• Archive through June 07, 2002 June 07 - 12:21 pm [20]

Paul,

I think a goal of Taijiquan training is to
overcome the adrenal based response to stress or
a stressful situation. I believe it has to do
with the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous
responses, but I don't know enough about the
subject to go into detail.

David,

I understand what you are saying about the goal of taijiquan training, but I am coming from the school of thought that advocates exposure to a stimulus, thus (hopefully) becoming to understand the adrenal dumps and releases, understanding your body and working with those feelings and sensations. Thus, perhaps learning to control those responses through scenario based training employing verbal and physical 'techniques'.

Gun Fu, anyone?

I recommend viewing a copy of "Surviving Edged Weapons" for some realistic iformation on knife attacks.

Realistic from my point of view is dealing with two basic situations;

1. Where the person usually male waves the knife around openly in an attempt to intimidate you, as in an attempted robbery or in an outward show of bravado. These guys can usually be talked down and if they do have a go its usually a half-hearted lunge, more in fear than malice. Best form of defence here is your tongue and calm demeanor.

2. Where the person, in this case male or female is either emotionally disturbed, as in a domestic argument or pyschotic, often drug induced, where they behave irrationally and unpredictably. Here they can strike out with the first thing they can get a hold of and that's often a knife. They can attack repeatedly with suprising speed, strength and endurance. If you can't escape safely, you are going to have separate them from the knife or make them physically incapable of using it quick smart. In that case I stick with what I said in the previous post.

In both of the above cases the actions are overt/open and uncalculating. On re-reading some of the other posts here, it seems to me that most of them relate to street fighting tactics and if thats the case, then you'll probably get what you deserve.

I think internal refers to the internal reality and I think that some traditional Chinese techniques of cultivating clarity of intention are basically modes of psychological tempering for combat. The Samurai-Zen thing is another cultural example. Enlightenment is the end of fear-reactivity, among other things.

Of course technique is another ball of worms.

Paul,

I think I understand where you are coming from.
I've heard that people can learn to overcome
gut-level reactions to things (such as phobias to
spiders, etc) through gradual exposure to the
stimulus that causes the reaction. Probably a
good idea if you really want to prepare for
dealing with a blade. I'm curious if a
combination of taijiquan training (including
standing meditation) and exposure to simulated
threatening situations could help one to control
the body and mind when they are flooded with
adrenaline and other crazy hormones/chemicals...


David

In an aggressive situation a knife is a purely offensive tool. Its use requires very little energy to be effective and efficient. It is however an extension of the hand/body and you are fighting the person. To much of the time "knife defenses" are practiced against individuals doing stylized attacks, who have no meaningful training in knife fighting. I would hazard a quess that most contemporary incidences would be of the stealth variety and not a face-to-face confrontation between Kali practitioners. Paladin Press publishes many authors who discuss the street issues of knife encounters. Yet, I feel, in the long run, knowing how to use a knife and the mindset behind it, is the prerequisite to knowing how to defend against a knife attack. Otherwise, carry a big(ger) stick, eh!

Yeah, carry a bigger stick -- a BOOM-stick -- and from a distance (& hope the knife-wielding guy can't throw well). Knife fighting is deadly-serious biz. I've talked to & read about survivors of knife fights (& fights with other, sharp & pointy objects), and rarely does one survive uninjured. I've been threatened with a knife three times in my life & have been real lucky (once -- in the Philippines -- I was in the wrong neck of the woods -- communist territory -- & a guy pulled out & flashed his knife at me from a distance...& I kept my distance; once, when I was around 10 years old, a teenaged gang-banger in San Pedro, California, was coming at me with a knife, but he got fancy & dropped it -- & I ran away...fast; lastly, my first experience was when I was about 8 or 9 & an adult stranger put the edge of a bowie-style knife up to my throat from over my right shoulder...I froze...& luckily he didn't cut: it was the 60's & he was a Green Beret who, having returned from Vietnam, was trying to impress upon me the dangers of a knife fight...I was impressed). Most people get cut up pretty bad. One guy I know had a bayonet driven thru his left forearm & about an inch into his chest (& he was the winner); another was left pinned to a door by a large knife thru his stomach (it started one-on-one, but didn't end that way -- he lost, but survived).

To be fair, I've known people who have disarmed knife-wielding guys & came out either uninjured or only slightly cut; but my point above is that it's very risky & can become fatal (or near-fatal) very quickly. Discretion is often the better part of valor.