Essential Teen Defense

Water Mountain regularly administers special programs to groups for FREE.  Essential Teen Defense was provided to the Flagstaff Montessori Schools during October/November of 2007 across 3 training hours.

Hello Montessori Student,

This is the study guide for the classes you took at Water Mountain Martial Society.  We provide such training materials to support your training, so that you are able to develop your lessons into useable skills at your own pace.  These instructions do assume that you attended the classes. 

The materials are part of our “Training that’s about you!” philosophy.  Feel free to print them!

Lesson 1: How to Stop a Baseball Bat or 2x4

1. Raise arms to protect the head.  The most common swing attack is to the head.
2. Get inside the swing arc and stop the swing with your arm.  You want to do this for three reasons:
1. The fastest part of a swung object is the last few inches of the object at the tip.  As you move down the object toward the base, the speed of the object drops.  Even if you are hit by the object, as long as you are near the base, the force will be low level.
2. If you try to jump around outside of the reach of the object, and do nothing to stop the person from swinging, the attacker will eventually hit you.  The exception is if you are able to run away.  Then run away.
3. The longer you avoid the predictable blow to the head, the more likely your attacker is to STRIKE AT OTHER TARGETS.  It is much more difficult to block or avoid strikes to other targets.
3. Wrap your blocking arm around the object and hold it tight to your body.
4. Swing your free arm in a big circle, as fast as you can!
5. Cut through the attacker’s arms with the edge of your forearm.
6. Repeat as often as you need to to get through the attacker’s grip.
7. Throw the weapon far away.  Unless you are skilled with a weapon, it can easily be taken away from you, and used to beat you again.

Lesson 2: Stomping: It’ll cure what ails them.

Stomping is one of the largest force generators available to a human and is simple to do.  Even very large, very skilled attackers can be stopped with a practiced stomp.  We practiced the stomp and responding to a violent grab with a stomp.  The stomp was also used as part of the stick swinging scenario.

1. Raise Knee High.  The higher your leg rises, the stronger the stomp will be.
2. Stomp downward.
3. Rotate the leg as it descends.
4. Target your attacker’s foot.
5. Impact the target with your heel.
6. Drop your body weight downward as you impact.

The foot is composed of many small bones, and the arch of your partner’s foot is very vulnerable to being crushed by downward impact.  Be careful when practicing this technique.

Lesson 3: Getting the Puny Out of the Punch.

It is very important to NOT punch the way you see punches in the movies.  Movie punches are designed to be very visible on camera.  They are not designed to be used in real life.  The single most important factor for a powerful punch is speed—the transmission of something known as kinetic energy.  Kinetic energy = 1/2mass x velocity².  In other words, even a small gain in speed causes a large gain in power.

1. Form a tight fist.  Keep your thumb outside of the fist and at the bottom.  A tight fist will project more force and keep your hand safer.
2. Make the wrist flat.
3. Bring your arms forward with the fists held at a 45 degree angle.
4. Step out with one leg.  That forward leg should have the knee bent.
5. Extend the arm quickly and in a relaxed fashion.
6. Let the fist lead the arm.  It should be the fist thing to move forward.  This can be very difficult to learn.  Be patient.
7. Rotate the fist so that it is roughly parallel to the ground on full extension.
8. As you punch, glide the bent knee slightly forward so that it bends more.  Do not straighten it.
9. Pull your arm back quickly, both for exercise and to keep it from being captured.
10. Using this method, your punching power can easily double in 4 weeks of moderate practice.

Lesson 4: How to Run Away Effectively.

No one likes the thought of running away and being perceived as a coward, but the truth is without time committed regularly to training yourself for violent encounters your best and safest bet is always to run away, preferably at the first sign of danger.

1. Let’s assume you are facing your threat and are at least 2-3 feet away from them.
2. Do not turn around to run.  Humans are very slow in turning and can easily stumble during the turning process.  The turn is often when a person is beat with a weapon, struck, or stabbed.
3. Back up rapidly 3 steps, to create distance.  Slide your feet backward rather than lifting them. 
4. Turn.
5. Sprint.
6. Do not look behind you.  Turning of any sort will slow your stride.
7. If you are in an enclosed area without easy exits that you know, do not run.  Running will make you a slightly harder target for your attacker, but you are only postponing the inevitable and getting tired.  It may be better to fight.

It is fun to find your own strength through self-defense, and explore possibilities of “What would I do if…?” but self-defense is part of the serious business of survival.  If you want to spend more time in self-exploration and building up your personal strength, that is kung fu.

Lesson 5:  What simple changes to your body can draw attack or repel it?

This is an important lesson and it applies to bullies and those that full out attack you.  The decision to attack a person or behave aggressively is usually made at an animal level.  Attackers function like a predator (example, lion or tiger) looking for a meal, prey, or they act like a pack animal striving for the position of Alpha leader (example, wolves).  People that are selected as targets demonstrate prey behavior, and frankly, look weak.  Predators seek the weakest possible prey animal to reduce their own risk of being harmed, caught, or having to work for it.  They will attack strength, but only in desperation.  There a three simple prey signals that you want to avoid that we call the 3 Ps.

1. Proximity—Your physical closeness to others. Avoid being clustered tightly against someone else, and create space.  The space has the added benefit of allowing you to defend yourself.
2. Position—Refers to the position of your hands.  When under threat, a submissive human will draw their arms in and rest their hands on their torso.  Usually the hands will overlap.  Reverse this signal by moving the hands out away from the body, and extending the arms downward.  This can be done subtly and is a very powerful gesture.
3. Posture—Refers to how you hold your body.  Do not bend the head forward and collapse the spine down. Bring the spine upright, the head up, and open the chest.

It will take time and practice for you to not look silly doing this, but a mirror can be very helpful.  Always remember, if you look like prey, you are prey.  Appearance determines vulnerability.

Lesson 6: How long does a self-defense situation last, and how long must your child defend him or herself when attack occurs? 

A typical person in good shape can full out attack someone for about 30 seconds before running out of steam.  What this means is that it only takes 30 seconds for your average person to do all the damage that they want to do to you.  They have much longer to do that damage then 30 seconds due to an issue known as response time.

Let’s say you have a cell phone and your attacker allows you to call the police before he begins an assault.  There is a delay between the time of the call and the arrival of the police known as response time.  In an urban area, an excellent time would be 3 minutes.  More likely, you’re talking sometime around 7 minutes, but let’s go with 3.  That means, even if you have called the police, you have a 3 minute beating waiting for you.  Not only can the attacker beat you full out, he can rest and do it again without any fear!

Now, most attackers won’t allow you to call the police ahead of time, so they’re not going to show up to stop the assault.  Your other option is that someone else will call the police, or try to help you, but that is very unlikely.  Only a small percentage of the population will even call the police—much less put themselves in physical danger.  When it comes to these situations, people are much like gazelles.  You don’t see other gazelles coming to the rescue of a gazelle being attacked by a lion, do you?

You are responsible for your own protection!

Lesson 7: A simple blocking method that when used will block 20% of all strikes to the head for a complete beginner, and 80% of all strikes for a well-trained martial artist.

Any blocking method will produce better percentages than this method, if it is regularly trained, you are not highly stressed, and you are not physically tired.  This method will work with low training, high stress, and physical fatigue.

Bring the arms and elbows forward and in front of the body.  The forearms should be at head height.  If you do nothing but keep your arms up, about 20% of the shots taken at you will be blocked by your arms.  The belly is vulnerable to hits, but that is okay in comparison to being punched in the head.

Now, this shield can be kept together and moved side to side and up and down slightly to increase the number of blows successfully blocked.  The larger your movement, the greater the chance that you’ll be opened up for a really big blow.

Make sure to spread your legs and bend your knees for stability.  Otherwise, even blows that you block can knock you over.

Lesson 8: Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!  

What do you do when you’ve been knocked to the ground and are being stomped and kicked by more than one person?

Assume a fetal position—curl up like a baby.  Bring the knees up as high as you can.  Tuck your feet back to help cover your groin.  Cover the back of your head with your hands.  Bring your elbow tight together, and if you can do so, touch your knees.  Roll around as best as you can without breaking out of the fetal position.

What you are trying to do in this position is:

1. Reduce the damage you take.
2. Preserve your energy.
3. Wait for a chance to escape.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Any surface that is made flat will be easily broken, so stay curved.
2. Do not reach out for the arms or legs of the other person.  An extended limb is easily broken.
3. Preserve energy.
4. Protecting the eyes and the back of your head is more important than any other thing!

You are saving energy so that when you see an opening in the stomping group, you can run for it.  That opening can be physical space or it can be a weak or tired attacker.  When the opening occurs, put everything you have into spurting out of there.  It may be your only chance!

Lesson 9: How to use a Coat or Book Bag to SAVE YOUR LIFE, when you are facing 2 or more opponents (the most common self-defense situation), and one is armed.

Attackers usually come in groups of two or more.  One is typically armed.  What we are going to look at here is a situation where you are outdoors.  One attacker is approaching from the side or rear, behaving casually.  This attacker typically starts motion before the person that is going to assault you.  The person that’s going to assault you will come from the front.  He will close distance by asking you a question, for example, “Can I use your cell phone real quick?” or “Do you have a light?”  This gives him a reason to get physically near you.

What you need to do is to recognize the two person approach occurring, and get physically ready for it.  You can simply run as soon as you see a suspicious set up, but you’re not likely to do that, because you don’t want to look stupid.  So, if you see a suspicious approach, drop your book bag into your hand, or bundle your coat around your arm.  This way you be able to do a block and charge to escape.

The most important person to avoid is the person coming from the back or side.  It is his job to hold you.  Once you’re held, you can be freely beaten or cut.

The forward person, if armed, will draw his weapon a few feet from you.  When you see that, run to an open gap if you can.  If you can’t, swing your bundled arm or book bag at the knife arm while charging toward the person and past him.  Because he has to turn and deal with the impact, you should have enough time to escape.  If you are held by the person creeping up on you, you are in a self-defense situation that is way beyond a three hour course.

SPECIAL NOTE:  This study guide is intended for the participants in the Montessori program.  Subtleties of positioning and major flaws were corrected in the actual classes.  You should not attempt these maneuvers without having attended the class.

Lesson 10: What to do when you are Facing 1 or more opponents that are being aggressive, but haven’t crossed the line yet into a full blown BEAT DOWN.

There are three simple maneuvers that can be used in this situation:

1. Chin Steering.
2. The Push.
3. The Hooking Guide.

Using these techniques, you are trying to create an opening that will allow you to run away.  These are not techniques for fighting!

I am leaving the precise instructions for these maneuvers unwritten to avoid people improperly reproducing them.  Any attendant at the class can easily reproduce them!

Good luck.  I hope all of you enjoyed your lessons and increased your personal safety!

Master Mikel Steenrod