Getting dropped by a body blow could be fatal to an officer involved in an altercation, which is why I am an avid believer in keeping the elbows tucked in. The real beauty of the elbow block, though, is that it does not compromise your defensive stance. I have personally broken many people’s hands with a simple elbow block.
Head and shoulders: Your head is also tucked in and your shoulder raised slightly to protect what I affectionately call the “knockout band”—the six-inch parallel line that runs around the front of the head from the nose to the chin (see Fig. 12). Boxing trainers direct their fighters to hit this area to knock their opponents out. Tucking your head and raising your shoulder hides and protects this imaginary line.
It takes only a few minutes of dedicated practice to become proficient in this basic stance. Next, you need to learn how to move using this stance to be effective.
4
Balance and Footwork
The most efficient way to move when responding to an assault or attack is to take a series of short six-inch steps. First, move the foot closest to where you want to go six inches in that direction (starting with your right foot when moving toward the right, etc.). Then move your other foot in the same direction—again with a short six-inch step. Repeat these moves—first the lead foot, then the trailing foot—until you get to where you want to go. For example, if you want to move to the left, you should first move your left foot six inches to the left, then move your right foot six inches to the left—before moving your left foot another six inches, and so on (see Figs. 13-15).
The same approach applies if you want to move to the right, forward, or backward.
When moving side to side (left or right), you are usually trying to move out of the way of an assailant (see Figs. 16-18).
When moving forward, you are usually trying to subdue or strike a suspect or attacker, so first move your front leg forward six inches, and then let your rear leg catch up six inches (see Figs. 19-21).
When moving backward, you are more than likely trying to get out of range of a suspect who is attacking you. First move your back leg six inches; then let your front leg catch up six inches (see Figs. 22-24).
Here’s a brief drill that will help you practice this “short step” movement: First, move ten feet to the right using the footwork described above. Then go ten feet to the left using the same footwork. Then move ten feet forward, then ten feet backward—always using the short-step footwork. Keep practicing this movement until you can do it smoothly, quickly, and without thinking about your feet.
Try to maintain the stance demonstrated in the previous chapter: your hands should be held up, chin tucked in, elbow tucked in, knees bent, and so forth, as you move. This will help you develop an efficient and effective self-defense stance and practice good defensive tactics. Once you’ve got your feet moving in the right direction pretty consistently, you’ll only need to repeat this drill for a few minutes a month—to reinforce your good street-combat movements.
I do this drill often with cadets, as well as in-service personnel, and it greatly enhances their ability to move efficiently in the combat scenarios in which we train them.
5
Hand Strikes
Strikes Versus Holds
The trend in law enforcement these days is for police administrators to stress the importance of physical restraint techniques in dealing with a combative suspect. My experience—in working on the street and in custodial environments (like county jails and prisons) and in training law enforcement officers for the last eight years—has taught me that restraint techniques are extremely hard to apply in police work. Compared to striking techniques, they require countless hours of practice before an officer will be effective enough to use them in real world policing situations. Aikido, for example, is a Japanese martial art that includes many restraining techniques. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, would practice his techniques thousands of times before he ever used them in combat.
In the modern world of law enforcement, the majority of officers simply do not train enough to be able to apply restraint techniques effectively. Through my experience in training thousands of law enforcement personnel in both restraint and striking techniques, I have come to the conclusion that striking techniques can be taught more quickly than restraint techniques, and that striking techniques, when combined with assertive verbal commands and other techniques, can achieve the same desired result—to subdue a suspect or attacker—as restraining techniques.
I don’t say that we shouldn’t teach restraining techniques. They certainly have their time and place, but given the short amount of training time we typically have, I believe that striking techniques are a better choice for most training programs because trainees can learn to be effective much more quickly.
The Jab
The first strike you should learn is the basic jab. I would choose the jab over any other strike because it’s carried out with the nongun hand. If the jab doesn’t work, you still have the option of quickly drawing your firearm, impact weapon, or o/c (pepper) spray to subdue a suspect or stop the threat.
Fist Versus Palm
In learning the jab, you must make a basic decision about what type of striking method you want to use—a palm heel or fist strike (see Figs. 25 and 26). I’ll explain both methods, since they’re both very effective. However,