I would really hate to be in a situation where someone attacks myself or a loved one and they had a weapon capable of lethal force and I did not. That would really stink!
To defend myself, do I need to carry a weapon?
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Keep in mind, most criminals will not train to use their weapon, and yet they can and will be able to kill you. Go through your local news programs and stories and you will see a lot of people killing people with knives and guns who never trained a day in their lives. In chicago, a young teenager killed his brother with a knife over a pair of tennis shoes. No training involved. John Cass of the sun times reported a story of a man at a movie theater who stood up to ask a couple of teenagers to quiet down. One of the teens stood up and stabbed him in the neck with a turkey thermometer. Another kid, I don't know exactly how old he was, killed his police officer Aunt with a knife, again, no training. Training with a weapon is essential to any serious self-defense training. The bad people out there will use weapons, without hours of training with them, and they will maim or kill you with them. Empty hand training alone doesn't really give you all the info. you need to deal with a weapon, be it knife, stick or gun. Try to learn something about using all of them, take shooting classes, take an FMA class, and try to get that experience if you are studying for primarily self-defense reasons. That is my two cents worth of perspective.
Training with and carrying a weapon, knife or gun, is a definite advantage in a self-defense situation. I have told this story on other posts but one of my DTS class mates disuaded 4 unarmed thugs from attacking him simply because they saw he had a small folding knife ready, and he had the body language that told them he would and could use it if they attacked him. They left him alone and no one was injured because of that weapon and his training.
Training with and carrying a weapon, knife or gun, is a definite advantage in a self-defense situation. I have told this story on other posts but one of my DTS class mates disuaded 4 unarmed thugs from attacking him simply because they saw he had a small folding knife ready, and he had the body language that told them he would and could use it if they attacked him. They left him alone and no one was injured because of that weapon and his training.
What would also stink would be if you had to defend yourself and were partly (or fully) incapacitated at the time. That incapacitation could come from severe exhaustion (a day hiking in the mountains, running a marathon, etc), it could be from injury (back spasms, broken bones), disability, etc. Its also not impossible for an attacker to be a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier than I am.
Do I personally NEED a weapon to defend myself? In certain circumstances, absolutely....although make no mistake, I continue to try like hell to avoid being in such a circumstance. I have been successful so far, I hope that record continues.
Last week I had acute Achilles Tendonitis, it felt like a nail was being driven into the back of my heel, and I'll tell you, that would have really limited certain aspects of self-defense for me. I had a severe limp for a couple of days. Carol is right in what she points out. Imagine you have a broken arm or leg, and then you have to face multiple unarmed attackers or one armed attacker. A weapon in your trained hands changes the equation.
The funny thing is, violent criminals have no doubt that a weapon is a great thing to have to maim or kill their victims. It is only the good guys who second guess that question.
The funny thing is, violent criminals have no doubt that a weapon is a great thing to have to maim or kill their victims. It is only the good guys who second guess that question.
Undoubtedly a weapon can, under fortuitous circumstances, become an advantage and but to the question of "needing" a weapon in order to defend oneself, I think the answer is negative.
It is entirely possible to defend oneself with no weapon. Otherwise, if we are caught weaponless for whatever reason, what are we to do? Lie down and take our punishment?
The ability to defend empty handed is fortunate as there will certainly be times when we cannot deploy our weapon fast enough to avoid harm to ourselves. Further, there may be times when we do not have our weapon on our person. Even if we are able to put our hand to something of a weapon it may not be a weapon we have any experience of using whereas if we are fortunate enough to remain intact throughout our lives, we should always have at least one limb well trained and well-primed for immediate deployment.
I think it is an important point that those practicing arts that train mostly weapons techniques know how to utilise their art in an empty-handed situation. Likewise, those practicing weaponless arts I think have a duty to theirselves to appreciate the handling of and defence of weapons.
Your blog writing is perfectly fine and in need of no criticism though I would say to get search engine traffic for your blog it needs to be packed with your keywords yes? Put in a nice photo of you too, or at least a picture of your weapon of choice to break up the text
I wish you the best.ballen0351
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How are you going to know ahead of time there will be danger. If you already know then don't go. Point is you never know and must always be ready.
ballen0351
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Do you NEED a weapon? Well simple answer is not until you need it and when that time comes you better have it or your in trouble. I carry a firearm everywhere I go. The only time its not on my body is the gym or the Dojo but its close by and I know were it is. Everywhere else its on me church, dinner with family, during the day sitting around my house. I don't want to be the guy tied up and watch evil men do things to my wife and kids. But you also need to be smart enough to know when to use and and when to just run. If it comes out be ready to use it its not there for show.
I viewed this post a couple days ago. Let me first say thank you to Mr. Mattocks. That should be posted on every weapons forum here, and read aloud at every conceal and carry course. I also agree with a lot of Billcihak's view points. IMO the area you are from and circumstances you may have encountered throughout life are the biggest determining factors for this question. For example. Someone who grew up in East Liberty's Pittsburgh district that hear gunfire and see gang violence may think that carrying a firearm while your out is for gangsters. But may be ok with it for home defense. Someone who has never been exposed to any of that might think it's all a bit much. Most Europeans think it dreadful that a common citizen would carry a handgun. Americans consider it a right. I used to think carry a gun would only bring you trouble. Then I became a LEO. WOW did my views change. When you work with dirt bags on a daily basis. You can spot a dirt bag fairly easily, even when they try to hide it. You notice more. And you no what I've noticed. The world has changed. There is no sense of consequence for the bad guys anymore. So their a lot more likely to do something extreme. And by the way as a Correctional Officer I listen to inmate calls. You think the bad guys don't train. Think again. Every little Danny Dirt bag out there is Boxing, Kickboxing, Brazilian JJ, Escrima, you name it. Martial arts is the name of the game these days. So when your approached by the street punk and think that all that training in the dojo is going to pay off. Guess what, he might know enough to catch you off guard or even to counter what you think is you best stuff. For me I'll take no chances. I'll be judged by twelve before I'm carried by six. My Para Ordnance P-10 45 ACP will make sure of that. And you can bet you a$$ I train for it to. Rest in Peace Mr. Heston. But to quote former Marine and Outdoor journalist David Petzel that's just the opinion from "One of those boys from West By God Virginia!" :shooter:
I don't think I have to carry a weapon to defend myself. I carry pepper spray and I'm learning SD, that's more than most people around here. Toronto had 46 homicides in 2011 and 60 in 2010. It's safer than most cities of the same size.
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Bill made an excellent post. I wanted to touch base on this point as it is important. Be very clear about the use-of-force and use-of-deadly-force statutes in your State. In most that I'm aware of, firing warning shots or shooting with the intention of wounding is against the law. The reason is that you require a clear field of fire and are responsible for each and every shot. Hitting a moving target well, under duress is difficult in real life. This is why combat shooting aims for COM (center of mass) which is the largest part of a person. Trying to shoot someone in the leg to make them fall down is pure Hollywood and likely to land you in legal trouble. They often don't fall down and are usually capable of carrying out whatever threat of aggression caused you to shoot them in the first place.
In regards to a knife, a secondary consideration is its use as a rescue tool i.e. cutting a seat belt if you come upon an auto accident or some other type of rescue situation that requires a sharp edged tool. Just a point to toss out for consideration.
mook jong man
Senior Master
Your own body is really your best weapon , it is always there and ready to go.
But if you do carry a weapon make sure it is always with you and can be rapidly deployed.
But if you do carry a weapon make sure it is always with you and can be rapidly deployed.
I work in a Maximum security prison. I can tell you first hand unless you have the option to get away. Which most of the time you should. I've never seen were the body is the better weapon than the blade. All that "knife training" is all well and good in theory. wait till it gets put to the test for real. If the guy has made a decision to use it on you, do you really think a couple of quick blocks and parries are going to get him to stop? Not a chance. He is going to come at you like a sewing machine and all the half speed training with the rubber knife or the wooden bokken is out the door. And one more thing. The guys who say the all to classic "If your going to get into a knife fight expect to get cut." For one I doubt have ever been in a knife fight. To have a knife fight both people have to have a knife. Just how often do you think that's going to happen? It should be more like if someone pulls a knife you should try to distance yourself as quickly as possible and draw really fast. The state of West Virginia has a wonderful self defense law that covers you defending not only yourself but also others if you feel harm should come to you or someone else. With that being said as a Federal Officer I'm covered under the Law Enforcement Protection Act, so I can carry anywhere and do. Now do I think that's going to cover me if God forbid I should ever have to pull my weapon. Absolutely not. The media, prosecuting attorneys, and my employers would have a field day. But I'll still be breathing, there's always another job, and some sleazebag attorney waiting in the wings to defend me. Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.:soapbox:
The laws are so different here. Technically my pepper spray is illegal (technically, it's dog spray. You can't buy mace in Canada intended for use on people). I shouldn't actually be carrying it ever. I carry it for late night or early morning jogging alone as another SD tool. I can't legally carry a gun or a knife either. I figure I'll get in less trouble for pepper spray than a knife or gun. Other times I'll carry are times I'm out alone when it's dark. It's always in my bag, but it's in hand when I think risks are higher.
Bazooka: never leave home without it.
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Attackers come in many different shapes sizes and skill sets, so the need for a weapon really depends on who is putting up the fight, how many there are, and what there level of skill is. So since you cant predict any of these things at any givin time, yes, it is a pretty good idea to carry a weapon with you. Knife, kubaton, pepper spray, tazer, or even gun, it doesnt matter, as long as you make it home in one piece every night.
mook jong man
Senior Master
The problem is, are you going to have that weapon on you everywhere and even more importantly can you get it out in time to be of any use.
What about at the beach are you going to be getting about with a knife stashed down your budgie smugglers or a Baretta in your boardies ?
When the time comes you might not have anything except your own body and mind to use , and due to the location , getting distance between you and the attacker maybe problematic.
By all means practice with weapons , I have trained in the Floro fighting system so I am very fond of the knife.
But I think that really the use of improvised weapons is where its at , being able to pick up anything to hand and immediately use it , particularly flexible weapons like belts etc , things that can block a large area.
What about at the beach are you going to be getting about with a knife stashed down your budgie smugglers or a Baretta in your boardies ?
When the time comes you might not have anything except your own body and mind to use , and due to the location , getting distance between you and the attacker maybe problematic.
By all means practice with weapons , I have trained in the Floro fighting system so I am very fond of the knife.
But I think that really the use of improvised weapons is where its at , being able to pick up anything to hand and immediately use it , particularly flexible weapons like belts etc , things that can block a large area.
I agree with MJM on improvising. I was having a conversation with an officer I work with about how inmates make weapons out of anything. He made the comment that he finds himself walking through walmart saying to himself what could I make into a weapon. It sounds bad but its a mind set that comes with the job. Being aware of our surroundings and seeing the wolves from the sheep. Now with that in mind would I ever carry to one of my kids soccer matches? Hell no! Not to say from some parents behavior it wouldn't be justified. Let me go one step further in saying that if I didn't have confidence in my training I would never go to work. I work among the worst and most violent the world has to offer. And with nothing more than a set of keys, a radio, and one set of cuffs. When it goes down we're not armed. They might be. We run head first into the knife fights with nothing more than our training. Which is why I train. But after working as a LEO on the street I would rather carry than not. I believe our greatest weapon is our minds. Mr. Oakley posted a thread where he gave an example of being assaulted by a vagabond very recently. He went on about his business even after being kicked. Smart because he didn't know if the assailant was armed & he was heading the opposite direction away from Mr. Oakley as well as Mr. Oakley had an escape option. But what if he'd pulled a knife or worse a gun? What if Mr. Oakley couldn't have crossed the street so easily to make the distance, or the assailants would have given chase? Thank God that wasn't the case. I think its wrong for anyone to say another person doesn't have the right to carry for self defense if that's what makes them feel safe. We as martial artist train. We have the fight part of the fight or flee relex. And among the wolves and the sheep, we are the german sheperds. Not everybody out there has the potential for physical defense so who is to say they shouldn't have the option for pepper spray, stun gun, knife, or a gun? Whats the old saying? God made man. Smith and Wesson made them equal.
I have to ask, how many posting here would feel they could be effective with their leg in a cast? What if you have one or two children with you and there are multiple armed or unarmed attackers? I enjoy the martial arts, and they have their place in self-defense training but I have to say they cannot compete with the skilled use of firearms. When I talk to someone who is interested in the arts I ask, as I am sure everyone here does, why they want to take lessons. If they say self-defense, I ask them if they have a FOID card and have taken shooting lessons. That is the place to start in my opinion. Any skill in the empty hand arts take a long time to develop and can only be developed and maintained with constant practice. How many people with full time jobs and full time families think that they can maintain a realistic skill level that would carry them to assured victory over a professional criminal, someone who has no impulse control, no remorse and no hesitation to maim or kill? Fire arms are a different animal altogether. With training, you can become proficient enough to defend yourself, and maintaining that skill is much easier. Before people say, "You have to train just as hard with a pistol," I have to say yes, when you can, but maintaining a mimimum proficiency is much easier. How many police officers train everyday at the shooting range? How many soldiers shoot at the range everyday? Just some thoughts. I think firearms training needs to be pushed more in the martial arts community. One day, some armed bystander might save my life.
Hmmm. Multiple armed attackers?
http://www.thebuddhagarden.com/images/statues/hindu/main/kali_mini.jpg
...or unarmed attackers?
http://www.hayashi.cz/equipment-eu/big/7705-2.jpg
