On Being “Vinny The Mad Shanker”
How Not To Look Like The Bad Guy (Part I)
A certain instructor of mine once told me that they continue to learn every day
from their students. I have noted, however, that sometimes what you learn is how
much work you have yet to do with you students to teach them correctly. One of
my students
(very
talented martial artist and well meaning I should note) was recently
demonstrating some very impressive looking knife moves from various styles of
Philippine martial arts in the parking lot after class.
He was using a trainer blade that looked real. The moves were cool to watch and
it was not long before several sets of eyes from the direction of the basketball
court were fixed upon what he was doing. It was at that time I told him it might
be a good idea to put away the knife and secure the `demonstration.' Why did I
elect to end a good demo that might have enabled me to hand out a few business
cards and class fliers? Where was my business sense? I will tell you where it
was: standing behind my common sense where it belongs.
Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. Crowds have eyes, ears, tongues,
opinions, and prejudices. Ask any cop who has interviewed several witnesses to
an event and he will tell you that he could take twelve plus statements from
twelve people and not a single one would agree with what the security cameras
(a.k.a. the facts) say actually happened. The lesson here: You cannot afford to
look like the bad guy. It actually pays to look like the victim. I do not say
that you actually must be the victim. You just have to look like it, and your
offensive defense must look like just that or better yet……an accident. What I am
speaking of is the essence of Panache.
It is a serious thing to pull a blade in a street fight. You should only do it
knowing that from the first to last cut, you will be sending people to the
cemetery. It is not a game. It is not fencing. When we get stuck we do not all
just get up and try it again. If people get up, they do so screaming with bloody
handfuls of their intestines they are trying to keep from falling out of their
abdomens.
Because it is not a game, you want to be discreet if you must use a knife. The
best way your opponents should know they have been in a knife fight is when the
ER doctor tells them: “Hey man, you were in a knife fight.” The knife should be
carried discreetly, drawn discreetly, and (most importantly) used discreetly.
Few, if any, of your attackers should ever even know that you are armed.
Surprise is your greatest weapon - not the knife. You should not be cutting and
posing with your bloody blade in a dramatic stance for the security and cell
phone cameras. You should not be standing around waiting for the bad guys'
reinforcements to arrive or for them to run to their cars to turn your knife
fight into a gun fight. Like any other self defense moves, knife use should
strike like a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky. Then you should
promptly get the hell out of there and be the first to file a police report
stating how you were attacked and defended yourself with………your car keys.
Whatever the situation, you must steadfastly subscribe to and embrace the
tactical realities of the situation. In the military, this is called `Rules of
Engagement.' Your ROEs are the state laws governing self-defense and the use of
weapons in the course of protecting life and property. You can do everything
right as a martial arts technician. You could be entirely justified in
protecting yourself. But as the Rodney King debacle and other `caught on tape'
episodes have taught us, what the jury may see is a crazy looking person waving
a bloody blade and threatening an “innocent group of peace loving young boys.”
Be aware of this and your applicable state laws when you carry any weapon. I am
not telling you not to do so, but know all the games to which life and law might
subject you. And make your decisions like a mature, realistic, and responsible
adult. Next month I will weigh in on “choosing your battles wisely.”
Salut,
Initiateur Jilgero