the risk wallet survival kit

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The Risk Wallet Survival Kit This is a really good idea for people who want to have a solid but minimalist pocket-sized survival kit but don't want to carry around "Tins" as well as Otter and Pelican Boxes on their person aThe Flexible Weapon First of all, I have to say something very important. There is nothing that I can type out here that will convince someone who thinks Flexible Weapons are nonsense. So, any critic can pick this apart and call it nonsense. Also, there is nothing I can type and no drawing I can modify or picture I can take that can compare with the video material available from James Keating and Comtech. If you are serious about this stuff, purchase the material. I am not going to get involved in debates about "overpriced" videotapes or anything like that. The material is what it is. Period. The material is excellent. In a world where an adult has to pay almost $10.00 to see a movie in a theater, the logical human being would think that $40.00 to $55.00 for an hour of video material, something that if you actually get off the couch and apply could be yours for a lifetime. Something that could save your life. It’s priceless. If you go see some movie with a hot chick in it, you are never going to have her, you’re spending your money to go think about having something you never will. If you fancy yourself Jackie Chan, know that you are never going to be him. People spend money on that. I have actually watched people on Internet Discussion Forums condemn a James Keating or a Kelly Worden for the price of their instructional materials, and then they do a movie review on some movie. It’s your money, do what you want. However, don’t come back and complain about prices for something that will actually TEACH you something instead of merely being mindless entertainment.

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Page 1: The Risk Wallet Survival Kit

The Risk Wallet Survival Kit

This is a really good idea for people who want to have a solid but minimalist pocket-sized survival kit but don't want to carry around "Tins" as well as Otter and Pelican Boxes on their person aThe Flexible Weapon

First of all, I have to say something very important. There is nothing that I can type out here that will convince someone who thinks Flexible Weapons are nonsense. So, any critic can pick this apart and call it nonsense.

Also, there is nothing I can type and no drawing I can modify or picture I can take that can compare with the video material available from James Keating and Comtech. If you are serious about this stuff, purchase the material. I am not going to get involved in debates about "overpriced" videotapes or anything like that. The material is what it is. Period. The material is excellent.

In a world where an adult has to pay almost $10.00 to see a movie in a theater, the logical human being would think that $40.00 to $55.00 for an hour of video material, something that if you actually get off the couch and apply could be yours for a lifetime. Something that could save your life. It’s priceless.

If you go see some movie with a hot chick in it, you are never going to have her, you’re spending your money to go think about having something you never will. If you fancy yourself Jackie Chan, know that you are never going to be him. People spend money on that. I have actually watched people on Internet Discussion Forums condemn a James Keating or a Kelly Worden for the price of their instructional materials, and then they do a movie review on some movie. It’s your money, do what you want. However, don’t come back and complain about prices for something that will actually TEACH you something instead of merely being mindless entertainment.

Now, that is out of the way. Here comes the shameless plug for a company/"school" that is not my employer, but he is my friend.

Comtech. Get the Bandana Tapes, get "The Legacy of Steel" tapes. I think they are simply excellent. They are going to give you more than this article ever could. I’m just giving you some random ideas in these articles along with nuggets of gold. You click on my site, you take a pan in your hand. You stick it in the water, come up with

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some stuff and you sift through to find a nugget of gold. That’s the way I look at it anyway..."The Legacy of Steel" tapes are not necessarily "instructional," it is a two-tape series on Keating’s Riddle of Steel Seminars. An "Insider’s Look." Yet, there are some truly spectacular moments on film and part of it IS instructional in nature.

The Legacy of Steel, and some cloth too

In these two tapes, you are going to see some sneaky Bladecraft, and you are going to see some of the best Western Bladecraft ever, including The Deadly Backcut.

That is not the focus now, however... You are going to see Robert Langford, Comtech Instructor, teach some Bandana. And you are going to see;#1 The Lowline Blowout.#2 If the Blowout fails, going inside and outside.#3 Then against an attacker in reverse grip, inside and outside.#4 Using the Bandana as a distraction/flail.

A great package, you get alot of material. In the "Bandana Tapes," there is also alot of important information. Information that goes beyond the Bandana Vs. Knife material.

The Lethal Art of Compartmentalization

Keating once said in an Issue of The Comtech Excellerator (If I remember correctly)..."Don’t judge the world by your own shitty standards..."Well, some may take offense at that. Some may sit and twiddle their thumbs and ignore realities and ignore things that can save their life. Or the life of a loved one.

Don’t be arrogant or ignorant. Open your eyes...break out of the box that so many people wish for you to remain inside.

Compartmentalization is lethal to YOU. You put yourself in Houdini’s Box, you better be Harry Houdini.

The Reality

I have watched people in various discussions truly believe that their empty hand skills are going to save the day against sharpened pieces of steel in the street. I have seen some of the same people say, "A Bandana? Are you stupid?"

No, some of us are not stupid, because we can think outside of a box. It’s not just a Bandana. It’s a concept.

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A Scenario (#1) You’re late for work, you work at night like I do. You walk outside to the car and you notice that one tire is so low, you are not going to make it to work without some air. There is a gas station down the street...You hop in the car, warm it up a bit, and you’re off! You are going down the street and you make the turn onto the main road, and you see the gas station sign. You pull in.

You hop out of the car, you’re digging for change (Air is not "free" where I live, you have to pay for it, it’s not a "service" provided by a gas station anymore for free). You find your fifty-cents. You place it in the machine and you pick up the hose and you go down to one knee beside the tire.

The thing is bent and screwed up where some people have ran over it, etc., you’re having a hard time getting the air in the tire. You see all sorts of headlights going all over the place. That is normal. High traffic area...In a flash, you see a pair of tennis shoes coming around the back of your car...you come up on your feet, the guy is rushing you and he is almost around the car, he puts his palm on the car to make it around faster, for some traction...You’re up, you have the hose and the assembly on the end that is a bit heavier, you have it in both hands. He swipes at you with a carpet knife, and you redirect it past you and you slap him on the right side of the face with the heavy metal end and he stumbles to the side and the carpet knife he was carrying clatters on the blacktop. You then take another shot and come back at him, back-handed and hit him on the opposite side of the head, then do a circular, looping action and you come straight up into his groin.

Get in the car and leave... Now, some would say, "Why didn’t you see them coming? Jeff Cooper’s Color Code dontcha know..."Yeah, bullshit too, O.K.? Let’s get in the REAL WORLD for a moment where people work for a living, their kids get sick, they get late for work, they have flat tires...you know? Sometimes, everything goes wrong. I really don’t care who you are, at one time or another in your life, you are going to have your head up your ass not paying attention or, the other guy is going to be very skilled at what HE does for a living. If you can walk out of your Mother’s Funeral and still be aware of everything around you, in your grief, you’re a far better "Tactical Guy" than I am.

Sometimes, you are confronted with people that know how to hide, and hide their actions...very well. Sometimes, no matter how vigilant you are, you will miss something. Anything can happen.

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What I try to impress on people is, a concept. If you put a Bandana in someone’s hands and you say, "Let’s work through some of this material." Some people will say, "I’m never going to carry a Bandana..." Or you will put a belt in someone’s hands and they will say, "I’m never going to have a belt, I’m not going to remove my belt..." Or, "I don’t wear a belt."

If you have open eyes, wear your pants so they fit in such a way that you do not need the belt. The belt can teach you things, the Bandana can teach you things. They are similar, yet, very different.

Scenario #2 "Yeah, well, I need a tow truck at the 3700 Block of Crescent Street..."So, you’re on a payphone. I don’t own a Cell Phone, so again, let’s get in the REAL WORLD where not everyone is the same. In any event, what if your Cell Phone does not work, might have to use a payphone, right? Simple.

You’re on the phone and a man walks up, you’re on hold with a Towing Company, and the guy starts asking you for change.

"I used all I had for this phone call, sorry man..." And then he asks, "Well, what about a dollar, huh? Can I have a dollar?"

"No man, sorry...I don’t have anymore money..."Then the guy gets pissed and he shoves you...and you’re like, "Back off asshole...back off..." And you kick him square in the groin...he doubles up and goes to the cement.

You see him reach in his pocket, he is curled up but he is reaching, and you see the flash of a knife. You yank the phone receiver free from the phone and using it, you start whipping his knife hand and head with it. You basically have what many people call a Speedo. A Speedo is a speedometer cable, usually worn through the belt loops. A vicious streetfighting weapon with a bad to the bone reputation.

Then you just stomp on the arm that would slash you and you break it and run like hell. Simple, right?

Critic Suppression O.K., I can hear some groans now. "You’re going to destroy a payphone?" Yeah, you better believe I would if my life depended on it, or if I thought for a moment that I could have a greater degree of safety by doing so.

"You can’t tear one of those receivers free...come on..." Do you know how many times I have stopped to use a payphone and I found one without a receiver? Sometimes, you see them lying a few feet

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away as well. Pissed off boyfriends and vandals often do this. Have you ever looked at one? The end of the metal, flexible housing that the wires are encased in, when ripped free, on every one I have ever seen, has left a very sharp piece unraveled. It would tear someone to shreds if used with force.

The receiver is designed to be held by the human hand, it is a good handle. You have a vicious steel whip in your hand that has a sharp "popper" on the end. Or, you could take your chances and grab it by that end and beat the attacker with the heavier end, the receiver.

Or...you could use it in both of your hands, and the receiver hanging off one end to strike with as well. Use your imagination. Think outside the box.

Simple Math

So, the Bandana or Belt can become an airhose or a metal phone cord, right? It makes no sense in scenario #1 to drop an improvised weapon [the airhose] in order to draw a weapon, no matter how "deadly" or more effective the weapon is. The only exception to that is, if you were confronted with an attacker that had a firearm and you had a firearm and I would STILL hit them in the face with the airhose! Metsubushi, remember? Connect the dots, simple math, addition, 1+1=2.

Other Considerations

Without going in-depth into scenarios again, just imagine what is around you every day. If you are in the garage, and you are working on something, you might have an extension cord on the table. Maybe you have one in your hand. You never know. Whatever you can pick up that has similar attributes to dedicated Flexible Weapons can be pressed into service.

What if you are a woman living alone and you have studied with a boyfriend or an Instructor in some of these methods. What if everything goes wrong and someone does in fact make silent entry into your home? What if you are drying your hair and you cannot hear the glass break in the door? You have a hairdryer in your hand. It is a weapon if you know how to use it. So is the Curling Iron, and if it is on, it’s hot as hell too. You have a Flexible Weapon and a Bludgeon in both cases.

The Mechanics

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The power of the Flexible Weapon when it is used to snare or snag limbs has to be felt in order to be believed, it truly is eye-opening. Quite frankly, I was amazed when I started using Flexible Weapons some time ago.

When you learn to snag punches ala’ Comtech Bandana Tape, you will be amazed. You might think, "Hey, this is staged..." Until you then take something similar and do it to a training partner. The stuff works and it can be a segue into many things.

The #1 Snag you will learn in some of the material is somewhat loose as all of these techniques usually are. Relaxed. As the punch comes in, you have the Bandana [or belt, etc.] in both hands and you use a circular motion and you come down on the forearm and you give them a pull. The results are more than "good," they’re excellent.

The movement is almost like the lowline blowout I spoke of earlier, but in the blowout [against a knife] you snap the Bandana taut at the last second. That gives added power. If you wish to snag a punch, you do not want the punch to be repelled, you want to snag it. You give them a pull and since they have a certain amount of forward energy anyway, it works very well.

It works almost on the principle of the Arm Drag in Wrestling, it is leverage. The Flexible Weapon gives you alot of leverage. A force multiplier.

This is covered in Vol. II of Comtech’s Bandana material. As well as parrying, compression and striking. It is really must-have material for anyone interested in Flexible Weapons.

Keating addresses punches, kicks and strangles as well as other rather nasty maneuvers in this volume. He also covers not only counters to these attacks but how you can add your own empty hand material in the movements.

Vol. I is more Counter Edged Weapons. The Legacy of Steel is many things with some excellent Counter Edged Weapons material.

I hesitated writing about Flexible Weapons in general again because I knew it would end up being a review of Comtech’s material. I have to tell you though, I have to be honest. I could sit here and type for three days and never give you what an hour of video will do. You simply have to see how fluid the method is and then get up and

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dedicate some time to it, in order to see the beauty and effectiveness of it.

I would be doing the interested reader/practitioner a great disservice by NOT telling them to get this material. I think if you are interested in this genre of weapons/methods, you simply have to have this stuff.

I will try to describe a sequence of fluid movement from Vol. II. As the attacker punches, your Bandana is vertical. If the attacker is punching with his right hand, your left hand will be high and your right low, Bandana vertical...keep that in mind. Keating goes to great lengths to impress upon the viewer NOT to use a flesh on flesh block, but to use the Bandana. And he shows the difference in the power that a simple piece of cloth can produce. As the parry occurs, and you move the Bandana to the right, your left hand drops into a hammerfist and pounds down on the incoming limb, this is the "compression" I spoke of earlier. Your right fist or elbow can then come right across and as Keating points out, the parry and compression has a tendency to impel the attacker into your other hand or elbow. It is fluid and destructive. It can end right there. Especially if you add in lowline kicking like Sikaran.

Moving from these movements into chokes and controls is natural and it is covered as well. What I want to do is encourage you to get the material, and this is an unsolicited testimonial for the material. I’m not being reimbursed in any way whatsoever. I’m telling the interested person to purchase it for their own good, not mine. I’m taking the time to compose this because I think the material is that valuable and I am giving you a taste of it in the written word to hopefully whet your appetite.

The Big Picture

This is the important part that I want to touch on once again. Concentration on a Bandana is the wrong way to consider this as a method. If you read the articles on my website, you will see reoccurring themes and you will see a commonality, a thread running through them. From the Sjambok Article to the Metsubushi Article, from the Metsubushi Article to this one. This is incredibly important for anyone who wishes to never be unarmed or at a loss for something to counter an assault with. For another example, the whole ancient and primarily Western Concept of Cloak & Dagger can be approached as the name suggests. As only a method to be used with a knife. Or, you can expand that to using the Cloak [jacket or coat] solo for defense. The infamous "Blanket Party" is viable as

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well. There are so many things around you that can be used. A pillow case and a blanket in a Hotel Room, possibly in another country where you cannot possess weapons of any kind. Open your mind. The lines begin to blur and you will begin to see a very clear picture on the other side once you clear away all of the little sub-categories that even I have to use in order to have some structure on this website. The articles can be stand-alone, or in many cases, they can be strung together in a cohesive manner.

Metsubushi, as a concept, is found in Cloak & Dagger, both are found in Flexible Weapons. You see? Concentration on one does not necessarily mean success in all. You have to explore. YOU have to find the common links that make up the chain.

Camping, Hiking and Fishing

In some places, you cannot carry anything! I know in most State Parks where I live, there are definite prohibitions against weapons. Not ALL of the Parks, but the ones closer to urban areas are definitely places where you will be arrested or at least hassled for anything remotely resembling a weapon.

I could place pictures of my CaneMasters Canes here, or perhaps my Cold Steel Lahti. Or Estwing Hatchets, Cold Steel Tomahawks or Cold Steel Shovel. This is an article on Flexible Weapons though...

Do you see something in this picture [below] that would be considered illegal or something you could even be hassled for? I doubt if a Park Ranger would even give you the Hairy Eyeball over this. All he is going to see is an assortment of rather harmless objects that a Hiker/Camper would carry. A pair of compact binoculars, a SAK Swiss Champ, A Gerber Fire-starter, a G.I. Aluminum Carabiner and a doubled length of knotted rope about 2.5 feet in length.

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You could use the Carabiner as a pair of improvised knuckles or a fistload. Or you could place it on the end of the rope and have a weighted end for striking as shown in the picture below, an improvised Manrikigusari.

At the end of "The Garrotte" article, I placed a modified [collage] illustration from the U.S. Army’s current Combatives Manual. Two of the sequences are from the section of the manual known as, "Improvised Weapons" and the weapon is listed as a three-foot piece of rope. The other illustration in the same collage is a Sentry Removal Technique from the same manual.

The Mad Dash for a Bandaid

It has been a rather humbling experience to find that so many people like my website. It has also been encouraging. I cannot tell you how many people have E-mailed me, it is probably over a half dozen easily, on thoughts about being safer on an Airliner.

I was also hesitant to write about that because quite frankly, I don’t want it to appear to someone who is hysterical in a position of authority to mistake my words...and ideas as being somehow "helping" criminals. I support NO crime. I only support GOOD people. Simple as that. I have no use whatsoever for criminals.

I place the answer to the request in this article because this is where it belongs. Belts and shoe laces can never be banned. If arrested, you lose these things because they are usually strong enough for you to kill yourself with. That’s a hint. You can take out a hostile attacker with these things. That’s the major point to be made. A good leather belt, replacing your white shoe laces with white 550 ParaCord or black with black...even knowing how to use your shoes!

I hope no one would accuse me of "cashing in" on the current tragedy that has befallen this Great Nation. However, these criminals used box cutters as far as we know. Do you know how much armor your average tennis shoe, especially a high top athletic

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shoe, would give you against someone armed with a weapon like that?

Now, I take a step back in time to various Internet Discussion Forums and the stuff people condemn without thinking. First it was all of the people, some of them active in Filipino Martial Arts, who blasted James Keating for the Bandana Material. Not knowing that the Bandana [panyo] has been taught by Grandmaster Edgar Sulite [RIP] as well as others. People run their mouth about everything and they spend so much time running their mouth, they have nothing else to offer usually. To those I say, clear your mind and your ass will follow, with all due respect.

Where am I going with this? O.K., I’ll tell you. In the 1980s, Guro Dan Inosanto had a series of videotapes out on The Filipino Arts. In one part, he just gave a taste of using shoes for Self-defense, yes, on the hands. Amazing, isn’t it?

So many people have remarked, "Now who in the hell is going to put their shoes on their hands and fight like that? Are you stupid?" Well, I would put forth the radical idea that if you are stuck in an aluminum tube, weaponless, with despicable, cowardly bastards who are going to use box cutters...can you finish this sentence for yourself? Take the damned shoes off in the "quiet time" and use them. Prepare for battle. On the street, there is almost a zero chance of being able to pull this off, in another environment, guess what? It is GOLDEN.

Breaking someone’s fingers or wrist oftentimes leads to them dropping a weapon in the effected hand. Very simple, yes? You could then pummel them unconscious or kill them if need be. But for that moment in time, you have armor on your hands and you can do amazing things. I challenge any critic to grab their training partner, take a small training knife and go through some simple movements and let your partner put his tennis shoes on his hands. Watch what happens if he knows what he is doing. But remember, we’re not speaking about knives with large blades or with particularly strong blades either. The soles of shoes are only going to absorb so many slashes from brittle steel blades that are toilet paper thin before the blade breaks. If you can cover up and attack, you can negate their attack. And you can defeat them. Especially if you have other people helping you by throwing blankets over the attacker(s), etc. Goes back to Metsubushi and Flexible Weapons once again.

Another angle I am getting at is...you have a belt on, depending on the season, perhaps a light jacket or coat with you. Do not discard

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them, they are minor armor and powerful weapons at your disposal if need be. What if you have replaced shoe laces with ParaCord? You have two improvised tools that you can hand to other people to deal with scumbag, cowardly criminals. One from each shoe. See?

The End

Standard disclaimer applies, do not hurt yourself or misuse the information. Some very simple things can be very powerful and you should approach them with the utmost caution. Seek Professional Instruction please. Use safety equipment if you train.

Use your head.

[Drawings are altered from U.S. Army Combatives Manual, Public Domain]

ll of the time.

First of all, let me tell you where I got the idea.

A long time ago, 198The Jones Brothers Impact Tool

A Modern Yawara Stick…also known as, “The Garolite Party Favor.”

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OK, it’s not known as The Garolite Party Favor, however, most of the Jones Brothers, shall we say…exotic impact tools…are nicknamed “Party Favors” and some of them, like this Impact Tool, are made out of a substance known as Garolite.

Well, if you think the Yawara Stick is effective, wait until you see this! Streamline a Yawara Stick a little bit and add a two-finger loop and you have what I refer to as a Koppo Stick. The Yawara, Koppo and all variants are as effective as they are simple.

This Impact Tool has some more complicated lines, it’s not a pocket stick, it’s something else. It’s flat and the back of it resembles the bottom of a rocking chair’s “legs.” Intrigued? Read on…

The simple pocket stick has three striking portions – both ends and the middle when used with an open handed chin jab, etc. So, you have three basic movements. Hammerfist, reverse hammerfist and a palm heel or chin jab movement.

You can punch with the stick in your hand, just using it as a reinforcer – fistload, but with no projection to increase damage, just your knuckles.

What if you had the projection and it was an effective one?

Enter The Jones Brothers Impact Tool.

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A Blunt Arrowhead

This projection off of the front of this knife is a terror. If you get hit with this thing it is going to break something after it absolutely smashes through the flesh covering the bone. The thought of being hit with it should make you shiver. This is but one striking point on this tool and it is an effective one.

Unless you have spent a lifetime conditioning your knuckles as the old Karateka once did, you are not going to find a more vicious striking surface than this. Well, yeah, you could, purpose-built “knuckledusters” and brass (and other) metal knuckles, tekko – these things could be more vicious but they also spread the impact/power of the blow over a slightly larger area where this arrowhead will focus it – intensely…

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The comparison to the Comtech Stinger is inevitable, I did not want to mention it because I really think the Stinger is an excellent Self-defense implement and I did not want to take anything away from that. Then I thought about it a bit more and have come to the conclusion that the Stinger fits in a niche that the Jones Bros. Impact Tool does not and the opposite of that is also true. The Stinger, if placed in a high-quality Kydex sheath, can be pinned or worn with a ball chain or piece of ParaCord very easily, as it is much smaller than this particular Impact Tool. The Stinger is basically so light and small that you can basically forget about it if you have a good sheath made for it and you carry it around the neck or on your keys.

However, this blunt arrowhead type of projection on the Jones Bros. I-Tool is going to penetrate even more and possibly damage more. It is going to hit harder because it has even more stability in the hand because of the size and shape of it. (Rocking Chair back – braced in the hand, etc.)

This becomes very important when you are talking about smaller people who do not hit as hard and have smaller hands. Perhaps the Jones Brothers will make a slightly smaller version in the future for people with really small hands. I think that would be a great idea for them to pursue.

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The lines are pleasing to the eye and fit my mongo-meat-muppet hand like a glove that was made for me. I hear the same reports from everyone else. Talk about a generic fit that really fits everyone. Look at the very first picture in this article, that rather strange picture of this Impact Tool is in my Wife’s hands, notice how the arrowhead comes out perfectly…this is a really well-designed piece of gear.

Two Hammers (Primary)

Is there anything more “gross motor” than a simple hammerfist? Curling your fingers inward tightly from the pinky to the index finger, make your hand like a rock. Take that hammerfist and pound on a Yellow Pages (phonebook) for a bit. There is a lot of power there and you’re less likely to break your wrist or anything else if you are a novice.

The hammerfist is an incredibly powerful, natural weapon that we all possess. The bottom (pinky side) of the clenched fist will really rattle someone’s cage. If you take a petite woman who weighs 95 to 110 pounds and you started her out with a little weight training and taught her well – she would be able to hit very hard with a hammerfist. I’m not saying FRAIL women, I’m talking about making them strong and teaching them. Not body builder strong, just strong. If you did that, they could really bust a male attacker up that is much larger than they are. It takes time and some training and it takes a belly full of anger and a deliberate choice not to be a victim. Where have we heard this before? (NRA, there, I told you…)

You can go from a hands-up (hold-up) position to dropping that hand and clenching the fist in an instant with no problem whatsoever and this will bust someone up – bang, right in the face or the side of the head.

With ANY projection out of the bottom of the fist, in my opinion, you have a wide spectrum of possibilities. If you hit someone in the side of the head, you could kill them with such a projection. It is such a concentration of force. (SO, please understand that I cannot accept any responsibility if you do something like this on purpose or by accident, whatever happens, you are responsible for your own actions, I am just telling you what could happen.)

That very same, intense concentration of power, can be a great aid when you are striking other areas of the body. There are many (Self-defense) incidents that do not call for lethal force. You can strike down onto the nape of the neck with this projection sticking out of

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the bottom of your hand and cause (probably) total dysfunction of the limb on that side.

If grabbed from behind, you do not have TIME to do something fancy because the person behind you, their intent is NOT to hug you, their intent is to crash your body (and specifically your head and face) into something harder than you are to damage you. So…how do you defeat that sort of thing? Do you spend years in a martial art that demands that you do something fancy? Or do you simply place the projection sticking out of the bottom of your hand on the back of their hand(s) in front of you (they’re bear-hugging you, remember?) and do the classic “Shake & Break?” Then, as if you had a knife in reverse grip, you slam that same projection (sticking out of the bottom of your hand) into the top of their thigh or into the groin – what I like to refer to as, “Setting the Emergency Brake.” That is what the motion is like, as if you were setting the Emergency Brake in a car that has that Brake Handle located between two front bucket seats in the car…slam it and jack it upwards…

Works great with edged weapons and it will work with this weapon as well. You should seek out Universal Methods and Principals that drive weapons instead of categorizing movements to such a degree that your mind is in a haze when you have to make a decision in a split second. There is no reason (other than for an Instructor to make a lot of money) to have a whole set of movements for a knife, and then a different set of movements for a stick. And yet another set of movements for a pocket stick or some device like this tool. It is not necessary for effective Self-defense and can actually be detrimental.

Another Hammer (Secondary)

This might be called something else depending on the martial art you have studied. We simply called it a Reverse Hammerfist because that is exactly what it was.

Clench your fist. You can strike with the knuckles or the bottom of the fist as we discussed above – The Hammerfist. Striking with the TOP of the clenched fist on the thumb side was a Reverse Hammerfist. This just adds another movement/weapon where it is needed. If the fist is in a position to cause immediate damage, you use it.

It is not as effective as a regular Hammerfist in my opinion. And, it takes a lot longer to develop this weapon through conditioning so you can really use it when it counts without worrying about

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destroying your hand, etc. But when you place some sort of projection sticking out of that side of the clenched fist, it magically becomes very powerful, even for a novice!

One of the “classic” positions to utilize the Reverse Hammerfist is when you are in a front headlock, you strike upwards into the groin with it. (Almost as if you are serving a volleyball but with one hand/arm instead of two.) If there is a projection of metal or some sort of synthetic material that is hard sticking out of that end of the fist, the damage is increased greatly as we discussed up above. So, any sort of Yawara Stick or Yawara-like device that has these two projections means that everything is viable and powerful.

For the novice, the Reverse Hammerfist is basically only viable when used against softer targets like the groin and solar plexus. When there is a solid projection sticking out of the upper portion of the clenched fist – all of the sudden, you have something that eliminates the possibility of damage that can happen to the bare hand and you can strike bony targets with great effect.

Three Striking Areas

So, when you put these three striking surfaces together, you have a very effective package. Basically, any way you hit with this tool, it is going to cause some damage. The most rudimentary schooling in hand to hand combat in tandem with this tool will turn almost anyone into a hard-hitter. (Traditional Martial Artists need to stop listening to those who apparently sniff too much incense and feed them nonsense in class, learn how to hit non-telegraphically. Forget all of that other crap about warning people by taking stances, etc., etc., etc.)

You are encouraged, should you purchase one of these tools, to start striking a heavy bag with it, find those combinations that seem most comfortable to you – speed and power – and then develop your own methods with these three striking methods.

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In the picture above, that is a reminder to not carry these sorts of things anywhere you are not supposed to. It’s quite likely that this tool would look like this on X-ray, SO…DON’T DO IT! You like institutional food and handcuffs?

The picture above shows the “arrowhead” as the #1 or Primary striking area. That would be for someone who is skilled at punching. #2 would be the hammerfist and #3 the reverse hammerfist. Personally, I am a hammerfist/bottom of the hand kind of guy more than punching, but the “arrowhead” projection on this tool is quite effective.

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Easy Carry

You could attach a keyring and use it for a very effective, but a tad bit large, keychain defense unit.

You could have a special Kydex or Concealex sheath made for one of these tools (and that would be cool!), or you can simply carry this in the pocket.

Or, as my Wife discovered, in the “whatever you call it” on the back of Lee and similar jeans…the leather patch on some jeans that you can thread the belt through if you choose…you can carry this (and other things) there as well. After we experimented with it for a while, it was secure and not uncomfortable. It’s just an idea that came up while shooting pictures for this article and playing around with it.

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More Stuff

I have seen some of the other prototypes for various Impact Tools and Control Devices that Barry and Phillip have been developing. They really have a good line of thought going in this area and I suggest you check their products out – all handcrafted with amazing attention to detail. The first generation of this particular impact tool was quite interesting but rather blocky, as The Jones Brothers refined it, it became much more comfortable and effective – more powerful as well. They refined it not only through their own creativity and knowledge base, but also from practical feedback from their customer (not me in this case).

Another Impact Tool Barry sent me a picture of (I have not held one, but I can tell from the picture…) is a “Wave” like Impact Tool, it looks sort of like a rough sea/ocean in profile, almost a flattened out “S” shape. It looks awesome!

Get in touch with The Jones Brothers, this one really rocks and it is much easier on the hand then some of the other keychain devices marketed for Self-defense.

3 to be exact, I found one of the best survival books ever written.

That book is titledThe T.I.D. a/k/a "Tactical Impact Device"

The TID, which stands for, “Tactical Impact Device,” sure has created a lot of buzz in the knife community with lots of people buying them and mounting them on their Sure-Fire flashlights. The TID for the Inova LED flashlight seems to be catching on and becoming popular as well. Some people call it “The Cookie Cutter.” To me, it resembles a Hole Saw more than a Cookie Cutter.

The Inovas actually have a much greater utility, in my opinion, than the Sure-Fires. That is said with the full realization that the Sure-Fires are brighter than Inovas. I have been carrying Sure-Fires longer than Law Enforcement in my area. I remember one local County K-9 Officer borrowing my 9P Sure-Fire, way back when, to check it out on the range with his Sig-Sauer P-226 duty weapon.

Back to the TID…

From the G, G & G literature:

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“…the new Tactical Impact Device (TID) fits easily on the bezel of the flashlight and is secured from removal by four small socket-head screws. Manufactured from 4140 steel, it has a manganese phosphate finish…

…Its sharp, 5-teeth-per-inch pattern surrounds the entire bezel and provides an aggressive, and extremely effective, alternative to lethal force.”

Here are two pictures, two different angles to show you the TID on a Sure-Fire E2e and an Inova X5-Tactical. Another Inova X5-Tactical with the newer body style is shown for comparison.

Doesn’t Ken Cook braid a great lanyard?

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Light as a Weapon: Modern MetsubushiI think that people devalue lights like the Inova, how much light do you need to blind a home invader when their eyes are adjusted to the darkness of your home? I have used a 9P Sure-Fire flashlight to blind someone and then strike them with the flashlight and I have used them so I could strike with a 21 inch ASP Baton. (Both legally on the job) Anyone that thinks that is “stupid” or “nonsense” has never been on the receiving end of such an offensive defense. It does work, works like a charm as a matter of fact.

(I remember Andy Stanford catching grief on an Internet forum for the mere suggestion that you could use a Sure-Fire and an edged weapon together.)

The flipside to that is, Sure-Fire has one hell of a marketing machine and they have some very vocal fans. They have also really pushed the envelope with their flashlights, they keep getting brighter and brighter and that’s a good thing. I don’t think it would be fair to say that they (Sure-Fire) have insisted that light alone can be a weapon.

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I think it would be more than fair to say that a couple of people closely associated with them and/or employed by them have. Some of the most vocal fans have.

They are incorrect. When light is a weapon, it is a weapon that has to be used in tandem with a real weapon, even a chin jab or kick.

I see “Light as a Weapon” differently. I see it as an aid to using another weapon, as I wrote about in the “Metsubushi” article on this website.

(I know that it might appear that I am contradicting myself, bear with me. I’m not condemning the use of light, I’m just saying you need to rely on the whole spectrum of skills and equipment and not merely light.)

I am not paid by Laser Products, Inc. (this should be obvious) which happens to be the manufacturer of Sure-Fire flashlights, nor should any of this be viewed as a criticism of their products. I love their products and value them greatly! This is just a little discussion about some of the craziness that can surround an excellent product when the ball gets going.

I am also not employed or paid by the folks that make Inova flashlights.

People are coming out of the woodwork on various forums and they are saying things like, “No, THIS light (Sure-Fire) is a WEAPON! It will make someone fold or run away!” If this did happen, I’m betting that the guy you flashed did not really want to fight at all. Or, he might think you are a Police Officer and he’s about ready to get the maximum damage brought down on him (being shot) and he bolts. People that say these things have probably never fought a real hardhead.I’m talking about the sort of hardhead that will fight three Police Officers over relatively nothing at all. One Citizen with a bright light is of very little concern to them at all. They are dangerous and they’re not easily scared nor spooked.Real hardheads don’t crumple or shrink away from a bright light and when they do, they will usually crash back in on you. They might see a big, colored spot in their center of vision from the light, that is just a bull’s eye to them.Between the TV Show “COPS” and the current barrage of war news as of late, everyone knows about Police and Military use of

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flashlights, they know they are handheld and mounted on weapons. They know they are used…a lot.Here is the reality: If you are going to use “Light as a Weapon,” do not ever think for a moment that this is going to save the day. No, be prepared for battle. Do not pay this lip service and say, “Well, this light is bright, I’ll deal with whatever else happens.”No, going into this, know that you have solid skills and weapons to back the light up to begin with. Understand that you are not a SWAT member (unless you are!) going into a room to shoot a barricaded suspect or whatever. A street attack and use of the flashlight during same is very different than entering a room with a Sure-Fire equipped H&K MP-5. As with knives, you will usually not have the luxury of long range during a street attack. It will be in your face, that’s how rapes, assaults and robberies take place.If you blast someone with your dandy flashlight on the street, don’t just stand there admiring what the light did, defend yourself. If you blast the person who approaches you after you warned them and they are at a distance, you better be moving because if they have a firearm, even if they are dazzled, they can shoot for the light.This is why Police used to be taught the now antiquated technique of holding the flashlight up above your head and away from your body. They were drawing hostile fire. (Is there any other kind of fire? I think not!) Criminals saw this so much, or other criminals informed them of it, and they started shooting low and to the side to hit the Officers. (Source: Ayoob) Criminals can fire at the light. You use your light intermittently, even if you have it mounted on something slick like a Benelli Shotgun and you are defending your home. If someone flashed you with a flashlight and then tried to take your child out of the shopping cart in the parking lot of your local grocery store, would you run away being “injured” by the light? Of course not, you would fight!Well, most hardcore criminals are like that too; they are serious about their goals just as you are. Remember that the next time you read about someone saying that light is an effective weapon all by itself.Light will dazzle and temporarily remove someone’s ability to see you. It can disorient you and this is directly proportionate to the degree their eyes have adjusted to low levels of light in conjunction with the power of your personal flashlight you are using to dazzle them.

The light is not a “weapon,” but it is a really good way to get the drop on someone and give them a terrible deficit in a fight, there is

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no debate whatsoever about that. But it is not a ray gun, OK? Please, don’t buy into all of the marketing hype. If you do, you run the risk of some crafty criminal who is used to being flashed and smashed by Police Officers and he is going to look away or close his eyes. When he does not see bright red, yellow and blue stars through his eyelids, etc., he is going to stick a knife in your face. Don’t buy into “Light as a Non-violent Panacea.” A streetfight can shift in a split second and what you thought was going “right” can go terribly wrong, very fast.

Buy into this fact, if you have a good flashlight, it is an excellent way to draw another weapon or employ unarmed combat. The light is a window of opportunity that you open upon depression of the tailcap or other button, that is all.

Do not repeatedly flash them, they will adapt to that and then you have a problem. If someone is hostile and they are in close proximity, you must Flash & Smash right then and there.

Understand that even very powerful flashlights are basically “One Trick Ponies” and you get one chance that you can bet on in order to do something. If you get another chance, that is because the attacker does not have his game together. As you frustrate a homicidally aggressive human being, they will get even angrier. Understand that they believe they have a right to victimize you and you have no right to protect yourself. They’re twisted that way.

Quite frankly, I don’t understand why people say some of the things they do; it’s not like they won’t fight if some criminal gets their hands on a powerful flashlight. It’s not like you are going to go fetal and start urinating if you get flashed by one. (Are you?)

One word on pain compliance, as many of you might already know from reading some of the articles here on my website, I am not a big believer in pain compliance techniques because of the alarming number of people who ingest mind altering substances for personal amusement. This happens to be the same sorts of people that launch violent attacks for no reason or in any event, very little provocation. (“Why are you looking at me man!”)

There are also people that will let you damage them as long as they can damage you more. Yubi Tori, fingerlocking, is incredibly painful

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and just as effective in a wide range of defensive scenarios, but it is not a panacea as some people will let you break their fingers as long as they can stick you with a knife, etc. This is a reality that some people ignore constantly in the blind worship of some martial arts and utilization of some defensive tools.

But it is a reality and these people are not rare either.

All of that having been said, if something is going to make someone fall under the umbrella of pain compliance, a flashlight equipped with a TID will do it where other devices, even applied vigorously, might fail.

I guess we need to get the ugliness and negativity out of the way first. That’s usually best.

LegalitiesThis is the hot button with the TID. It is with most things in the Self-defense realm, isn’t it? What is legal? What is not? What might pass muster in a Court of Law as “reasonable” or “justifiable?”

You have to understand that in some jurisdictions, the TID might be considered an edged weapon because it has points. If you cannot understand that or you simply want to ignore that, do so at your own peril.

I’m not saying that the TID is a “lethal force” weapon like almost anything in the “edged weapons” category, I’m just saying that it is sort of falling into that zone of instruments. It’s obviously not a knife and it has no “edge” in the classic sense of the word, but it has points and points can be enough to place it in another category of tools and weapons. It can be used to maim and that is the problem, hitting someone in the face with a TID is going to ruin their day and probably their face as well. So I would not advise you to target the head, neck or face unless you are justified in using an edged weapon.

The whole "It might be an edged weapon" angle is troubling, but then almost everything is a “weapon” now.

I think a TID on a Sure-Fire dedicated to the nightstand is most certainly something to consider. What you can have and use in your

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house in Close Combat is alot different then what you might carry - as a regular Citizen - on the street. You may be scrutinized for what you use in your home, but not to the degree over something like this, using it on the street.

I think the main thing I don't like about it is it takes away the "clean" element of using an Inova or SureFire as a Pocket Stick and you automatically jump to maiming the person. It is true that if you hit someone in the face with one of the aforementioned flashlights, it might very well cut them, which has been my experience on one occasion with a 9P. But the cut and tear is not going to be as bad as using a TID and someone could make a lot of noise in a Courtroom over that as if you were carrying it to deliberately maim someone during simple Self-defense.

So, you basically have these situations where you cannot use your light as a Pocket Stick anymore because it does not require the degree of force that the TID will give it.

Because of these realities which I feel are valid criticisms of the TID, I sort of placed it in the category of devices that were well thought out but not really a great idea to bring into play.

Until my good friend Seth clued me in on something important.

The TID gives you the ability, when striking limbs, of penetrating heavy clothing and getting some impact into the target. He also pointed out that there would be no slipping because of the points digging in. This is some definite food for thought and because I routinely carry more than one flashlight…I gave it some heavy thought for a couple of months.

I am now of the opinion that the TID does in fact have a solid, legitimate place in the Self-defense tools you carry. You are just going to have to exercise the discipline required to not go smacking someone in the face when the situation does not warrant that degree of force.

In the homeUsing a Sure-Fire flashlight (with a TID mounted on the end of it) in the Harries Position might very well give you a force option in close combat in the home. If you make a mistake, and no matter how

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highly trained you are, you can make a mistake… If that happens, the TID can definitely be applied in a vicious manner on the home invader.

Your flashlight now has steel dentures mounted on the front of it and you don’t have as many problems explaining the TID to a responding Officer because it is in your home and it is not a prohibited thing to have. On the street, it might be determined that it is in the edged weapons category and you might be in hot water over it.

Let’s say you carry an Inova X-5 Tactical and something like a Sure-Fire E2e, as long as you did not get them confused, yeah, it would be a good force option to have a TID on one of them.

Simple DrillsAlways use eye protection when using training knives; don’t let an endeavor designed to save your life end in a tragedy.

With a training partner, use an Inova X-5 Tactical LED Light, preferably with white LEDs and use a Sure-Fire E2e. You will need eye protection, the flashlights and a focus mitt. Use a small training knife like a Spyderco Delica Trainer (Drone) or a LaGriffe trainer from Fred Perrin.

A little light pollution in the area is OK, things like streetlights are OK, working in and out of shadows cast by walls and vehicles, etc., because this is the type of environment that you are most likely going to have to fight someone in.

Don’t look directly at the streetlights. Allow your eyes to adjust to that degree of low level light and then begin. Test the Inova first, if you use the Sure-Fire first, it can lead to skewed results because it is indeed an incredibly powerful flashlight, even in the small E2e configuration.

I’m telling you this so you approach everything with an open mind.

Once your eyes are adjusted, start out at a long distance (in a street attack, it’s different from gunfighting), about twelve (12) feet which is confrontation distance to me, the distance where someone might start giving you some eyes, hands and mouth.

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The training partner walks in and you guys/gals have to be honest with each other or you will not get the desired result. If you cover up from the light, you are not going to understand the effect.

Start at that “long” distance confrontation and the attacker walks in to menace and give some face or actually assault.

DO NOT flash them on the first time and the attacker must be honest and not cover up. Do the walking confrontation a few times and when it is unexpected, THEN flash them with the Inova. When you flash them, move, use footwork to move and take their flank or…retreat on 45-degree angles…

Do this upwards of a couple dozen times with the engagements and confrontations…the lack of the flash as well as the flash and then reverse roles and do it all over again. Don’t have a set pattern to flash or not to flash, be random.

Sit down and discuss that for a bit and then let your eyes adjust again, let the “spots” fade from the Inova, then go through the whole thing again with the Sure-Fire.

Now, there is no doubt that you will find the Sure-Fire more powerful. What we are looking for is information through honest experimentation and feedback.

TID: Inova X-5 Tactical vs. Sure-Fire E2e – Head to HeadIf you are the type of person who thinks, “more is better,” you’re probably going to opt for the Sure-Fire flashlight. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that decision, whatsoever.

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We’re talking about the power range of temporary blindness – sight impairment.

I believe, through my own experimentation in the aforementioned low light environments, that the Inova X-5 Tactical will do the job well. That is not a criticism of the Sure-Fire E2e at all.

The strong points of the Sure-Fire E2e are:

Very powerful, more powerful than the Inova X-5 Tactical

Has a pocket clip

The pocket clip is excellent! However, with the TID mounted on the E2e, it orients the teeth on the TID in the up position, which could bite you as you slam your hand down to access it under stress.

Some Kydex Sheathing might be in order because of this for some people.

The strong points of the Inova X-5 Tactical are:

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Although it uses the same expensive batteries as the E2e, they will last much longer.

The LEDs are probably more shock-resistant than the Sure-Fire’s lamp assembly. Although the Sure-Fire lamp assembly is indeed tough.

When using the Inova X-5 for non-fighting tasks, you won’t dazzle yourself during some tasks like you will with a Sure-Fire.

Yes, using a Sure-Fire for simple tasks where the light is striking a lighter background can dazzle you. The degree of light you will get off of a light colored object is amazing. For example, I had to read maps and whatnot all of the time and although I used a Mini-Maglite for such tasks usually, I would sometimes use the Sure-Fire with a flip-up red lens cap mounted on it because I would impair my own vision using the Sure-Fire. When I was sneaking around inside buildings making sure they were clear of any burglars, I often flipped the cap down so I had red light. Sometimes inspecting a point of (forced) entry…

So, I consider the Inova X-5 to be a light with a wider range of utility than a Sure-Fire and it won’t eat batteries so quickly either, both a monetary and tactical consideration as well.

I think a well-executed pocket clip would be an excellent addition to the Inova. It has a lanyard hole already which some might find more useful than a pocket clip. A removable pocket clip on the Inova would be great.

Now we are at the end of the article and I really cannot recommend one over the other if you have the funds for both, buy both. If not, then I would shift my opinion over to the Inova X-5 Tactical with the TID because it would be more useful in a wider range of situations.

Both lights have a great value to anyone interested in Personal Protection and the TID is a valuable addition as well.

G, G & G should receive praise for making something this radical and Professional Executive Protection Specialist Lance Harris should for designing it. If the TID is ever discontinued, it will be one of the most sought-after items for some people who passed it up when it was available.

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ClosingOne more point about the legalities. Some would say it is unethical or immoral to not inform people that they might get in trouble for using something like a TID…or whatever device you are discussing.

They have a point, in a way. However, I don’t feel that it is “moral” or “ethical” to tell you to NOT use something because it might be illegal or might be considered illegal.

The reason I take that stance is incredibly simple.

I don’t believe it is “ethical” or “moral” to tell people that something like this is “unreasonable” for them to defend themselves with, the reason for this way of thought is…what happens when everything is legislated against? What then? Will it then be “immoral” or “unethical” to tell someone they should not be carrying anything to defend themselves with? That’s the destination of the train you ride when you start preaching to people about this sort of thing.

I try to strike a balance and give you both sides of the coin as it were.

The Koppo Stick

One of the finest books in my modest library is Masaaki Hatsumi’s "Stick Fighting." It has taught me so many things about defending myself with pocket sticks and canes. It is simply one of the best books you can own if you are interested in these types of defensive weapons.

You might be bored by my seemingly endless references to this book over and over at times as I value it highly. The material in this book [Kukishin Ryu Methods], are some of the best in existence. I do not want to turn this article into a "Cane Article," those I wish to keep separate from this material. Know this, however, if you are really interested in something that you can have in your hand as you walk across a dark parking lot, you are going to read about what I believe is the finest defensive weapon and approach you can embrace.

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This all started when I purchased Hatsumi Sensei’s book about 1987. On page 70 I saw a picture of a small wooden dowel that had a two finger loop and I thought it was simple and had alot of potential. It is simple and is excellent for defensive purposes. Since then, I have had them produced in Titanium and they have proven to be one of the most effective tools you can imagine. They make an instant believer out of a critic. The power of the tool is beyond belief when used correctly.

I do not accept Shidoshi Stephen K. Hayes personal views that various Combat Martial Arts Techniques cannot be integrated with other arts, as he has written about in his books. His reference to Eclecticism being a "hodgepodge" of techniques was used to promote Togakure Ryu, and while it is fine to point out that an art has something very special to offer someone, I believe it is a disservice to someone seriously interested in Self-defense to tell them, "you will never be able to do this movement unless you immerse yourself in this art that it came from." I believe that is protectionist. A technique is a technique, and as long as you understand the principle of the technique, that’s all that matters.

It is my opinion, again, that "Universal Truths" can be found in many different Martial Arts. Kelly Worden has done much to promote this idea of, "Connecting the Systems." He uses this phrase quite a bit and I believe he coined the phrase. Finding the common logic chain in some of the better Martial Arts and then picking and choosing, in the Classic Mindset of Sifu Bruce Lee, and following it to its’ logical conclusion.

That’s what I have been trying to do for years. I’m not saying that I embrace everything in various Martial Arts Systems, quite frankly, I think alot of what passes for "Martial Arts" today is more like daycare or worse, "How to say you don’t have an ego when we can

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teach you to cultivate one so large you can’t fit your head through the door of the Dojo."

When I see kakushigeri, what Shidoshi Hayes refers to as, "the hidden kick," I see a variation of Sipa from Filipino Sikaran foot fighting. It’s an oblique kick, it’s a fightstopper in some instances. It’s treacherous because it is low, fast and hard to see. It works well with foot and hand trapping as well as weapons.

That’s where I’m coming from. If I see something, and it can fit in, I take that and try to understand the underlying principles involved and then integrate it. That’s why you might see what I am going to write about in various arts as "techniques" or "sequences" unique to those arts... You don’t have to be immersed in Taijutsu to learn a thumb strike and to make it effective. You just can’t claim to have invented it or to be a part of that art. You’re taking one thing and integrating it with something entirely different. To say otherwise is to claim you have to be a Boxer in order to be competent and executing a right cross or uppercut.

The Basic Concept

So, now you have a closed Telescoping Baton, Kubotan, Yawara or Koppo Stick in your hand. How do you use it? Of course you can use them as a reinforcement to joint locks, but I am not going to concentrate on that. It is too hard to convey those concepts and if you have a background in an art like Jujutsu, you will already know, if not, it would probably be impossible to explain it with written text without alot of pictures or drawings.

I will address one form of joint locking, however, and that is Yubi Tori or "fingerlocks."

Striking someone is basically a "No-brainer" as well, however, there are a few specific sequences that work extremely well and this is a "Food for thought" article more than an online instruction manual.

In the spirit of the term Koppojutsu, I’ll touch on various subjects, but know that this tool can not only be used on bone with great effect, but muscle groups and nerves as well.

The Basic Concept is easily grasped by those skilled with edged weapons. Think of almost all of the movements which can be done with a knife in forward and reverse grips. We are going to build on that. We are speaking specifically about thrusting, however.

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Yubi Tori and "The Shake and Break"

Alright, so, everything goes wrong and someone has either executed the creep on you and they’re going to grab you and toss you around, slam you to the pavement, etc., or one of their "associates" have diverted your attention and one has come up behind.

The one thing you have to realize is, you have to practice this stuff, it is never going to work [except by pure luck] otherwise.

If someone grabs you from behind to bearhug you, it is for one of two reasons. Either they are going to slam you to the ground or into some other object, or they are going to hold you so one of their friends can work you over with bare hands or a weapon.

So, you have his arms around you and his hands are right in front of you. They’re exposed. More importantly, the most sensitive part of the hands are exposed. The backs of the hands. You place one end of the Koppo on the bone [back of the hand] and if possible, put your other hand on the hand holding the Koppo for additional pressure. [You may not want to do this if you have to fend off someone from the front]. You dig the stick into the back of the hand [try it on yourself] and don’t worry about "hurting" them, that’s exactly what you want to do. Easy in practice, as hard as you can on the street.

Then, you "shake" the stick, you want to move it rapidly back and forth, almost vibrating it while it is smashed into the back of their hand.

The "break" part comes in as soon they release, you can kick them with a back kick or grab one or two fingers, braced with the Koppo Stick across your palm and walk out of this and slam them into the guy in front of you. I promise you, if you work with this on a partner, you’re going to see how fast you can do this.

There are many techniques like this in Takayuki Kubota’s book, "Kubotan Keychain: Instrument of Attitude Adjustment." It is a very good reference book as well.

Whenever you break out of a hold like this, and you turn, you should let them have the elbow as you pass by them or spin into them. And the stick should follow that instantly. Inundate them with strikes, put them down and get out.

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Gripping the Koppo Stick

The Basic Theory

The Koppo Stick can strike in quite a few different ways. It can be a fistload but the strength of the Koppo is, you don’t have to punch with it.

When striking with it, you can think of it in a couple different ways.

For the most simple approach, think of it in the most basic terms.

Hammerfist. A clenched fist where the bottom [little finger side] of the fist is the striking surface. Koppo lies across the palm at a 90 degree angle.

Reverse Hammerfist. A clenched fist where the top [thumb side] of the fist is the striking surface. Koppo lies across the palm at a 90 degree angle.

Thumb Strike. This is something I blatantly stole from Taijutsu. It takes some time to get used to without a Koppo, but with it, it is effortless. Koppo lies across the palm at a 45 degree angle.

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Palm Heel. This is the classic palm strike or "Tiger Claw" that can also be used with clawing and gouging the eyes, etc.

One strength of the Koppo is, it is similar to a Push Dagger in that, you can still strike with a Palm Strike and grab clothing, hair or flesh without fear of losing it. So, it has that advantage over the Kubotan and Yawara...

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This is the basic theory of the Koppo Stick as I use it. It can be used with almost any martial art, but really shines when you have the mechanics and methods of the better Combat Arts behind it.

The Advanced Theory

This will be very easy for some people to grasp. Especially those in the Filipino Martial Arts who are familiar and comfortable with the Kali Thrusting Triangle and the Inverted Triangle. [See Illustrations with red triangles].

In the Illustrations, you will see a triangle and an inverted triangle. The apex of the inverted triangle can be at the groin, stomach or solar plexus. It matters not, it is a theory, the triangle can literally move on the human body like a transparency or a template. The base of the inverted triangle could be the clavicles, the sides of the neck, the sides of the head [temples] or even the eyes. You see, the Triangle moves, and it can change shape from an equilateral triangle to an isosceles, it matters not. What matters is the concept behind it.

What about the regular [non-inverted] triangle? The two points that form the base can be the kidneys, then the single point that is the apex of the triangle can be the hollow, unprotected area of the trachea between the clavicles [sometimes referred to as, "The Jugular Notch"] or between the eyes. Again, these triangles can move and they can take the shape of a regular or isosceles triangle.

This is a "thrusting map" in some styles of Kali. Apex down would be known in some Kali Systems as a, "5-8-9" Thrusting Drill. Let’s go with that terminology for clarity.

Forward Grip with Koppo Stick OR Knife

#5 Would be a straight-in thrust to the stomach or solar plexus.

#8 Would be a backhanded thrust [for a right handed person] the striking hand holding the Koppo Stick or Knife would be oriented palm UP ["Nails Up" *1] and the edge of the hand would be near the LEFT pectoral muscle. Extremely tight for close quarters.

#9 Would be a forehand thrust [for a right handed person] the striking hand holding the Koppo Stick or Knife would be oriented palm DOWN ["Nails Down" *1] and be on the right side of your body.

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A #5 in reverse grip could be an overhand stroke to the collarbones or the crown of the head, or, it could be low to the solar plexus which is a bit odd feeling for some people at first as the elbow is high and the back of the hand holding the weapon is facing left and the palm right.

If you know how to do alot of point work with an edged weapon, you will immediately appreciate the Koppo Stick in forward or reverse grip. The lines, attacks and everything else concerned is nearly identical. The only difference is, you can attack bone and you cannot cut.

The following pictures show relatively easy strikes, compared to what you would do under stress when you are in fear for your safety, on some wood. The wood was not rotten. After that picture, you will see some strikes into the quarterpanel of a vehicle. Think about these things if you doubt the power of a pocket stick.

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Attacking bone, Koppojutsu, bone breaking. If you have a downward thrust with a knife, you can target the subclavian arteries and/or

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veins behind the clavicles [collarbones], with the Koppo, you hit the collarbone. And, make no mistake, the Koppo Stick can break a collarbone.

To me, this is the Advanced Theory for using this type of tool, a common pocket stick.

Ricochet Strikes

These are just a couple of sequences for rapid fire striking.

Forearm to Head/Face:

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Someone reaches out to choke you and using that as a restraint as well, may decide to punch you immediately following contact with their other hand.

With your off-hand, pin their grabbing hand in place and strike down with the Koppo in a hammerfist strike to the radial nerve area on the top of the forearm [mound]. That could be called a vertical crescent action, your palm is facing you. Immediately, the hand rotates palm down ["Nails Down"] and you strike backhanded to the side of the neck, head or into the face.

What is hard to understand until you have actually done this movement, is just how fast it is. These two hits happen in well under a second. And once the dysfunction is caused in the arm and the neck, head or face is struck, you can basically follow up however you train to. I call it a ricochet because you are banging downward on the trapped arm and with a little hand rotation, you "bounce" it off of that strike and right into the second.

Under the Upper Arm to Solar Plexus/Groin:

What if the person is clueless and thinks he can simply choke you with both hands from the front?

Attack the underside of one arm. The upper arm on the underside is extremely sensitive, and you can hit anywhere from the elbow joint area almost to the armpit with immediate results. If you use isometric exercise [The rattan hoop is my favorite] and a little bit of weightlifting [slowly] duplicating this movement with a dumbell, you can fracture the humerus as well.

Where does the "ricochet" come into play? As soon as that strike lands, which is essentially a REVERSE hammerfist, the palm of the hand holding the Koppo Stick will be oriented LEFT. Rotate the palm DOWN and fire the second shot into the solar plexus or even lower into the groin.

Make up your own rapidfire "ricochet" strikes using this as a guideline.

Basic Guideline for Multiple Attackers

I won’t insult your intelligence by listing "sequences" that go into obscene detail on how to deal with two or more attackers on the street. I will tell you about one excellent sequence that you can strike the first one with that gets in your face [inside your sphere of

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defense] and then with training partners, you should find out the most effective way you move and what you can uncover via personal exploration. People that delve into great detail about multiple attackers and have set methods, kata or sequence are often making things up. Rest assured, you are hardly, if ever, going to pull those techniques off because they require your attackers to be compliant while you attack them. It’s not going to happen that way. People take training vehicles and try to set them in stone and say, "This is what you will do" instead of saying, "This is something you could do, but it’s just to get you to explore..."

If you have two or more attackers and it is clear they are going to attack you. Hit them first. In my opinion, there is such a disparity of force, you have to preempt them if at all possible if you want to survive.[*2]

This is the "High-Low" Principle meeting the "Head and The Hands Follow the Pain" Philosophy.

If you hit high, go low as you have created an opening. If you hit low, go high as you have created an opening.

The head and the hands will usually follow the pain. Old principle I learned from someone in GM Ed Parker’s Kenpo System. Meaning, if you strike someone really hard in the nose, 90% of the time, their hands will at least move upwards towards the pain, their head will go back a bit. A trained fighter who has been hit hard before is not necessarily going to react this way, however.

Kick a man in the groin, his head will come a bit lower and his hands will gravitate to the area of the pain. You have created an opening up high.

If you knee someone in the groin, know that their head [in most cases] is coming down and if you then knee spike them, you are multiplying force like two vehicles hitting head on.

At long range, you would know that the hands are going downward, at least a little bit and that is your open window of opportunity to go high and strike them there.

The Actual Sequence

The one "sequence" I will give you is this, if you know it is going to happen and you have to take the first attacker out of the

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picture[*3], this is the way it can be done. This is a rapidfire, "ricochet" type of strike as well.

Using the thumb strike, the Koppo oriented at a 45 degree angle in the hand as if you had a knife in forward saber grip...

Strike immediately and directly into the solar plexus. Again, 90% of the time, his head is coming down, meet his throat, tip of chin or the area under the tongue instantly with the Stick.

The initial thumb strike, the palm will be facing LEFT, you orient the "point" of the Koppo and keeping the palm facing left, you strike upwards, vertically straight up to meet the head coming down. You can then literally grab the throat or face and Tiger Claw them, and either slam them into another attacker, slam them down and run over them to escape, or you can get behind them and use them as a shield.

Whenever dealing with multiple attackers, you have two basic options for survival.

Hit first, hard and fast and get out of the area they have created for you to be destroyed in.

Take the first one that gets in your face, damage him, use him as a shield and at the first opportunity, shove or slam him into another attacker or otherwise dump him and escape.

Anyone that takes you money and strokes your ego going over dozens of sequences or kata teaching you how to deal with multiple attackers is simply doing just that. Stroking your ego to dip into your wallet.

Learn how to strike and learn how to maneuver using footwork and never stop moving or you’re dead meat. That’s the rule.

[*1] "Nails Up" and "Nails Down" is referring specifically to the fingernails, very simple. Palm down or Palm up, same thing.

[*2] & [*3] This has to do with legalities. Only the Jury will decide if your actions were warranted in the particular situation you face, further;

All of the information in this article and the rest of the website is for information purposes only. I advise you to be very careful in any Martial Arts Training you decide to be involved in. I except no

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responsibility for misuse of this material in real life, on the street or in training. You use this at your own risk.

Much of the text and illustrations show what would be a lethal application. You must be responsible. If someone does not pose a lethal threat to you or a loved one, do not strike them in the head, throat or anywhere in the neck area. Some Police Departments Guidelines consider the collarbones as potentially lethal targets now because of the splintering effect that can occur from heavy strikes to that area. Which can possibly puncture the subclavian vessels.

If the attacker has a lethal weapon, generally speaking, you are usually justified in using lethal force to repel that attack/threat. As the disclaimer stated, I'm not responsible for the misuse of this information.

A Koppo by any other name

…is still basically a Koppo Stick. Or is it?

My own research, studies and practice marches on. Sometimes you fine people E-mail me and say, "When is a new article coming out?" Well, I have to actually go out and practice and continue to train, right? It would be nice to take a long vacation to Cancun or a Dominican Republic all inclusive resort, but even then it's important to stay on top of your game. Furthermore, the never-ending maze of research and writing, drawing and re-drawing marches on. It never ends.

(Long Micarta Koppo Stick)

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I can tell you that the more I research, the more I realize that nothing is completely "new." Almost everything is a new twist on something old.

It came as quite a surprise to me the other day to find that what I refer to as a Koppo Stick has a Cousin in Okinawan Karate. They are called, "Chizikunbo." They are palm sticks, from what I understand some with the finger cord and some without. They have also been referred to as "Chizonkon" as well. And in Okinawan Martial Arts, they are in the same class of hand weapon as the Tekko.

(1 Suntetsu, 2 type of Chizikunbo/Tekko, 3 Koppo or Chizikunbo)

Neat, huh? Now, all of you fine readers who are involved in the Okinawan Martial Arts can pester your Instructor for any further information and specific movements. Beware, the level of obscurity might vary from Instructor to Instructor and the Tekko in particular is not exactly…shall we say, "politically correct."

In the past six months, possibly more than any other point in my own development, I have played "Connect-the-Dots" with various Martial Arts Weapons both ancient and modern.

In this new batch of articles, you are going to see the Dots Connected between many different things. Most notably, the two Articles on Garrottes and Flexible Weapons, the Ju-Jo and a new Ju-

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Jo Article building on the last one, the older Koppo Stick Article, as well as Articles on Brass Knuckles and links to Okinawan Karate from THAT.

All of these articles I am writing with very few exceptions, can be viewed as Chapters in the same Book. At least…I hope so. In the end, the goal is to be able to pick anything up and use it. That’s the end of the journey…or is it?

You decide.

The Origin of the Yawara Stick

In the last Koppo Stick Article, we delved into Filipino Martial Arts primarily.

There is some evidence, historically, that the Japanese Yawara Stick movements were taken from Tantojutsu [Knifefighting] and that they evolved through using a Tanto in a wooden sheath, the knife was still sheathed, you see…interesting, huh?

There are so many different things that have contributed to the Yawara Stick movements. The sheathed Tanto is one. The Tessen [Iron War Fan] or Kassen [An Iron War Fan that is not really a fan, it just resembles one, also a projectile weapon as a segue to drawing an edged weapon…combining the idea of Metsubushi to the mix. In the Metsubushi Article, there is a connection other than that, the empty can of O.C. can be used as a Yawara or if the O.C. Fails To Stop the attacker.] Movements/Techniques have been extracted from these and from these movements, effective techniques of using a simple pocket stick have been developed.

I don’t know how you could leave the Tessen and Kassen out of the Yawara Puzzle. There might be "Tessen-specific" movements, but I think if someone was schooled in these various things, they can make a lot of different devices work well.

Understand that I try to make all of the articles stand on their own, but you really need to read and examine all of them. The Yawara Stick Article is linked to this one. They can’t really be separated. What I stated above about the Tessen and Kassen, I left out of the Yawara Stick Article on purpose. Explore all the Articles and find the common thread between all of them… The Tessen and Kassen are linked to the Yawara as far as I’m concerned, however…

More Gentle Observations

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Not really "critics," per se, but some observations from others have hinted that if you use a Koppo Stick and you have that loop around your two middle fingers, you might have your fingers broken in a fight. Meaning, the attacker might grab the Koppo Stick and twist it to snap your fingers.

This is primarily a consideration for those that use a Koppo as Sensei Tak Kubota has advised over the years to use a Kubotan. Meaning, using it as a pressure device for pain compliance and/or to use as a mechanical assistance to a throw or takedown. I know Sensei Kubota also has striking techniques…but a lot of the emphasis with the Kubotan is on control. Civilians/Citizens…non-Law Enforcement folks will not usually have the need to restrain someone. By all means, learn these techniques in case you do ever have a need for them. But understand that if someone attacks you in a K-Mart parking lot, you don’t have to restrain them or arrest them, you merely have to bust them up to the point they either do not want to attack you anymore or they are incapable of attacking you anymore.

If you are using a Koppo Stick correctly, i.e., combatively, this is not so much of a concern, as the attacker will find it incredibly difficult to do something like grabbing a Koppo Stick with two small areas projecting from each side of the fist. In other words, you are going to be pounding on them. That is the primary mode for a Koppo Stick to be used with everything else being secondary. If you decide to use a wrist lock [inside or outside] and wish to use the Koppo Stick as a reinforcer for that, or using fingerlocks [Yubi Tori], you are advised to strike them first and repeatedly. Atemi-waza, striking, then and only then, go for whatever else you wish to do.

Grabbing onto someone without disabling them or fogging their mind using Atemi-waza is a very bad mistake. To think that you will automatically use superior skill to gain the upper hand, no matter what your size or that of your attacker and you are going to joint lock them…is a fantasy. It might work in some instances; however, as I am always fond of saying…you are betting your life on this, place your bets carefully.

Now, without saying so, I already addressed some other critics of the Koppo Stick and the last Article I wrote on it. That opinion being that the Koppo Stick is ineffective because locking people up is ineffective as a first response. Well, it is not going to be my first response, striking is.

An Example

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So, you are a Black Belt in Karate. This monster of a man comes up and grabs you by the upper part of your clothing, we can say "Lapel Grab," that’s fine. Being a streetwise person, you know the headbutt is coming next, right? Or, perhaps the person has only grabbed you with one hand and in the other, he is going to retrieve the knife he has. Maybe that atrocious little .25 Caliber Semiautomatic that no self-respecting Gun Owner would own and he is going to start dumping the magazine into your gut…

You have to act in that instant, it’s just that simple. He has already assaulted you, he has grabbed you.

He is unknown to you, you are not a Psychic, and you have no idea what he is going to do.

Now, the guy is a large person and through just being a large person or perhaps through some weight training in prison, he is very strong. What do you do?

Using your other hand, pin the hand of the arm you are going to strike. An inward block, hammerfist with a Koppo Stick in hand, you hit them with all you have with the intention of breaking their elbow joint by striking the outside of it. Will it break? I don’t know, it depends on how strong you are, how accurate the strike is and to what degree they have their elbow joint hyper-extended by grabbing you, etc. But, know this, it will damage them. All of your power, perhaps you have broken boards with a hammerfist, well, all of that power that you have is going to be focused on the end of a Pocket Stick. Even if you miss the elbow itself, you may strike the area just above it and stun/damage the Ulnar Nerve Area, the famous "Funny Bone" which will cause some degree of dysfunction in that limb to the point of making it useless for some period of time. Perhaps you will damage the Triceps Tendon or the Triceps Muscle higher up on the arm. If their elbow(s) are down, hammerfist down onto the top of the forearm mound [Radial Nerve Area] or into the inside of the elbow joint. The options are limitless, but these are various first strikes with the Pocket Stick in that situation.

Next, you could redirect immediately and go into the head/facial area. Or you could go low and hammerfist to the rib cage then go inside and hit to the sternum. It’s endless and limited only by your training and creativity.

If they have their hands on your throat, you might want to bypass all of that and strike for the temple. Yes, it could be a lethal blow,

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but their hands are around your throat. What do you think their intentions are?

Take a look at this grand old illustration found in Fairbairn’s book, "Get Tough!" This is a reverse hammerfist. Do this, but with a pocket stick…if it is a lethal attack, a knife or choke…or a handgun as the illustration suggests…aim a little higher and strike the temple.

The Kubotan

Anyone that has ever had a Kubotan properly applied to his or her wrist knows very well that the pain can be excruciating. That sealing effect of both thumbs wrapping the wrist with the Kubotan on the bone, then the rolling, as downward pressure is applied, is nothing short of wet-your-pants painful. It does hurt like hell. And that movement, the most simple of all when it comes to using the Kubotan to "control and restrain," should be learned and mastered by anyone carrying any form of Pocket Stick, even the lowly Mini-MagLite. As you secure that technique and you walk away and direct them to the ground, if done properly, only the most powerful or drugged attackers could resist it.

Where I disagree with advocating that in most situations is, if the guy has his hands around your throat, you should be hitting him, right now. The reason is, his response is one that dictates you striking him. If he has you by the clothing on the upper part of your body, again, that headbutt might be coming. Don’t waste time getting the position and the technique…he’s not going to stand there and let you do it.

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Yes, I know how fast someone can get a Kubotan around someone’s wrist when that wrist is up near your head in a lapel grab or throat grab, I know because I can do it myself. But what I can show you and what I know how to do for some altercations, I would not necessarily do on the street against an "unknown."

I know this works a lot of the time for Police Officers, but they are in a different job. I was never a Bouncer, or I should use the term that is en vogue now, a Doorman. I did, however, work Concert Security on quite a few occasions as a Part-time job when I was working Full-time for an Alarm Company. I enjoyed it. Jacking up recalcitrant dopers at concerts was a nice way to make extra money and to test some other things out that I would not want to test out on the other job I had at the time.

The whole focus is different when you have to put your hands on someone and make them do something you want them to do or go somewhere that you want them to go. You do not have to do that with an attacker on the street, nor should you. It opens up other problems, you have no back-up coming, what the hell are you going to do with someone once you have restrained them? Keep them secured and see who shows up on scene first? The Police or the attacker’s friends?

Anyway, when I was working that job, I could not pummel someone to get him or her to do what I wanted him or her to do unless they started actively fighting, most of them resisted but they did not want to go "all the way." I did have to get rough with several people at almost every concert I worked. The Kubotan is a great device, so are MagLites for cracking people.

Your job is surviving; you do not have to arrest anyone. You don’t have to physically throw someone out of an exit at a concert hall. You only need to make it home.

Enter the Suntetsu

In the drawing below, you will see a weapon that was "invented" by an American. This was found online with a Patent Search. Once again, my good friend Jay came through with converting the goofy format for me.

The Patent was filed April 2, 1976. This is where the illustration came from, the Patent Document.

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This hand weapon is similar, almost identical, to a Japanese Suntetsu. This weapon, looking at the drawing, seems to be of equal length although the text of the Patent hints that it should be offset if I understand it correctly.

The Suntetsu, on the other hand, has the finger ring noticeably offset, meaning, one end of the Suntetsu is longer than the other when measured from the finger ring.

The reason for that is simple. The Suntetsu can be palmed and concealed, then it is rotated so a "spearing hand," can be used with the base of the Suntetsu firmly placed in the palm of the hand.

The Suntetsu I have found online have a thick base with rounded end for placing into the palm, so the palm is not damaged on a hard thrust while the other end is slimmer and would focus more energy.

Consider these drawings. The weapon on the left is directly from the Patent Document and the drawings to the right of it I have altered to try to illustrate the concept of the Suntetsu being concealed and then rotated to strike for a spearing thrust with the fingers extended…

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Like the Koppo Stick, this is a very versatile weapon indeed. But make no mistake, if you were to carry one, it would be considered a weapon by almost any person you would meet.

You can grab, palm slap (which is a vicious jawbreaker and might break a clavicle as well with the Suntetsu or Koppo Stick…) as well as strike with hammerfist or reverse hammerfist. The Suntetsu can spear naturally when rotated to that position; not something easily accomplished with the two-finger loop of the Koppo Stick.

Weapons begin to blur into One…

At this point, all of these things I have written about in the past begin to blur into one small group of hand weapons that are so intricately related it amazes me.

The Okinawan Chizikunbo or Chizonkon is basically what I call a Koppo Stick. It has a two-finger loop. But there is another version carved out of wood that has a single finger hole and this is more like the Japanese Suntetsu. In Okinawa…the Chizikunbo or Chizonkon might be referred to as "Tekko" even though a Tekko is a specific weapon onto itself. A pair of knuckledusters. Interesting, huh?

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It gets better…

Dr. John Lewis invented the Ju-jo and Magnum Ju-jo, right? Where did the idea come from? Did it come from the Manrikigusari/Kusari Fundo; the weighted fighting chains…or…what?

Well, enter another Ancient Japanese hand weapon, the Te no uchi.

The Te no uchi is a Pocket Stick with a cord attached to it, a long length of cord tied in a specific manner… The lines between all of these small hand weapons continue to blur beyond all recognition. You can clearly place them into different categories but those categories have incredibly strong links where the lines between them blur to the point of being non-existent at times.

Read the Ju-jo II Article for more on that. Enjoy connecting the dots for yourself.

I do not claim that I am "right" in this, I merely put this forth for you to examine on your own. If you disagree, that’s fine. Have a basis for the disagreement, however. This Article you are reading is obviously linked to the first Koppo Stick Article, now…the original Ju-jo Article, both Articles on Garrotte and Flexible Weapons enter in as well.

I want to paint a large picture for you to examine. When you look at it, you can look at it as a guessing game I’m playing, or you can see something deeper than that. In the study of these simple hand weapons, you begin to see all sorts of things around you that can be pressed into service as improvised weapons if need be…the list is endless.

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When you look at the various Arts and the methods/techniques they use, you see a plethora of movements to choose from, to insert into your own personal System of Self-defense.

Let’s face it. We might study one Art or several, what we are doing is trying to find our own way and we are trying to personalize what it is we learn. That is what this is all about. PLUS…it’s interesting…

Koppo Stick vs. Edged Weapon

This is what it’s all about, one of the most lethal situations you can be involved in is someone who has a knife and for whatever reason, they want to put it on you and/or in you repeatedly.

"Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread…"

Understand that having something so simple as a pocket stick and being competent with the device will increase your odds of survival against a knife-wielding attacker.

You have to know how they move and if you know how they move and the various ruses, feints and whatnot, you also know how to use the weapon and more than that, and the pocket stick becomes more viable.

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If anyone wishes to debate the power of something so "simple and stupid" as a Kubotan, by all means, spend $5.00 on one, place your hand on your desk and hammerfist your own hand. Haha! Make a fist with one hand and hold a pencil in it and smack the hell out of it with a Kubotan in the other.

What I’m trying to say is, the projection of the Koppo/Kubotan, etc., out of your fist has a power far beyond that of your hand alone.

For simple Self-defense, a pocket stick is excellent. With a lot of practice, the pocket stick is viable against the edged weapon.

Holding the pocket stick, regardless of type, in a High Guard with the hand holding the pocket stick hovering somewhere close to the sternum, keeps the hand holding the pocket stick out of the fray. Yet, it can shoot outwards or downwards or respond to either right or left sides.

The off-hand, the Live Hand, that is there to fend off and possibly guide the attacker’s hand, deflecting it, parrying and possibly pushing it into the pocket stick…

More Training Ideas

You need to get some good forearm/hand guards that are tough and can take a good shot from a pocket stick without the possibility of severe injury.

Then, grab a Training Knife of some type, and go slowly…

This is developmental and confidence building; this is not, "how you fight." Nothing will be predictable or "easy" on the street.

Have your partner, the "Attacker," put the forearm/hand guards on and then he will have the Training Knife. You will have the Koppo…

Understand this, most people that are attacked with a knife end up having defensive cuts on their hands and/or forearms, etc.

If you, as the target of a violent knife assault, can get your hands out there into the fray and get them cut; you can hit that incoming limb as well…

Self-defense, the whole concept, slips by so many people who think you are absolutely helpless when confronted with someone who has a knife, etc. It does not have to be that way. No one is saying you

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will escape unscathed, you might, but more than that, you get to live.

Even 100 sutures and terrible scars are far better than a casket.

Go slowly and develop the hand-eye coordination necessary to strike that incoming knife hand…have the Attacker come in slowly with a stomach thrust, strike downwards onto the incoming hand or the mound of the forearm.

Act as if the Koppo were an icepick that you wanted to drive through that incoming limb…

The "Attacker" should go through these various slashes and thrusts, slowly, you are developing skill, not duelling. It’s not a contest; it’s developing skill, no winners and no losers.

The Attacker slashes with a #1 forehand cut to your face or neck, you counter with the Koppo.

He slashes backhanded with a #2, you counter.

When you make contact with the Koppo, learn to use your off hand, getting it in there to check the incoming limb in case the Koppo does not find its’ mark. Done hard, this can also blow the knife right out of someone’s hand…

After you become skilled at doing this, you can begin to slowly add speed. You can slowly add combinations of slashes and thrusts and then, you will add them –NOT– using the same sequence so that the "Defender" does not know what is coming next; but can only respond to what is given him/her.

Going Upstairs

After you have some time in with these developmental exercises, you now have to learn to end the encounter…eliminating the possibility of the attacker continuing his attack…

That means that once you get the good blasting hit on the weapon arm and you can check it to smother it, you turn their lights off by going up to the neck and head. Cause that dysfunction or disarm in the limb but never count on that alone because sometimes, it is just not going to happen. Other times, as you will see in training, you can blow the knife right out of their hand if you get a solid hit.

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But the hit is the segue to the rest, it is not a stand alone unless you are fortunate enough to blast the knife out of their hand and they immediately turn and run from you, etc.

Kicking

When you buy some padded forearm/hand protection to slip on your partner to practice these things, make sure you get some shin/instep protection too. Then you can start using the Koppo or whatever pocket stick you choose to defend against kicks.

Some people can and will use their feet on the street. Learn to deal with that, see the strengths and weaknesses of various types and methodologies of kicking.

Start out slow as before, this is slow practice at first working up to speed and real time movement.

You are going to see new doors open to you. Learning to move side to side, forward and back while you get the hit in and then that is an entry to removing the threat.

If you are lucky, you might break something on the first shot and not have to involve yourself further with the attacker. They can scream obscenities while they hold their leg as you trot off to your car…

When you practice against experienced kickers, have them do the kicks in a non-telegraphic manner and you watch them and you watch low, then you watch the shoulders. You watch many people like that. Review tapes of No Holds Barred Matches as well as Kickboxing Matches to see the telltale signs of the chambering of various kicks. Then you learn to either blast the leg at some point. Moving back and getting your hit in, or you learn to see the chamber and step in and strike them, smothering the kick and taking the wind out of it because their target is much closer than they thought it was.

This is not rocket science friends.

The first Koppo Stick Article

As I was finishing this article, I decided to revise the original Koppo Stick Article.

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The Koppo Stick and Ju-jo Articles are probably the most popular on this website. I get the most E-mail about them, without a doubt.

I am hoping that the new Koppo Stick Article as well as the new Ju-jo Article coming soon will continue to turn people on to the whole idea of Pocket Sticks as well as Flexible Weapons. The Yawara Stick Article is already receiving good feedback and I hope everyone understands everything.

Some people had some trouble understanding some of the illustrations in the last Koppo Stick Article. So, when I revised that, I removed most of those illustrations and decided to place them in this article instead.

The reason for that was…I never put them in the other article as the definitive way to use a Pocket Stick of any kind. They were merely snapshots to illustrate some things. It is almost impossible to teach from a webpage. The movement is faster than you might imagine if you have never been exposed to something like Filipino Martial Arts.

I tried to explain some concepts and techniques like "The Shake & Break" as well as what I call, "Ricochet Striking."

I am now going to place them in here just as a basic guide to convey some ideas.

Some folks also had problems with the way I illustrated, I should have explained the pictures better.

When you see a straight or curved line that is red or blue, that is basically showing you only one angle where a strike could be launched. Know that this is not set in stone at all. It’s just an example.

When you see something circled with a red or blue circle, that is something to examine, it might be a small movement or an entire striking area.

When you see blue or red dots on the "attacker," these are just generic areas you can strike to get a good hit in on the person. Nothing more and nothing less.

When you see the "defender" with red dots in their hand and possibly a red line across their knuckles, this represents the Koppo Stick and the two-finger loop of cord for it. That’s all. So now, some

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of you won’t have to scratch your head and figure out what all the squiggly lines are for and whatnot. This should clear things up.

The thing you have to remember about the following pictures are, these are just examples of how to use the Pocket Stick. That’s all.

Simple Anatomy

By all means, anyone who has a serious interest in Self-defense should have an intimate knowledge of the human anatomy. I am going to place these illustrations in here, but do not allow yourself to be bogged down to pinpoint striking.

This is a problem with a lot of Martial Arts, in that, they believe they are going to have this extraordinary degree of pinpoint accuracy on the street.

One has to wonder how many fights some of these people have been in. Sometimes you get what you want, perfectly, other times, someone will be absolutely flailing at you and you will not get what you have trained for…

Have the confidence in knowing that almost anywhere you strike with a Pocket Stick, you are going to cause some damage.

Head and Neck

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Understand that striking to the neck and/or the head area carries with it the possibility of death to the attacker. Do not ever forget this, it is a fact and not mere conjecture. If you strike someone in a vital area, you had best make positively sure that you were 100% justified in using Lethal Force to begin with or you could find yourself in prison.

Head and neck targets…anywhere on the head or completely around the neck should be reserved for when your life is in danger.

The Torso

That illustration is in the first Koppo Stick Article. I won’t place it in here once again, but know that even some powerful strikes with a Pocket Stick could break ribs and those ribs could pierce the lungs and cause the death of the attacker as well.

Make sure you are justified before you strike anybody for any reason.

The Arm

As we discussed with the head and neck areas, these are simply points where striking will be effective. That does not mean if you miss that the strike will be ineffective. These are just here for education and nothing more at all. If you miss a "red dot" on someone, you are still striking them and you should continue to do so until the threat has been neutralized. It’s just that simple. Discussing the radial and ulnar nerves and whatnot is fine. If one of

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your strikes lands there, it will probably be more effective, if you miss, do not stop until the threat is over. That does not mean, "the threat is DEAD." It means the attack has been neutralized.

Self-defense Scenarios and "Sequences"

The throat or lapel grab

If a person unknown to you grabs you by the throat, as far as I’m concerned, this is a lethal attack. Their intent might not be to kill you, but they can kill you rather easily and very fast by doing so and crushing the trachea.

If you are in fear for your life, act accordingly. The law allows for that. There is absolutely no justification for a stranger to be placing their hand on your throat.

If they do this and they immediately start to squeeze, you may be legally justified in using Lethal Force. Note that "may" is italicized. The reason for this is, I am not an Attorney. We are also speaking hypothetically. You may have to escalate immediately and strike the head. Only you will know and only you can make the decision if and when the time comes.

The lapel grab is placed in here because the same approach works for either attack.

The lapel grab is not the strike, the lapel grab is the segue and the anchor for the strike. That strike might be a headbutt to your face, it might be a knee to your groin.

Then again, it might be to anchor you so the attacker’s other hand can pump a knife into you a dozen times or draw a handgun.

Yet, you cannot use Lethal Force, according to conventional wisdom, because the general consensus is, the lapel grab is used "to rough you up." I know this is absurd and at that point, the law and people who spew this nonsense are demanding that you should be a Psychic and try to ascertain in a split second exactly what the intentions are of the attacker. It is a physical impossibility to do so.

The safe bet, legally, that is still effective, is to immediately counterattack them and break their ability to keep you there, anchored for whatever they wish to do to you.

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The arms have many vulnerable areas. Do not try for pain compliance, there are simply too many determined or drugged people out there in the world to rely on this. Remember, you usually have one chance, to do something meaningful and effective. This is why I do not like to attempt wrist locking or the brutally painful Kubotan techniques because as painful as they can be when executed properly, some people through pure mean spirit, adrenaline or drugs can fight through that.

I am also aware that a Pocket Stick can be used to "anchor" someone’s hand on you and then you can then put an immense amount of pressure on the back of their hand, a very sensitive area, and then take a step back and they will respond. But not everyone will. This is the same movement used in "The Shake & Break." But it relies on the person registering the pain and some people simply do not, especially if they are chemically fueled.

This illustration simply shows that you can strike the bottom of the arm or the top of the arm in such a situation. You can strike the outside or inside of the arm. No matter where the Stick lands, hit them extremely hard. You do not know what is coming and you do not want to find out. You have to eliminate the possibility that their strike(s) will even be launched.

You could also thrust the Stick directly into the midsection, etc. This would keep the Stick and your counter below the line of sight as well. Every situation is unique. That is why you should center your lifesaving skills around non-specific defenses. These are just ideas folks.

In the next illustration, you see what could be an immediate response as well, a slapping strike to the face with the Koppo, your hand is open, and then going for the eyes. The responses are limitless, but they have to be effective.

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Front & Rear Bearhugs

When grabbed from the rear in a bearhug, know that the person is going to really slam his hands into your solar plexus hard to try to knock the wind from you instantly. He is then going to either slam you face first on the ground, into a wall or parked car…or he is going to hold you so one of his friends can pummel you or knife you. The grab itself is an attack because it is done very hard in real life. Something most Dojos do not do. Most of the time when you see this done in a class or demo, the grab is really easy for the most part. It won’t be that way on the street. It is going to be a lot more brutal than most Martial Arts Classes demonstrate.

Another possibility is when a man bearhugs a woman. That can also mean they are going to drag the woman off into a stand of trees or a waiting vehicle to kidnap and rape the woman.

Women should automatically assume this is the intent of the male grabbing them in a front or rear bearhug.

Once the hold is broken, the woman should turn and flatten them without hesitation. I know there can be cases where "friends" will grab an unsuspecting woman like this, jokingly, I cannot comment on that. That is for the Ladies to address in their own, personal life and who they associate with. I’m talking about attackers.

From left to right, in the first three illustrations, you see the front bearhug. The blue dots just signify that you can strike all up the side of someone with great effect. That’s all! Depending on your size and the size and strength of your attacker, you might be able to strike to the side of the head or the back of the head from the very start as is illustrated in first picture. You can then headbutt them or strike down into their side…once the hold is broken, you can strike downwards into their side again.

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The second set of three illustrations [a black line separates both sets of three pictures] shows the rear bearhug. This is where "The Shake & Break" from the first article can come into play. You can either break the hold and turn on them to strike, or if they are very strong and have a high tolerance to pain, etc., you can get both hands up on the Stick and break the hold somewhat and get a finger. If you get a finger and you start to bring it back and get no response, assume that this attacker has an incredible pain tolerance, break their finger and obtain another one. Repeat until you run out of fingers, then they will not be able to hold you, right?

When you turn, use the elbow! Just because you have a Pocket Stick in your hand does not mean you ignore your natural weapons.

The Pocket Stick can follow the elbow if necessary. You see the rearward headbutt in there as well. That should be taking place to further break the hold as you perform "The Shake & Break," go into fingerlocking or finger destruction.

In either case, if the person picks you up off of the ground, run in place violently, they will find it very hard to hold all of your body weight moving around violently like that.

Simplicity.

The Headlock

This illustration shows a simple headlock and a crank downwards for control. The Koppo can be used to strike upwards into the groin or if the Koppo is at your side and you are in a position to see, you can

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strike the attacker’s hands that are clasped together. Either one will do.

Get your hand up into their eyes immediately, don’t mess around or they will bite you for your trouble. Violence of action, fast movement. Get the hand up there and get the fingers in their eyes and pry the head back hard. Now, you might strike upwards into the groin once again, then once the hold is broken and you have their head peeled back and they are off balance…a hammerfist with the Koppo, even done without a lot of force, can knock the wind out of them instantly.

Again, the legal system is going to judge you. Be careful and know that something so simple as a Pocket Stick in this position, that person might suffer extreme neck trauma and if that Pocket Stick lands on the sternum or ribs forcefully, you can break or crush bone.

Striking after Locking

This illustration simply shows many possibilities if you do lock someone up and you feel you are losing control of them and they are going to attack you again.

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Or, perhaps you have restrained them and then you see his two brothers or friends get out of a car across the street and you have to put him down or you will have to deal with him once again AND his associates.

Just to give you more ideas. Nothing is specific.

Multiple Strikes

These are especially important when you have gained the upper hand against someone much larger than you [disparity of force] or someone who has produced a weapon, etc.

You have to strike them immediately and you have to strike them until they no longer pose a threat to you. This can also be considered "chasing." Contrary to what many people think, human beings usually do not just stand there when they are being hit hard and fast. They move. If they are going out, they usually move downwards, falling or back and down. Some will simply move back as they are being hit. This is when the "chase" happens.

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This is simply a groin strike with the Pocket Stick and catching the head on the way down with a horizontal elbow strike. Colliding, the head and the hands usually follow the pain. Create the opening by the groin shot and meet their head because you know it will be headed, to some degree, towards their midsection or groin because they are responding to the groin strike. Not everyone will respond the same, but this is a general "truism" of fighting. The head and the hands usually follow the pain.

After that, even a glancing hammerfist off of the side of the head if need be, if that degree of force is justified, can get them wheeling and you can hammerfist down onto the clavicle, etc., as need be to survive.

Chokeholds are obviously very dangerous. You can lose your life. Act accordingly. To best describe the response, I would use the word "ballistic." Go absolutely nuts on the attacker but have a method to your madness.

At first contact, you need to be going berserk. If you can stun them on the way in, all the better. Right back into the face with the Koppo Stick, back into the ribs, proceed with elbows and heel kicks with all you have.

If you fail at that point, you can pull down on their arm to lessen the effect of the choke, you can take the Koppo Stick and beat on the tip of their elbow. Everything is non-specific and the focus is on being ruthless and violent. Being "easy" will simply get you killed.

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This next sequence, notice the red line along the bottom of the "defender's" elbow. That is an elbow in a High Guard, spearing into an onrushing attacker. The blue dots are all points which the Koppo Stick can strike and the two blue lines simply show an outward or overhand path for the Koppo Stick. The second picture shows the spearing elbow "collapsing" into a horizontal elbow strike, the red line on the top could be the downward, "slashing" elbow, the second red line is the edge-of-hand strike coming back at the attacker. The Koppo Stick can then again strike as required.

Ricochet Striking

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I covered this in the first Koppo Stick Article. This has to do with the above passage, "The head and the hands usually follow the pain." Sometimes, when people are susceptible to this, you can "set up" other strikes.

This one was described in the last article. This is simply thrusting with the Pocket Stick to the midsection and then re-orienting the Stick point up and meeting their jaw on the way down, or it might land behind the chin, in the very sensitive area directly below the tongue. It matters not. This can be done very fast and you should be seeking out these various types of strikes in your own training.

Do not forget your other natural weapons! They are always there and in some cases, might be more effective. If the person knows you have something in your hand, a simple feint with the Pocket Stick, especially a Koppo with keys attached to it, might draw their attention upwards so you can lowline kick them.

Experiment all you can and practice safely and with an eye towards development and not competition.

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The Yawara Stick

A short but interesting look at the history of the forgotten Yawara Stick.

Introduction

Please forgive me for redundancy. People have passions. Websites tend to be about personal interests, this website is no exception. I have a deep interest in edged weapons and the Arts that surround them; especially practical and/or covert edged weapons. These Articles about various types of pocket sticks may seem repetitive to some people. But this is part of my own personal interests when it comes to Martial Arts. If you find them boring, I’m sorry. If you find them informative, that’s great. I’m trying to give each Article its own feel knowing from the start that there is so much overlap between the various pocket sticks that some people might be bored by the constant drone about them.

The passion involved is not merely collecting pocket sticks of various types. The passion involved is giving everyone in an incredibly violent and litigious society something very simple that is far more effective on the street than the otherwise innocuous appearance of the pocket stick would suggest to the casual observer. They can be carried inconspicuously in almost any locale from downtown streets to a seemingly safe stretch of Sanibel Island real estate.

The passion is in the joy of researching various types of hand weapons and their development over the years...historically, etc.

And the passion is in the quiet confidence that although the pocket stick in its various incarnations may be banned, Yawara Sticks, Kubotans in some places, Koppo Sticks...all of these things along with edged weapons may be banned by name or description... But there are so many things that can be pressed into service as an improvised pocket stick and the movements are so brutally effective and easy to learn that they can never totally "ban" the pocket stick unless they make Citizens write with Crayons. Something that would crumble when used like a pocket stick. That’s a strength. These are excellent Self-Defense Tools.

The only way they can "ban" pocket sticks is to actually "ban" the Act of Self-defense outright. While I believe that some countries, Britain a screaming example, have in fact done everything possible except come right out and say, "Self-defense is now illegal and

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punishable by law," they have not taken that final step to legislate Martial Arts or Mini-Maglite Flashlights, etc. Thank God.

Understand that I mean no offense when it comes to citing various references and I make no claim that any "guess" I come up with as to origin or development is 100% accurate. It is one person’s best estimate given the best information at hand. I have an opinion, that’s all.

When I cite Linck’s book and his "Linck Stick" and state that this book was published some five years before Matsuyama invented the Yawara Stick, this should not be taken as a condemnation or indictment of Matsuyama. There is something called "Simultaneous Evolution."

Likewise, when I hint that Tak Kubota Sensei did not really "invent" anything, I believe that to be true. I don’t think Matsuyama necessarily "invented" the Yawara Stick, in that, apparently the Yawara Stick in one form or another, has been around for hundreds of years. It might not have been called that, but the concept has been around for a long, long time. The credit, the innovation of Matsuyama, cannot be questioned, however.

Tak Kubota invented the Kubotan, which was a new twist on an old concept. He deserves credit, as does Matsuyama, for bringing forth excellent tools, re-birthing old concepts and weapons, to help people and that is the important thing. But I don’t think you can "invent" a pocket stick, although you can most certainly invent modifications to them that are your own. Matsuyama and Kubota most certainly deserve credit for their modifications and developments.

Matsuyama proved the effectiveness of the whole concept of a pocket stick and Kubota streamlined the concept and made it an every day item for some. Matsuyama paved the way for Kubota.

Much like the "Koppo Stick," I did not "invent" it. I saw one in a book and decided to have a Custom Knifemaker produce them with modern, high-quality materials, Titanium. I popularized something very old but I did not "invent" it. They are known as "Chizikunbo" in Okinawa, I never invented them, but to a certain group of people, I re-discovered and popularized them.

Yawara

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Some people say that Jujutsu was referred to as "Yawara" hundreds of years ago in Japan. That is something for Martial Historians to debate, I merely place it here so everyone can get a glimpse of The Big Picture.

Some say "Yawara" was a specific Ryu, or School, of Jujutsu. Again, no matter...

According to the excellent website, Yawara.Com, Frank Matsuyama originally wanted to teach Tantojutsu to Police Officers, use of edged weapons, in case their service weapon was lost in a struggle so that the Officer could instantly transition to another weapon and continue fighting. He was then persuaded to teach them a smaller replacement for the nightstick.

Instead of copying every single thing, which is not very creative and quite rude, there is enough of that on the Internet; I encourage you to visit that wonderful website which has the original Yawara Manual online.

Just to highlight some things, I have to add this from the site. Just a little bit of insight as to how the Yawara Stick came about. But make no mistake, I like to give credit where credit is due and Yawara.Com was another mini-goldmine in my own pursuit of knowledge.

Apparently Yawara Stick techniques were taken in part from Japanese Tantojutsu, specifically, using a sheathed knife. This could happen by accident or on purpose if you did not wish to draw blood.

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It has long been the "guess" of many people, Ralph Grasso, World War Two Combatives and Jujutsu [Jiujitsu] Historian and Practitioner, myself and others, that a lot of Yawara Techniques that have been known over the years may have come from Tantojutsu, specifically, tsuki waza or "thrusting techniques."

We were bouncing these ideas around long before I found Yawara.Com and I was pleased to see a confirmation of our thoughts on the Yawara Stick/Tantojutsu connection.

Ralph suggested I obtain Bruce Tegner’s "Stick-Fighting: Self-Defense" Manual and another friend, Yancey, was kind enough to give me a copy of that Manual. That is an excellent little book for those interested in Yawara, Koppo, Kubotan and Cane movements, by the way.

That book was first published in 1972 and there are so many little tidbits, precursors to what we now know to be "Streetwise" Self-defense... Use of small flashlights as a Yawara Stick, use of the closed pocketknife in the same role. And the pesky habit Bruce Tegner had of cutting through all of the myth, mysticism and B.S. that surrounds Martial Arts used for Self-defense... A solid grounding in Unarmed Combat Techniques that are not pretty and not impressive to the Mainstream Martial Artists then or now. They are, however, very effective. That means, to people interested in real world Self-defense, they are impressive to people like myself. Tegner reminds the reader to have these basic and effective skills, even in the book "Stick-Fighting: Self-Defense," excellent material that many laugh at. Let them laugh and you seek out the material and decide for yourself.

While we are at it, another excellent Bruce Tegner book is "Self-Defense Nerve Centers & Pressure Points." In that, you will find good, solid information about striking and the various targets the human body has. It’s a great little book. First published in 1968. Again, people have a tendency to laugh at Bruce Tegner...it’s sad. Most of the people laughing at his material are involved in promoting fantasies. Sure, Mr. Tegner wrote a lot of books about various Martial Arts...but I’m not speaking of the whole library. Just a few pieces, absolute gold.

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Back to the Yawara Stick...

The reason for the Tantojutsu link is painfully obvious. Why have an entirely different series of strikes and movements when thrusting movements with a knife will serve you well with a pocket stick? The downside to the Yawara Vs. Tanto is, the Yawara has no edge and it cannot cut. The plus to the Yawara over the Tanto is, you can strike any area of the body, including hard, bony areas with the Yawara. The Yawara’s weakness, not having an edge and not being a Tanto, then becomes a strength. An incredibly versatile weapon indeed.

As I wrote in the Koppo Stick Article, this is the same, basic concept of using a pocket stick in Filipino Arts. A double ended thrusting weapon that cannot cut. It can only thrust.

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Modern Yawara and Modern Tanto...Custom Kwaiken by Mike Snody.

To continue from Yawara.Com, Matsuyama invented the Yawara Stick in 1948. This is most interesting indeed.

Consider the following picture from "Combat Jiu Jitsu for Offense and Defense" by S. R. Linck, 1943.

I know the pictures are not that clear, but hopefully, this will be just another piece of the puzzle. This book was published some five years before Matsuyama was said to have invented the Yawara Stick. Here are a few pictures of the Author’s hand weapon, "The Linck Stick," being used. In one picture, you see a striking technique

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that would be more effective with a blackjack than a Yawara Stick, where the hand is on one end of the stick instead of in the center as with Yawara Stick techniques. There is also another hint of Japanese Tantojutsu as the end of The Linck Stick is grounded into the palm and secured in place there by finger placement -- for thrusting. Very much like some Tantojutsu Ryu.

Some other opinions on the Yawara Stick and variants.

"The most efficient weapon I know for use in close quarters is the Yawara stick. It can be lethal, but only when used deliberately for that end...

Once you become expert in its use, you will be able to employ any number of substitutes almost as effectively. The most convenient of these ersatz devices and one of the most innocuous is the German made Mont Blanc 'Meisterstuck' fountain pen. This is not only a devastating weapon, properly used, it is also the best writing instrument I have ever seen. I am seldom without one."

~ Mel Tappan, "Survival Guns"

"With the exception of the cane or walking stick...none of the martial arts weapons are legal for street carry and self-protection. These include the Yawara stick (a short piece of wood designed to reinforce a punch or an edge of fist strike, also used in Bo-Kibo fighting techniques to hook into the corner of a man's mouth, punching out his teeth and then ripping his cheek open to his ear). Often improperly called a Judo stick, the Yawara is more often taught to Jujitsu students.

...The Kubotan was an evolution of a previous system developed by Kubota called pen fighting. Seeking a simple self-defense method that could be used by average American Citizens with little training, Kubota built techniques around solidly constructed ballpoint pens."

~ Massad Ayoob, "The Truth About Self-Protection"

Massad Ayoob "invented" his own form of Kubotan he calls "The Dejammer." It is smaller in diameter than most Kubotans and is designed to clear various stoppages and jams related to Defensive Handgunning like cartridges stuck under the ejector stars of revolvers and bullets possibly lodged in barrels [more of a range than combat problem with underpowered handloads] as well as other problems. It is also threaded at the end to accept a standard

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cleaning brush and has a swivel on the other end for a split ring to carry the keys.

"One alternative to the blackjack is the yawara stick. In professional police models this is an eight-inch cylinder of plastic or aluminum, one inch in diameter, usually with a device such as a spike or sharp ring, to prevent its being snatched away. The Yawara has become fairly popular since F.A. Matsuyama introduced his back in 1947. Monadnock Lifetime Products in Fitzwilliam, N.H., makes several types of plastic yawara sticks including some with chrome steel balls on the tips (which unfortunately increase the lethality of the device; these balls focus the force of the blow to a much smaller area than would a conventional stick or blackjack, making them likely to penetrate the soft parts of the skull). An aluminum ‘Judo Stick’ is made by Kel-Lite/Safariland of Monrovia, California."

~ "Blackjacks and Billies" by David Steele, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, January 1978

The Yawara Stick pictured above is identical to the one pictured in Mel Tappan’s book, the Manufacturer in Tappan’s book is cited as "Ra-Mana." It is obviously the Yawara that David Steele spoke about in his article.

The picture below is a vintage ad from Safariland, also cited as "The Judo Stick" in Tappan’s book under the Company name "Kel-Lite." Same thing. Steele also wrote about this one.

The Monadnock PR-24 Side-Handle Baton, The Prosecutor, has a Yawara Stick for a handle. A lot of people do not realize this... David Steele wrote about this as well in the May 1980 Issue of Soldier of

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Fortune article, "The Nutcracker and The Prosecutor, New Punch for Policemen."

He wrote about the strikes incorporated into the movements that are modified Kobudo Tonfa techniques for The PR-24 Baton. Excellent material.

In fact, the "Nutcracker" portion of the article is about the Mon-Pacâ, Monadnock Nunchaku that was marketed for Police Officers. More on that in an upcoming article as well...

In the article, a Police Officer who advocates the Nunchaku as a police impact weapon has a Monadnock "Yawara Mace Stick." A picture of that is below. It has the single steel ball... Cross reference that to my Metsubushi Article on this site with the advice to use an empty can of O.C. Pepper Spray as a Yawara or if it has no effect, to immediately transition to the can as a Yawara Stick.

Continuing on with the historical material on the Yawara Stick, I must say, I am rather happy to be able to save this information from these old articles and then, people can examine the material. Material they might not have ever otherwise been able to read.

"In 1947 Professor Matsuyama developed an 8-inch plastic stick he called a yawara stick, named for an early Japanese martial art. Incorporated into the design were small one-quarter-inch track spikes imbedded at the ends to prevent an assailant from snatching it away. Some departments required the that officers remove these spikes since they were occasionally used in an unprofessional manner, e.g., pinching them against a suspect’s ear to make him come along."

~ David Steele, Warriors Magazine, "Impact Weapons, Self Defense without bullet or blade." 1984

The Brutal Reminder

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Understand that there is absolutely nothing that screams simplicity like a pocket stick of any kind. Do not allow that simplicity to be confused with stupidity. There is nothing "stupid" about pocket sticks, there is nothing "magical" about pocket sticks. The "magic" is in your skill level and that is all.

In the hands of someone who knows what they are doing and somewhat practiced in knife movements, the simple and some would say, "stupid," pocket stick can kill. Never forget that as you are working with them and a partner. One slip and someone is dead, in a coma, paralyzed or bones broken. These things are so simple and they are all around us in numerous, disguised variations, we take them for granted.

We pick up a kitchen knife and we know they are used all the time to kill people. We understand and respect that. We pick up a large, wooden spoon or spatula in the kitchen and we shrug our shoulders and mutter, "So what..."

Many things, including Balisong Knives have been used as pocket sticks, many are shown below...including metallic body magic markers...

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A Sure-Fire Flashlight is almost identical in size to the vintage Police Yawara Sticks like the Safariland/Kel-Lite "Judo Stick" shown below next to a Sure-Fire 9P flashlight.

But the large spoon or spatula is simply a Yawara, Kubotan or Koppo Stick in disguise. The same lethal possibilities exist. Like the Lady’s high-heeled "spike" shoes of yesteryear, they can be lethal. It is not the Yawara, Kubotan or even a Lady’s wooden hairbrush that is lethal, it is you, you and your skills, that add the lethal element.

When the rubber meets to the road and the device hits the trachea or skull, the body cares not if you have a purpose-driven Yawara Stick, a $5.00 plastic Kubotan or a $3.50 hairbrush, the effect is going to be basically the same.

In the picture below, from left to right, we see the following; The Safariland Judo Stick, a slim Monadnock Kubotan, a magic marker, a common hairbrush, and a titanium Koppo Stick. There is but one degree of separation between all of these objects.

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This is why it is perfectly stupid, if not insane, to spend a lot of money and valuable time legislating against things like Yawara Sticks and Kubotans. You cannot ban hairbrushes...not yet anyway.

If the conventional wisdom demands that criminals will use Yawara Sticks, Kubotans, Koppo Sticks or anything like this, we go right back to staring absurdity directly in the face.

If criminals start to smash people in the heads with ends of hairbrushes, do we ban them as well? They are perfectly legal for ANYONE, even a convicted FELON, to CARRY...

But, I know I’m just venting, many people have been killed by baseball bats, for example, many more than have been killed by Switchblades and Balisongs combined, yet they remain legal for anyone to own and in a lot of cases...to have in the car or otherwise readily available.

Begin to look at every day items as weapons.

Learn to use the knife in forward and reverse grip and learn how that relates to the pocket stick and you will never be totally unarmed, ever. No matter where you are or what you do, what you

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have or what you are denied, you will always be able to translate that movement over to an improvised weapon of some sort.

A big Thank You

Just a short time ago, I started exchanging E-mails with a Federal Agent with regard to Koppo Sticks and the Ju-jo. That led to him sending me, as a gift, a mint condition Ju-jo, the Original Manual, personal correspondence with the Inventor of the Ju-jo, Mr. Lewis as well as the ParaCombatives Instructor’s Program of Instruction on the Ju-jo.

The kicker to that was, he also sent me a mint condition Safariland/Kel-Lite "Judo Stick," a rather vicious Yawara Stick that is no longer manufactured…as far as we know.

I’m sending him a Titanium Koppo, I think this is great, obviously. More than that…it is the sort of thing the Internet could be, but often is not. Sharing and exchanging information should be what we are all about. He stands in a very short line of people, along with friends like Jay, Seth, Ken, Ray and C.D.…you all know who you are and you make this Website more interesting with information and various devices, knives, etc., you provide from time to time… I just wanted to say thanks to you all.

This Anonymous Agent wishes to remain that way. You will see this same thank you message in the new Ju-jo article coming up. And more.

For now, let me close with a picture of this Safariland Yawara Stick. This thing…man, too bad these things are not produced anymore. It’s a very nicely manufactured piece of equipment.

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The Bayou Back-up

By: “SouthNarc”

For some time I've wanted to design a fixed blade knife. Specifically, a dedicated "Pikal" knife. “Pikal” means “to rip” in Visayan, and describes a point-down, edge-in methodology, most prolific in Pekiti-Tirsia (of which I was student of for several years) and Sayoc Kali. I personally favor this methodology for short bladed knives.

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So with Frontsight's (You can see an article by “FrontSight” on this website as well…) help on Auto-CAD and her CNC machine skills I've designed a dedicated Pikal knife. This is not for anything other than stabbing someone over and over with and warrants a specific application; i.e. point down, edge in. It is not a kerambit, though it has kerambit like features. It is for thrusting and the hook is just a little lagniappe, not the emphasis.

What follows is a breakdown of the pictures below…

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I thrust with a #2 (backhand, downward) and he catches it.

I'll pull his arm to me which shears it nicely since the edge is in, and hit him with a palm strike.

Step into him, sweeping the arm back and out of the way, hugging him to you, and thrust to the abdomen.

I thrust on a #1 and he catches it.

I'll hook it down and outwards, which again shears it and clears my thrust line. I want to bury it in him, over and over, and clear away anything that interrupts my ratcheting. I'll probably eye jab him at this point also.

Back to my thrust.

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Continuing on with the next sequence in picture 2…

I thrust on a #2 and he catches it again.

Double-edged, sharpened inner edge on the hook, which I use now. On a single- edged knife, edge out, he gets slashed. With the little hook, the biceps gets picked up and torn through. This is just incidental, not primary.

As I tear through the biceps, I'll boost his arm and rechamber.

Then I'll step in and stab him in the kidney.

Hooking on the inside of a punch (pallasoot), edge in.

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Hooking down and to my right. I can boost and stab the kidney as before...

Continuing on with the next sequence in picture 3…

...or rip upwards and hook the meat of his forearm. Watch getting it caught in bone. That's why I didn't want the hook too curved.

He punches, I jam, crash and stab on mid-line

Follow the midline thrust with a lowline thrust to the femoral.

Then rip upwards, hooking his frank and beans.

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Arms entangled in the fight.

Backhand thrust into the neck, though I can't do that here so I've just hooked and pulled downward (classic Puter Kapala).

Continuing from the last sequence…

Kapala into knee strike with arm control. Even just hooking, remember that the edge is facing in.

After the knee strike, continuing passing into head and arm control with the off hand. You can't see it but I have a nice bar choke here with my wrist.

Now start working those kidneys again.

This wasn't meant as a tutorial, but to give everyone a little taste