Thursday, June 4, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Escaping Side Chokes on the Ground (P1)
Many assaults end up with attacker and defender on the ground.
One of the first ground techniques we teach is escaping a side choke on the ground. These assaults can happen after you are knocked or thrown down. Your air is being cut off and an attacker (usually larger and stronger) is trying to keep you on the ground. What do you do?
Here are some pointers for escaping this very dangerous attack.
1. Pluck to breathe. Similar to standing chokes your first priority is breathing and an effective tool to do this is a pluck. Pluck with the hand furthest from the attacker as the other will be busy preventing him from collapsing on you.
2. Create space. Striking palm to chest (some people strike to face or throat) to prevent attacker from getting closer. Immediately replace your arm with your inside leg (your leg should be diagonal across his torso - like a seat belt. You will have to elevate you hips (see pic above).
3. Strike/kick and Get him off of you! As your inside leg is maintaining space the outside leg is also elevating ready to kick. The legs work together. The outside kicks him in the head as the inside pushes.
4. Get Up!. You are kicking through the attacker and landing with your kicking/outside leg forward facing the attacker. Preferably you can get up quickly and escape but if the attacker persists you are in a position to attack with your legs.
Stay safe,
Christopher Gagne
Lead Instructor, International Krav Maga Federation, Toronto
torontokrav@rogers.com
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Defending Against Ice Pick Knife Attack - Close Range (P1)
Footage of knife attacks often show the assailant stabbing in a downward motion- what we call the ice pick attack. It is not a sophisticated attack but can be very strong.
Avoidance and escaping are your best options as any knife attack can lead to serious injury or death. If avoidance is not possible and distance allows, a kicking defense is most effective. We do not want the attacker to close the distance. What do we do, however, if the the attack is close, too close to run or kick?
Some tips to surviving such an attack:
1. Block and strike at the same time. Your blocking hand is open as your perform a forearm defense using the bony part of your arm against his wrist. (See pic below). You are not absorbing the arm but attacking it as early as possible to minimize his momentum and to keep the knife away. You are striking at the same time with a punch or palm strike to the face. This strike can hinder his momentum and prevent him from closing the distance. Otherwise he will continue his attack with repeated stabs. If his head snaps back the rest of his body might follow allowing you to escape. (Disarming (G1) is an option but escaping is preferred if possible).
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| Avi Moyal with simultaneous block and punch |
2. Kicking (an option): Kicking after the initial block and strike might not always be practical - imagine, for instance, you are defending on a slippery sidewalk, or in an elevator. Kicking, however, can give you more time to escape. Bursting, by blocking with force, and striking the face as hard as possible can stop the attacker's forward momentum and even reverse it, creating space for a kick. It is vital that you maintain contact with your blocking arm (see pic below) to keep the knife away and to have a tactile sense of the most immediate danger.
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| Kicking attack while maintaining contact with knife hand |
3. Some Common Mistakes:
- closing the fist of the blocking hand
- not maintaining contact with the blocking hand as you punch/palm
- not recoiling your strike
- not leaning forward (body defense)
The ice pick attack is on of the more common knife assaults. If escape is not possible you have to "attack the attacker". As daunting as this is, it is the only way to survive a close range assault.
Stay safe,
Christopher Gagne
Lead Instructor, International Krav Maga Federation, Toronto
Monday, April 13, 2015
Blind University Student Learns Krav Maga in Toronto (IKMF Toronto) by Luke Gagliardi
On December 16th 2011, a blind man
from Ponoka British Columbia was beaten until his face was unrecognizable to
people who knew him well. On October 29th 2013, Micheal Smith from Whitby
Ontario was assaulted by two females over a taxi ride. Unfortunately, there too
many cases similar to these to relate them all without needing a forest of
paper. The prevalence of assault cases on the blind is serious problem in
today’s society. “People who feel anonymous are more likely to act violently”,
a retired police officer once told me in reference to internet crime, “When
people think they’re anonymous they feel empowered to do what they never would
in a face to face situation… People almost never commit a crime that they think
they will get caught for, at the time of the crime they always think they will
get away with it”. That seems to hold true for the cases regarding assaults on
the blind. Perpetrators assume that they are anonymous, and that the blind are
defenceless. They are wrong.
I talked to my friend Ka, whose eyesight is so
limited that he is considered fully blind, and he is far from defenceless. In
all appearances Ka seems like an average guy, but he’s not. Ka is one of the
most driven people I know, he’s incredibly independent and ambitious. He’s one
of those guys who you know are going to get exactly what they want from life.
Ka has had a very athletic background; he’s done everything from goal ball— a
really fun blind sport that is sort of like a hybrid of handball and soccer— to
rock climbing, and he’s putting all that experience to the test, every Monday
and Wednesday, at the International Krav Maga Federation of Toronto. Under the
direction of lead instructor Christopher Gagné, Ka is learning what most would
agree is the pinnacle of self-defence. When I said Ka wasn’t an average guy, I
meant it. Ka, is blind in only the stiffest definition of the word. He has
incredible echo-location and spacial-awareness skills, as well as hundreds of
hours of traffic awareness training. Despite his lack of optics, Ka is a highly
visual person that follows self-constructed, and very detailed mental maps of
his environment. Ka has no problem navigating familiar spaces, or exploring new
ones. If you can picture how Neo sees in the Matrix, you might start to
understand how Ka navigates. Now, if you can picture Neo fighting blind, you’re
getting closer to understanding Ka.
Krav Maga is one of those arts that
requires more than reflexes or biceps. It’s an intensive art that requires
incredible dedication, and thousands of hours practice. It’s not just about
form and stance. It’s about tactics, and to Ka, “it’s all about strategy”. I
asked Ka how he is as a martial artist, I asked him to put modesty aside and
tell me how good he thinks he is. Being a humble guy with high goals, Ka said
only that he “has a lot of potential”. Ka mentioned that part of his potential
is the practiced awareness he has for his surroundings and his own level of
dedication at accomplishing his goals. Ka told me that most of his friends are
very successful people who inspire him to reach further, and inspire him to set
high goals. To Ka, blindness isn’t a disability, it’s just something that makes
him work harder. It’s this work ethic, this level of commitment and
perseverance that makes Ka a perfect martial artist. Ka, is always on the move,
always trying to improve himself. He is a great advocate for independence and
constantly works on acquiring the skills to be completely self-sustaining.
For
Ka and many others, Krav Maga adds an unshakable confidence that bolsters this
independence. What Ka wants the blind community to know is that they are not
defenceless, they possess innate skills that give them martial advantages, and
make them dangerous to those who would mistake them as easy prey. Ka explained
that when people move he can track them by the sound the air makes as it
rustles their clothes. He can follow their movements and he can strike. I asked
Ka if he thinks people would be surprised at how easily he could put them down.
He told me that his instructor remarked on how “he barely ever misses”, and he
has learned how to put a lot of weight behind those hits.
But it’s not all
hitting, Krav Maga teaches you situational awareness. Ka talked me through the
basic stances. He elaborated on the passive stance, a stance that is to be
constantly maintained with a vigilance that leaves a person always ready. This
doesn’t mean that those trained in Krav Maga walk around always looking for a
fight, just that they are always prepared in case one is brought to them. This
is something that appealed to Ka when he was deciding what martial art he
wanted to try. Ka mentioned the “One-Touch System”: training specially designed
for blind people that teaches them how to break holds or escape grabby strangers.
This, Ka said, “isn’t the most effective way to do things” he mentioned how
“you break the grip, sure, but then what?” The One Touch System doesn’t, if
you’ll pardon the pun, pack the punch Krav Maga does. It doesn’t take you all
the way. This is the strategy that Ka mentioned earlier. Krav Maga teaches more
than what to do when you get in a fight. It teaches you how to talk down
aggressive people to avoid one, or how to incapacitate someone long enough to
get away after one. Krav Maga, while militaristic, isn’t overly violent. Sure,
it’s hard, but it’s effective, and it’s all for defence.
Ka’s final message was
one of encouragement. He told me that he wants everyone, especially those in
the blind community, to have the skills to be independent. He wants to help
others achieve that independence, he wants to encourage everyone to learn Krav
Maga, and one day he even dreams of instructing a specialized course for the
blind. He believes that Krav Maga gives the blind a confidence and edge that no
other training can give. And as far as I’m concerned, if it means that the
people assaulting the blind think twice before trying anything, that’s good
enough. Those pathetic predators should be warned, Ka and his ilk are a lot
closer to Daredevil than the damsel in distress.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Horizontal Elbow Strikes(P1) - Effective Short Range Tools
One of the goals of the Practitioner 1 program is to introduce striking at various distances, directions and angles appropriate to the situation. For an overview of striking tools visit: http://ikmfto.blogspot.com/2013/08/self-defense-striking-tools-introduction.html
Elbows are close range striking tools. The IKMF Practitioner 1 curriculum includes three horizontal elbow strikes: Inward, sideways, backwards.
- Inward: This is a forward strike. Examples include defending against two-handed shirt grab(G2) and defending against gun threat from behind (see pic below). If you are striking with your right, bring your hand to your shoulder, bending the arm in a tight "V". You are usually striking the side of the attackers head/face. Your non-striking arm (in this case your left) should be vertical, hands up protecting your face and ribs. For maximum power, you are rotating your shoulder, back, hips and right foot. You are striking on a horizontal plane, making contact just below the tip of the elbow.(this concentrates your strike on a small surface). Keep your hands open!
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| Expert Gail Boxrud demos inward elbow... |
2. Sideways: You are striking someone beside you at close range. Escaping bear hugs
from the side, arms free(P3) is an example. Go through the target in a circular motion
striking with the surface just above your elbow.
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| Sideways elbow against side bear hug |
3. Backwards: The motion is similar to Sideways but you are continuing through the middle of
your back. Escaping bear hugs from the back - arms free (P3) offers a clear example.
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| Student performs backward elbows to escape rear bear hug. |
Elbows are very effective close range striking tools. Remember to keep you hands open, bend your arm into a tight V, rotate your body, and strike through the target.
Stay safe,
Christopher Gagne
Lead Instructor, International Krav Maga Federation, Toronto
torontokrav@rogers.com
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