Wellness Positive

Self Defense Training - Part III:

The use of Concealed Weapons in Combat..

This section will teach you how to use disguised, concealed weapons that an enemy will not even recognize AS weapons. This deceiving your enemy is one of the core tenets of effective self defense and martial arts instruction and training.

  The weapons you will learn about in this section should be part of any good martial arts or self defense instruction course.. and so, here they are...

Weapon 2) A disguised stick Weapon:

A cloth Knapsack with a steel bar in it...

  This weapon is ideal for people in casual attire. The steel bar is about a foot long, and can be either solid or a metal pipe. You can cut a suitable length off a slim metal water-pipe to make it, if necessary.

  When you use it against an enemy, you must use it WITHOUT taking the bar out of the knapsack - you just grip the bar THROUGH the cloth of the knapsack and hit your attacker.

"If possible NEVER let your enemy know the nature of your weapon. An enemy who is confused is an enemy half defeated."

  Your enemy must not even RECOGNIZE your weapon until he is struck by it.

  Important NOTE: A stick or cane can be used in just the same way as this weapon (see the various attacks described below..). So can a Kubotan or extending staff, which is a weapon that provides both length and concealment..

Using the steel bar in swinging strikes..

  The targets for this weapon are the same as for the Yawara stick - swinging sideways strikes (like the one shown in the images below), aimed for the temple (the side of the head just behind and slightly higher than the eye), the side of the neck, the center of the throat, nose, or the back of the head where it touches the neck. You can also hit the side of his hip, in a downward swing - if you manage to break the hip-bone, he will INSTANTLY be disabled.

  The six basic targets for this attack are marked in the images below, in blue:

Thrusting techniques that can be used with the steel bar..

  Another way to use the bar is to thrust with it, as if it was a sword (as in the images below).

  The targets fir this sort of attack are the enemy's eyes, throat, solar plexus (just below the breast-bone) or groin.

  If you attack the solar plexus, remember, you should attack it with a rising thrust at roughly a 45 degree angle. The images below show how you may use the bar in a thrusting attack..

  Practice all these strikes against a bag on at least two days a week, with at least 20 repetitions of each strike, with each hand.