Fighting the Pain Resistant Attacker. Loren W. Christensen

it takes to stop the threat.

TRAIN TO KEEP ATTACKING

      It’s important to train in such a fashion that you don’t become unnerved when someone doesn’t react to your best joint lock, palm-heel strike, or roundhouse kick. Here is why. Say you apply a joint lock on a nasty drunk, the same technique that made your classmate dance funny-like on his tiptoes. Not only does the intoxicated man not react, he looks puzzled, as if he isn’t sure what you’re doing and what you want from him. You look puzzled, too, as you wonder why the technique isn’t eliciting the usual yelp and chest slap. Then, because you allowed half a dozen seconds to pass during your confusion, the drunk smashes you in your puzzled face.

      When a radio talk show host doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, it’s known as “dead air,” and considered a bad thing. When you pause or hesitate in a physical confrontation while the threat is still, well, a threat, that too can be a bad thing.

      To prevent this, you must train physically as well as mentally to keep on the offense until the seemingly invulnerable person is under control. Say you kick the man in the thigh twice, neither blow drawing so much as a grimace. Although you see his lack of reaction, don’t pause to wonder what went wrong. Instead, immediately hit targets where there are more pain receptors, targets that shock the brain, or targets where an injury greatly reduces the recipient’s ability to attack.

      Dealing with any combative person is seldom easy and always dangerous. This truth is magnified many times over when the attacker is impervious to pain, when he neither reacts nor acknowledges your techniques. Happily, you don’t run into these types of people often, but when you do, it can be a real challenge.

      The following pages present techniques and fighting concepts that have worked for me and for others who have dealt with these formidable people.

      When I first began working on this book, I asked a high-ranking jujitsu instructor about the mechanics of a particular technique. He answered my question and then added, “When done correctly, this hurts everyone.”

      Out of politeness, I didn’t respond. But I will here.

      No, that technique doesn’t hurt everyone. There are people out there who will eat it, smile and keep coming at you. And that is what the rest of this book is about.

       CHAPTER 2 BACK OF THE HEAD, TEMPLE, MASTOID AND EARDRUM

      I once broke my hand on a guy’s head, although he wasn’t affected at all. On another occasion, I hit an armed robbery suspect with a no-big-deal snap punch and the blow fractured his cheekbone, released a geyser of blood, and sent him to the ER.

      Most readers probably have a story about seeing someone take a head shot only to go on about their business as if nothing happened. Perhaps you have seen a person take a seemingly light hit to the face but go down like the proverbial lead balloon. In the world of MMA fighting, there is always a competitor who gets his nose smeared like jelly on toast but simply shrugs it off. Then there are those pros who bite the canvas after what looked like a light kick to the head, making you wonder if it’s a fix.

      While we can agree that attacking the head can be unreliable, especially when the recipient isn’t receptive to pain, there are some targets there that are more likely to get a response than others. (Look at all the qualifiers in this last sentence: can be, some, and more likely. This is because there are no absolutes when dealing with the human body, especially when its brain isn’t receiving pain messages from its parts.)

      Warning: Anytime you hit someone in the head, there is a potential for serious injury and death. Not only can the initial target be damaged, the brain is highly susceptible to injury, too. As always, be justified to use these techniques.

BACK OF THE SKULL

EXTERNAL OCCIPITAL PROTUBERANCE