kikr

On a side note, if you are carrying a weapon that is not legal then your a criminal. The end result of your recklessness is that the honest people of society will face further restrictions on their access to the means of self protection. If you want to carry a weapon, most states have a provision to allow you to do it legally.

No, not for several years. I do have a CCW and frequent bad parts of town at odd hours because of my job. I spend alot of time doing community outreach and crisis interventions. I also have a 5 year old stepson whos father has threatened to kidnap him on more than one occasion. None the less I believe that all honest citizens have the obligation, much less the right to protect themselves and their family from those who would do them harm. If you live in one of the 48 states that permit concealed carry and are qualified to carry then it's a great idea to do so. I study the martial arts to protect myself and carry a gun to protect those I care about.

I think it may prove to be a good reinforcement training aid once the technologies advanced. I don't believe it would be a good instructional platform though. It definately could not replace the wisdom of a good sensei.

Glock 30, Fox 10% OC, ASP 21" baton, Cold Steel Voyager tanto pt, Surefire E2D.

From reading your post I want to give you two pieces of advice. First, you need to seek professional counseling. I say that sincerly, you have some issues there with boundaries, image, esteem and probally other things that they can help you work through. It'll help. Second, you can have faith in stun guns and OC. Contact your local law enforcement agency about practical self defense training in your area. Take a weapons training class from a local range, even if you dont plan on carrying a firearm (which I also recommend), and study a form of combative martial art (which you may already be doing). I sincerly hope you follow these recommendations. Good luck to you.

Your talking about a use of force continuem. It's most often set up in a ladder format IE.. Deadly Force Less than lethal weapons-batons (expandable/PR-24), OC etc Combatives Vocal Presence Thats just an example and by no means all inclusive. When using force in the continuem escalation is achieved by going one over the level of force presented according to what you have available. The level of force is determined by the attacker not by what the defender has available. Too answer your question, I use presence, vocal, combatives, impact, chemical, dog, edged weapons, and firearms are my daily "Layers".

Weapons training is practical, BUT you have to look at it the right way. First remember that all Traditional weapons were makeshift weapons, rice flail, boat oars, rods used for carrying buckets of water across the shoulders. Practicing with weapons increases, speed strength, coordination, body awareness, situational awareness, knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and respect for the responsible we have as martial artist. "with great power comes great responsibility" to quote my favorite marvel comics hero. No people dont (usually) walk around with a pair of sai's in their pocket, but we know through traditional weapons training that anything sharp, solid, flexible, or capable of launching a projectile can be used as a weapon. Good luck.

Mossberg 500, Glock 30, Cold Steel Voyager Tanto pt., Fox 10% OC, ASP 21" baton.

Of course it can. Anything that opens your mind to a new experience (without chemicals) allows you to think clearer, faster, and with more insight into your enviroment. Keep it up.

Applying my doctrine of break the mid line, close and envelope, and fight through, I'd recommend a lateral movement to his weak side, and power through his attack. Maybe a jump spinning side kick if in the open, or a step to the right with a knee lift to his abdomen follow through.

Awesome!, not sure how to apply it to my doctrine just yet but it was definately fun to visualize.

Why fight him, fighting is only done for defensive reasons, not because you want to. If you really want to take him down, approached him in a crowded room and loudly state "Hey Joe, look man I've heard/know/feel, that you've got a problem with me how about we talk about it over lunch" Chances are its a misunderstanding and I'll even go so far as to say that once you two start talking you'll both start thinking that the other is an all right guy. If not, then you took him down by taking the moral high ground, addressed your fears, and know who to stay away from. Theres enough evil in the world without creating more hatred for the sake of pride. Good luck.

sorry stated that backwards...opens for back leg kicks to his front.

Use lateral movements not linear, moving backwards can set you up for your opponent to use more powerful kicks. Look at your opponents stance, is it a classic backstance...left leg forward right leg back...move laterally outside his power zone, to the outside of his lead leg. Done quickly it closes his attack options and opens you up for front leg kicks to his head and body in the front, and back leg kicks to his back. Speed and flexibility are the keys. Good luck!

Nice post. You put some good thought into that.

First off what White Warlock said about assuming you'll receive mercy is the truth. If your facing multiple attackers your now facing a mob mentality which is much deadlier than an individual. Now for tactics...first lets look at doctrine: My doctrine is: Break the midline Close and envelope Fight through the enemy So applying that doctrine through tactics I'm going to first use lateral movements in attempt to get the BG's in a line, then I'm going to violently and quickly disable the first attacker in such a way as to clear him out of my path so that I can either escape or violently and quickly attack the next attacker and continue this untill I am either unable to fight further or have escaped. Now that we've established Doctrine and Tactics, look at my repeitoire of techniques. Techniques are determined by the situation, how many BG's are there, are they armed, what am I armed with, whats the terrain, how much room do I have, are their innocent bystanders, am I alone or am I protecting someone, what are my avenues of escape. Am I going to use sweeps, wristlocks/takedowns, head twist take down, knee and elbow strikes driven of the back leg, am I going to start shooting, am I going use a knife, have I dialed 911 on my cell phone, whats the police response time in my neighborhood if I have? These are the things you need to be thinking about not faking seizures and how far ahead can you run. If you can run don't stop. Hope this helps, Good luck.

Thats some great advice. Also when you get home soak in a HOT bath, about as hot as you can stand it. This will help with soreness by increasing the circulation and cycling out some of the lactic acid. Make sure you eat plenty of banana's or drink lots of orange juice, this will help maintain a good level of K+ and keep you from having muscle cramps. Good luck and stay with it!

Try to do some light warm up before any stretching, even if its a walk down the hall. Go slowly, no ballistic stretching. It is definately a good idea to stretch everyday, its the most important facet of the physical training. Good luck

I hold 2nd dan in TKD but have had the honor of studying in multiple styles all over the world. Regardless of your past experiences, when you walk through the doors of a dojo its a brand new experience and should be approached as such. Many dojo's I've attended had an oath that was recited at the beginning of ever class, "I will never misuse the martial arts" was a key statement in all those oaths. Those gentlemen misused their art to. "I will be a champion of Justice" was another theme of those oaths. I can't say if what you did was right or not, I wasn't there. But I get the sense from your post that you had at least intended to champion for the weaker members of your school who were being bullied. That I can applaud. Good job!

Col Dave Grossman "On Killing" Gavin DeBecker "The Gift of Fear" Rick Fields "The Code of the Warrior" Plus many of the books mentioned already. Remember The more you know, the less they can use against you.