Gun Disarms: It’s Not Over Just Because You Said Its Over

By Matthew Schafer

Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved

In the realm of martial arts gun disarming is probably my favorite thing to practice.  This being so I train a lot with disarms and I try to keep up with anything I can get my hands on; I read pretty much any article I can find, I watch a lot of instructional videos online, and I’ve spent a good deal of money to learn from experts.  However, the more I look the less I tend to see.

When I look around I tend to see the same old information spouted by every expert and most all teach the same way.  There is a lot of poor information out there and I want to touch on just a few of the things that I see as lacking during this type of instruction.

An important lesson that I learned many years ago came from a defensive shooting instructor who gave me some lessons in his backyard shooting range.  As we shot I started looking at how the weapons operated when we fired them and I couldn’t help but think back to the disarming techniques I practiced.  Finally, I brought the subject up and we discussed it at length.  One thing I’m convinced of is that most instructors spend so much time training with plastic, rubber, wooden, or inert firearms that they forget that if the gun goes off when you’re disarming your attacker your hands are going to be right next to an explosion being contained in a moving weapon. 

Ever since that day I teach all my students to never grab the gun.  If someone shoves a semiautomatic handgun in your face and you manage to grab a hold of it then you might be able to pin the slide and keep it from firing, and if it does fire while your hand encircles it you may in fact be able to maintain your grip and control of the weapon.  However, if they shove a revolver in your face and you grab around it and it goes off you won’t be able to hold onto it.  The force of the blast and the gases escaping from the cylinder will blow your grip off, burn your hand, and could even blow the tips of your fingers off.  We experimented with both a .38 and a .357 by placing gloves over the weapon and then grabbing around the gloves and it didn’t matter how we grabbed we could not hold onto the gun while it went off.   We suffered burns and we both experienced pain in our hands for days.  Since you need to react fast during a violent situation, you have to assume the gun will go off, and you won’t be able to maintain your grip on a revolver I believe it is best to make it a rule not to wrap your hands around any handgun.

Another important lesson I learned from a corrections officer who insisted I spend as much time as I could online watching security camera videos of real crimes being committed.  As a result of that I no longer do my handgun training by just standing there with my arm stretched out and trying to shoot my partner before he moves.  Sure, you have to do this king of static training to learn the techniques but once you have them down you have to train dynamically, which means you should reenact an actual assault. 

I was training with another instructor years back and he wanted to show me his favorite disarming technique (the one where you slap the gun and his wrist to make the gun fly across the room).  I held the gun out for him several times while he demonstrated and then he asked me to try to shoot him before he moved and sure enough he was so fast he disarmed me every time.  I then asked him if we could go a turn where I acted like a real criminal; after he said he was ready I stepped in between his legs, grabbed him by the throat with my left hand, pressed the gun into his left temple, drove him backwards and screamed “GIVE ME YOUR…(you can probably guess)!”

Needless to say not only was he not able to do the technique but he nearly defecated himself.  Static training where you just stand there is all fine and dandy but a criminal just doesn’t appear out of thin air ready to shoot you if you breathe wrong; something always leads up to it and happens after it.  It also doesn’t teach you to deal with what I call the “Oh Shit Factor” where your brain suddenly falls out your butt when surprised with sudden violence. 

Sure, the criminal may be standing there just holding out the gun and not moving, it happens all the time; but he also might be pushing, punching, choking, or grabbing you with his free hand while he screams and the gun could be held back, shoved right in your eyes, or who knows what else.  The point is after you have the technique down you should simulate a real robbery while you have to do your disarming technique in that fast and dynamic situation.

The last thing I’ll touch on is the one that bothers me the most.  I see this all the time; an instructor demonstrates a technique by having a partner point a gun at him and then then he takes the gun away, maybe he strikes the attacker or maybe not, and then he steps back and points the gun at the attacker…and then calls “scene!”  I just don’t understand how taking the gun away and pointing it back at your attacker is where the scenario stops…you still have a perfectly good attacker who could have other weapons and you have no idea if the gun is even loaded.

The idea that you can take a gun away and turn it on your attacker is very dubious.  90% of people shot in their own homes are shot with their own guns, either because of negligence or because the intruder took the gun away and used it themselves.  If you point his gun back at him and tell him to get down on this stomach maybe he’ll just walk over to you and take his gun back, or maybe he’ll pull out a knife or another gun.

What if the gun isn’t even loaded or functional?  Unfortunately there really aren’t any wide studies done but from what I could find one study showed that out of 85 firearms one midwestern police department seized after they were used to commit a crime during a particular period:

-24 were not loaded

-2 were not loaded with the correct ammunition

-9 were broken and unable to fire

Astonishingly 41% of the weapons used in these crimes were not able to actually shoot anyone. 

What about toy guns?  Many criminals know that in certain areas committing a robbery with a toy gun carries far less severe charges if they were to be caught and they know as long as they act scary enough their victim will comply anyway out of fear. 

Again, real numbers showing how many crimes are committed with toy, or imitation, guns is hard to come by because it is not information that police departments actively collect.  In what little information I could find, the Bureau of Justice Statistics published a report in 1990 called: “Toy Guns Involvement in Crime Encounters with the Police.”  This report concluded that as many as 20% of robberies are committed with “imitations guns” (toy guns, bb guns, etc.).  This study is from 1990 and with more access today the numbers are most likely even higher.

To put everything together, if you disarm a criminal and point their gun back at them with the intention of using it against them, there is as much as a 20% chance that when you pull the trigger you’ll find out it is a squirt gun!  Even if it is a real firearm there is perhaps as much as a 41% chance won’t fire because it is unloaded or broken!

The average criminal is not an expert in firearms.  They have a gun which is often stolen and when they’re not using it to intimidate people it is stuffed down the front of their pants or in their sock drawer.  People that are firearm experts often say, “that makes no sense…I would never put myself in the danger of robbing someone with a gun that won’t fire.”  However, the problem is that they’re thinking like themselves and they’re not a criminal.

A firearm’s expert possesses firearms with the intent to shoot people should the need arise but a criminal possesses their firearm mainly to use to intimidate someone into doing what they want, and that is a big difference.

If I do a technique I don’t stop once I have the gun, rather I take the gun away and go right into the attacker and I only stop once I’m looking at my attacker on the ground and I’m satisfied that he cannot get up to come after me.

The way I teach, and it’s the best method I’ve found so far, is (and this is just one example) that I start a technique with my partner 10-15 feet away from me and he walks up like he is going to walk right by me but just before he passes he suddenly rushes me and grabs my shirt with his left hand and push me back as his right hand points the gun at my face.  He is sudden, aggressive, using loud threatening language, and attempting to be physically dominating.

As all this is happening I move off the line, take the gun away, and then I step deep between his legs while I strike him in the throat with my forearm.  Then I sweep out his foot to take him down, kick him in the groin, stomp on his solar plexus, and then evaluate the situation and scan for other attackers.

“So if he knows so much why isn’t he a _____ champion?”

By Matthew Schafer

Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved

I’ve been very passionate about the martial arts most of my life and I try to expose myself to as many things martial arts as I can, but one thing that I hear over and over is “if he knows so much why isn’t he [insert some type of title here] champion?”  There are many variations of this statement and what kind of champion the bring up depends on what kind of competitions they’re into but the idea is always the same.

Of course, the place I hear this the most is on the internet and mostly in comments for martial arts videos.  In many cases some very knowledgeable and reputable martial artist will have a video on youtube where they’ll demonstrate a technique or principle and sure enough some “keyboard warrior” will comment underneath “well if he is so great why isn’t he UFC champion?” or “why isn’t he competing in the UFC?” or the equally bad “who has this guy ever fought?”

The problem is there is this idea some people hold that fighting means anything, that people want to fight, or that martial arts is fighting.  First off, just because someone is skilled in martial arts why does that mean they want to compete in the UFC or other competitions?  For some reason, and I largely blame the popularity of wrestleboxing (MMA), some people think that everyone wants to get in a ring and fight.  Very few martial artists have any desire to step into a ring and compete with anyone and that makes sense because that isn’t what the martial arts are about.

When most people find out that I practice martial arts it is often assumed that I am either involved or am a fan of wrestleboxing and that isn’t the case.  Martial arts are about self-defense and the idea of two people getting into a ring and trying to kill each other for ego and money to me is ridiculous.  Now, for a martial artist the ridiculousness goes even further because in these wrestleboxing matches people aren’t even trying to kill each other, they’re trying to beat each other up without hurting each other.  The idea of trying to beat someone up without hurting them makes about as much sense as trying to boil water but not let it bubble.

Years and years back I had some young guys come into my class that were interested in this wrestleboxing stuff and they asked me if I could teach them some stuff they could use in the ring.  One of the first things I showed them was a great technique to get someone off of you when in the guard position.  I showed them a simple bodyweight based technique that was simple, caused the other guy to nearly jump off of you, and ended the fight because it tore the connective tissue in their knee.  None of them wanted to learn it.  I then showed them a great technique to get out of a rear naked choke that tore the connective tissue in their shoulder and no one wanted to learn that either.  It was then that it really dawned on me that these guys were not only not martial artists but basically athletes.  They had to worry about their career and livelihood (which makes perfect sense) and they don’t want an injury that will stop their career or cause another person an injury that will affect theirs.

On the other end of the spectrum, true martial arts is about Budo “the way or path of the warrior.”  True Budo is found in life and death not playing grab-ass in a ring or a point fighting tournament.  Some younger people confuse this to and think it means Budo requires you to fight to the death but that is not the case; in Budo you use martial arts to confront your own mortality.  Samurai used to meditate daily and visualize themselves on the battlefield being torn to pieces by arrows and by confronting your own death you free yourself of being controlled by the thought of it.

The other comment that drives me crazy is “who has this guy ever beaten?” as if martial artists roam the land challenging each other like in feudal times.  Firstly, what they mean is who has the person ever gotten into a sanctioned ring with and competed against with rules and referee and defeated.  Again, very few people on this entire planet have any interest in getting into a ring and playing wrestleboxing.  Most of these same guys that the mma community writes off because they’ve never “beaten anyone” are the same guys who’ve used their skills in a real life violent encounter and survived.  That is what we’re concerned with in the martial arts, not meaningless plastic trophies but being able to deal with the real violence in life.

When I watch a video on youtube and see someone like the great Karate teacher Fumio Demura demonstrate something or share his vast knowledge and someone comments “if doing a technique that way is so great, why isn’t he a mma champion?” to me it just tells me that the commenter lacks true knowledge of martial arts.

I have no problem with wrestleboxing and I think it is a great sport but the problem is when people start thinking it is anything more than a sport (which is why I use the term wrestleboxing and don’t call it mixed martial arts).  People get into this sport and then they start to think that since they’re into it everyone else must be too but the reality is that the amount of people that have any interest in getting in a ring and competing is an incredibly small percentage. 

Quick Self Defense Video

Here is a great little video for both men and women on the basic strategies and tools of self-defense.  A tactical flashlight (a flashlight that is very small, concealable, and easy to carry yet exceptionally bright) is a great tool and I carry one everywhere I go.  The nice thing is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a decent one.

I carry the Olight S1 Baton and I’ve very happy with it.  It is very small but very well made and it is the brightest light I have ever owned.  Priced at only $60 it puts out an incredible 500 lumens, has a magnetic bottom which is very handy, and has a rechargeable battery.

I’m not a big fan of using your keys for self-defense (they can twist in your hand and injure you, you could damage or lose them and not be able to get into the safety of your car or house, and if you use them for self-defense you may have to give up your keys to the police as evidence) but a pen is a good tool.  You don’t need to buy a fancy self-defense pen, but a decent and sturdy metal pen will do.  I have a nice metal pen that is attractive, writes very well, I can walk right through security with it and take it anywhere in the world, and yet if I ever needed to use it for self-defense it is a more than adequate tool.

Knives are great tools but I’m not a big fan of carrying them for self-defense.  Pepper spray is much better for stopping someone than a knife in most cases and I probably will not accidently kill someone.  I always carry a small Swiss Army Knife in my pocket which could be used for self-defense but that’s not why I carry it.  James Williams (the man in this video) designs come great knives and I do have his smaller lock-blade knife called the “Hei Ho” (military strategy) which is a fantastic knife and I do carry it from time to time but a knife is certainly not my first choice for self-defense.

A Last-Ditch De-Escalation Technique

By Matthew Schafer

Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved

One of the fundamental things that I was taught when I was a young student, and which I make sure to pass along to my students, is that the martial arts have two fundamental purposes: 1.) to teach you how to injure people, and 2.) to teach you how not to have to injure people.  Always stressing the latter, de-escalation techniques are something I spend quite a bit of time on with my students.

For the most part, de-escalation, as a concept, is pretty simple.  If you’re in a situation where there is no immediate threat you focus on taking the emotional energy out of the situation so you can once again communicate (keeping in mind that 80% of violent assaults and murders happen during or just after an argument).  In instances where an immediate threat is present, such as being approached by an individual you feel might become violent, then a more aggressive technique is normally used where you establish a boundary, become assertive, and use body language, voice, and verbiage to let that individual know that if they don’t leave you will defend yourself.  Typically that is the go-to technique but in certain instances where you have the ability to leave it is best to take a submissive approach and get out of the area as soon as you can.

A student recently asked me what technique would I use if I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t leave, I was outnumbered and perhaps there were multiple weapons so fighting back doesn’t seem plausible, and the situation was escalating and about to become violent.  It was stressed that in this scenario I could not escape and both fighting back as well as doing nothing would probably result in me being seriously injured or killed.  He said he saw a guy in a bar get into this exact situation where 5 large drunks backed this guy into a corner, yelled at him, threw glass bottles at him, and ended up nearly beating him to death (he assumes, he and everyone else left the bar before that point).

In this situation there are a few things I would recommend.  The first is to never get into this situation.  If you pay attention you can see most situations start to build up and you can leave the area before things get to this point.  However, if the situation escalated so quickly you found yourself caught off-guard and in this situation the first thing I’d do is ask myself “are these guys about to attack me or are they trying to scare me?”  If I believe they are just trying to scare me I’d go with the assertive body language and voice to let them know that I’ll fight back if they come closer and in most cases that does work.

However, with there being 5 of them the pack mentality can set in so even if they don’t plan on doing anything more than scaring me if one of them was to make a move the others would probably join in.   If I felt they were about to attack the first thing I’d do is I’d plan my attack.  I’d quickly try to assess which one is the leader (because if I take him out first the others may stop), where are their hands (are they in fists, clutching weapons, in pockets about to pull out weapons?), where are my exits, do I have any weapons on me, are there any environmental weapons I can use (chairs or other objects I can grab to use as a weapon or force them into to trip them, objects I can place between me and them, or nice hard surface like a doorframe where I can grab one of their heads and slam it into).

Now that I believe they are about to attack me and that I have to act the first thing I will probably do is to drop their guard and make a stupid mistake; the easiest way to do that is to act submissive to draw them in.  I will do the opposite of sticking my check out and puffing up, I’ll curl my back look down and to the left and act as if I’m scared.   If a second before the guy was going to pull his gun and shoot me there is now a good chance he’ll walk right over to me giving me an opportunity to disarm him and take him out.

Acting submissive will normally make them think they’ve won so typically they will let their guard down and give you an opportunity to set them up for a surprise attack.  If I have a weapon like pepper spray I’ll use my cowering movements not only to lure them in but also to conceal grabbing it and as soon as they’re close enough I’ll hit them all with a stream of pepper spray and run like hell.

If one of them has a weapon either in their hands or sticking out of their pants and they get close enough to me I might disarm them and use it against them. 

Perhaps I see that just to my left there is a table and chairs so as I act submissive I move to my right to place the group in front of those chairs so that if I suddenly grab the closest guy and shove them into the rest of the group they’ll have something to trip over and hopefully injure themselves.

A decent technique that works very well when dealing with a group that is standing close together is to let them get close enough and the use the heel of your hand to strike the closest man under the nose and then and then drive forwards.  As soon as you strike him his body will loosen and when you drive him back into the group he’ll hit the guys behind them and off balance them and as you continue to drive forwards with all your body weight you can actually drive him backwards through the entire group and then as soon as you’re clear you can run like hell for the exit.  This technique is all about physics so it doesn’t matter if the group is 3 people, 30 people, or 300 people once the dominos start falling, so to speak, you can escape.

However, we’re supposed to be talking about de-escalation and there is a last-ditch de-escalation technique that works very well but I would only use it as a last resort.

If the other de-escalation techniques don’t work and you feel you’re about to be attacked and for whatever reason you can’t or won’t fight back there is one technique that does work very well and could save your life.  The technique is to do their job for them but only better.

If someone is going to attack you or bully you they’re trying to demean you to a certain level.  So, for example, let’s say that on a scale of 1 to 10 that measures you’re self-worth and social standing you’re at 10 which is the normal everyday rating of a typical person.   If that person just wanted to kill you they would just walk up and kill you and you probably wouldn’t see it coming, so if a group is ganging up on you and cornering you they’re trying to assert their dominance and take you from a 10 down to a 4 (to pick a number at random).  By intimidating you and beating you they are trying to teach you a lesson, make you realize you’re not as good as them, and lower your social standing in the larger group.

Here is the trick, and again only use this as a last ditch effort.  If that group wants to bring you down from a 10 to a 4 you then turn on yourself and bring yourself down to a 2.  If someone decides that they want to make you look scared in front of a group in order to bolster their social status but as they begin to intimidate you drop to the ground and beg him not to hurt you you’ve just done his job for him.  He wanted to make you look scared and now you’re cowering on the ground...at this point he has got more than what he wanted from you and he never had to touch you.

If you do this, and bring yourself down to a 2 when their goal was to get you to a 4 they will quickly realize three things: 1.) you’re probably crazy, 2.) you’re pathetic, 3.) their job is already done.  They’ll see that you’re so pathetic they will just walk away and at the most they might hit you once or twice for principle but it won’t be full force.

To make sure you truly understand the concept lets flip this around; let’s say you’re walking down the street and this guy who is half your size suddenly turns and hits his girlfriend.  You become outraged and since this guy is half your size you have no problem getting in his face and bullying him to show him what it feels like.  You approach him, shove him into the wall, and you get into his face yelling at him about what a piece of shit he is.  You’re just about to give him the back of your hand when suddenly he throws his hands up in front of his face, drops down to the ground, and starts crying and begging you not to hurt him.  Now what do you do? 

Maybe he starts calling himself stupid and worthless and starts to slap himself across the face; perhaps he hits himself hard enough to give himself a bloody nose; maybe he starts crying and urinates in his pants.  Maybe he pulls out a pocket knife and starts to cut his arm while yelling how stupid he is.

The point here is that if someone is trying to bring you down to a 4 and you turn on yourself and bring yourself to a 2 or even a 0 there is nothing left for them to do.  They’ll see you as sad and pathetic and even if they were amped up to start hitting you and bringing you down to a 4, now that you’re a 2 you’ve taken all the fun out of it and are suddenly not worth their time.

Due to the extremes and the fact that you are debasing yourself I would only use this technique as a last ditch effort but if it is something that needs to be done it does work very well.