Owen Sparks
member
- Joined
- May 27, 2007
- Messages
- 4,523
“Watch the hands, It’s the hands that kill you.”
This seems to be the current trendy saying in law enforcement and among people who carry a handgun.
I heard it umpteen times at the advanced CCW course recently and have seen it repeated on this forum.
While this is generally true, the hands are not the only thing to watch when you are approached by a suspicious stranger.
An attackers feet can also be used to strike and disable you long enough for him to get his hands on a weapon. It doesn’t take a Karate expert to kick you in the crotch. Anyone who has played a little soccer or messed with a hacky sack when they were a kid has more than enough skill to land a solid kick right where it counts. Worst of all it can be thrown from beyond hands reach where most people would feel comfortable engaging a stranger in conversation.
I recently saw a revealing “sucker kick” defense demonstration taught as part of a self-defense class. One set-up the instructor taught was to hold
the hands up palm out and say: “Look at my hands.” When the ‘victim’ was distracted looking at the hands he kicked him right in the cup. In another
set-up the instructor playing the bad guy held his hands up in the same ’fence’ fashion but slowly extended one out to the side and wiggled his fingers. The instant the cup wearing victim shifted his eyes to glance at the movement he got kicked again. This went on for several variations and the instructor was able to land several kicks in a row on a man who knew that they were coming.
The point was that the only practical defense to the sucker kick is to maintain proper distance which is a good four or five feet away from the person you are talking to. If you let him get too close, while you are busy watching his hands and he moves first, you don't have much of a chance. You will never see it coming.
This seems to be the current trendy saying in law enforcement and among people who carry a handgun.
I heard it umpteen times at the advanced CCW course recently and have seen it repeated on this forum.
While this is generally true, the hands are not the only thing to watch when you are approached by a suspicious stranger.
An attackers feet can also be used to strike and disable you long enough for him to get his hands on a weapon. It doesn’t take a Karate expert to kick you in the crotch. Anyone who has played a little soccer or messed with a hacky sack when they were a kid has more than enough skill to land a solid kick right where it counts. Worst of all it can be thrown from beyond hands reach where most people would feel comfortable engaging a stranger in conversation.
I recently saw a revealing “sucker kick” defense demonstration taught as part of a self-defense class. One set-up the instructor taught was to hold
the hands up palm out and say: “Look at my hands.” When the ‘victim’ was distracted looking at the hands he kicked him right in the cup. In another
set-up the instructor playing the bad guy held his hands up in the same ’fence’ fashion but slowly extended one out to the side and wiggled his fingers. The instant the cup wearing victim shifted his eyes to glance at the movement he got kicked again. This went on for several variations and the instructor was able to land several kicks in a row on a man who knew that they were coming.
The point was that the only practical defense to the sucker kick is to maintain proper distance which is a good four or five feet away from the person you are talking to. If you let him get too close, while you are busy watching his hands and he moves first, you don't have much of a chance. You will never see it coming.