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Permalink Reply by Dr. Remedios Sy on February 5, 2012 at 1:27am

Point taken. That is why I professed that it DEPENDS on the individual who is holding a bladed weapon. In analogy, if a child is holding a knife, can we not disarm that child? Or say, a woman who is holding the same to scare off an attacker? There is no such thing as a superior martial art. Only a superior individual. Thanks for your comment. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Guro David Battaglia on February 5, 2012 at 8:34am

I think MMA has gone to some practitioners heads. Last summer I co-promoted an amateur Muay Thai competition. The host gym is an MMA gym, and supplied one-half of the opposition. I supplied most of the other half. They were competitors from a strictly Muay Thai gym. I warned my co-promoters they needed to better prepare. Instead, the attitude I got was, we're MMA fighters, we can handle anything. Let's just say the outcome for the MMA fighters was not pretty.

Recently I watched an African man protesting in Africa. He was unarmed and defiant. When the police tried to arrest him, he resisted. Out came the night sticks. This man must have been cracked with atleast ten full power blows, and never flinched. Sadly, an officer drew his gun and shot him in the chest. After being shot he continued to fight. The officer shot him again, he went down, but was helped back up. He began protesting again, and walking around. Another man put his arm around him, and a picture was taken. In his face you could see the protestor's shortness of breath. He collapsed after the picture was taken, and died. He wasn't a violent man, just a civil disobediant. IMO, there was no need to shoot him.

Us FMA's like to believe our stick blows will drop a man like a rock. It's likely most of the time they will. Same is true of those who rely on firearms. However, with the time it took for that man to become incapacitated, he could have returned fire, or swung a machete.

This whole tragedy saddens me. However, it's a reminder of how hard it can be to overcome a dedicated and violent (not in case above) attacker.

Even the MMA fighter who unknowingly faced the knife, kept his mind in the fight to prevail. We see the price he paid. Fortunate for him the knife wasn't as deeply slashed across his abdomen, instead of his hand.

I like what Peyton Quinn has to say about any hand movement toward yourself. Always treat that movement as if the hand is holding a knife.

Maestro Guro Dave

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