rutherford said:
I suppose I should have asked you what you would do differently, but it was really just an interest.
I'm not a believer in "fixed" techniques: In application of our Budo there are a gazillion ways to do something right. So I don't approach it from the standpoint of, "He should have done X instead of whatever it was he did".
However, it's easy to identify some problems with those first two disarming clips.
Handgun disarming and retention, from my perpective as a Booj practitioner, are fundamentally akin to
muto dori and
daisho sabaki work. The significant difference is that, instead of having to concern yourself with positioning vis-a-vis edges and points, you have to think instead of your relationship to line of fire from the muzzle
and consider such things as:
-- muzzle blast;
-- recoil effects such as being cut by a cycling slide (minor issue) or having the weapon "jump" a few inches and slam into your head or face (potentially big issue);
-- being burned by the explosive discharge of hot gases from the barrel/cylinder gap of a revolver;
-- and so on.
With firearms, you also have to take into consideration who or what else may be in line with the muzzle for a considerable distance out, as that will (or should) influence the technique as well.
As an example of that last bit, an amusing thing I did in the last such seminar I taught (November 21st), I emphasized not getting hung up on the specific form of a technique by staging a scenario where you're walking along with a companion who's 3 or 4 feet to one side of you, and someone jumps out in front of you both and attacks you with a katana -- obviously a clear and present danger on every modern American street, right?
I did a technically perfect muto dori technique very close in movement and concept to a handgun disarming technique we'd just been working on and disarmed the swordsman -- neatly slicing through my companion's neck in the process. Oops. (Told him not to worry, I'd pay for the funeral.) It got the point across: With a firearm, your companion could be much further away and still be endangered by your "rote" performance of technique.
Now, looking specifically at those first two disarming clips:
In the first one, the instructor shows several variations on the basic concept, which is commendable as far as that goes. However, on the first couple he positions himself in such a way that, as he moves, if the firearm discharged he could get whacked in the face due to the weapon "bouncing" under recoil, which could allow the gunman to regain the advantage. In the last one he actually allows the muzzle to sweep across the upper part of his head as he executes the technique, which could result in a DRT effect ("Dead Right There").
In the second clip the instructor risks being nailed in the head or face by the recoiling weapon, and additionally positions himself such that he could be blinded and deafened by the muzzle blast. Still better than being shot right away, but I really can't recommend this as it could create a condition the attacker could exploit to break free and
then shoot him.
