Thoughts on energy - Blocking, Covering or Jamming an attack

Through out my self defense training I have been taught many different ways to deal with an oncoming attack. I have been taught to block, parry, cover, deflect, catch, slip, follow ect. After years of training and testing it is my opinion that jamming energy will result in a higher defense success rates and lower injury potential.

Today we will be comparing the jam to the cover. The cover is where a person will respond to an oncoming facial attack by lifting their hand to their ear and pointing their elbow at the attacker. I fully support someone training to be a boxer using this defense to block a punch. However I would not train this response to defend against an attack you might be facing in the street. The cover was designed for Boxing and is effective in situations where the opponent is wearing large gloves. There are a few deviations which utilize a forward drive and attack the oncoming limb however these require good timing and good aim.

So how is jamming more effective then covering. First I think that we must understand the concept of surface area, when you use a cover defense you are maximizing the coverage of the impact area only, meaning you will be absorbing impact over a larger area, sounds good however you are still absorbing impact.

If you jam you are maximizing the coverage of the path of the attack meaning you have the greatest opportunity to negate the impact to the desired target area in its entirety.

With covering you only negate the path with your elbow which might be 2 - 3 inches of obstruction to the trajectory of the attack, where jamming could offer 12 or more inches for me it’s over 20 inches of contact area. That’s 10 times the opportunity in contact area alone.

By covering you have limited both the ability to intercept the attack at its earliest opportunity and limited the ability to defend a wider variation of attacking angles and trajectories, this is the complete opposite with jamming.

Similarly with covering you must move forward into your attacker or you will be forced to absorb the full power of the attack. Where as with Jamming it would be optimal to move in and close the distance however it is not required, when jamming you can move in any direction and still have be able to effectively defend an attack if you can not then that concludes that you are out of range and no longer in danger.

Also the cover defense puts you in a weakened musculoskeletal position by hyper extending you tri-cep muscle thus any powerful downward attack against your arm could cause serious injury during an altercation putting you at a major disadvantage. With jamming this is not an issue.

Also I have tested covering with a many people and it is common that with a stab the covering arm will not take the blow but will result in the side of the head, face, ear and/or neck taking the impact of the blade and at best your shoulder/arm will be taking the brunt of the attack and at full speed, wrapping the attacking limb is unlikely especially after impact. Also note that by default when jamming you are already in the process of wrapping and securing the attacking limb.

We must also consider that from the passive stance/negotiation stance, our hands are already up obstructing the line of attack, from this position we have already done 85% of the work required to jam and it is natural for our mind to move our limbs into the direction of the attack. However in order to cover effectively we must go against our instincts and move our arms backwards while our body moves forward.

Similarly we must remember that we are in one of 2 situation either negotiating or being ambushed. During negotiations we have the ability to engaging the attackers mind with dialog thus slowing down his ability to step into our OODA loop, effectively giving us additional time to act or react, we can take the initiative earlier as well as notice earlier when the attacker is about to move, if we notice the attackers movement early then we want to move our body and limbs forward as opposed to covering which moves our bodies forward and our limbs backwards this is not only contradictory to our biomechanical movement and cognitive logic but to our natural instincts.

Next and here is where the complication comes in. First we all must agree that we fight the way we train.

My assertion is that you cannot have a separate defense for unarmed attacks and knife attacks, when I see someone who trains this way I feel they have not researched or tested their material in a realistic manor. We must first make absolutely clear that there is a very high probability that you will not be able to distinguish when you are being attacked by a Haymaker punch or by a hand holding a stabbing and/or slashing implement.

To prove this assertion I introduce Officer Darren Laur’s research.

“In early 1992 Darren Laur conducted an empirical video research study. Where he had 85 police officers participate in a scenario based training session where unknown to them, they would be attacked with a knife. The attacker, who was dressed in a combative suit, was told that during mid way of the contact, they were to pull a knife that they had been concealing, flash it directly at the officer saying “I’m going to kill you pig”, and then engage the officer physically. The results were remarkable:

• 3 saw the knife prior to contact

• 10 realized that they were being stabbed repeatedly during the scenario

• 72 out of 85 did not realize that they were being assaulted with a knife until the scenario was over, and the officers were advised to look at their uniforms to see the simulated thrusts and slices left behind by the chalked training knives.

That’s 84% of police officers in a scenario where they knew they were being attacked and had complete awareness of the attacker and only had to deal with one person did not even see the blade before they were attacked with it.”

This is also correlated with a separate study where corrections officer who had been stabbed on the job were interviewed, almost all stated that they did not see the blade and thought they had been punch really hard.

This is also correlated in my own personal training where we will conceal training blades on our selves in the beginning of the session and then choose at random to pull them out, it is rare that we ever notice the blade. In our training we might notice that weapon 30% of the time and we train drills specifically to be aware of weapons and to notice the individuals hands, postures, demeanor, ect..

After completely understanding the ramifications of this knowledge we must conclude that we will not be able to reliably discern an empty hand attack from a weapon based attack. So we must choose the most effective defense for the worst case scenario, that being an unrecognized weapon attack with both Slashing and Stabbing abilities. If we look at any system or style their defense against knife attacks are never covers, so we must choose something else, I personally chose jamming.

The above evidence shows that 84% of the time you will not know that you are being attacked by a stabbing or slashing implement. If you have someone attempt to stab you in the face with a Screw driver, Steak knife or bowie knife the cover defense is not going to work. Similarly people never attack just once, and the more dangerous attacker, those with street or jail experience will often clinch or anchor first and then punch or stab you all over.

On another note, have you ever heard of a Mexican Slapper? The idea is this a Mexican will hold a Razor blade in their hand between their fingers and slap you in the face thereby slashing you a 1/4 inch deep or better. It's fast it's short and it is dangerous, you will not be able to block and wrap it, if you do cover you will be pouring blood from your face, neck, shoulder, bi-cep and/or Forearm.

Now lets say the weapon wasn’t a knife it was Brass knuckles, a Black Jack, a rock or a stick ect...  The impact on your body with these weapons is enough to rip flesh and cause unconsciousness.

I would prefer to train just one defense that I can use against a Blade, Empty hand and/or stick with no need to create separate defenses for each event.

To me this is not an issue of which cover is better, When training to jam an attack, a jam should always be a last ditch response to the worst case scenario and will most likely be an instinctive flinch vs. a cognitive response, we should always be surprised that we had to jam an attack, otherwise we should be pre-emptively striking or controlling the situation in such a way that we can exit with out violence.

Also we need to be training a method to deal with any attack coming in any direction and from any range, with out the need to distinguish the specifics such as Thumb in or thumb out, palm up or down, empty hand, Knife, stick, Brass knuckles, Screw Driver, Rock, ect.

We are looking at Range and Energy only, if we examine the energy of a sucker punch (haymaker), a head lock or an outside knife slash towards the throat they are all launched with the same energy and follow the same path. The difference only occurs upon impact where in one instance you get punch another you get chocked and the final attack you get cut. Notice how the energy that occurs prior to impact is the same on all three and we don’t need to be concerned about the specifics of the attack. Knowing that under duress 84% of the time we won’t know the specific attack anyway, we should concentrate on dealing with the energy of the attack.

In dealing with the energy we are specifically looking to intercept the attack at it earliest point. This is often misunderstood, most people are taught to respond to the physical attack, and while this is not wrong it is not ideal. We must learn to deal with the intent of an attack, we must determine that an attack is coming and we must react instinctively. If we focus only on the physical attack then we will be reacting to a stimulus which is physically slower. If we learn to deal with intention then we can react to our opponents thoughts, we can know that they are going to act even before they move. We are not looking to become telepathic, we are looking to become perceptive to physical and emotional indicators. For example we may notice when an assault is possible but not immediate...

1. Head, neck, shoulders go back (person making themselves look bigger)
2. Face is red, twitching, jerking
3. Lips pushed forward bearing teeth (you see the same things in dogs before attack)
4. Breathing is fast and shallow (oxygenating the body preparing for fight, flight, hyper vigilance)
5. Beads of sweat appear about the face/neck
6. Thousand mile glare
7. Exaggerated movements
8. Finger pointing/ head pecking
9. Totally ignores you
10. Gives you excessive attention during normal conversation such as direct uninterrupted eye contact
11. Goes from totally un-cooperative to totally cooperative ( people do not go from hot to cold they de-escalate over time)
12. Acts stoned or drunk
13. Directs anger towards other inanimate items such as tables, chairs, walls

And if the assault is imminent....

1. face goes from red to white ( during a physical confrontation the blood will leave the surface of the body and pool to the big muscles and internal organs of the body needed for survival)
2. Lips tighten over teeth
3. Breathing is fast and deep
4. Change of stance, their body blades and shoulder drops
5. Hands closed into a fist (not uncommon to see the whites of knuckles due to hands being so tight)
6. Bobbing up and down or rocking back and forth on feet (this is the bodies way to hide/ mask the initial movement of a first strike)
7. Target glace (here you will see your opponent look to where he is going to hit, or where he is going to run/escape)
8. Putting head and chin down (body wants to protect the airway, this action does so to a degree)
9. Eye brows brought forward into a frown( again the body wants to naturally protect the visual system, this action does so to a degree)
10. Stops all movements/ freezes in place
11. Dropping center or lowering of body (no different that a cat or dog getting ready to pounce)
12. Shedding cloths ( very common, you will see your attacker take his hat, coat, shirt, or bag off just prior to the assault)
13. One syllable replies ( go from full sentences to one syllable replies. The reptilian brain is clicking in)

So when we notice the above events occur we can escalate our response. When we have determined that an attack is imminent or if we instinctively respond to an attack our goal should be to attack the energy of the strike to prevent it from reaching its target. We are jamming the attack, moving towards the energy of the attack, meeting the attacking limb before it meets us, also meeting the attacking limb ideally before it generates its intended power. Plus with Jamming you have achieved tactile sensitivity and are 95% of the way towards a successful arm wrap, as well as being able to control the attacking limb, anchor and or clinch immediately.

Again if we analyze the energy of a Haymaker, A stab to the face, Someone grabbing the back of my neck to initiate a clinch, someone going for a head lock, they are all the same energy and I can prevent them with out concern or thought of what to do by attacking the energy of the attack.

Also for the crazy monkey defense (Which is an adaptation of the standard boxing cover which simply involves moving the hands back and forth on your own skull so to shift into an oncoming combination attack or left/right, left/right). I recall Tito Ortiz using this defense when he fought Chuck Liddell in the UFC and Chuck knocked Tito out straight through the crazy monkey, literally punched through it and around it. The Cover defense may be good for Boxing while wearing 12 oz gloves or heavier, which is what it was originally developed for, but it's not ideal for street attacks. It is of course better then just taking a shot to the face but our job should be to enhance our survivability in the best way we can, not in the second or third best way. The best part about the jam is its ability to be quickly and instinctively become anchored to the flinch response. I have trained individuals in 2 hours how to flinch, jam, anchor and attack vital targets with a very high success rate against both armed and un-armed attacks in realistic attacks.