August, 2008

SFC HEADQUARTERS DOCTRINE

"Read by Thousands Round' the World!"

10 August to 25 August 2008: The Stop 6 Module

All fighting is situational. I would like to document a method of teaching I have been using a lot these last three years which has helped me organize tactics and situations, or to be more specific, placing isolated, sterile tactics into dirty situations. I have nicknamed the study, "The Stop 6.” This name has been with me for years because it was a nickname for very bad, crime-ridden, gang-banging, neighborhood in Ft Worth, TX. Since the city where I worked was just north of Ft Worth, we detectives were visiting the Stop 6 investigating our felonies with some frequency. I can’t remember why they called it Stop 6 or if it still so bad a hood? But with this history, Stop 6 stuck in my brain as a nickname related to crime and violence.

In a one-on-one confrontation, which statisticians say happens about 60% of the time, there can be...and I repeat...can be...6 common and possible stopping points, or collision points. I guess some might use the word “ranges?” But I think these stopping points are way more personall, telling and vital about events and problem-solving than just about tape-measure distance.

When one person charges in, or two people try to charge in, and/or actually crash/collide, they may momentarily stop or get stuck at these six common reference, stopping points. The more you are trained, the less you will stop. The less you are trained? I found the more and longer you will stop at these points. Once you become aware of the stopping points, you will see the untrained get stutter-stepped , or stopped cold and stuck there in encounters, or on the television news, documentaries and many shows like Fox's Cops.

The one-on-one, Stop 6 are:

Stop 1: At a stand-off and or “Showdown”
Stop 2: At the hands
Stop 3: At the forearms
Stop 4: At or about the shoulders (left biceps-neck-right biceps)
Stop 5: At bear hugs, clinches
Stop 6: On the ground

...and thats with or without mixed weapons of knife, impact and gun and their quickdraws. In fact, this study is the greatest tool I've found in developing pistol and knife stress quick draws. When you introduce a weapon in the Stop 6, I feel as though you are grasping a higher level of weapon skill when studied and exercised through this situational context. I use format frequently in the Police Judo courses.

Enforcement arrests, or close quarter fights, be they of crime or war, can start, pass through or finish at any one of these stops. In each stop you might use:

Verbal skills

Disengagement skills

Draw weapons

Counter weapon draws

Fight aggressively

Defend "aggressively"

Understand "use of force laws" and "rules if engagement"

Execute Fight Finishers

I have found this little outline to be a great self defense, list-maker and seminar, or seminar series, or even a class theme. In the upcoming days I will write about each stop and this time? I will try to keep them in order here, which sort of violates blog format which tends to be lastest-first formats, so I will add the new addition to the bottom of the list, not the top for the sake of continuity.

STOP ONE: The Showdown / Stand-Off

The common confrontation begins or stalls at the stand-off/showdown position, where two people are standing within a lunge and reach of each other and a usual exchange words at some volume and intensity. This could be a disagreement, a confrontation over anything, or a crime such as mugging, robbery, kidnap, or an arrest and detainment in progress. You get the idea.

Stop One Issue: Disagreement, confrontation over anything

Stop One Issue: Crime such as mugging, robbery, kidnap

Stop One Issue: Arrest, detainment

Stop One Issue: Could be unarmed

Stop One Issue: Could be unarmed vs. weapons

Stop One Issue: Could be mixed weapons such as your chair versus his derringer?

Stop One Issue: Could be more-or-less matched weapons such as knives? Guns? Impact Weapons of some sort?

And then training training methods:

Training Plans: Verbal skills

Training Plans: Orderly, smart retreat plans

Training Plans: “The Starting block,” explosive speed, since this stand-off can ivolve involve closing in or such popular martial arts terms like “closing the gap,” or “entering” there are skill sets involved with pulling this off.

Training Plans: Intimidating ready/fighting positions or so-called fighting stance/command presence.

Training Plans: Learn the common approaches of these criminals. The criminal apprached diffferently than the angry, road rager.

Training Plans: Deception

Training Plans: A trained repertoire of high-yield/high success quick strikes, Sucker punches and kicks

Training Plans: Improvised and/or common weapon quick draws

Training Plans: Countering weapon quick draws

A duel with equal weapons? NO WAY! Get the advantage as soon as possible.

One might say that an entire world of study can be undertaken to enhance just this very first Showdown, stopping point of the six of Stop 6. Systems such as those related to kickboxing and MMA would be an isolated study and skill development here, and even then you have to take care to eliminate all the sport cancers found in them.

If there is to be any so-called “dueling?” This is the range that dueling might occur. Weapon systems and martial arts often spend too much time, or a disproportionate amount of time working in the dueling range and the expense of other ranges more likely to occur. In essence, stopping their training at the first stop and not adequately covering the other 5 stopping points. How many karate systems, how many Wing Chun work zero grappling? Oddly? Still? Quite a few! (Or the revese? Do too much wrestling/submission and not even power punching?)

I teach every one of these subject in various seminars and every one of these Showdown training plan subjects deserves a whole module of training and development, maybe even a lifetime of work and study, huh? Take for example “verbal skills?” A lot there, but you shouldn't need a doctorate in psychology to learn some workable tricks, plans and solutions. You also shouldn't need to be a UFC or Muay Thai world champ, to deal with the Stop One confrontations once you identify the who, what, where, when, how and why of high-percentage attacks in your world. Start with the high precenatges, then work down to the low.

Stop TWO: The Common Palm-to-Palm Stop

Ever watch the tv news and see a fight in the Taiwan parliament or the West Palm Beach City Hall Counsel meeting. You will often see in these stop situations, and a palm-to-palm stop. If you charge someone to grab them, push them, pull or arrest them, you often go after your prey with hands up. Looks like at why this hand to hand catch is a common occurrence. Here are the possibilites:

Hand Stop 1: You charge in hands up

Hand Stop 2: He charged in hands up

Hand Stop 3: You both charges in, hands up

Hand Stop 4: He protects himself, and his hand go up.

Hand Stop 5: You protect yourself and your hands go up.

These impulsive actions and reactions may lead to a palm-to-palm stop! Lets zoom in and look further to even more specific possibilities…

Fingers 1: One hand of each connect at the fingers

Fingers 2: Both hands connect at the fingers

Fingers 3: Finger mesh exactly, even jamming web-to web

Fingers 4: Fingers do not match

If the fingers match and crash deep down into the webs between the fingers? Then the strongest man, in a classic, old movie-like confrontation will probably win and force the weaker one down, unless the weaker one does something like kick. At this point some quick strategies are:

A Solution: Keep at tight grip on the right hand of the opponent. If 90% of the population is right handed and if you maintain a finger-locking grip on the enemy's right hand, you are short-changing his chance to draw a knife or gun.

A Solution: If you see a hand-to-hand crash coming try not to connect your fingers in a zipper-like matched set. If you off set these fingers and not do deep down to the web , your ability to twist the opponent into a finger lock, break or even a takedown.

A Solution: Kick the hell out of the opponent's knees and groin.

A Solution: try to yank your hand/hands free.

Stop 3: The Forearm Stop

This is stop when parties crash and meet at the forearms. A common reflexive movement. This could be:

Forearm Stop 1: Any combination of forearms hitting each other

Forearm Stop 2: One man grabs the others forearms

Forearm Stop 3: Each man has a hold on each other's forearm

Some solutions are:

A Solution: Kicking

A Solution: Learning to slap arms away and/or pass arms and grab

A Solution: Learn releasing techniques

Stopping Point 4: The Shoulder Stop

Another common stopping point is the shoulders, or hands on each other shoulders with the occasional hand on the throat. The arms are usually outstretched. Defeating this stopping point is Self Defense 101 and even a semi-experienced martial artist could probably amass a quick list of 20 counters is a minute. I recall being taught solutions to this problem while a white belt studying to be a yellow belt.

Stopping Point 5: the Classic Clinch
This is some of a bear hug, sports or otherwise chaotic.

Arms are caught in, or are free, or one arm in, one arm out.

Stopping Point 6: The Ground
One of the common ways we hit the ground is, simply put, we fall.

That is reason enough alone to learn ground fighting. We are often on the top, on the bottom or on our sides.

A smart tactician studies problem solving from all six of these very common stopping points

Stop 1: At a stand-off and or “Showdown”
Stop 2: At the hands
Stop 3: At the forearms
Stop 4: At or about the shoulders
Stop 5: At bear hugs, clinches
Stop 6: On the ground

Adios, Amigos...

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8 August 2008: The Un-Retained Taser?

In furtherance of the 5 August essay on gun hips and all the gear now carried by police and security from hip to shining hip, this news story just came in,

"An Ahwatukee man "shocked" police on Monday after allegedly running through Kyrene de los Cerritos Elementary School at the end of its first day of classes, pushing and nearly running over a principal and later, after fleeing the school, turning a police Taser on three officers... before officers could reach him, he hopped back into the car and coasted down the hill to his South 10th Place home, Matsko said. Lawrence ran into his home before officers could catch him. As Matsko and others encouraged Lawrence to come out of his home, he opened and slammed his door to taunt police, Matsko said. When he opened his door enough for police to arrest him, Lawrence apparently grabbed one officer's Taser and deployed it on three - including Matsko - who responded to the scene. None received serious injuries. After a continued struggle, police arrested Lawrence on suspicion of four counts of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and fleeing the scene of an accident. He was taken to Chandler Regional Hospital for treatment of minor injuries to his face and then booked into Maricopa County jail on $100,000 bail." The full story here: Click here

This started at the local "school," then add the word "Taser" and therefore it has all the buzz words and catch terms to electrify the police world and the media into a near-frenzy.

"Suspect Shot After Shocking Texas Officer" Posted: Monday, August 11, 2008. In another story posted by BLANCA CANTU of the The Dallas Morning News. She reports, " a 23-year-old man in police custody was shot over the weekend when police say he grabbed an Arlington officer's stun gun. Police say the man was arrested on warrants after a traffic stop at about 9 p.m. Sunday. As the officer drove on East Abram Street, the suspect, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, kicked the partition glass in the patrol car and moved his hands to the front of his body. The officer stopped the car, and as the two struggled the suspect grabbed the officer's stun gun and "used the Taser against the officer," Arlington police said. The officer shot the suspect when he advanced toward him, still armed. The suspect was being treated at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available this morning. The officer, who has been with the Arlington force for three years, was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

I run these two stories here because just two days ago, I wrote here about pistol belts and the overlooked, Taser retention problems. These events have happened and will happen. It won't be long before the full proliferation of Taser retention holsters - attached cameras and all. And, the bells and whistles, switches and releases of the Bat Belt just grows and grows and grows...

Adios, Amigos,

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5 August 2008: "A Big Iron on his Hip...." The Gun Hip

How hip are you about guns? I mean what hip do you carry your gun on and where do you try to keep that hip when you are on duty? Forward? Neutral? Back? Can you keep track? Really?

“But I should stand gun-side back!” the officer declared. “I should fight gun-side back.”

And, this remark, still causes me pause when an agent, officer or gun toter' wonders how to stand when executing a particular fighting tactic I have been teaching in a seminar.

“Well, at times,” is the best answer I can offer on the fly, then, I try to turn it into a group discussion later when there is time. I need time because it is a complicated issue with many ancillary problems. It can be vexing when scrutinized. I use to hear the “gun hip back” declaration more often back in the 1980s and 1990s and it seems to me I hear less of this an accepted mandate these days. But I do still hear it (last weekend)! There is a gun in every fight we have. We brought it!

Stances ANyway... First off, to complicate my answer from a simple yes or no, into a board meeting of pros and cons? As a standard practice, from the get-go, I am not big on enforcing the mandatory, “everybody stands this way,” so-called hand, stick, knife or gun, fighting stance, or using the word stance at all, for that matter. There is no football scoring, stance, no basketball, scoring stance and there is no real fighting stance.

Fighting and sports are about balance and power in motion. Over- regimenting and over-emphasizing a fighting stance into picture-perfect conformity is just that is becomes just that, making a statue or a still photo, while a fight is in full-blown Blue-Ray motion. I prefer the word concepts and terms like athletic positions or ready positions than strict fighting stances…something like that. Yeah, yeah, its just words…but still.

Gun Hip Back Stances... When can we best mandate a gun-hip back..."stance?" How about during an interview? An interview stance is not really a fighting stance, just like when a runner is in the starting blocks at the track, he is not racing yet either. That's a “starting” stance too, if you will.” Perhaps, when an armed officer is in some sort of an interview and before any action begins, he or she too is in a the starting blocks and some type of gun-back position is possible to maintain. Keep in mind that gun-hip-back means that your most coordinated limb, or your “strong-side” is back and away from the problem person.

I will always suggest and demonstrate a short series of pre-fight, pre-ready positions to get people prepared for the coming danger for these times. Despite the variety, there are many common denominators in a ready, interview position. They are:

- Relaxed

- Hands up in some manner, hopefully not too aggressively

- Body bladed (and the gun hip can be back)

- Knees slightly bent

- Monitoring his hands because it's the hands that will likely attack you

- Monitoring his hands because they draw weapons and injure or kill you

- Monitoring the surroundings

All From which you will explosively need to:

-  run, or…

-  charge,

-  block

-  strike

-  push

-  kick

-  dodge, duck or drop

-  draw a weapon

-  …and surprise! Probably something else not on this list because life comes at you hard and fast and weird.

Each person, based on their job, size, strength, sex, weapon positioning and personality should eventually develop their own interview position. Be flexible. Teachers mentor their pupils into the best things for them. Mentor, not mandate. One size shoe does not fit all and one fighting stance does not a perfect fighting stance make for everyone.

But in the interview position problem, perhaps it is indeed workable to position your pistol hip to the rear. But there are more caveats! Let me note here that if your pistol is to the rear, your folding knife is clipped in your other side pocket and/or the baton is probably on the front hip too? Your pepper spray? Your taser? Yes? No?

The Dark Knight's Dark Belt... In fact, YOU my friend, are walking Batman utility belt of weaponry aren't you? Put the gun side back and put the Taser forward and so on and on. I have a small, quick program for police and the military about distracting and disarming the multi-sided, multi-weapon carrying opponent. I do not teach it to civilians. It is a learning experience for the laden-down, good guys. You might have no idea how fast your tactical folder, or spray, or Taser might be snatched with a simple fake, reach or touch on your pistol. You've got a nice weapon-retention holster for your Glock, but not for that Taser! Or pocket folder!

Which leads me next to the fight and this “fighting stance” discussion part of the fight. I am surprised that inexperienced officers, or experienced officers/survivors of numerous fights and arrests still ponder the gun-hip back ideas. There must be a mental disconnect between what they experienced and some of these classic training questions. Allow me to matriculate with an alliterate.

Ever watch the UFC on television? Ever get the idea that when the shit hits the proverbial fan, the real, deal-push-comes-to-shove, comes to blood, comes to guts, nobody has barely an idea what hip is where and when? Forward, rear or neutral? What you see on the UFC show in some ways looked a lot like the chaotic street fight and arrest you had last Wednesday night, and I'll wager you didn't quite know what hip was where, through most of the fight either. Yet you still think and worry that you can maintain a particular fighting stance with gun-back through all the fight time?

I would suggest rather than trying to orchestrate fights with mandatory, gun-back, fighting stances, you'd better just get a good, retention holster. But the pros and cons of retention holsters are the subjects of a whole other essay.

Adios, Amigos,

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1 August, 2008: Police Chief Brick Wall, meet rookie Officer Brick Wall

Last month I heard from a disgruntled patrol sergeant on a medium, midwestern USA police department, who is also one of our SFC and Police Judo Instructors. He has been trying to organize some training in the region and hit a brick wall. Call that wall, Police Chief Wall. Brick Wall.

Chief B. Wall I am told, is about as athletic as an obese, diabetic, pencil pusher. When our sergeant asked him about approving such training the chief responded with, “Well, that why we bought you fellers pepper spray and pistols.”

You already know what our agent in place argued back. He declared that we can’t always get out and use spray and then, the misty stuff doesn't t always work like gangbusters. The Chief decided to ask our agent to do a demonstration of his planned outline. He did a demo, and the chief nixed everything as too violent, all but a wrist lock - because it looked like the PPCT wrist lock he once did. So, the use of force continuum unofficially there now is pepper spray, a wrist lock and of course - the usual death by bullets. Why hit a guy in the head and knock him out, when you could just shoot him in the head?

Then later in the month I spoke with another training sergeant from the Great Lakes area, USA and this T.O. was depressed over a new batch of rookies fresh from their regional, police academy. This training sergeant met rookie Officer Wall. Brick Wall. No relation to the aforementioned police chief except that they must both be from the twilight zone. When the agency staff started their in-house training regimen with their new grads, the group was confused and unresponsive. The rookies wanted to know why they should bother with all these other physical tactics when they were certified with their pepper spray and if that failed, they had their Glocks.

I just found this two stories, in one month, quite ironic. From the top law enforcement officer - the Chief, on down to the lowest, the brand new rookie, this mindset of ignorance and innocence. Fighting skills have never been treasured by modern police administrations, but now in an era of pepper spray and even tazers, it seems a new level of bliss has arrived. A new brick wall has met the old brick wall.

Adios, Amigos,

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Email Hock at Hock@HocksCQC.com