Self-Defense Weapons: Traditional and Modern
Chapter Two
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Copyright © February 20, 2024 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
The following information is Chapter Two in my book: Self-Defense Weapons: Traditional and Modern.
Bruce Lee (1940-1973) was a very famous kung-fu martial artist movie star. He firmly believed in the benefits of eating healthy foods and regular physical fitness training. He was very intelligent and he knew that a person with a firearm could kill an expert hand-to-hand fighter before the fighter could get close enough to use his hands and feet on someone with a loaded firearm.
One of his close friends, Skip Ellsworth, officially and publicly stated that Bruce carried a .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol for at least two years. Another close friend, Jesse Glover, stated that Bruce was a “crack shot” and that Bruce eventually started carrying a .357 magnum revolver for personal self-protection, and to help discourage strangers from picking a fight with him.
On the Pierre Berton Show in 1971 Bruce made the following comment:
"Nowadays you don't go around on the street kicking people, punching people. Because if you do (makes gun shape with hand), well that's it — I don't care how good you are."
In 1972 Bruce purchased two antique rifles in Rome, Italy where he was filming the movie "The Way of the Dragon."
In summary, Bruce Lee was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. But he also knew that he had a zero chance of winning a fight if his opponent had a firearm.
Therefore, if you wish to have a reasonable chance of surviving a real-life self-defense attack, then you should carry a folding pocketknife and a firearm. And you should learn the correct way to use both of these weapons in a self-defense situation.
The Best Strategy for Winning a Fight
The best strategy for winning a fight is to run away. Do not get into any fight just because someone else wants to fight. If you can run faster than your enemies then you can win the fight without losing blood and maybe your life. Always consider the option of running away first.
If running away is not possible then you will need to engage your attackers with everything you’ve got. In other words, your best chance of winning is to use overwhelming force. You did not ask for the fight but if you are forced into it then you should be determined that you are either going to win the fight or you are going to die trying. What you should not do is to gracefully stand still and let someone else kill you. And please don't waste one precious second trying to talk your way out of the situation because that will only give your attackers a chance to get into better positions closer to you, and all around you, so they can bring you down without risking any type of injury to themselves.
Hand-to-Hand Self-Defense Without a Weapon
If you have always wanted to learn some form of marital arts (karate, judo, boxing, etc.) then there is nothing wrong with pursuing this course of study. Not only will you benefit from the rigorous exercises but you will also learn how to protect yourself in a hand-to-hand self-defense environment.
However, there are a few shortcomings to these types of training:
- You will be taught to obey certain rules in order to compete in contests and to avoid seriously injuring your opponent.
- Although these skills will be with you your entire life (the same as learning how to ride a bicycle), as you gradually age you will become less effective than you were when you were younger.
- In a life threatening hand-to-hand self-defense situation your opponent will not be obeying any rules and he or she will be trying to blind you, permanently cripple you, and kill you.
- In a life threatening self-defense situation you will probably be attacked by someone who wants the odds in his or her favor and that person will use a loaded firearm or a knife and you will be attacked from the rear without any advance warning.
- In a life threatening self-defense situation you will probably be attacked by a least two people and sometimes three or more. The odds will be against you from the very start.
I only mention the above in order to help you make the transition from what you see in the movies to a real-life self-defense situation. If you are attacked in real-life then you will need to be able to at least equal the odds against you. This means you should also have a loaded firearm and a knife and you should have some basic knowledge of how to use them. If you are attacked from behind and the other person draws first blood then you would at least have the means to inflict some serious damage on your attackers before you die. If your initial wounds are not fatal then you would also have the opportunity to terminate your attackers and maybe even survive your ordeal.
Disadvantages of Hand-to-Hand Combat
- Number of Opponents: As the number of opponents increases then the chance of your winning decreases. Your opponents will not take turns attacking you. They will all attack you at the same time and jump on you and carry you to the ground and you will lose the fight because you will not be able to move your arms and legs.
- Skill of Opponent: As the skill of your opponent increases in relation to your skill then the chance of your winning decreases.
- Strength of Opponent: Regardless of what you may believe, physical strength does have an impact in winning a fight. Your chance of winning decreases in proportion to the strength of your opponent in comparison to your own strength.
- Size of Opponent: A taller or bigger opponent has longer arms and you will be at a disadvantage during the entire fight.
- Fatigue: Physical stamina decreases the longer the fight continues. Even if you eventually win you may become totally exhausted and this will hinder your exit from the area where the fight occurred.
- Personal Injury: Even if you eventually win the fight you may suffer one or more injuries that will take time to heal. Or those injuries may leave you permanently disabled in one way or another, such as the loss of an eye. Or those injuries may eventually kill you, such as an internal injury or internal bleeding.
- Hand Weapons: If your opponent has any type of hand weapon, such as a knife, then you will be at a disadvantage regardless of what you may have seen in fictional movies.
- Distance Weapons: If your opponent has any type of distance weapon, such as a firearm, then your opponent can kill you before you can get close enough to attack with your hands and feet.
- Time: On the average, it will take longer to win a fight using only your hands and feet when compared to the time it takes to win a fight when you have any type of weapon. This will increase the amount of time before you can leave the fight scene, and it will also reduce the amount of time you have available to do anything else.
- Energy Expended: You will consume more energy and you will burn more calories in any type of hand-to-hand combat and this will not be an efficient use of the food that you have eaten.
- Efficiency (being good at doing something): Hand-to-hand combat is not an efficient way to win a fight because it takes a lot of time and a lot of practice to become good at any type of hand-to-hand combat. And your opponent may have been trained in a technique that is superior to the technique that you have learned.
- Effective (doing something the best way): Hand-to-hand combat is not an effective way to win a fight because there are better ways you could be using your hands, such as striking your opponent with a handheld weapon, or shooting your opponent with a firearm.
- Age: As we gradually get older we all gradually become less effective at hand-to-hand combat and therefore our chance of winning a hand-to-hand fight decreases with age.
- Health: Our ability to fight with our hands and feet declines significantly if we are sick, or if we have any type of injury, or if we are hungry or thirsty.
- Random Chance or Luck: Even if everything else is in your favor, your opponent may win the fight simply due to luck.
How to Defend Yourself Using a Knife or a Firearm
Everyone should have a permit to carry a concealed firearm if a permit is required in your geographical area. You should select a small firearm that you can carry with you all the time in one of your pockets. Please read and obey the firearm carry rules in your state. If you cross the state line then you will need to comply with the firearm carry rules in that other state. Some states in the United States of America will recognize a firearm permit issued by another state but some states will not. You will need to research the firearm carry rules in all the states adjacent to the state that issued your concealed carry license.
Everyone should also carry a folding pocketknife. Each state has it own laws for what you can legally carry and these laws usually limit the length of the blade. Please read and obey the pocketknife rules in your state.
After you have acquired a firearm and a folding pocketknife for self-defense then you should learn how to use them safely and effectively. This can be accomplished by taking a self-defense class in your local area or by purchasing and reading a book on self-defense using knives and firearms.
End of Chapter Two.
My book "Self-Defense Weapons: Traditional and Modern" also contains the following information but the following information is not in Chapter Two.
Chapter Sixteen is about knives and it contains detailed information on how to select a good knife for self-defense, the right way and the wrong way to hold a knife for self-defense, and the most practical way to use a knife to defend yourself.
Chapter Thirty-Five is about handguns and it contains detailed information on how to select a handgun for self-defense.
Chapter One contains the following suggestions for practicing with a handgun:
When you are shooting at paper targets you may wish to consider doing all of the following practice routines.
- Normal Target Practice. Stand facing a target. Use a safe two-hand grip on your handgun if you need a two-hand grip to hold your handgun. However, if you can hold your handgun safely with one-hand then do so. Carefully aim your handgun at the target and slowly squeeze the trigger. Pause. Repeat. Your objective is to improve your ability to hit as close as possible to the bullseye while facing your target. (Note: If you need two hands to safely hold and shoot your handgun then you may have purchased a handgun that is too big for you. You may wish to consider purchasing a smaller handgun that does not weigh as much and that does not have as much recoil.)
- Self-Defense Target Practice: Stand sideways to the target and hold your handgun in your dominant hand pointed at the target. Carefully aim your handgun at the target and slowly squeeze the trigger. Pause. Repeat. Your objective is to become proficient shooting your handgun with one hand while standing sideways to your target. When you stand sideways this exposes less of your body to an incoming bullet and it puts your heart further away from the point of impact of an incoming bullet.
- Off-Hand Target Practice: Hold your handgun in your other hand and safely and carefully aim your handgun at the target and slowly squeeze the trigger while focusing on maintaining control of your handgun with your off-hand. In an unexpected self-defense situation you may need to use your off-hand to shoot your handgun to defend your life. It would be nice if you had practiced using your off-hand just a little bit during each practice session so that you can become more comfortable using your off-hand. However, you should not expect to become as proficient with your off-hand as you are with your dominant hand. But it would be nice if you could hit within a 10-inch square with your off-hand. A 10-inch square is approximately the size of the chest area of a person.
- Shooting From the Hip Target Practice: This does not refer to a fast draw. It refers to shooting at a target while holding your handgun in your dominant hand at your side but extended just a little in front of you. This is easier to do if your handgun has a laser. Aim at the target without using the iron sights on your handgun and slowly squeeze the trigger. Pause. Repeat. If you hold your handgun at arm's length in front of you, or at arm's length out to your side, then it is easier for a criminal to knock the handgun out of your hand. But if you hold your handgun just a few inches in front of your waist then a criminal cannot reach your handgun unless he is very close at point-blank range. At point-blank range it is easy to shoot several bullets into the stomach of a criminal. Therefore a criminal will be less likely to charge at you if you are holding your handgun at waist level a few inches in front of your body.
- Shooting Around a Corner Target Practice: Hold your handgun in your dominant hand and pretend you are shooting around the corner of a building. Most of your body should be behind the make-believe building. Only your handgun and your right eye should be exposed in this exercise. This practice exercise will allow you to gain some experience if you should ever need to use a building for cover at some time in the future. However, if running away is an option, then running away may be the best choice if you are the only person under attack.
Click here to read more information about the book: "Self-Defense Weapons: Traditional and Modern."
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com