Swing and a Hit! 4:7 (10/23/2002) in Keeping Safe

Saturday dawned, and after breakfast at a really good restaurant named Hobee’s, class reconvened at the training center.

We practiced the moves we had learned the previous evening, again at slow speed and with no contact, after which the male instructors stepped into the small office and donned their protective gear, but carried their headgear in hand back into the main room. The instructors then briefed the class on their body armor, mentioning that it serves two functions: first, that it protects the instructor from bodily harm while playing the role of the mugger; and second, that the headgear removes the face of the instructor from the mugger, so that the student is able to feel no concern as to the health or safety of an assailant wishing to do him (or, more usually her) serious harm. We then practiced those same moves again, with light contact and a slight increase in speed and force.

Saturday afternoon, the instructors added to the students’ repertoire with moves designed to address situations where a victim is attacked from behind. They demonstrated, for example, countermoves for two kinds of bear hugs - one where the victim’s hands and arms are free, and the other where arms are pinned to sides; as well as an arm grabbed from behind, a shoulder similarly grabbed, and a hair grab [not particularly relevant to me, but still a good situation with which to be familiarized]. There was the additional wrinkle of the possibility that the arm grab and the shoulder grab were not unfriendly, instead simply an inappropriate move made by a friendly individual with no social skills. In addition, the class practiced dropping to the floor - it sounds suicidal, but on the floor a victim suddenly has access to the incredibly powerful weapons found in the legs and heels. Furthermore, a male fighter on the floor who was attacked by a woman will avoid being mistaken as the aggressor.

At this point the class was practicing at around quarter- to half-speed and -force. The male instructors were taking turns taking on each student in line, and and each student had a one-on-one chance to practice each situation one scenario at a time. The script for each fight was beginning to loosen up and allow for the spontaneity and unpredictability found in real-life assaults. Before each new fight, we gathered in a “NO” circle, similar to a football huddle, where the female instructor would describe the script and situation for the upcoming fight. The circle would conclude with her asking if anyone had anything they wanted to say “NO” to, then on a count of three leading a right-foot stomp and a shout of “NO!”.

In the evening before dinner, the instructors added the final set of moves, designed to address the situation where the victim is knocked down, and comes to with an attacker piled on top. By this time the class was practicing at full force and speed, and the scripting was almost non-existent. We knew that the fight would involve the student lying either facedown or faceup with closed eyes, with the signal to start being the mugger saying something. Beyond that however, the student knew little about the attack until it actually began and the student opened his eyes and assessed the situation.

Every fight ended with a submission move by the mugger consisting of the instructor lying with his hands holding his helmet. The female instructor would blow a whistle and position herself between the student and the mugger in case a late blow came out of the student’s body (some did, though it didn’t happen in my case). The student was instructed to get up, walk to a point four feet directly above the head of the mugger, look 360 degrees in a ready stance and scan the immediate area while saying “LOOK!”, then assess the downed mugger while saying “ASSESS!”, then stomp with his outside foot and say “NO!”, then WALK NOT RUN to the safety area. The WALK NOT RUN concept addresses the dissimilar conventions surrounding a male versus a female: if a bystander happened upon a just-finished fight and saw a figure running towards hir, if the figure is female it will be assumed she is in trouble and needs protection. However, if the figure is male, if he is running, it can easily be assumed he was the aggressor in the recent fight and that the bystander is next on the list of victims. Therefore, a male must WALK NOT RUN from the scene of the fight.

Throughout Saturday, in addition to the physical fighting, the class also practiced de-escalation techniques, which would hopefully keep a physical fight from ever occurring. After all, if things never become physical, no one will be hurt. One big problem for males is the fact that many grow up believing that walking away from a fight is equivalent to losing the fight. Not true - winning can take place through de-escalation of the conflict, as well as finishing the fight if it does turn physical despite all efforts to the contrary.

Last updated January 19, 2015