Although you can’t always be prepared for an altercation
(surprise does happen), there are some things that you can do to facilitate a better outcome if your situation suddenly goes bad in a hurry.
One habit to ingrain is the position of your hands. As
Guro Crafty says “hands are more useful when they’re up” (actually his is a more colorful variation, but we’ll leave that for another time). By assuming a classic “interview stance” with the body bladed, dominant
leg (& weapon) usually in the rear, and one or both hands up and open in a non-threatening manner, this does several things.
a) Provides a barrier if necessary between the opponent and your head/torso/duty
weapon.
b) Puts one/both of your empty hand weapons closer to your opponent, reducing your time
to contact if necessary.
c) Gets your hands up in a non-threatening manner and puts them in a closer position to
block/parry/intercept an attack.
As Matt Powell from Pramek discusses in this video, practice your responses – blocks, strikes, counters - from a variety of starting points with one or both hands up. Make sure
they are open hands, since posturing with fists in a classic “boxing”pose is perceived as aggressive by an opponent (and/or bystanders) and can escalate things that may otherwise be talked down. I’m not a huge proponent in having the hands together or crossed, but as
Matt discusses, there are ways to do it successfully.
(surprise does happen), there are some things that you can do to facilitate a better outcome if your situation suddenly goes bad in a hurry.
One habit to ingrain is the position of your hands. As
Guro Crafty says “hands are more useful when they’re up” (actually his is a more colorful variation, but we’ll leave that for another time). By assuming a classic “interview stance” with the body bladed, dominant
leg (& weapon) usually in the rear, and one or both hands up and open in a non-threatening manner, this does several things.
a) Provides a barrier if necessary between the opponent and your head/torso/duty
weapon.
b) Puts one/both of your empty hand weapons closer to your opponent, reducing your time
to contact if necessary.
c) Gets your hands up in a non-threatening manner and puts them in a closer position to
block/parry/intercept an attack.
As Matt Powell from Pramek discusses in this video, practice your responses – blocks, strikes, counters - from a variety of starting points with one or both hands up. Make sure
they are open hands, since posturing with fists in a classic “boxing”pose is perceived as aggressive by an opponent (and/or bystanders) and can escalate things that may otherwise be talked down. I’m not a huge proponent in having the hands together or crossed, but as
Matt discusses, there are ways to do it successfully.
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