Evolution of Combative Anatomy

It has been just over a year since I coined the term Combative Anatomy, the study of incapacitating your attacker during a violent attack. Since that time I have done more research on the subject and have some new thoughts.

First, let’s define incapacitation. For our purposes it means that the attacker is physically unable to continue to attack. Since the majority of initial defenses are likely to be open handed even against weapons, we cannot count on things like pain compliance because of tolerance or desensitization related to drugs or alcohol. Defenses need to focus on the mechanism of attacks and not the method i.e., destroying the elbow of the arm that holds the knife instead of trying to disarm the knife.

Regardless of whether you are defending yourself with your hands, stick, gun, or firearms there are only two ways you can cause trauma to your attacker, and they are cutting and crushing. You either penetrate the skin or you don’t. The hierarchy of incapacitation is as follows-

Central nervous system
Skeletal system
Muscular system
Circulatory System

It is interesting to note that although trauma to the circulatory system is most likely to prove fatal it may actually be the slowest in terms on the immediacy in which it causes physical incapacitation that stops your attacker. With the exception of choking, targeting of the circulatory system is also impossible with the personal or impact weapons.

Instead of having a specific game plan or secret move, I feel it is more effective to target areas of the body that are most vulnerable to open hand attacks that are likely to be exposed during an altercation. These targets have been narrowed down to-

Head- responsible for decision-making
Elbow- the lynch pin of all open hand attack and using weapons
Knee- responsible for locomotion, base and balance

The way to combat the failure of specific targeting is redundancy. Since an attack with the open hand or a contact distance weapon would expose all three primary targets, all should be attacked if possible. For example, if someone were to attack you with a tire iron and you were able to move to the outside you would- smash the weapon side elbow with your elbow or palm, smash your knee into the side of theirs and then yank them back causing their head to strike a wall or vehicle. This of course is an example in open hand force vs deadly force. A slap to the side of the head is also an effective optional technique. Disruption of the central nervous system should be considered the primary target even if it is not attacked first.

This doctrine allows for a measured open hand response that because of its effectiveness may prevent the need to escalate to a mechanical or deadly force option. As a side note, practicing these techniques even in a controlled environment is likely to result in hyper extended knees and elbow. Headgear should also be worn. Communication with your training partner is the key.

Now a few words on Combative Anatomy as it relates to the use of an edged weapon for self-defense. Again it seems that our goal needs to be defined as stopping our attacker as fast as possible, not killing them eventually. The debate over stab vs cut continues. Since attacking the central nervous system with an edged weapon is improbable we will discuss the most effective way to attack the circulatory system. Most of those knowledgeable and trained in edged weapons prefer to stab and believe they will be able to do so even when attacked. Since I believe that the vast majority of people reading this are likely to never use an edged weapon offensively, I can only theorize that if they do have to use one it will be in response to being attacked.

My research has shown that when people are on the defense and moving to the rear they are more likely to slash. The people that I have observed have ranged from novices to those who would define themselves as seasoned knifers. Either way they responded the same way. This is telling since it has been my experience that many folks who carry a knife for self defense have little to no training and consider their knife a last ditch weapon. What I teach has to be as effective for those who attend a weekend seminar as it is for those who pursue edged weapons as a martial art. For this reason I don’t feel comfortable teaching stabbing as a primary counter attack.

For those of you who don’t hunt, try watching a few hunting shows. You can see hunters shooting white tail dear with shotguns, rifles, and bows. I don’t think that anyone would argue that a knife would cause more damage than any of these other weapons. Their shots usually target the circulatory system. Most of the time the animal recoils in shock before bolting off to die a distance away. How much damage could a human do in that time? This overwhelming trauma to the thoracic cavity results in an adrenaline dump and blood pumping into the legs allowing the animal to run. They are for a few seconds able to run faster on their extremities than they ever have before. Why don’t they target the head and the central nervous system or the skeletal system? One is for the trophy and one is sportsmanship. It is more important to kill them eventually than to stop them immediately. The exact opposite of what we need to do when defending ourselves against human predators.

These theories on Combative Anatomy continue to reinforce my belief that Inverted Edge Tactics offer the best defensive edged weapon skills.

First of all the use of the inverted edge prevents people from swinging wildly outside the silhouette of their attacker which increases economy of motion, while at the same time targets by default the inherent weaknesses of the body.

The most important feature of IET is that it takes advantage of the fact that arteries and nerves run together along the contours of the muscle like a wiring harness. As with the open hand this combats the likeliness of failure with redundancy. The more systems attacked the better the chance of physiological failure.

Careful consideration needs to be made in reference to how humans respond during stress, the positions we are likely to find ourselves in, and the most effective way to blend those things to formulate repeatable tactics to stop attacks as fast as possible.
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It is a gun forum but people carry other things like kubatons and knives.

I am sorry if the deer metaphor, I was only talking about the traumatic effects against the circulatory system. What was posted was more in reference to having to do something open handed first to deploy a pistol during a spontaneous attack.

One thing that I have seen covered to death is the gun vs knife. Even if you do get a your gun out and empty a magazine into the chest of your attacker it may not prevent you from getting cut or stabbed before he dies. Physical control of a contact distance weapon is likely to require physical contact. Putting rounds on target needs to be coupled with getting off line, hopefully to his non reaction side and may require open hand skills with a pistol in your hand. Too often during force on force people fixate on the weapon and forget they can strike, wrap and redirect with the other hand.

What specifically would you like me to expand on? My area of expertise is open hand, stick knife and pistol within seven yards. I don't give one preference over the other as far as training time goes. Tools and tactics need to be like sharks teeth, when one fails there is another one right behind it to keep biting.

Lee, great comments.

It seems that when you start discussing having to deploy and use your pistol within seven yards people have the same response as if they were picking out their cemetery plot. In their mind they know that they need to consider both things but as fast as the subject is brought up they change it to something that makes them feel better.

The wall at the National Law Enforcement Memorial and the flag draped caskets at Dover AFB are full of names and bodies of people who probably never envisioned that things would turn out the way they did.

For many people training with the pistol within seven yards is just two dicey and humbling so they avoid it. The funny thing is that I feel that these counterattack and deployment skills are the most important skill set and can be trained almost anywhere without the need to fire a live round.

We should concern ourselves with the business of stopping our attacker instead of what tool we do it with.

For me the scariest time during a pistol course is when we first start drawing from concealment. The first part of markmanship fundamentals is the master grip. As soon as you put pressure on some folks they get all assed up and loose their composure fumbling over and over. This is without someone else in physical contact with you.

It is about recognizing your options, even with your eyes closed you will know from what you feel where your opponents head, elbows and knees are. I call this body mapping.

The elbow is extremely easy to injure as is the knee. During practice you find out fast just how easy. Of course I would not advise trying to punch and elbow. However once you are on the outside you can smash with your palm or arm as you stabilize it with your other hand. It is even easier just to stretch by using your chest. I realize this is hard to visualize. I will try to shoot some video this week.

As a cop I was in plenty of situations were several officers were striking someone with little effect. That leads me to believe that one person striking someone may not have a big effect. What I found was that if you are holding onto someone it will likely to be their head, torso, arm or leg and that if you have it in your hands you can destroy it.

I took a class about three weeks ago and showed one of the guys I was working with what I meant about the elbow. He got it, and my elbow still hurts a little. It don't take much.

I politely disagree but at any rate don't expect things to go as planed. For this reason as stated attacking the head, elbows and knees is a way to combat failure with redundancy.