block available, but in general, the
hello block is much more efficient.
Don't back up when fighting a kicker. A really excellent kicker loves it if

you do this, and will take your head off. Always take his or her space.
Don't have a guided chaos upper body and a karate lower body. Train
your legs to be as sensitive and versatile as your arms.
Don't merely reach across your centerline to take a grab. Turn with it.
202 ATTACK PROOF: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection

Drop on everything.
Develop more lateral movement with zoning and box-stepping. Generally
maintain a sideways L-stance.
Step and hit simultaneously.

If you need to step, then step fully. Avoid the floating sensation of being on
your toes, heels, or halfway between roots.
Don't move unnecessarily unless impelled to by your opponent.
Don't clamp down when grabbing. Let the strength of your grip remain
constant and loose; as it slides down the limb, let it snag itself on bony
protrusions. If he pulls back, snap in. If he pushes back and attacks, pass
the apples.

Don't fall into patterns. Be creative, inventing your own strikes. For ex-

ample, try backhanded eye pokes. They're very sneaky (figure 10.18).

To break a tie-up, drop, turn, and step in, using your whole body. Don't muscle
it. Smash and spear with your elbows.

Try to keep your fingers on top of his arms as

you stick.

Stick with your elbows to free your hands.

If your partner merely backs up, follow him

and keep hitting. Never give him an inch to
breathe. (If your attacker fallsor becomes
disabled, however, run away.)

Drop and pocket at the same time you absorb

the strike.

Don't forget your knee can pulse also. When

close, drive it into his side or between his legs.
FIGURE 10.18

Preventing Common Mistakes

Don't grapple with a grappler. Let your body react like an enraged alley cat
or like your attacker's body is covered with some foul-smelling slime.

When on the ground, keep your head away from your attacker's feet.

If you're falling, take him with you.

If you're the victim of a mugging, be the most cooperative victim your
attacker has had all move you to another location, feign
day. If he tries to
paralyzing fear and then attack mercilessly and run.
Practice the gun and knife drills with an eye toward randomness, versatil-

ity, and creativity. Don't just go through the motions or fall into routines.

Skip the gang attack drills at your own peril.

It's better to drop your stick at close range and go hand to hand than to
wrestle over a weapon.

Whether you understand guided chaos or not, don't neglect the close com-
bat drills in chapter 2.
 CREATING A
'pRAINING REGIMEN

'o help you create a training regimen, we'll also more convenient for most of us to
cial. It's

make two assumptions: squeeze in a few minutes every day than to

schedule a large block of time for training.
1. Your primary interest in this book is in
improving your self-defense skills, not
Most of the drills don't require a Herculean
impressing your friends with flashy amount of strength; however, some drills (such
as the "Gang Attack" drills on pages 33, 37,
moves.
and 183 and "Leg Mania" on page 182) can be
2. You're not a monk living in the mountains, very exhausting, so it's important to know
and your free time is probably limited. To
your condition and limits. Any time you start
reduce your training time we advocate
a new training program, you should first con-
training smarter, not harder. If the drill
sult your doctor.
doesn't increase your power, balance,
All the drills are valuable and build on one
looseness, or sensitivity (i.e., your com-
another. Some are more specific to training <i

bat effectiveness), it's superfluous.

single attribute, like the dropping drills, while
It's better to train frequently for short peri- others train many or all the guided chaos prin-
ods than infrequently for long periods. Stud- ciples simultaneously. The absolutely essential
ies show that reducing down time, even exercise is "Contact Flow" (page IS) and its
1

between short workouts, aids retention. Re- variations (page 121), something you should
member, you're reprogramming your nervous start to do early in your
program and often.
system, so consistency and repetition are cru- While the best thing you can do for yourself is

203
204 Creating a Training Regimen

to get a training partner, you will find that even if you get to do "Contact Flow"
only once a week, you regularly do the solo exercises, you will derive the
if

maximum benefit from these sessions, retaining and augmenting the attributes
you've already developed.
Variety is important in your drill-training to keep your enthusiasm high as
well as to focus and build on all the different nuances of self-defense prepara-
tion. This book provides a wide range of drills to work with. Keep in mind,
however, that you should continue to review the close combat drills in part I
even as you become more advanced.
Moreover, if you're highly trained in a martial art, don't abandon what you
already know. We have many students with high-ranking belts from other styles
who, because they're in law enforcement or the military, find guided chaos to be
the "grease" that makes their other skills work better.
If a limited amount of time to train, "Polishing the Sphere" (I,
you have only
II, or pages 111-112) and "RHEM" (page 116) are drills you should do every
III,

—
day ideally, for 10 minutes each. You can do these drills by yourself, and they
concentrate the most principles in a practical way. Include "Contact Flow" as
often as you can. If you have a variety of partners and can do this drill every day,
your development will be phenomenal.
We believe the best way to arrange your guided chaos program is to perform
five or six drills each day: "Polishing the Sphere" (I, II, or III) and "RHEM" as
—
well as three or four different drills one from part I, two from part II, and an
occasional drill from part III. This allows you to hit every neural pathway and
keep things interesting.
Work your way down the drill finder on page xiv, and after a few weeks, start
from the beginning again. Don't get too crazy with this; after a while you may
decide to skip some drills and double up on others. That's OK. Once you under-
stand the principles and what you're working toward, you may even devise
your own drills.
 —

PRINCIPLES
(GLOSSARY
—
anywhere principle In a real fight, a strike mug, rape, or kidnap; this is defensible, as
can come from or be delivered anywhere. opposed to an assassination attempt, which
—
anywhere strike Any kind of strike from any is virtually impossible to defend against no

angle and any body position. matter your training and size.

attack the attacker — A philosophy of striking body unity —

Having your entire body weight
preemptively without blocking; refusing to behind every movement you make, no
be a victim and fighting offensively instead matter how small or subtle, by perfectly
of defensively. aligning all the skeletal joints while still

keeping them relaxed.

—
awareness Being in the moment when out in
public as opposed to lost in thought; box step —An effective way of moving that
achieved through calm visualization and keeps you close to your attacker while en-
learning to extend your tactile sensitivity abling you to avoid being attacked.
outward beyond your skin so your nervous —
chambering A method of striking that wastes
system actually begins to recognize and time by requiring you to pull back your
flow with the movement and people weapon (object or body part) before mov-
around you; learning to trust your gut feel- ing it forward to strike with it.

ing about dangerous situations and people. close combat —A simplified system of striking
balance —The maintain your center
ability to culled from methods used to train United
of gravity over your root point no matter States soldiers in World War II to deal with
what your body position or root point Japanese troops proficient in judo and Li-
your foot, back, backside, shoulder, or even rate.
your hip when lying on the ground; also counterturning —Turning with the
to strike
refers to the balance of each bone and its
opposite side to that being attacked. For
relaxed relationship to every other bone. example, driving out left palm strike
.1

blind attack — An assault with no interview or when you're punched in your right shoul-
warning of any kind, with the intent to der.

205
206 Principles Glossary

disengagement principle Applied by re-— your ability to defend yourself.

maining in close physical contact with —
inward pulse A method of pulling against
your attacker while exerting the least your attacker to provide a reaction.
pressure.
—
Jack Benny stance A position that protects
—
dropping A method of delivering energy by your face and neck without tipping off a
a spasmodic lowering of your entire body potential assailant that you might be about
weight into a current or new root. When to strike preemptively; looks different
you drop you create a shock wave of en- when done by men and women.
ergy that travels down your body and re-
bounds explosively off the ground and
—
looseness The ability to change direction
with any part of the body with the small-
back up your legs to be channeled any way
est possible impetus, with no conscious
you desire.
thought or physical restriction.
external energy —A source of energy that re-
—
moving behind a guard Keeping some part
lies solely on muscular power and is usu-
of your body between an impending strike
ally characterized by whole-body tension.
and its target. The guard should be as fluid
fright reaction —Your body's natural adrena- as the body position.
response to sudden shock or fear
line-fired
in which your whole body instinctively
multihitting —Striking as many times as pos-
sible within the flow of any one movement.
drops its center of gravity, your back curves
out protectively, your head sinks low be- neutral balance —
A 50/50 weight distribution
tween your upraised shoulders, and your over the feet. An intermediate position that
is returned to again and again as in the bal-
arms come up around your face and neck.
ancing of a scale.
guided chaos —A way of training that accepts personal comfort zone —
An area surrounding
that all fights hell-storms of
are
unpatterned, unchoreographed chaos. By your body that you determine you do not
augmenting natural animal and human allow suspicious strangers or hostile rela-
movement with an awareness of physics tions to enter.The area is usually as far as
you make chaos work for you instead of you can reach with your arms, however in
tighter spaces such as subways, your per-
against you. Guided chaos is culled from
sonal comfort zone may necessarily con-
an art created by John Perkins called ki
chuan do (KCD), which translates to "way tract. An intrusion of your zone prompts

of the spirit fist" or simply "ghostfist."

you to attack the attacker.

instant balance —An extremely brief period of —

pocketing Stretching only the target area
balance created by dropping into a new
away from a strike while keeping your
root, which is then instantly abandoned for
body close to your attacker.
a new, better root as the balance point nec- pulsing —Pushing against your attacker to in-

essarily shifts. stigate a reaction.

internal energy —A source of power that is a puppeteering — Lightly applying a two-fin-

byproduct of muscular and mental relax- gered grab (with thumb and middle or in-
ation, perfectly and economically aligned dex finger) on each of your opponent's
bones, and an attuned nervous system that wrists and following his limbs around
conducts fear impulses without tension. without adding any energy of your own.
Contrast with external energy, which relies ricocheting — Bouncing a strike off a target to
on pure muscle power. create additional strikes.
interview —The verbal banter a scam artist, root —
Your loose, balanced, and sensitive con-
rapist,kidnapper, mugger, or harasser will nection to the ground. Usually you use
use to distract your attention, gain your your foot, but you can use anything (e.g.,
trust, draw you closer, and further gauge your backside when ground fighting).
 Principles Glossary 207

sensitivity —The ability to detect and create adding power to a strike or kick. Prevents
changes in the type, amount, or direction you from slipping on ice, blood, beer, oil,
of energy through your skin without con- sweat, or similar substances.
scious thought. suspending and releasing energy —Exploding
—
shortening the weapon Instantaneously like a mousetrap, in response to a deliber-
pulling back a blocked strike while con- ate or accidental pulse.
tinuing to step in and strike at a slightly tactile sensitivity —Using your skin to stick to
different angle. an opponent.
skimming energy —Skipping a strike through taking something with you —Using the back-
an intended block in a flat trajectory, like a ward movement of your strike to hit, rip,
stone across the surface of a pond. gouge, or pulse your attacker.
sliding energy —Slithering around a block like taking your opponent's space Expressed —
a snake. Also allowing your attacker's through attacking the attacker, moving in
body to slide past your contact point while on your opponent while remaining un-
maintaining your guard position. available to him by your looseness and
slingshotting —Increasing the speed of a cir- pocketing.
cular strike by shortening its arc. tool-replacing —Transferring your opponent's
splashing energy —Hitting a target so that your energy by passing his strike to another con-
strike penetrates only a few inches and then tact point that allows you to take more of
relaxes immediately, allowing you to stick. his space. For example, folding your arm

stealth energy —
Sensitivity so high that you so that your elbow contacts his arm instead
can stick to the heat emanating from your of your palm.

attacker's skin and react to changes in his vibrating — High dropping and
speed
intent before he actually moves. multihitting that results in you striking
sticking —Remaining in contact with your with the frequency of a machine gun fir-
opponent's body. ing.

sticking energy — Creating suspend-and- yielding —Moving your body away from pres-
release situations with a subtle stretching sure being exerted on you; exerting zero
of the opponent's skin. resistance to your attacker.

—
stomping drop-step kick Stomping straight zoning —Taking his space by moving to the
down onto your lead leg to close the gap, side of your attacker and in.
 REFERENCES
AND RESOURCES
de Becker, Gavin. 1999. The gift offear: Survival Strong, Sanford. 1997. Strong on defense: Sur-
signals that protect us from violence. New vival rules to protect you and your family from
York: Dell. crime. New York: Pocket Books.
Kuo, Lien-Ying. 1994. The t'ai chi boxing Sun Tzu. 1963. The art of war. Translated by S.B.
chronicle. Translated by Guttman. Berkeley, Griffith. London: Oxford University.
CA: North Atlantic. Yang, Jwing-Ming. 1996. Tai chi theory & mar-
Liao, Waysun. 1990. T'ai chi classics. Boston: tial power. Boston: YMAA.
Shambhala.

The principles explained in this book are drawn from an art created by John Perkins called ki
chuan do (KCD). This is translated as "the way of the spirit fist," or simply "ghostfist." To
purchase detailed videos on close combat and ghostfist, for information on classes that teach
ghostfist, close combat, or modified Native American ground fighting, or to enroll in a point
and instinctive shooting seminar called "Barehands to Handguns," visit our website at
www.attackproof.com.
The focus gloves, kicking shields, bean bag fill, and much of the other equipment described in
this book can be purchased at most martial arts supplies stores.

An essential training tool is the Fighting Man Dummy, a human-shaped heavy bag. It,as well as
other resources, can be purchased at I & I Sports (www.iisports.com) or by calling 1-800-898-
2042.

208
 1

JNDEX
hostile 9-11 drills 28-29

abduction, avoiding 9-11, 30 in knife defense 188 blocking. See also guarding

Adam's apple, strikes to 20-21 strategies 4-8 boxer's block 137

aerobics, drills as 111-121 tension and 44 with economy of movement 148

aikido 90 ax-kicking 181 hello block 136-139

alarms from Jack Benny stance 18-19

home security 7 B vs. yielding 47, 57

personal 8 Back Walk 107-108 body unity

portable door 5 bagua 66,90 chiand 67-69
alcohol use, safety and 5 balance as component of balance 73

anatomy, motion and 41-42 breathing 76-77 defined 40,65,66

anger, awareness and 9 characteristics 73-74 drills 69-72, 111-113

answer the phone drills 77-87 enhancing 68

basic 165-166 dropping and 96, 97 in guided chaos 40-43, 125-126
in Speed Flow drill 171 in ground fighting 174, 175-176 Body Writing 69-70
Anywhere Strikes drills in guided chaos 40-43, 125-126 bones
basic 34-36 movements 75-76 balance in 73-74

modified 159 neutral 129 as levers 41

Applegate, Rex 174 opponent's 48 bouncing energy 49-50, 177

arm pressure 49-52 stance 77 boxer's block 137

assassinations 19 yielding and 47 Box Step

assaults, avoiding 4-8 Ball Compression 110-111 basic 81-82

ATMs, awareness at 4-5 Battle-Ax Box Step 83-84 battle-ax 83-84

attacking the attacker 16, 157, 200 Beanbag drill 109-110 free-striking 8

automated teller machines 4-5 bites 22, 140 inRHEM L16-118

awareness blind attacks whirling dei \ ish 84 8 i

concept 3-4 defined 19 in zoning I 18

drills 33-34, 37-38 documented case 86-88 breaking m<n ements I

1

209
210 Index

breathing as weapon 140-142

balancing 76-77 Dead-Fish Arms 55 elbow strikes 22-24

drills 54, 116-118 De Becker, Gavin 8 elusiveness 130

in energy drills 111 defense energy
body as shield 127-140 chi 65,67-69

economic movements 147-153 creating 93-94

cane, fighting with 187-188 gun 198-199 drills 111-121

carjackings 10-11 kicks 184-185 flow 44

carotid choke 179-180 knife 188-191 in ground fighting 175, 177

cell phones 6, 7, 10 Dempsey, Jack 96 internal 66-67

chambering, defined 25 disengagement principle 91-93 opponent's 149, 157-158

chaos. See guided chaos dog-digging recognizing 106

checking 158 basic 158 sensing 90-93

chest, strikes to 22-24 in knife defense 189 types 94-106

chi in Speed Flow drill 171 Enter the Dragon 66

demonstrations 68-69 dogs, as security 7 entries

described 65,67-68 double grab, resisting 167 dog-dig 158

developing 117 drac entry 158-159 drac 158-159

chin jab 17,20 drills environment, response and 13

chokes, defeating awareness 4, 9 escapes

front 178 balance 77-87 carjacking 11

gun- 196-198 body unity 69-72,111-113 home 8

rear 178-179 close combat 26-38 evacuation plans 8

sleeper hold 179-180 dropping 108-111 exercises. See drills

chops 20-21, 142 economy of movement 159-160 eye-gouging

Circle Clap 63 energy 111-121 basic 20-21

claws 20-21, 140 ground fighting 182-183 to defend chokes 178, 180
Clay, Cassius 97 guarding 128-129 documented use 145
Clay-Liston fight 97 gun defense 198-199 from Jack Benny stance 17
close combat index of xiv-xvi practicing 31

drills 26-38 knife defense 55, 192, 193-194 as weapon 140

as offense 200 looseness 54-64, 111-113

strikes 19-26 sensitivity 61, 107-108

Coin Chase 107 strength-training 168-171 fakes 100,136

Coin Dance 107 dropping falling, in ground fighting 175-176, 178-179

cold power 97 described 20, 96-98, 108 fear

comfort zone, personal drills 108-111 documented case 32

described 8-9 as economic movement 152-153 effect on awareness 4
drill 30-31 focusing 27-29
confrontations feeling 94, 119

avoiding 12-13 economy of movement Finger Creep 169

beginning of 15 defensive 147-153 fingers

Contact Flow drills 159-160 grabbing with 161

drills 60, 118-121 offensive 153-159 strengthening 168-169
faults in 201-202 principle of 147 fist strikes

contorting energy 177 elbows described 24-25

counterturning 130 breaking double grab with 167 vs. chin jab 20
cross-grabs, resisting 168 control of 157 vs. open hand 142
cross-tie lock 164-165 overbending 133 flipper movement 139-141

crushing movements 144, 177, 181 pressure on 52 Fold Like a Napkin 54

as shield 133-134,137 forearm-surfing 101-102
 Index 211

formless stance 129-131 head drills 55, 192, 193-194

fright reaction gun against 195-197 using 193

described 19 strikes to 22-24,152 Kuo Lien-Ying 67
drills 28-29 head butts 22, 140

hello block L
basic 136-138 leaning

Gang Attack drills 33-34, 37-38, 183 triangle combo 138-139 as handicap 130

The Gift of Fear (De Becker) 8 home security 7-8 vs. yielding 129-130

grabs hooking and crushing kicks 181 Lee, Bruce 66, 98

executing 161-162 hsirtgl 66,90 legs, using 20

resisting 165-168 Hula 56 lethal force 12, 123

grace. See body unity hyperbalance. See balance Liao, Waysun 97

grappling. See ground fighting Liston, Sonny 97
grip, strengthening 168-169 I locks

groin injuries, from delivering strikes executing 162-163

crushing 177 external-style arts 66 resisting 165-168

strikes to 24, 185 fist strikes 24, 142 types 163-165

ground fighting head butts 22 long power 97

avoiding 175, 186 stomps 26 looseness

chokes 178-180 injuries, from receiving strikes 152 as component of balance 73

drills 182-183 interview defined 43

falling 175-176, 178-179 defined 15 drills 54-64, 111-113

intentional 173-174 drill 30-31 examples 49-53

kicks 180-181 intuition 3-4,28 extreme 45
with knife-wielder 189 isolation energy 103-104 in guided chaos 40-43, 125-126
mobility in 176-177 Iso-Strike 170 pocketing and 46-49
multiple attackers 174, 186 reactive 44-45

guarding relaxed 43-44

drill 128-129 Jack Benny stance rooted 45-46

from formless stance 130-131 described 16-19 yielding and 46-49

principles 127-128, 137-138 documented use 32 lower body, strikes to 25

in rocker movement 134-135 drill 30-31
guided chaos. See also specific principles jackhammer strikes 74-75 M
concept 39-40 jogging, safe 8 martial arts

principles 40-42, 125-126 judo 90 internal vs. external 66-67

training results 200 Native American 154,173

vs. martial arts ix-xii, 39-40, 50 vs. guided chaos ix-xii, 39-40, 50
K
guns kichuando 90,200 meditation, moving 111-121

awareness and 3-4 kicks

Meet Jason drill 31

defending 194-198 close-combat 25-26 mercy, as liability 13

drills 198-199
defending 184-185 Mexican Hat Dance 36-37
as security 7
drills 36-37, 182-183 Miyamoto Musashi 193
using 199
ground fighting 176-177, 180-181 momentum 74-75

knife defense 189 Moving Behind a Guard

H as weapon 140 described 128-129

hand-eye coordination 89-90 kidneys, strikes to 152 in rocker movement 134-135

hands knees, bending 76 muggers

backs of 137,138 knee strikes 25 avoiding 6 *
sensitivity in 91,142-144 Knife Fighting drill, Basic 193-194 defending 200
strengthening 168-169 Knife Skip drill 192-193 mugger's yoke L79- L80

two-on-ones 149 mule-kicking l H l

knives
Harley stance 77, 133-134 defending 188-191 multihirting 153-154
212 Index

multiple attackers principle 46-47 round-kicking 181

avoiding 186 police Row the Boat 159-160
drills 33-34, 37-38, 59, 84, 183 phony 6 running, as defense 27-28, 90, 174
ground fighting 174, 186 reasonable force by 11-12, 121-123
movements 165-167 Polishing the Sphere drills
murder, avoiding 4-8 basic 111-113 safety. See also awareness
muscles inRHEM 116-118 home 7-8
in external-style arts 66 posture. See stances jogging 8
strength in 120, 169-171 prefight orientation 9-11 travel 4-5
tension in 41-44, 54-55, 63 pressure responses 49-53 Sand Bucket 169
Psycho-Chimp scissor kicks 180-181

N basic 62-63 screaming, as defense

Native American martial arts 154, 173 in Speed Flow drill 171 drill 27-28
neck psychological training 31, 33 environment and 13
knife on 190-192 pulsing energy security
strikes to 20-24, 152 advanced 103 at home 7-8
nine pearls 65 basic 99-101 in hotels 5

Ninja Walk in blocks 57 sensitivity. See also energy

advanced 80-81 in rocker movement 134-135 defined 89
basic 77-79 vs. yin-yang 99 drills 61, 106-108
in kick defense 184 puppeteering 162 in guided chaos 40-43, 125-126
inRHEM 116-118 purse snatchers, avoiding 6-7 in hands 91, 142-144
no-inch punch push-pull principles. See pulsing energy; purpose 93
described 68,98
yin and yang
in resisting grabs 165
drill 110-111 vs. hand-eye coordination 89-90
shaking the tree 154
rape, surviving 32, 33
shedding energy 175
reasonable force 11-12, 122-123
offense. See also strikes shield, body as
Relationship of Human Energy to Move-
body as weapon 140-144 flipper movement 139-141
ment (RHEM) 116-118
close combat 200 formless stance 129-131
relaxation
economic movements 153-157 guarding 128-130
drills 54-55,63
Opening the Door 70-71 Harley stance 133-134
for looseness 43-44
opponents hello block 136-139
Relaxed Breathing 54
balance 48
reverse rocker 134-135, 141
rocker movements 134-135
energy 149,157-158 taking opponent's space 131-133
RHEM 116-118
falling with 175-176, 178-179 triangle defense 135-136, 138-139
ricocheting energy 101, 153
space 132-133 yielding 128,133
ridgehands 20-21
strength 46, 55
rips 21-22,144
shortening the weapon 155-157
vortex 149 shredding kicks 181
rising ram 102
robberies, avoiding 4-8
skimming energy
described 102-103
rocker
panhandlers 7 drill 61
basic movement 134-135
passing the apples 104-105 sledgehammer, drill using 83-84
tool destruction with 157-158
peng ching 45 as weapon 141
sleeper hold 179-180
pepper spray 8 sliding energy 101-102, 106
Rolling the Energy Ball 113-114
personal space. See comfort zone, personal slingshotting 63, 95
root
pickpockets, avoiding 6-7 Small Circle Dance
balance and 75-76
pinches 22, 140 basic 61-62
drill 56
pocketing
dropping and 96 in Speed Flow drill 171
in defensive response 149 solar plexus, strikes to 152
in ground fighting 174, 176-177
drills 55,61 Solo Contact Flow 60
in looseness 45-46
example 48-49 principle 20
space, opponent's 131-133
 Index 213

S[M\1IS Strong on Defense (Strong) 8 u

basic 20-21 Stumble Steps 108-109 ultimate fighting 90, 175
in Speed Flow drill 171 suspending and releasing energy 103, 177

Speed Flow 170-171 Swimming drills V

spike-in-the-sponge 48-49, 51 basic 57-58 Vacuum Walk
spitting 140 sidestroke 59 advanced 80-81
splashing energy basic 79-80

described 102-103 in kick defense 184

drill 109-110 tactile sensitivity 91, 142-143 inRHEM 116-118

Split-Brain Air-Writing 64 tai chi. See also chi valuables, protecting 5, 6, 7

spontaneity. See also guided chaos body unity 65 vibrating 154

drills 34-36, 37-38 dropping 97 vise lock 163-164

using 111 as internal-style art 66, 90 visualization 9, 27, 98, 119

StairSteps 109 looseness 45 vortex, opponent's 149

stances sensitivity 93
formless 129-131 yin yang 95 w
Harley 77, 133-134 The Tai Chi Boxing Chronicle (Kuo) 67 warrior cry 27

Jack Benny 16-19,30-32 Tai Chi Classics (Liao) 97 Washing the Body
Starting the Mower 70 taking opponent's space 131-133 basic 114-116

stealth energy 98, 101 taking something with you 154-155, 175- iriRHEM 116-118

steeple movement 152 176 water, in human body 42, 46, 102-103

Steiner, Bradley J. 16, 174 tears 21-22, 144 weapons. See also specific weapons

stick fighting 186-188 tendons, strengthening 169-171 body as 140-144

sticking energy 102 tension. See also relaxation defending chokes with 180
sticking (tactile contact) 91, 142-143 mental 44-45 Weaving Python 55
Sticks of Death 61 on opponent 106 weight transfer drill 60

Sticky Fingers 61 physical 41-44 whipping strikes 74

stomps testicles, crushing 177 Whirling Dervish Box Step 84-85

described 25-26 thinking, while fighting 41, 44, 118-119 wing chun 90
drill 36-37 throat, strikes to 20-24 Wood-Surfing
as weapon 140 toe-kicking 181 basic 85-86

strength tool destruction with other drills 113, 116, 121

muscular 120, 169-171 as economical attack 157-158 wrestling 90

opponent's 46, 55 for resisting grabs 168 wrists, protecting 139-141

strength training tool replacement

foot and lower leg 85-86 described 104-105 Y

hands 168-169 in hello block 138 yielding

tendons 169-171 in rocker movement 134-135 in defensive response 149

strikes in sticking 143 drills 57-59

avoiding 43, 44, 46-48 in zoning 149 examples 48-49

balanced 74-75 training 203-204. See also strength training guarding and 128

basic close combat 19-26, 200 transfering energy 104-105 overbending elbows in 133

bouncing 49-50 travel, safety during 5 principle 46-47

drills 26-38 triangle defense in rocker movement 134-135

with economy of movement 153-159 basic 135-136 vs. leaning L29 I

10

after fright reaction 19 hello block combo 138-139 yin and yang
injuries from delivering 22, 24, 26, turning defined 74
66, 142 counterturning 130 energy generation 94-95
from Jack Benny stance 17-19 in defensive response 149 vs. pulsing energj 99
preemptive 16 drill 56-57
vs. grabs 161 TV-Cut Drill 109
Strong, Sanford 8 zoning is 19
Two-Minute Push-Up 170 I I
 ^BOUT THE AUTHORS
John Perkins has been called America's fore- teaching martial arts and self-defense for over
most self-protection expert by the Trends Re- 42 years. Perkins has taught hand-to-hand tac-
search Institute. He has been training and tics to Marine Combat units, Marine Scout
Sniper units, and military counter drug forces.
He also has instructed law enforcement per-
sonnel from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, the
New York City Police Department, New York
State Police, and the New York City Transit
Police.
A bodyguard Malcolm Forbes,
to the late
Perkins is and a
a forensic crime scene expert
master handgun instructor and marksman. He
has extensive experience in the martial arts of
hapkido, taekwondo, kyukushinkai, kempo
karate, judo, jujitsu, goju, and tai chi chuan.
He has trained in Native American fighting
principles since the age of five. Perkins has
—
battled in unlicensed pit fights a savage fore-
runner to today's Ultimate Competitions. He
is the founder of ki chuan do (KCD), which

translates to "the way of the spirit fist" or sim-

ply "ghostfist," and from which the guided
chaos principle detailed in this book is drawn.
KCD is recognized by the International Com-
bat Martial Arts Federation through which he
holds a fifth-degree black belt in combat mar-
tial arts. Perkins lives in Nyack, New York.

214
 About the Authors 215

Al Ridenhour, a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, has been
training in the martial arts since 1985.He has studied tai chi, isshinryu karate,
and ken jitsu. An all-conference wrestler in high school and later a boxer in the
Marine Corps, Ridenhour is now a fourth-degree black belt in ki chuan do. He is
a veteran of the Gulf War, where he commanded a 50-man infantry unit and
served as an instructor in unarmed combat for his Marine unit and for the
battalion's Scout Sniper platoon. He has also worked with various law enforce-
—
ment agencies U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement
—
Agency during counter drug missions. Ridenhour has received numerous hon-
ors, including the Navy Achievement Medal, a combat action ribbon, the Na-
tional Defense Medal, and the Kuwait Liberation Medal. A member of the Inter-
national Combat Martial Arts Federation, Ridenhour lives in White Plains, New
York.

Matt Kovsky is an editor for CBS Television. His work has earned him two
Emmys—one for outstanding editing and another for producer of an outstand-
ing entertainment series —as well as many other awards. His list of honors in-
cludes a gold medal presented at the New York Film & TV Festival, a gold medal
presented by the National Mature Market Media Festival, and a bronze medal
presented by the National Educational Film Festival. He is the chronicler whose
notebooks laid the foundation for Attack Proof. He is trained in isshinryu karate
and jeet kune do, and he has a third-degree black belt in ki chuan do. Kovsky
resides in Ossining, New York.
 You'll find

other outstanding
self-defense resources at

wvvw.humankinetics.com
In the U.S. call

1-800-747-4457
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 ATTACK
"I've used these methods myself in actual life-and-death street
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Former NYPD and Federal Firearms Combat Instructor
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President, International Combat Martial Arts Federation
10th degree black belt

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Retired U.S. Navy officer
Vietnam S.E.A.L. Team

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Attack Proof presents a proven personal protection system for anticipating and fending off even the
most brutal assaults. It's based on the insights, real-world experiences, and forensic research of John
Perkins, a New York cop and teacher of hand-to-hand combat instructors in the military and on police
forces. The book provides a wide selection of tactics and principles to use for self-protection in potentially
life-threatening situations. Attack Proof is the next best thing to having your own personal bodyguard.

ISBN Q-73bO-03Sl-7
5 1995

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