Most salt and pepper shakers found on restaurant tables have removable screw-on heads. They have four distinct weapon modes. Naturally, any or all of the weapon modes could be used in a self-defense situation.
At short range with the head removed throw the contents of the salt or pepper shaker into your opponent’s face. Use an underhand softball-like pitch and stop it abruptly allowing the contents to continue forward while the empty shaker remains in your hand.
Holding the shaker in your hand with a portion exposed below your hand’s knife-edge (the little finger side) use the shaker as a club multiplying the effectiveness of your hammer fist strike.
With a portion of the shaker exposed above your hand’s ridge-edge (the thumb side) use the shaker to multiply the effectiveness of your ridge hand strike.
Lastly, the shaker can be thrown as a missile weapon – once.
If the specific shaker available is long enough that both ends are exposed when you grasp it in the middle then it can be used to deliver hammer fist and ridge hand strikes in combination.
I recommend that you physically practice all four salt shaker weapon modes at least once a month. It will take less than five minutes and it will prepare your mind to actually use this expedient weapon if the need arises.
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Expedient Weapons: General
The traditional weapons of karate, the sai, the kama, the yawara, and the nunchaku were originally common farm implements. In a sense they were expedient weapons of seventeenth Okinawa. But traditional martial arts continue to teach ancient Okinawan farm implements as weapons though they are no longer common or available and in some they are illegal.
Nevertheless the idea of expedient weapons has been “out there” in the martial arts literature for many years. I thought it was obvious that in case of need one would pick up whatever was handy to use as a weapon.
One of my Neko Ryu instructors, Sensei Danny Glover of Burlington, NC, once explained the various ways to use a salt shaker as an expedient weapon. I listened closely. His instruction made intuitive sense and I filed it away for future use.
A couple of years later Linda and I were dining in a restaurant near our home. Several tables away a group of six young men were talking loudly in Spanish. Three of them suddenly jumped up and started to fight in the middle of the restaurant. The other three followed them onto the floor but stayed back from the fight.
I judged them all to be drunk and potentially dangerous to Linda – primarily because their fight might end up on our table. I immediately stood up, not to intervene in their fight but to put myself between them and Linda. I watched the drunks flail their arms at one another to little effect. They were obviously not trained fighters and alcohol impaired their coordination. I was confident I could take one or two of them – I wasn’t confident about six though.
The three standing on the sidelines eventually broke up the fight; it never got closer than about six feet from our table. Then the manager persuaded all six young men to leave his restaurant.
My reason for telling this story is that throughout this stressful situation at no time did it occur to me to use the salt and pepper shakers on our table as weapons. And yet Sensei Glover had told me about them and I had “filed it away for future use.”
So what happened? I did what I trained to do. I evaluated the situation and correctly determined the level of danger. I prepared to deal with the situation in exactly the way I had trained for so many years. I assumed a relaxed stable Judo stance and watched expectantly every move of the those young men made..
I had never trained myself to pick up a salt shaker, a plate, or a fork – so I didn’t.
Sensei Glover is Professor Ernie Cates’ most senior student other than his oldest son. He is a 9th Dan in Neko Ryu and an 8th Dan in Isshin-Ryu Karate-Do but he still thinks about salt shakers when he is in a restaurant because his experience in violent confrontations taught him that a “force multiplier” is always desirable.
After that event I concluded that my mind and my body required training in the use of expedient weapons – at least in broad categories; my mind, so I will think to look for and actually pick up whatever weapons are at hand; my body, so I will be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of the various expedient weapons categories.
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons
Nevertheless the idea of expedient weapons has been “out there” in the martial arts literature for many years. I thought it was obvious that in case of need one would pick up whatever was handy to use as a weapon.
One of my Neko Ryu instructors, Sensei Danny Glover of Burlington, NC, once explained the various ways to use a salt shaker as an expedient weapon. I listened closely. His instruction made intuitive sense and I filed it away for future use.
A couple of years later Linda and I were dining in a restaurant near our home. Several tables away a group of six young men were talking loudly in Spanish. Three of them suddenly jumped up and started to fight in the middle of the restaurant. The other three followed them onto the floor but stayed back from the fight.
I judged them all to be drunk and potentially dangerous to Linda – primarily because their fight might end up on our table. I immediately stood up, not to intervene in their fight but to put myself between them and Linda. I watched the drunks flail their arms at one another to little effect. They were obviously not trained fighters and alcohol impaired their coordination. I was confident I could take one or two of them – I wasn’t confident about six though.
The three standing on the sidelines eventually broke up the fight; it never got closer than about six feet from our table. Then the manager persuaded all six young men to leave his restaurant.
My reason for telling this story is that throughout this stressful situation at no time did it occur to me to use the salt and pepper shakers on our table as weapons. And yet Sensei Glover had told me about them and I had “filed it away for future use.”
So what happened? I did what I trained to do. I evaluated the situation and correctly determined the level of danger. I prepared to deal with the situation in exactly the way I had trained for so many years. I assumed a relaxed stable Judo stance and watched expectantly every move of the those young men made..
I had never trained myself to pick up a salt shaker, a plate, or a fork – so I didn’t.
Sensei Glover is Professor Ernie Cates’ most senior student other than his oldest son. He is a 9th Dan in Neko Ryu and an 8th Dan in Isshin-Ryu Karate-Do but he still thinks about salt shakers when he is in a restaurant because his experience in violent confrontations taught him that a “force multiplier” is always desirable.
After that event I concluded that my mind and my body required training in the use of expedient weapons – at least in broad categories; my mind, so I will think to look for and actually pick up whatever weapons are at hand; my body, so I will be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of the various expedient weapons categories.
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons
Friday, May 8, 2009
Neko Ryu General Principles: Kuzushi
Kuzushi is the Judo concept of getting your opponent off balance immediately before throwing him. More broadly it means anything that facilitates or increases the effectiveness of your technique.
In Judo, one looks for his opponent to commit his body to some movement that takes him out of a strong stance. One could also force his opponent out of his stance or trick him out of it by using a fake or a combination technique.
Psychological off balance is equally effective and exemplified by a distraction, surprise, or any noise from an unexpected direction, a sharp pain such as a pinch or strike, or a subtle motion (eye movement or a wave of a hand).
Psychological off balance also includes intimidation and the opposite - sandbagging - as well as deceptive communication.
Kuzushi is used in all forms of conflict. Successful kuzushi followed by a well executed technique results in victory. Recent American military operations contain many examples of successful kuzushi exercised at the military theater level.
In Desert Storm, for example, the Iraqis were convinced, after numerous subterfuges undertaken by the Marines and the Navy that the U. S. Marines would make an amphibious landing from the Persian Gulf. Important Iraqi forces were positioned to defend against this never-intended assault. These Iraqi forces were, therefore, woefully out of position when the actual attack came across the Saudi border.
In American football there are frequent attempts to draw a linebacker or safety out of position in order to complete a pass play.
As a rule of thumb, if you get the kuzushi right your probability of success doubles.
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Neko Ryu Goshin Jitsu
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Balance and Kuzushi
In Judo, one looks for his opponent to commit his body to some movement that takes him out of a strong stance. One could also force his opponent out of his stance or trick him out of it by using a fake or a combination technique.
Psychological off balance is equally effective and exemplified by a distraction, surprise, or any noise from an unexpected direction, a sharp pain such as a pinch or strike, or a subtle motion (eye movement or a wave of a hand).
Psychological off balance also includes intimidation and the opposite - sandbagging - as well as deceptive communication.
Kuzushi is used in all forms of conflict. Successful kuzushi followed by a well executed technique results in victory. Recent American military operations contain many examples of successful kuzushi exercised at the military theater level.
In Desert Storm, for example, the Iraqis were convinced, after numerous subterfuges undertaken by the Marines and the Navy that the U. S. Marines would make an amphibious landing from the Persian Gulf. Important Iraqi forces were positioned to defend against this never-intended assault. These Iraqi forces were, therefore, woefully out of position when the actual attack came across the Saudi border.
In American football there are frequent attempts to draw a linebacker or safety out of position in order to complete a pass play.
As a rule of thumb, if you get the kuzushi right your probability of success doubles.
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Neko Ryu Goshin Jitsu
Link to other topics in the Special Report: Balance and Kuzushi
Friday, May 1, 2009
Neko Ryu General Principles: Parry-Repost
In order to win you must counter-attack or escape. And, in order to escape you may need to counter-attack. Therefore, counter-attack is an effective strategy if you are assaulted.
When a fencer deflects his opponent’s attack and flows his own sword into an immediate counter-attack, the sequence is called a parry-repost. I use the term to describe any simultaneous or immediate defense and counter-attack.
Parry-repost implies minimal defense and immediately converting defense into offense. There are three general ways to parry-repost:
1. Sequential. Defend, then flow immediately into an attack
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by pivoting outside the punch while brush blocking with your left forearm, then, execute a left side kick to the assailant’s exposed knee.
2. Simultaneous. Execute two complimentary techniques at the same time; one defensive and the other offensive.
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by stepping into the assailant, brush blocking the punch with your left forearm while throwing a straight right punch to the assailant’s nose at the same time.
3. Integrated. Execute one technique that is both defense and offense.
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by stepping into the assailant and executing the harai-goshi Judo throw.
Any technique or combination can be used in a parry-repost. The key is immediate conversion of defense into offense. Parry-repost will minimize the assailant’s opportunity to injury you. It may also surprise, confuse, and perhaps discourage him.
Links to the Special Report: Neko Ryu Goshin Jitsu
When a fencer deflects his opponent’s attack and flows his own sword into an immediate counter-attack, the sequence is called a parry-repost. I use the term to describe any simultaneous or immediate defense and counter-attack.
Parry-repost implies minimal defense and immediately converting defense into offense. There are three general ways to parry-repost:
1. Sequential. Defend, then flow immediately into an attack
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by pivoting outside the punch while brush blocking with your left forearm, then, execute a left side kick to the assailant’s exposed knee.
2. Simultaneous. Execute two complimentary techniques at the same time; one defensive and the other offensive.
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by stepping into the assailant, brush blocking the punch with your left forearm while throwing a straight right punch to the assailant’s nose at the same time.
3. Integrated. Execute one technique that is both defense and offense.
Example; deflect an incoming right hook punch by stepping into the assailant and executing the harai-goshi Judo throw.
Any technique or combination can be used in a parry-repost. The key is immediate conversion of defense into offense. Parry-repost will minimize the assailant’s opportunity to injury you. It may also surprise, confuse, and perhaps discourage him.
Links to the Special Report: Neko Ryu Goshin Jitsu
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