The Cane: Part 2 – Two Hand Strikes - Thrusts

When starting out with the cane as a weapon of self-defense, two-handed techniques based on bayonet drills are the most secure and effective.

Holding the cane with both hands improves your ability to control your cane when your opponent grabs it. Retaining control of your weapon is just as important as executing effective techniques.

A two hand grip increases the power of a straight thrust, the security of a block or parry, and brings the crook end of the cane into play as a striking surface. Vertical and horizontal butt strokes are of little practical valve with a one-hand grip; but with a two-hand grip they are important tools in your tool box.

Two basic thrusting techniques are available with a two-hand grip on a crooked cane. They are:

Lunge with thrust:
· The striking surface is the cane tip
· The target is the abdomen, solar plexus, Adam’s apple or the bridge of the nose
· A forward lunge is executed simultaneously with the two-hand forward thrust
· The forward grip can be underhand or overhand; the underhand grip allows a longer thrust but requires a grip change from most starting positions; the overhand grip does not normally require a grip change.

Back stance with thrust:
· The striking surface is the cane tip
· The target is the abdomen, solar plexus, Adam’s apple or the bridge of the nose
· A shift into a back stance is executed simultaneously with the two-hand forward thrust
· The forward grip can be underhand or overhand; the underhand grip allows a longer thrust but requires a grip change from most starting positions; the overhand grip does not normally require a grip change.

Additional two-hand techniques will be described in future posts.

Link to Special Report Topics: The Neko Ryu Cane

The Cane: Part 1 – Types of Canes

My favorite weapon is the crooked cane. It’s legal to carry and it’s more acceptable to carry as you age. It’s also very effective.

There are many kinds of canes. Although crooked canes are the most versatile weapons, most of the canes you see on the street have straight, often padded, handles. Lengths vary with the height of the person using them and many canes are adjustable. Some canes have three or four tips. All of them can be effective weapons.

I’ve experimented with several styles of crooked canes and I recommend the wide-crook canes sold by Cane Masters. The wide-crook makes it possible to hook your opponent’s neck, calf, or thigh. Canes available in pharmacies and medical supply stores generally have crooks too small for these targets but they can be used to hook a person’s ankle.

Canes from Cane Masters also feature grooves cut in the neck, the transition area between the crook and the shaft. Since the neck and the crook are the most common gripping points for one-handed techniques the grooves improve your grip on the cane.
Cane Masters also offers instructional material for using the cane as a weapon which I found of little value.

Although you have to hunt for them there are many books, some very old, on using the cane for self-defense. From a number of these books I’ve developed a personal cane system compatible with Neko Ryu Goshin Jitsu philosophy and principles.

The crooked cane is an effective legal personal defense weapon. I‘ll describe my cane system that I call “Neko Ryu Cane” in future blogs.

Link to Special Report Topics: The Neko Ryu Cane

Expedient Weapons: Other Expedient Yawara Sticks

Any short stick-like object, six to eight inches long and between 3/8” and 2” in diameter can be used as a Yawara (also known as a Kubotan). A “perfect” Yawara would be seven inches long, ½ inch in diameter and hard but not brittle.

An expedient stick is limited in its ability to duplicate the range of techniques available to a Yawara to the extent the expedient stick’s dimensions diverge from those of the “perfect” Yawara.

The “perfect” Yawara can be used in four different striking modes.

Ridge hand strikes
Hammer fist strikes
Front of the knuckle punches (straight, reverse, hook, upper cut, etc)
Back fist strikes

It can be used to apply leveraged pressure on fingers and wrists. And, it can be used to apply force to pressure points.

If the diameter of the expedient stick is too small the effectiveness of ridge hand and hammer fist strikes are reduced because the stick is difficult to grip and it tends to slip through the fist.

If the diameter of the expedient stick is too large the effectiveness of front of the knuckle punches are reduced because the stick distorts the shape of the fist making knuckle strikes awkward at best.

If the expedient stick is too short the effectiveness of leveraged pressure is reduced and if the stick is so short that it fails to protrude from either end of the fist then the force multiplying effect is lost on ridge hand strikes or hammer fist punches depending on which end protrudes from the fist and which does not.

If the expedient stick is too long all Yawara techniques become awkward and the stick is better used as a baton.

Some examples of expedient stick-like objects suitable for use as a Yawara are:

Felt tip markers and highlighters
TV and DVD remote controls
Table knifes
Staplers
Three hole punches
Large folding knifes with the blades folded
Hand-held dust pans (with one end of the handle protruding from the fist)
Pliers
Scissors
Hand mirrors (with one end of the handle protruding from the fist)

Many other objects would do as well. Practice finding suitable expedient sticks wherever you are. Regardless of the specific object used as a Yawara, the basic techniques are the same. Practice them with a variety of expedient objects and practice noticing expedient Yawara’s in your environment to improve your mental and physical ability to use them if the need should arise.

Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons

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Expedient Weapons: Rolled Up Magazines

Rolled up magazines, like pen lights, make excellent Yawara sticks; And, because they are very common, they are more likely to be available as expedient weapons than most other objects. Any tightly rolled up magazine will make a useful force-multiplying weapon. Rolled up magazines can be carried everywhere and will attract no attention.

The rolled up magazine’s usefulness as a weapon is similar to that of the pen light as described below.

By grasping the rolled up magazine in the middle with the ends extending out from both sides of the fist the magazine multiplies the potential of the fist. The diameter is such that the barrel of the magazine reinforces and solidifies the fist increasing the effectiveness of the knuckles.

Four different striking modes are available with the magazine held in this manner.

Ridge hand strikes
Hammer fist strikes
Front of the knuckle punches (straight, reverse, hook, upper cut, etc)
Back fist strikes

The magazine is long enough to protrude more than two inches from both sides of the fist. However, it isn’t very effective when used as a lever to pressure the bones of the fingers or wrist because the diameter is too large and the rolled up magazine is not quite rigid enough to concentrate pressure into a point or line.

Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons

Expedient Weapons: Ball Point Pen

Ball point pens, like pen lights, make excellent Yawara sticks. And, because they are very common, they are more likely to be available as expedient weapons than most other objects. Of course, if you pick one up as an expedient weapon – you take what you get. Ball point pens can also be carried everywhere and are even less likely than pen lights to attract attention.

Although any metal or plastic pen will make a useful force-multiplying weapon; if you chose to carry a ball point pen, the larger diameter pens with aluminum barrels make the best weapons.

The ball point pen’s usefulness as a weapon is similar to that of the pen light as described below.

By grasping the pen in the middle with the ends extending out from both sides of the fist the pen multiplies the potential of the fist. The diameter is such that the barrel of the pen reinforces and solidifies the fist increasing the effectiveness of the knuckles.

Four different striking modes are available with the pen held in this manner.

Ridge hand strikes
Hammer fist strikes
Front of the knuckle punches (straight, reverse, hook, upper cut, etc)
Back fist strikes

If the pen is long enough to protrude about two inches from one side of the fist and still protrude at least 1/4 inch from the opposite side, it can also be used as a lever to pressure the bones of the fingers or wrist.

Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons

Expedient Weapons: Pen Light

Aluminum barreled pen lights that use two AA or AAA batteries are useful as weapons as well as flashlights. They are generally the right length and diameter to use as Yawara sticks (also called Kubotan).

By grasping the flashlight in the middle with the ends extending out from both sides of the fist the pen light multiplies the potential of the fist. The diameter is such that the barrel of the pen light reinforces and solidifies the fist increasing the effectiveness of the knuckles.

Four different striking modes are available with the pen light held in this manner.

Ridge hand strikes
Hammer fist strikes
Front of the knuckle punches (straight, reverse, hook, upper cut, etc)
Back fist strikes

If the pen light is long enough to protrude about two inches from one side of the fist and still protrude at least 1/4 inch from the opposite side, it can also be used as a lever to pressure the bones of the fingers or wrist.

The aluminum barreled pen light is a common tool that doubles as a weapon and can be carried everywhere – even on-board passenger aircraft.

Link to other topics in the Special Report: Expedient Weapons

Expedient Weapons: Salt Shakers

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

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

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

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