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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Usefulness of Leg Techniques

Caveat: This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.)

For training example, not actually
useful or deadly leg techniques examples.
For writing effect only.
Many, many martial artists believe the leg techniques are prominent in fighting and less so in self-defense. They tend to become dependent on leg techniques with the more flamboyant and acrobatic forms as favorites. I remember one MA who told the story of how he was confronted by a couple of thugs when he was able to spin around and kick one in the chest. The problem was, nothing happened. Yes, he connected but the guy just stumbled back a step then came forward into his charge. 

In my personal view, leg techniques are not all that good for self-defense - especially the predatory process/resource type attacks. This view is not from experience although my limited fighting experience was more about hands then legs. I take this view from the stories of others who have a modicum to significant level of experiences in comparison. 

As I study and practice along with gaining more knowledge about attacks and reality based self-defense I occurs to me that legs or leg techniques are more about finishing rather than stopping attacks. In that light the type of techniques are more in-close types where stomps to the instep, shin, side of knee and so on dominate provided the attack actually allows time to achieve such lofty goals. In the end, it all depends doesn’t it?

Social situations may allow more room to utilize kicking or leg applications but that seems unrealistic but then again social conflicts tend to be unrealistic, at least from where I sit. I also feel the propensity toward leg applications comes from our natural human tendency toward not truly damaging one another especially where social conventions dominate. Getting up close and personal takes practice and will to achieve except in very few and rare cases. 

We, as a species, have always moved toward distance type of weaponry. This means if we can apply leg applications over hand/arm applications we will have a strong tendency to try and gain the distance for those weapons. Our history indicates our need for distance because as we progressed in war we came up with, developed and then implemented other weaponry that took it from hand-to-hand or leg-to-leg into the realm of distance weapons such as, as Okinawan sources in karate, tuifa and sai and bo and so on. 

Human history then shows how bow and arrow added more distance and less chance of death only to be followed by long guns, handguns and in modern times cannon, grenades, high powered long guns, rockets, jets with bombs, and so on. Now we actually fight and kill using drones where the pilots never leave their home territory. Our need for survival of the tribe has created more innovative ways of killing our enemies, others, than any other time in history while at the same time resulting in lower over all deaths due to war than in those ancient historical times of war. 

In my personal view, those legs are more efficient tools of disrupting an adversary’s structure and balance. Since that means close-in encounters then it also means since the legs are there to support and balance us they can also be used to unbalance and disrupt that adversary’s support and balance. As to kicks, not so much except in those rare cases where it is justified to use them to finish off that adversary so you can safely leave to a safe and secure location.

It also must be remembered that the use of legs may or may not be appropriate to the level of force and threat we face in self-defense. It also must be remembered that how we use our legs in those situations can dictate perceptions as to their appropriate use as to a reasonable person type rule or ruling. 

Having an innate need to remain a safe distance and use the legs can be seen in some instances as the use of deadly weapons, i.e., the shod foot and the type of footwear worn, etc. It is complicated. 

The usefulness of leg techniques is questionable except in narrow cases but their usefulness must be tempered with other mitigating factors such as force decisions and staying within the self-defense square. 

Primary Bibliography of Self-Defense (Some titles have RBC drills included):
MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.

Bibliography Articles on Self-Defense/Conflict/Violence

The main page leading to the articles I have chosen as a starting point to attain knowledge of conflict, violence and self-defense is: http://ymaa.com/articles/society-and-self-defense where you can navigate to the below or you can simply find a title below and click for direct access to the articles. Most of these are actually introductions to the references written by the authors themselves. It is advisable to start here then move on to the more in-depth stuff in their publications. This section will get you a beginning understanding necessary in phase one of learning self-defense. 

I.M.O.P. Principle—Intent, Means, Opportunity and Preclusion http://ymaa.com/articles/2014/10/imop-principle-intent-means-opportunity-and-preclusion
Introduction to Violence: Scale of Force Options http://ymaa.com/articles/introduction-to-violence-scale-of-force-options
Facing Violence: The Unconscious Stuff-Finding Your Glitches http://ymaa.com/articles/facing-violence-the-unconscious-stuff
Violence: What Everyone Needs to Know About Fighting http://ymaa.com/articles/violence-what-everyone-needs-to-know-about-fighting

Secondary Bibliography of Self-Defense (Some titles have RBC drills included):
Ayoob, Massad. “Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self-Defense”Gun Digest Books. Krouse Publications. Wisconsin. 2014.
Goleman, Daniel. "Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition]." Bantam. January 11, 2012.
Miller, Rory. "ConCom: Conflict Communications A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication." Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2014. 
Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012
Miller, Rory. "Force Decisions: A Citizen's Guide." YMAA Publications. NH. 2012.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.
Elgin, Suzette Haden, Ph.D. "More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense." Prentice Hall. New Jersey. 1983.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1995
Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979.
MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #1: Getting Shot.” NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2014.
MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #2: Getting Stabbed.”  NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2015.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1993.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense" MJF Books. 1997.
Maffetone, Philip Dr. “The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-stress, No-Pain Way to Exceptional Fitness.” McGraw Hill, New York. 2000
Strong, Sanford. “Strong on Defense_ Survival Rules to Protect you and your Family from Crime.” Pocket Books. New York. 1996.
and more … see blog bibliography.
Jahn, C. R. “FTW Self Defense.” iUniverse. Amazon Digital Services. 2012
Jahn, C. R. “Hardcore Self Defense.” iUniverse. Amazon Digital Services. 2002.

Bibliography of RBC Drills (Some titles have RBC drills included):
MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.
MacYoung, Marc (Animal). “Taking It to the Street: Making Your Martial Art Street Effective.” Paladin Press. Boulder, Colorado. 1999.
MacYoung, Marc. "A Professional's Guide to Ending Violence Quickly: How Bouncers, Bodyguards, and Other Security Professionals Handle Ugly Situations." Paladin Press. Boulder, Colorado. 1996.
Miller, Rory. “Drills: Training for the Sudden Violence.” Amazon Digital Services, inc. Smashwords. 2011.
Quinn, Peyton. “Real Fighting: Adrenaline Stress Conditioning Through Scenario-Based Training.” Paladin Press. Amazon Digital Services, inc. 1996

My Blog Bibliography
Cornered Cat (Scratching Post): http://www.corneredcat.com/scratching-post/
Kodokan Boston: http://kodokanboston.org
Mario McKenna (Kowakan): http://www.kowakan.com
Wim Demeere’s Blog: http://www.wimsblog.com
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