“God grants liberty to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.”
– Daniel Webster
Dear Friend:
Next I want to discuss some specific tactics that really work on the street.
The “Four Ds” Of Personal Combat:
Now we’re getting into some advanced stuff here. This “Four D’s” was one of my own biggest “ah-ha” experiences because it explains why some guys -- even little guys (who may look like they’d have trouble winning a fight at a quilter’s convention), consistently WON real-world street fights against larger more aggressive opponents.
It boiled down to this. These guys were consistently good in four specific skills – namely: 1) Deception... 2) Distraction... 3) Disruption... and 4) Destruction. This is exciting “meat and potatoes” stuff about actually winning a streetfight. The best part is that – unlike “sport fighting” – these skills have very little to do with size, strength, and physical skill. Let’s take a look:
If you think you’ll have trouble lying to a guy who wants to hurt you or your family, then you’ll have trouble with this. But for the rest of us, this is an important element to winning.
Because deception is not some wishy-washy theory – it actually WORKS in the real world. In fact, ask any military man who understands strategy. He’ll tell you that deception is KEY -- allowing a much smaller force to take on and defeat a larger, better equipped enemy.
For example, General Eisenhower used “deception” (gasp) against the Nazis just before the D-Day Invasion. You see, Hitler knew an Allied invasion was coming – and that the Allies would have to cross the English Channel and land on the coast of France. He just didn’t know where that force would land. The most obvious landing area was a place called Calais – which was the shortest distance across the English Channel – and Hitler reckoned that this was where to concentrate the German forces to repel the D-Day invasion.
Now ol’ Eisenhower was pretty smart. He understood the power of deception and wanted Hitler to think he’d land in Calais. So he placed a huge force of trucks, tanks and airplanes directly across the Channel from Calais so the German scout planes could easily spot them. A simple deception.
Hitler was convinced 100% that the Allies really would land their forces in Calais.
What Hitler didn’t know was that this formidable force of airplanes were made out of balsa wood and canvas – the trucks and tanks merely inflated “floats” that could have been in the Macy’s Day Parade.
But it was such an effective deception that, when the real Allied invasion hit at Normandy, Hitler insisted that it was nothing more than a diversion and had his Nazi reserve forces waiting in vain for the attack at Calais.
So, deception is KEY in most military confrontations – AND in personal combat as well.
Okay... you may be rolling your eyes and asking what does all this military stuff have to do with protecting yourself. Well just this. Deception plays on simple human psychology – whether we’re talking about two guys duking it out in a back alley or two hundred thousand troops clashing on the battlefield. The idea is to trick your adversary into thinking one thing, then suddenly turn the tables on him. The result is confusion, hesitation, and panic.
Okay... back to personal combat. Here are a few classic deceptions that really work.
Verbal Deception: The idea is to deceive your opponent by verbally expressing the exact OPPOSITE of your real intentions. A LOT of guys commit the mistake of announcing their real intentions. Wrong. Do NOT tell someone you’re about to “kick their ass” and make threatening movements if that’s what you’re really planning to do.
A better plan is to tell him that you’re “not looking for a fight”... or “don’t want trouble”... or even that you’re “I’m injured and can’t fight”. Say anything that’ll lull him into the comfortable belief that he is indeed master of the universe. The more he has settled into this mindset, the greater will be his surprise and panic when HE is suddenly under attack. So here are a couple of methods of verbal deception:
- Begging: “Please, don’t hurt me...”. Like I said, the more you can get him to believe he’s the guy in control, the more effective this deception stuff is. Once again, the idea is to set him up for the “big surprise”. Then, put him on the defense, and “back on his heels” – don’t let up after that.
- Comply: At the very least you should act like you’re complying with his wishes. For example, if some guy asks you to “step outside”, you already know what’s up – so I ask you, is it really necessary to “step outside” and “put up your dukes”? No. A better strategy would be to act like you’re going along with it, then launch into an attack or simply escape.
Sound unfair? Good... because that’s what you’re trying for. Like we talked about earlier, you are not living in a boxing ring or a Hollywood movie. You should be striving for as much advantage as you can get. There’s no such thing as “too much of an advantage”. This is your life – use whatever dirty tricks you can muster to end this thing, before you end up in the hospital or the morgue. The concept of “total commitment” means you are NOT fighting fair.
Okay... there’s another useful tip for you that will actually force your opponent to make his intentions known. Here it is -- simply hold up your hands. No... not straight up like a train robbery... but in front of you, palms toward your opponent, while saying nice things like “hey man, I’m just trying work things out here” or some such thing. There are a couple reasons this works.
- Even though it looks like a “surrender” position, it’s actually a “fight ready” position. Hands are up and ready for action...
- Your hands become a “forward boundary” (which is better than your face) and gives you time and space. If he touches or crosses that forward boundary consider it a “trigger” to action. You must act immediately. Alright, let’s move onto another of the “Four D’s”...
"Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance."
— Sun Tzu
The good news is that you can take advantage of this human limitation by redirecting... or “distracting”... your opponent’s attention away from you so you can act with a reasonable chance at catching him off-guard. The bad news is that distractions are often only effective for a split second or so... which means that unless you have an immediate follow-up plan, the distraction is futile.
Here are some highly effective PROVEN distractions that’ll give you an opening to launch your attack...
-
Cigarette. This is the one time in your life when smoking may actually benefit your health. Tell your doctor about
it. Because flicking a lit cigarette into your adversary’s
face will definitely distract him for a moment. The
key phrase here is for a moment.
If you flick the cigarette into your opponent’s face, then use the time to enjoy a good snicker while watching him dance around brushing off the sparks, well... your sense of humor will get the better of you. Deception and distraction tricks are to be used only as simple mechanisms to give you one or (at most) two seconds to launch your attack or escape. But when a typical fight only lasts up to 8 seconds, a second or two is a huge amount of time.
- Glasses. Reach up with both hands and pretend to adjust your glasses – then throw them in his face. Don’t do this if you’re blind as a bat – you may just end up attacking a nearby tree.
- Throw loose change on the ground. Believe it or not, reaction to the sound of coins hitting the ground is practically hardwired into the brain and creates a major distraction. I expect the more of a tight-wad your opponent is, the better this works. Now this is mainly an audible distraction -- so unless you’re fighting a stripper -- tossing dollar bills (even twenties) won’t work. Oh... and don’t expect to see that 73 cents again. Consider it money well spent.
- Spill or throw your drink. This is one Hollywood trick that actually works. First, there’s the shock of ice cubes and cold liquid hitting the face... and second, there’s the instant (and temporary) blinding effect. This can be the most effective method in giving you a couple seconds to do what you gotta do.
Okay... these are just some suggestions – I’m sure you can probably think of a dozen more simple distractions off the top of your head. But you’ll need to keep an open mind and use what’s available to you at the time.
Focus your attention on creating a simple distraction along with “target acquisition” (which we covered earlier), and you’ll minimize the “internal dialogue” that causes deadly hesitation and “brain freeze”. But one thing to keep in mind, creating the distraction means “total commitment” to what you’re about to do – whether it’s escaping or attacking. Now, let’s move onto the third “D” of personal combat – “Disruption”.
The next 2 D's of personal combat next time.
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
— Sun Tzu
Til then...
Bob Peirce
Head Honcho, TRS/FightFast.
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