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HANDSTICKKNIFEGUN

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August / September 2001

ISSUE #8

Display until

September 30, 2001

FeaturesPick Your Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4By Publisher W. Hock Hochheim

Dispatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Brazilian Ju-jitsu vs. Military Hand-to-Hand Combat . . . . . 6By SFC Roger Lewis

Dick Meadows: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12The Eternal WarriorBy Tom Clancy

The Pommel Strike! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The Science of Knife PommelryBy W. Hock Hochheim

The Squad RoomPolice Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Police Groundfighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20By Mike Gillette

True Cop Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23An Anatomy of a MurderBy W. Hock Hochheim

Military BriefingWorld Watch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Scuttlebutt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Buffalo Nickels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Tina the Mad Killer EmuBattlefield Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Aguda—One Crazy BastardBy Colonel David H. Hackworth

Soldiers For Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31By Ralf Zimmermann

The ArenaMartial Training Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Kajukenbo Combatives By Sifu Dean Goldade

Street Fighter’s Training Notebook . . . . . . . . . . 33By Rick Sikora

Fitness is Mind Over Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34By Art Carey

Bad Muscle Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The VanCook View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36By Jerry VanCook

The Bouncer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Between the Joint Lock and the Take Down is the Walk-AwayBy Joe Reyes

Scoop and Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40By David “Smitty” Smith

Citizen Self-Defense League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Stay AlertBy Randy Nichols

State of the Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44By Jane Eden

PublisherW. Hock Hochheim

Editor-in-ChiefJane Eden

Contributing Editor(s)Lloyd & Elizabeth Fitzpatrick

Graphic DesignSophie Trikosko Dicks

PhotographyKeith Dempsey

SalesTammie Gillette

Contributing Writers Art Carey, Tom Clancy,

Major JGH Corrigan, Jane Eden,Mike Gillette, Dean Goldade, Col.David Hackworth, Marc Halleck,Hock Hochheim, Roger Lewis,Randy Lewis, Buffalo Nickels,Joseph Reyes, Smitty Smith,

Jerry VanCook, Ralf Zimmerman

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World Wide Webwww.HocksCQC.com

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August/September 2001 M A G A Z I N E

About the Cover: Jim Mahan and Roger Lewis demonstrate the contrast between Hand-to-

Hand Combat and Brazilian Ju-jitsu.

You are walking point, the lead man inSoutheast Asia, guiding your team inhostile territory. You freeze and handsignal your men to halt. One enemysoldier, just a bit ahead of his squad,

is walking dead center your way, and in 10seconds he will discover you and yours! Youdetermine a firefight is inevitable, and yourguys need as many precious seconds as pos-sible to set up. No way you can stab him. Hewill see you from a distance. Do you shoottheir lead man?

Did you know that in this arena, throw-ing a hand grenade at the lead man might besmarter? What? Waste a whole grenade onone man you ask? But when the grenadeignites, it will be the epicenter of its ownexplosion, drawing attention away from youand at the victim instead. His comrades willnot know from where the grenade originat-ed. If you shoot your weapon, you and yoursare the source of a flash and explosion, andthe enemy would see and hear you instantly,drawing immediate action fire.

Ask that question to almost anybody,and they will suggest shooting the lead sol-dier, nixing the grenade idea. But an expertin this arena, knows this little-known handgrenade trick. Knowing the specifics ofcombat in your arena maximizes your abili-ty to survive.

What is your arena? Karate TournamentJudo MatBoxing RingUFC OctagonBrazilian Cage FightFencer’s RectangleSunday Park Stick FightRenaissance Fair JoustJungle WarfareTraffic StopSchoolyardJail HallwayMountain WarfareGolf CourseDesert WarfareFootball FieldBasketball CourtUrban or Rural Landscape

Would you admit training toplay football is not the best way toprepare you to play baseball? Willjudo really help you win a kickbox-ing match? Sure there are overlap-ping benefits. Being physically fitfrom any sport will help you some-what in any additional sport.Champion Kick Boxer Joe Lewisonce said, “Nothing replaces ringtime.” And that character buildingboxing and kickboxing gladiatortime is important. But it won’t helpyou stop a teenager with a machinegun walking down a school hallway.

Where will you fight? How willyou fight there? You can do thingsin one arena that you can’t do inanother that will help you win. Doyou have the tricks, tactics, strate-gies, experience and character forthat arena?

One thing we do know is theword “act” is a syllable inside ofchar-act-er, and how we act, notjust verbally but physically, in dif-fering arenas is an after-the-factmeasure. I read a business maga-zine article recently where theauthor tried to educate the readeron personal character. “What ischaracter?” he asked and proceeded toexplain, but it was on character in HISarena. The photo was of a chubby, polishedman with an air of sophistication, almostarrogance. HE, by God, knew what charac-ter was! The producer of the televisionshow Survivor claims no one knows theircharacter until they find themselves strand-ed in the wilds.

The small-minded often think theyhave great character, and then their arenachanges. Does that person have it whenlooking down the gun barrel of a criminal’sgun? Or wandering lost on a racist-riddenstreet after midnight? Does that personhave character in a burning building? Ordropped off 10 blocks from his four starhotel in Sierra Leone. Or lost on a coldmountain range? Would the same man havethe same character as an amputee in awheel chair? Character in a boardroom isdifferent from character in an emergencyroom. Is that a different arena?

I have seen much in the various martialarts, military and police training circles inthe last 30 years. Much can be pretty good,and then some of it disgusts me. A big dan-ger crops up when an expert in one arenafoolishly teaches you how to think, fightand act in another arena. Each arena has itsown set of rules, a format and formula forsuccess, and they simply do not favor oneanother.

Each year friends and acquaintancesof mine die, are crippled, or are wounded,or their careers ruined, their families scat-tered because they weren’t properlytrained. Different arenas require differentskills, knowledge and the character to actwithin these boundaries.

Adversity and diversity build character.Then there are unique tricks, strategies andskills you must learn as well.

But first…you have to pick your arena. What is your arena?✪

4 • Close Quarter Combat Magazine

Pick Your ArenaBy Publisher W. Hock Hochheim

Land-Mail Message: In seminars you talk about the Zulus, the

Spartans, the Apaches, and other warriors.

In the last issue (no. 6) I saw the Marines

nicknamed their rank levels with these

same names. I am only familiar with

Japanese history regarding fighting sys-

tems. I studied Japanese martial arts

because I thought that was all there was. Is

there any place to go to find out more about

these other warrior cultures? —JS/CA

Reply:We are all victims of formula, marketingand advertising agendas. I nicknamed thistrend “The Martial Art Ad Vortex,” and onceyou get caught in it, it’s tough to see day-light. The Gates of Fire by StevenPrescott is the ultimate resource for under-standing the Spartan culture. It is historicalfiction, but heavily researched by a world-renowned authority. Hit the history booksfor Zulu and Apache information. The era ofShaka Zulu is really the best, and biogra-phies about him provide a lot of relevantmilitary and cultural information.

Land-Mail Message:Will you ever do a story on underwater

knife fighting techniques?

Reply: A Marine Force Recon Captain asked mefor ideas and help to devise an amphibiousknife-fighting course. There’s a need forsuch a course if only for the sake of exer-cise conducted ankle, knee or waist deep intraining pools. I contacted some of myfriends in several Naval units and SEALSand discovered their insiders believe thesubject of underwater knife fighting is kindof a misnomer or joke. They think to attachthemselves officially as a source for suchinformation would harm their reputations.

Basically, the techniques are similar tothose used in dry land knife fighting….onlyunderwater. It’s slower. The only tactical dif-ference is the edged weapon may be used to

destroy air supply equipment. But I believeyou should practice tactics in wet environ-ments too. After all, our astronauts can do allkinds of space walk and repair movements ondry ground, but they must practice underwa-ter to simulate gravity free simulation. Thesame principles hold true with knife fightingin aquatic conditions where you float andmust perform tasks upside down at times.This unfamiliar orientation may complicateeven the simplest chore.

The added element of water and poten-tial for drowning add a new element to theland locked knife fight. Units with a highprobability of water-based conflict need toexplore these techniques. Smart questionfrom you, and a smart concern for a MarineCaptain (Capt. Dan Hinton) always thinkingof new ways to prepare his troops to live andwin.

Land-Mail Message:How can you get away with teaching so

much killing to cops? I worry that if I prac-

tice in a course like this, I, or my agency

will be sued. —RS/Toronto, Canada

Reply: I teach the whole spectrum of results fromverbal tricks to fatal moves, as morally, eth-ically and legally needed. That includes tak-ing a life in the defense of oneself or others.Police teach police to shoot and kill too.Gun ranges across the world teach peopleto shoot center mass too. What is the dif-ference? I think people need to train in thewhole spectrum of reality outcomes. I sim-ply cannot understand and will not toleratea world that condemns an officer for learn-ing how to fight in order to protect himselfand others.

Land-Mail Message:Great magazine! I have one question. On

page 22 and 23 of the Apr/May 2000 issue

what type of knife are you using? I just got

all of your back issues and really enjoy

them. I would like to see tests on handguns,

knives, rifles etc. —ML/ Augusta, GA

Reply:That was a training knife sold by RoyReynolds at www.hammerheadknives.com.Regarding testing? We purposely do not dotests and reviews like that.

E-Mail Message:Loved the June/July issue! Great cover, but

you didn’t mention who shot it. Don’t you

give credit for cover photos?—anonymous

Reply:Glad you liked the cover. We give credit inall cases whenever we know the source.Our failure to list the source of this photocame about through a series of unfortunateinstances that we truly regret. We wouldlike to thank Jeff Randall of AdventureTraining for his exceptional skill at captur-ing this moment on film. He’s a highlyrespected jungle guide and survival expert,and also an excellent photographer. Friendssay if you find yourself trapped in the jun-gle, he’s the guy you want with you.

Land-Mail Message:I don’t understand, Hock. Didn’t you slam

John Kary’s American Combatives in BlackBelt Magazine, then you have their ad in

your magazine. I know you are a man of

integrity, so I find this confusing. —KT/MO

Reply:Quickly on the John Kary question, I did notslam John Kary in Black Belt magazine. Isent in a letter adding more tactics on to aknife feature John wrote. A staff member atBB rewrote and condensed the letter in acontroversial way. Both John and I have

Dispatches

Send your email questions to

[email protected] or land-mail to

Close Quarter Combat Mag, P.O.

Box 5372, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA 30742.

As Fox’s Bill O’Reilly would say,

“keep your comments pithy.”

August/September 2001 • 5

continued on page 40

Imagine D-Day, WW II. Our GIs land under theheavy bombardment of Nazi fire. Our men worktheir way up the beach and get to the first line ofthe enemy. There, facing blazing gun barrels, theGIs charge into the hot fire and…tackle the

enemy, wrestling them into arm bars. All the Nazis feelthe stinging pressure on their arm joints. They tap theAmerican’s body to signal they give up. The Americanslet go, knowing full well the Nazis spirit have beenbroken by this elbow pain. The Nazis stand up and

march to an internment area as prisoners of war.We know of course, this is

baloney and real lifewould never happen

this way. Fingers,even bayonets arethrust into eyesockets. Riflebutts wouldstrike the backof the tackler’s

neck. Soldiersmust train for

more. Yet throughoutthe US and in some

foreign posts, a method called Brazilian Ju-jitsu (BJJ) based on ground fighting is officially

taught to troops, now even to some special forces.Those of us in the military often think of ground

fighting as ground troops in action, but the Brazilianshave another, more dangerous definition for us.


BrazilianJu-Jitsu vs.MilitaryHand-to-HandCombatThe Realities of CQC

By SFC Roger Lewis


“Are you ready for the Ju-jitsuArmy?” was a headline question inthe Army Times. Key Ft. LewisRanger instructors, along with othertraining leaders throughout the Armyhave settled on the Brazilian form ofJu-jitsu as the ultimate fightingsystem. A Ranger team has eventraveled to Brazil for furtherinstruction. “The trip was a greatsuccess and the methods took offlike crazy in the 2nd Battalion,” said75th Ranger Regiment spokesmanCapt. McChristan. Some east coastRanger Instructors are mesmerizedby it. Even in courses not yetinfluenced by BJJ, you can watch anyUS Armed Forces Hand to HandCombat training and see pockets ofmen and women, interrupt the courseoutline and drop down into wrestlingmatches. Many have the musclememory of elementary, high schooland college wrestlers, or areinfluenced by TVs pro wrestling, orhave trained in BJJ on their civilianoff-duty hours.

Over the past few years, allLieutenants going through the InfantrySchool at Benning, GA must receiveinstruction in BJJ techniques. “It is anemerging doctrine,” says SFC MattLarsen. This blind acceptance simplyinfuriates and mystifies mostenlightened soldiers and civilianexperts who understand the truerealities of real world hand-to-hand.

BJJ? What is it? Brazilian Ju-jitsu ispredominantly a sport, tackle-you-down and ground fight/grapplingmartial art that focuses on wearingdown an opponent until he/shesubmits by “tapping out,” a repeatedpatting by the loser somewhere on thewinners body. The Gracie Ju-jitsufamily made Brazilian Ju-jitsu famousduring their popular pay per view TVevents. The Ultimate FightingChampionship (UFC), which started inthe early ’90’s, is a vehicle designed byBJJ for BJJ. Many Brazilian familieshave consolidated into a marketingvortex in a monopoly to rival that ofthe proliferation of Tae Kwon Do. The

karate shop window boastssubmission wrestling or “Brazilian Ju-jitsu” right alongside cardiokickboxing and the usual Karate or TaeKwon Do classes.

The BJJ basic training format:• Tackle the opponent.• Lock up the opponent to a

point of pain where they “tapout” or surrender.

• Attempt to choke out theopponent until he surrendersand taps out.

• Some hybrid versions of com-petition will allow for someform of striking.

The problem is not just BJJ. It andits accompanying Ultimate FightingTV show sparked other similar sys-tems. No Holds Barred (NHB) eventsand fighting systems have evolved.These sport ring winners are smalltime icons among the fad-followers

with a residual impact on certainsusceptible military trainers. LikeBJJ, they base themselves on firsttackling and then submission tac-tics. They too function in a ringwith rules and referees.

Obviously many types of mar-tial arts and sports serve an athlet-ic function in militaries around theworld. Special Forces in Thailandexercise with Thai Boxing. Koreansoldiers use styles of Hapkido andTae Kwon Do. Taiwan spec opspractice a style of Kung Fu. SASbox. Boxing provides a popularaddition to all military training.Many exercise some version ofKarate. Units often resort to theirlocal phone book, yellow pagesfor martial art schools and some-times ignorantly follow that doc-trine; or a team member who prac-tices martial arts will teach theteam for a limited period of time.

Militaries also sponsor teamsfor wrestling, judo and kick box-ing. They encourage contactgames like football, soccer andrugby. All have rules and require


SOLUTIONSEducate a commission incommon sense, and the trueneeds of military combatives

The Commission creates anArmy-wide standard andmanual for Lethal Combatives

The Commission creates anArmy-wide standard andmanual for Less-Than-LethalCombatives

The Commission oversees theimplementation of thesestandards and manuals, Army-wide

The Commission creates aTrain-the-Trainers School

The Commission mandates amonthly CQC trainingrequirement standard

specific knowledge; however there’s ahigher level of hardcore military sur-vival combat than what any sport pro-vides. Your common soldier under-stands where Judo fits in the big pic-ture. What concerns me, as a militarycombat instructor is that this samecommon sense does not appear to existwith regard to BJJ in the civilian world,and now this mentality has crept intothe military world. Key people pushBJJ, and it has now reached SpecialOperation proportions!

Is this what we in the military real-ly need as an emerging doctrine inclose quarter combat (CQC), wherethere are no rules or referees? I haveseen these BJJ fighting systems andknow they do not prepare a soldier tofight against an enemy wearing

weapons. In combat, soldiers mustwear helmets, load-bearing vests(LBV), plus body armor, in addition tocarrying a rifle, bayonet, and protectivemask. A soldier fully loaded with up to86 lbs. of gear looses significant mobili-ty. Wrestling muscle memory seeksholds, chokes and tactics that preventthe enemy from pulling fixed bladesand folding knives. Pistols do not exist.Conversely, no one teaches you how tokeep the enemy from taking your knifeor pistol as you low crawl over theopponent seeking arm bars or chokes.The very idea that a soldier should havethe primary muscle memory to firsttackle and wrestle with the enemy, whothemselves may wear the same heavyequipment and weapon-ry is simply foolish.

I have seen theseBJJ techniques in prac-tice, and they fail toencompass realisticcombatives of theenemy like:

• pulling a knife witha free hand

• pulling a gun with afree hand

• tearing into or goug-ing eyes

• biting the enemy • using something in

the environmentwithin reach as aedged or impactweapon

Soldiers need a program that is sim-ple, direct, and encompasses all theareas of hand-to-hand combat. DuringCQC, the engagement should start firstin a practical continuum with the rifleand bayonet, or pistol, then progress tothe knife or stick, and finally hand-to-hand, which requires the most dexterity,ability, and experience. Many comman-ders will forego the H2H training andproclaim, “A whole lot must go wrongbefore my troops are reduced to fightingwith their hands.” But, even the briefeststudy of military history demonstratesthat many things frequently do gowrong. It is imperative for soldiers topractice real world fighting, void of allsport aspects.

How do these sporty and artsycourses weave their way into militarytraining? Naiveté and ignorance.Commanders in key positions, inexpe-rienced and ignorant to the true needsof a survivalist are often sold a bill ofgoods by marketing, fads, safety andavailability. One influential commandersays, “…another plus [of BJJ] is thatslightly built soldiers can use it to over-come much larger opponents.” This is afoolish and thoughtless remark. BJJand other submission competitions,even boxing and kickboxing haveweight classes for that very reason. Abigger, muscular man will always befavored to beat a smaller man, no mat-ter how many joint locks or tricks thesmaller man knows. The smaller manneeds to learn how to cheat to win.

Another reason the military favorsBJJ is fewer recorded injuries. A com-mander may destroy his career if he


(Photo origin, Russian Military)

Russian airborne troops practice their form of “karate.’

(Photo origin, British Military)

Like many of the militaries of the world, such as in the British Military Parachute Regiment, boxing is a character buildingexperience.

(Photo by Alan and Freida Landau)

Once grounded, some Rangers were taught first to kick and strike in ground fightingsituations. Instead BJJ trains their muscle memory to execute wrestling and judo-likearm bars, joint locks and chokes.


chalks up too many training injuries ordeaths. Since many H2H training injuriesoccur to the back and wrists due to falls,commanders like the fact that most ofthe training sessions stay on the ground.“It’s very low impact. You don’t need asawdust pit,” says one Major.

Only a few of the realities of combatare addressed by new BJJ programs-onethat has aspirations to affect the entireUS Army if left unchecked. Is it realisticfor soldiers to drop their gear, or fightwith their gear and have the repeti-tion/muscle memory to wrestle oppo-nents into a submission? Soldiers aretrained to fight and kill the enemy, notto place him in a submission hold untilhe taps politely or cries uncle. Closequarter combat is the most up close andpersonal type of fighting a soldier mayexperience. Numerous veterans of USinvolved conflicts have told of theirexperiences in close quarter combatand the animal ferocity of such encoun-ters. The survival of a soldier depends

greatly upon a soundcombative training pro-gram, muscle memoryand mental condition-ing. We need a programthat will insure the sol-dier has the skill todefeat the enemy andinstill in them a fightingspirit.

So, what is theanswer? A viable solu-tion would be to useFM 21-150 Combatives,with some modifica-tions. FM 21-150 is stilla great source of infor-mation for training inhand-to-hand combat.The techniques in themanual could be usedas a base combativesystem. Adding the lat-est techniques andtraining methodsoffered by outstandingmartial arts and policecommunities could fur-ther refine the program.The new program couldbe redesigned to meetthe Army’s current less-

than-lethal and lethal mis-sions, which would resultin virtually two methodsof fighting—one programfor combat, and one forpeacekeeping operations.

Both methods would contain similari-ties. The main difference would be theamount of force or lethality of tech-niques being used. It would include allmodes of CQC, including rifle and bay-onet, knife, single stick, improvisedweapons, and finally empty hands.Soldiers would train with their equip-ment on like police officers do. Itwould have progressive levels of train-ing in order to facilitate mastery ateach level, enabling the soldier toprogress with confidence. The USMarines have instituted a competentCQC course that has a realistic portionof ground fighting.

When it comes to combative skill,the motto “What you don’t use, youlose,” applies. Since most soldiers donot practice the techniques taught tothem during basic training, combativetraining should be incorporated intoevery unit’s weekly PT schedule in lieuof topics like basketball or volleyball.

Two sessions per week would greatlyincrease skill levels. This training willhelp soldiers improve their combativeskill, and provide variety in PT.Combative training works all the majormuscle groups of the body and pro-vides an excellent addition to any PTprogram. The remaining weekly PT ses-sions would act as a conditioning ele-ment to a unit’s CQC program. After all,this is the Army; and armies fight. Theydon’t play basketball games.

Currently, the United States Armyhas many high ranking martial artistsand CQC instructors. These soldierstrain and teach on their own time. Theycome armed with the proper guidelinesand education they could put to use in a“train-the-trainer” program to certifyunit instructors. Currently, the Armydoes not have a reliable certificationprocess to ensure that its NCOs knowhow to teach combatives and WHATcourses should contain. A mere 3-4hours of training is not enough time for

This Ranger Instructor, in charge of a hand-to-hand combat course shows off hisskills with double sticks. Smart trainers know they can borrow certain skilldeveloping drills from martial arts to enhance coordination, strength, endurance andperformance. As long as a soldier is told what drill fits where and why they are doingit, then skill development should be encouraged.

instructors to obtain an acceptablelevel of expertise. The effectiveness ofa combative program directly reflectsupon the quality of the instructor. It isan embarrassment to have our NCOsread from a manual as they instruct sol-diers in hand-to-hand combat. Train-the-trainer programs should allowenough time for instructors to effective-ly learn the techniques, with plannedfollow up sessions to reinforce training.

As quoted in FM 21-150“Confidence, enthusiasm, and technicalexpertise are essential for success inteaching hand-to-hand combat.” Only arealistic training program encompassingthe whole spectrum of CQC will equipsoldiers with a useful and valuable skill.The very fact that some units are over-teaching and over-emphasizing Brazilianground fighting contradicts this missionand endangers lives. BJJ needs to beidentified and classified as a supportsport and exercise program, such as isjudo and not some kind of ultimate ArmyCQC program.

SFC Roger D. Lewis

C Troop 1/16 Cavalry

United States Army

“Well, you know, it’s great exercise. Ithink most of the Ranger instructorsteaching it really know that is all you getfrom it-exercise. But come on, I can’tfight in a war like this. It reminds me ofwrestling in high school! Where’s thedirty tricks of war. I need to kill theenemy quick and move on, not spendtime in a one-on-one conflict. Or in

places like the Gulf or the Balkans, Ineed to hog-tie them with cuffs orcables.

Name withheld,

Ranger, Ft Lewis, WA

“They (BJJ) like to say that almostall fights go to the ground. They tell meall kinds of statistics. One BJJ exponentsays 90 percent. One BJJ exponent says95. Another says ALL fights go to theground. Sure you might fall. Sure if youknock the guy out, he’ll fall. But it is asoldier’s job to stay up. If you train inBJJ, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,and all fights go to the ground. The needto know how to ground fight does notequate to needing to know how to fightlike a Brazilian wrestler! There aresmarter ways to ground fight.”

Williams Reynolds,

Former Army

“First off, Brazilian Ju-jitsu doesn’toffer a realistic way to handle the hand-to-hand fight. It addresses only a verysmall portion of the fight and doesn’toffer a sensible solution. It is true that weare likely to find ourselves on theground, but we shouldn’t spend our timewrestling around trying to get a submis-sion on our enemy. The only time thismight be an option would be in a peace-keeping environment with your fire teamproviding security for you. Other wise,you are going to end up being shot orstabbed while you are applying that armbar or choke. Who wins the hand-to-handfight? The guy whose buddy shows upwith a gun.”

Second, there is a limited scope oftechnique that is addressed. It is great toshow how to do an arm bar or a simplerear choke, but striking, using weapons,and breaking away from an enemy needto be addressed as well. Also, having onlyone or two ways to take a guy to theground is limiting. If ideal conditionsaren’t met, you aren’t going to be able tocause a takedown, and then you are play-ing a game that you are going to loose.”

Christopher Clifton,

Former US Army Airborne

“One workout we wore our helmets.It was really different. The BJJ coursecalled for my training partner to mountmy midsection. He had a chance to drophis knees into my chest and face instead,which would have busted up my ribs orknocked me out, but we were followingthe course material. He got on top of me.I tried to stop him with my legs, and it

took time. Really, I finally let himbecause the program called for him toget on top. When he did he reared backto punch me. I crunched up just toreflexively protect myself, and hepunched the front and top part of myhelmet, which hurt his hand. He waspulling the punch, but he didn’t calculatefor the helmet. We thought-BJJ guysdon’t know about helmets do they?”

Phillip Fundone,

US Army

“…The Army only intends the BJJmethod to be taught alongside othercombatives.”

Major Douglas Flohr,

US Army

“Expert boxers and wrestlers willalready be far along the road to profi-ciency in personal combat. The use ofboxing, wrestling and other body-con-tact sports in training and conditioningprograms will add materially to the stu-dent’s progress and will speed up hisdevelopment as an aggressive fighter.The terms judo and ju-jitsu are very syn-onymous. The danger of overrating‘judo’ as an effective means of combatlies not only in the aura of mystery thathas been allowed to surround it, but alsoin the over-emphasis placed on it as aneffective means of hand-to-hand combattraining.”

Colonel Rex Applegate,

US Army (ret.)

Author and commander of one of

the most recognized US Army CQC

schools in its history.✪



SFC Jim Mahan and author SFC Roger Lewis. Both teachhardcore martial arts in Fort Knox, KY. For more information,visit www.teamguest.org.


Ranger courses unencumbered by wrestling throw the enemydown and stomp and punch him as their primary goal. Kneehigh is low enough if they are in control.

Quotes

Dick Meadows:The Eternal WarriorBy Tom Clancy

Who is the all-time greatest SpecialForces soldier? Trying to choose the best is like choos-

ing the all-time most beautiful woman. Thevast number and variety of top contendersmakes the choice hopeless. And yet, men-tion one name among SF soldiers andyou’re sure to get a warm smile and a gen-tle nodding of heads-Major Richard “Dick”Meadows. Dick Meadows is the quintessen-tial Special Forces soldier, seeminglysprung directly from the brow of the god ofSpecial Forces.

Dick Meadows came to the Armyearly, enlisting at age 15, and soon becamethe youngest master sergeant in the Army.In 1953, he joined the 10th SFG. Though hewould eventually serve in groups aroundthe world (including an exchange tourwith the elite British Special Air Service),it was in Southeast Asia that Meadows per-formed the exploits that would make hisname legendary.

Eventually Meadows would servethree tours with the 5th SFG in Vietnam. Hewas, for example, a member of Simon’sWhite Star team. As one of Simon’s patrolleaders, he led native Meo warriors againstthe Pathet Lao. His skills as a jungle fighterand patrol leader so impressed the leader-ship in Saigon that he was given a fieldcommission to captain personally byGeneral William Westmoreland, the firstsuch commission of the war for an enlistedman.

But it was the Son Tay raid that tookhim into the history books. It was Meadows

who conceived the idea of intentionallycrashing a helicopter loaded with SFraiders into the prison compound court-yard (he’d correctly judged that that wasthe quickest way to insert them), and hepersonally led the team. During the mis-sion, when it became obvious that the campwas empty, he got his team back to themain raiding force helicopters. Every mancame home safely.

In the years following Vietnam, DickMeadows spent his remaining time in theArmy as an instructor.

In theory, he retired in 1977 after 30years of service. In actuality, even thoughhis official connection with the U.S. Armyended, he just kept on being a soldier.

Thus in the late 1970s, ColonelChargin’ Charlie Beckwith hired him as atraining for the Delta Force. Shortly afterthat, in 1980, the CIA realized there wereno on-the-ground personnel to supportthe Iranian hostage rescue mission.Meadows was therefore tapped to go toTehran to do the job.

Given cover as an Irish businessman,he personally reconnoitered the Embassycomplex, recruited and trained supportoperatives, bought and prepared trucksand other transportation assets, andmade ready for Beckwith’s and the DeltaForce’s arrival.

And then when the rescue mission atDesert One was aborted (and in chaos), hewas left hanging. The CIA had somehowneglected to let him know that the rescueforce had been recalled (he read about it in

the Iranian press), and had left him inTehran on his own.

Not to worry. He conducted his ownescape and evasion, and made it safelyhome yet again.

During the 1980s, Meadows continuedto train counterterrorist professionalsthroughout the world, and would still be atit but for the single battle he lost. In 1995,he was struck down by leukemia, whichwas discovered less than two monthsbefore he died.

Dick Meadows died amid a flood ofcitations, accolades, decorations, andmedals. Whatever decoration it was possi-ble to get, he got ... except the Medal ofHonor. (Though as one close friendremarked, “If the record of his classifiedmissions is ever made public, he’ll get thatone, too!”)


Reprinted with permission Berkley

Today three reminders of DickMeadows enduringly remain in the SpecialForces: his son Mark, now an Army Rangerofficer, a bronze statue in the courtyard ofUSASOC headquarters; and finally a specialSOCOM award, in his name, given each yearto an outstanding young processional offi-cer in the command.

For all this, I proudly nominate DickMeadows as the Special Forces eternal war-rior. Meadows represents everything that isgood, smart, and professional about thisunique breed of men. I somehow feel thatmost SF professionals will drink to thiswithout too much dissent.✪

Tom Clancy's Special Forces earned

him the title of #1 Bestselling Author by the

New York Times. His many novels include

The Hunt for Red October, Red Storm Risingand Patriot Games to name a few.

M eadows joined the Army in 1947 at 15 years of age. He

served in Korea where he was promoted to master sergeant

at age 20. He volunteered for Special Forces in 1953, served

several tours in Southeast Asia and received a direct commission to the

rank of captain in 1967.

He retired from the Army in 1977, but stayed active in US

operations. As a civilian, he secretly entered Tehran, Iran, in 1980 to

assist the aborted Desert One rescue mission of US embassy personnel

held hostage by the Iranians.

“Dick Meadows exploits spanned more than three decades and

included the best known and most well-defined missions of US Special

Operations,” says Gen. Henry H. Shelton, commanding general, US

Special Operations Command. “His biography reads like a movie script,

except I would describe it as

a documentary, because the

words and deeds are true.

“These words describe

Dick Meadows—patriot,

hero, leader, a man of

absolute honor and integrity,

a man who again and again

risked his own life to save

his comrades in combat,”

Perot says. “In war he was a

man of absolutely cold,

rolled steel, but in his

personal life, he was a loving

committed husband and an

adoring father.”

“Much of Meadows’ reputa-

tion came from his ability to

capture prisoners. He held

SOG’s record—thirteen POWs

snatched from behind enemy

lines. Despite his great empha-

sis on planning, Meadows could

act with boldness when needed.

He once had RT Iowa hidden

beside a trail when five NVA

strolled up and stopped right

there for lunch. Meadows

emerged and announced, “You

are now POWs.” Three of the

NVA started for their Aks, and

Meadows shot all three dead,

instantly. The other two proved

compliant.”

Major John Plaster,

USA (Ret.)

Meadows’ statue is due to the effort of Texas businessman H. Ross Perot, a long-time supporter of Special Operations.Perot paid for the $160,000 monument.



“Strike out!” declared CaptainBen Mangels, as he shovedhis K-bar knife pommel for-ward against a kickingshield. “The pommel strike

is an important part of the knife fight!” It was 1989 in McKinney, Texas. Today

McKinney now thrives as a suburb of Dallas,but back then it felt more like a sleepy, smallcountry town. McKinney and Collin CountyPD officers had stumbled upon this goldmine of info living just down the interstatefrom where they worked, one Ben Mangelsa quiet photographer, who taught a littlemartial arts to a small, select group.

And a gold mine he was! RetiredCombat Veteran from the South AfricanMilitary, Capt. Mangels taught close quarterbattle for more than 40 years. Adornedwith black belts in six different systems, hepioneered many African commando-train-ing courses before he retired to Dallas,Texas. Mention the Captain’s name to com-mando insiders and they’ll tell you heranked as one of the few caretakers ofEnglish and African continent CQB—a vir-tual eastern hemisphere Rex Applegate.Mangels had seen much combat in thathotbed nation from wars and the quasi-mil-itary/police duties of his job.

I happened upon this multi-day knifecombat seminar flier when one of my policefriends, a highly skilled SWAT officer andkarate buddy said, “Boy, ya’ll gotta go tothis.” His endorsement was all I needed. Wecovered many aspects of knife combat, allquite unique to typical martial arts knifework, even the blade-heavy Filipino systems.

At first, all this pommel striking con-fused me. I held a good sharp knife in myhand. That very hand had a whole lot ofFilipino knife material coursing through itsveins. I also appreciated the reverse grip asmuch as the next guy, but spending time onpommel striking seemed a bit unusual atfirst. Later, it opened up many new avenuesin reality and increased my understanding

of lethal and less-than-lethal combat thatmartial arts never touched. I began moreresearch and study into pommelry, all ofwhich I offer for you to study here.

First off, striking with the pommel of astick, sword or dagger is far from a newidea. You find examples throughout history.You find many pommels of the world’sedged weaponry are designed to inflictinjury from a variety of sharpened or round-ed edges. Some knives sport designs specif-ically to fight only with a reverse or ice pickgrip, and the customized pommel come aspart of the attack package.

How the knife strikesEach anatomical part of the knife has

a use.Use the:• blade edge to slash• blade tip to stab• flat side of the blade to slap and push• guard/hilt to rip• pommel to punch

How it strikes in your handThis works two ways either with a

reverse grip-blade sticking out of the bot-tom of the hand, or a sabergrip-blade sticking out ofthe top of the hand. Howyou attack will depend onopportune targets.

Straight Thrusts –pommel punched directly intoward its target

Hooking Thrusts –pommel hooks in like ahook punch at its target

How you apply itThe pommel strike, in

and of itself, is a less-than-lethal application used forthat purpose, or as a transi-tion to lethal applications.

For example:

When you take prisoners

In all out combat with enemy soldersand criminals, sometimes we take themprisoner, and sometimes we kill them. Thepommel can strike areas of the body thatincapacitate. In this regard, it constitutes afantastic tool for the law enforcement agentor soldier down to the knife, or selectingthe knife as mission-needed. Every edgedweapon action you take, as with all action,is based upon the circumstances of themoment and your legal, moral and ethicalstandards to apply the right use of force.

Quick draw pommel applications

Fixed Blade–When you must quicklydraw your fixed blade knife, you may fre-quently access it in a reverse grip and attimes you may not have a split second tobring the blade into the fight. The pommelmay stun first, then you work the blade in.

Tactical Folder–When you must quick-ly draw your tactical folder, you may find itdifficult to open the blade under attack. Thetop or bottom side pommels may be used tostrike first or as needed.

The Pommel Strike!The Science of Knife PommelryBy W. Hock Hochheim

In the heat of combat, you may be unable to open your tactical folder until you’vebeen under attack for several seconds.

Use pommel strikes to avoid stabbing

yourself!

We have a series of training drills that fitunder a scenario category I call Bear Traps—when the opponent seizes you and then attacks,whether he is armed or unarmed. One foolishmove commonly taught against the choke is tostab at the arm wrapped around you. In thestumbling, jerky chaos of combat, one slightmovement, and you may miss his arm andplunge your own knife into your own neck orbody! People who teach this move just don’tthink the process through, or have never reallybeen roughed up or choked for real. Pommelstrikes to that arm or hand instead are just onealternative. I suggest multiple stabs to theenemy’s thigh on the same body side of hischoking arm. Hopefully that will cause theattacker to release his choke and try to captureyour arm to stop the jackhammer stabbing.Prepare to switch hands at the moment of cap-ture and fight on from there. A common senserule of CQC is to virtually never direct yourblade’s energy back in the direction of your ownbody! Certainly not your throat! This providesthe subject matter for another article entirely.

Other applications

When you have a closed tactical folder,as most everyone carries in some fashionthese days, you have two pommels. In suddenconflict you may not have the opportunity orthe time to open your folder and may need toimprovise by using it like a martial arts palm-stick. Or you may choose to fight with itclosed to render a non-lethal outcome.

Here Tom Barnhart shows the steps of the quick draw stunand then a follow-up slash with a training partner.

The knife with two pommels! The closed tactical folder.

A closed folder strike to the eye and cheek area may causemore stunning diminishment than one can imagine.

A forceful closed folder strike to the neck in mid-fight mayalso aid your cause.

In the middle or close quarter fighting you may find a quickstrike with your pommel, be it a fixed blade or openedtactical folder, as in this photo with a pommel strike to thegroin. The fight continues.

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Pommelry command and masteryTo better prepare the practitioner for

muscle memory command and mastery ofthe pommel strike, I developed the follow-ing 10 angle strike drill I use in myKnife/Counter-Knife Combatives Course.You may exercise three ways in threemandatory platforms.

Strike Series 1) from saber grip

Strike Series 2) from reverse grip

Strike Series 3) Closed tactical folder strik-ing with the topside pommel (a sabergrip application)

Strike Series 4) Closed tactical folder strik-ing with the bottom-side pommel (areverse grip application)Remember the targets are not alwaysthe same. They only provide quick ref-erence points for training. As you exe-cute the movements, you open yourbody’s muscle memory to the variety ofpractical applications from differentheights.

Mandatory Platform 1) from standing (seriesright-hand, series left-handed)

Mandatory Platform 2) from kneeling (seriesright-handed, series left-handed)

Mandatory Platform 3) from ground (bothhands, on back and on sides)

The 10 angle pommel assault drillAs expressed here, stand and kneel

with a right handed, reverse grip, against acooperative model for demonstration pur-poses only.

Angle 1: high right hook

Angle 2: high left hook

Angle 3: medium height right hook

Angle 4: medium height left hook

Angle 5: low right hook

Angle 6: low left hook

Angle 7: groin strike

Angle 8: downward strike

Angle 9: high thrust targeting face toabout solar plexus

Angle 10: lower thrust, targeting thesolar plexus on down to lowerstomach

Angle 1

Angle 2

Angle 3

Angle 4

Angle 5

Angle 6

Angle 7

Angle 8


Angle 10

Angle 9

Where in the World is Captain Mangels?Years ago, I attended many of the Captain’s sem-

inars on a variety of subjects and tried a hand atsmall and private lessons. While the group classeswere very modern and combative, his small sessionswere very karate-like and rank testing included clas-sical movements and katas, all things I had beendoing at that point for many years and was trying tocleave myself away from. And where is the Captainnow? We heard the Texas summer heat got to him inthe early-to-mid 1990’s, and he quietly moved. We tracked him up to the north-west somewhere, maybe Washington State, again living quietly. We hope he isalive and well, and inspiring others as he did me. It is therefore my mission toinspire you.✪



Children Killed in TokyoA man wielding a six-inch knife forced

his way into an elementary school in west-ern Japan and used the knife to stab at least26 children and teachers, killing four stu-dents, say fire department officials. Twochildren died immediately and two moredied at hospitals soon after, says TetsuoHigashimoto, a fire department spokesman.The stabbings occurred at recess early in theday at an elementary school in Osaka, Japan.

Police arrested the attacker, MamoruTakuma, a 37-year-old man at the scene andlater took him to the hospital for treatmentfor injuries he sustained during the attack.

The school’s principal, Hisao Yoshiuchisays details of the attack remain uncertain.He feels there may have been more than oneattacker, but so far no proof has surfaced.Nearly 700 children attend the school.

This incident is not the first of its kindin recent history. In December of 1999, a 7-year-old boy was fatally stabbed as he playin a schoolyard also in western Japan. InAugust 2000, a teenager was arrested forstabbing to death three members of aneighbor’s family.

DeathsOfficers are often the first to respond

to scenes of death. In 1999, (it always takestoo long to amass these stats) on the aver-age 17 workers died every day on their jobsaccording the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Highway crashes killed one-quarter of the6,023 workers. Falls kill 171. Getting mur-dered while working ranked third, with 645deaths. 260 of these murders were cashiersand 41 were police officers.

No Rallying PointThe militia movement, long under

scrutiny by task forces in the FBI, DEA andCIA in the United States seems to be declin-ing according to watchdog groups and lawenforcement units. Butch Razey a farmerwho commands the 419th Yakima CountyMilitia, blames the slump on a lack of“Y2K’s or anything like that.” With BillClinton and Janet Reno gone, the move-ment lost two of its favorite enemies. Manyhave been sent home with orders to pre-pared.

Smack Down High SchoolersKids who watch wrestling on TV are

more likely to engage in risky and violentbehavior, like using drugs, fighting andeven packing a gun. A study of high schoolkids show that while fewer teen girls thanboys watch it, those who do are twice aslikely as a male to hit and otherwise pick afight with their dates.

DrinkingClose to half of all fatal traffic crashes

involve alcohol, and three in five Americanswill be involved in an alcohol-related crashat some point in their lives.

CDC ReportsA black male is more than 18 times

more likely to be murdered than is a whitemale. Between the ages of 15 and 30, vio-lence is the single leading cause of deathfor black men.

Shoot a Rope/Cut a RopeSgt. Ellis Willis, 22 year vet of the

Dayton, Ohio Police Department asks hissnipers “what will sever a rope faster, abullet or a knife?” Most, Ellis reports, willbet on the bullet. Then he hangs about 300pounds of gym weights on a piece of rappelrope at his range. He marks a spot on therope and tells his men to fire away. Hemakes it interesting by betting that theycannot sever the rope in 10 or fewer shots,and he lets them get fairly close! He thengets a comfortable chair, a pad and pen andstarts counting, hoping that they don’tshoot up the monthly ammo ration! It’s notthat they miss! It may take dozens of hitsbefore .223 or .308 rounds will cut the rope.(Of course, a 12- gauge slug will cut it withone round.) Finally, after shooting therope, he rigs another and opens up a pock-etknife. He presses, not even saws theknife against the rope. A loaded down half-inch rappel cuts on slight impact. Ellis tellseveryone, “Never, ever allow horseplayaround a rope with a sharp object. Alwayspad any sharp-edged surface that may con-tact your rope.” Words to the wise as youare rappelling down the side of a building,or a sniper thinking you can shoot the ropeof a criminal or enemy rappelling.

Police Blotter The Squad Room,a place forbriefings, training,coffee, war stories,station-housegossip, and ass-chewings…

Gone in 60 SecondsHere are the top cities for stolen cars in order: Phoenix, AZ;

Miami, FL; Detroit, MI; Jersey City, NJ; Tacoma, WA; Las Vegas, NV;Fresno, CA; Seattle metro, WA; Jackson, MS; Flint, MI. Of the 1.1million cars stolen every year, more than 30 percent are neverrecovered. Newer models are likely shipped abroad in an estimated200,000 a year. Auto theft is the nations top property crime, with acar stolen every 25 seconds.

Gone in Over 0.08Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia now have a

0.08 BAC-blood alcohol standard. The others have a 0.10 standard.0.08 is equivalent of a 170 lb. man downing four drinks in an houron an empty stomach.

Quotes“But I never fell out of love. Every time I see a movie in which

people are doing coke, I want it. I can still taste it in the back of mythroat and I still love the taste. You don’t get over drugs; you don’tever fall out of love. You just—somehow—tell yourself every morn-ing that you can go through the day, that night, without the onelover who took away your fear.”

Patti Davis,

daughter of President Reagan

“Among our darker qualities, murder has now been document-ed in innumerable animal species, genocide in wolves and chimps,rape in ducks and orangutans, and organized warfare and slave raidin ants.”

Jared Diamond ✪

SPECIAL SQUAD ROOM TRAININGShotgun Retention The criminal grabs your long gun. You grab tight, step back and pull to

resist his takeaway and possibly jerk him off balance.

Finish this threat as appropriate.You lift the “outside” end of your weapon high and then row violentlyforward, breaking the grip. Hammer this down. Sometimes your forearmhelps by hammering down on his forearm.

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I n the world of police tactics, the onlyabsolute is that there are no absolutes.The myriad of situations faced by law

enforcement officers dictates the need formany different tools to accomplish theirjob. Any sort of one-size-fits-all tactical doc-trine is both ineffective and dangerous.

In the early ’90s, the popularity of mixedmartial arts events showcased the effective-ness of submission grappling techniques.These techniques were not well known out-side certain circles, and they created a minorsensation in the martial arts world. Withinthe context of sport fighting, the grapplingarts took on a significant mystique.

In the law enforcement community, thisgrappling boom led to a number of policeground fighting courses. Many of these train-ing courses were comprised only of grap-pling maneuvers and the only thing police-oriented about them was their marketingapproach. The good news was that groundfighting began to find its way into curricu-lums where it had previously been absent.The bad news was that some trainers boughtinto the premise that grappling would pro-vide the answer for every tactical problem.

These tactical debates are not new inthe world of law enforcement training. JudoCoach and Combatives Expert Mark Trippof Detroit, Michigan provides some histori-cal context to these arguments.

“In 1886 the Tokyo Police Academyquestioned which martial art should theyshould teach their officers,” says Tripp.“This led to a famous contest betweenKodokan Judo and every other ju-jutsu styleof Japan. There were 15 contestants in all,but Judo won that day. It won because itused modern, up-to-date training methodsthat were not clouded by tradition. The ju-jutsu schools still used kata and one-stepsto train people while judo added the con-

cepts of randori and shiai. This allowedtechniques to be practiced and masteredagainst live, resisting opponents. However,to ignore today’s modern training methodsand to be clouded by the traditions of Judowould be just as foolish as the ju-jutsu peo-ple of 1886.”

Tripp also points out that BrazilianJu-jitsu is actually a form of Kodokan Judo.“The people who originally brought the artto Brazil were all judo masters,” Tripp says.

I recently discussed the role of grap-pling and ground fighting with ChristopherSmaby, a use of force instructor for the LinnCounty Sheriff’s Office. Smaby is a 6th Danin the Japanese Karate Association withadditional training in Japanese grapplingarts and pressure point techniques. He hadthis to say on the subject.

“Law enforcement skills in ground fight-ing have not been actively addressed untilthe past few years,” says Smaby. “Now theimportance of controlling a subject on theground is part of every complete defensivetactics and close quarter combat course.”

Smaby also addressed the role of grap-pling with an assailant. “The weaknesses ofthe human body do not change just becauseyou are on the ground. In the heat of con-flict, many officers forget they can stillstrike and cause body shock while on theground and attack vital targets that willenable them to subdue an aggressive sub-ject. A complete defensive tactics systemwill utilize all striking actions in order togain control of a combative subject.”

On the subject of being on the groundas a matter of preference, Smaby says, “offi-cers on the ground should try to get back ontheir feet to a position of advantage as soonas possible. But when on the ground andfighting for your life, anything goes that willgive you the advantage. Knees, elbows,

head strikes, biting, anything to save yourlife. You do what you have to do to survive.”

Hit the Deck Break Falls: Traditional martial arts

fall techniques may prove dangerous if per-formed under street conditions. Absorbingimpact with your back and slapping thepavement may cause injuries.

Tuck and Roll: With your chin downand your shoulders rounded, try to spread

Police GroundfightingBy Mike Gillette

the impact across your body. Think abouthow a paratrooper lands when he hits theground. Avoid placing large equipmentitems on the back area of your belt toreduce injuries when falling. You mayexpect to take some blows as soon as youhit the deck. With this in mind, keep yourhands up to protect your head.

Groundfighting PositionsSide Position: By adopting this posi-

tion you essentially sacrifice one arm andone leg to strike with. The advantage of theside position is that it protects the firearmby blocking it with your body. The disad-vantage is that it also restricts your ownaccess to the firearm.

Back Position: Resting on your backallows you to use both arms and both legsfor defensive purposes. It also allowsaccess to firearm and radio. To draw yourweapon from this position, you will have torock toward your offside. The majority ofsecurity holsters require a rearward draw,and rocking to the side will create enoughspace to clear the holster. Returning to theBack Position provides a fairly stable plat-form with the arm resting upon the torso.

Modifying a BJJ TechniqueMany grappling techniques may be

modified for serious street use. In thisexample, the Knee on Stomach ControlPosition is updated for use in a handcuffingscenario. The felony suspect is prone onthe ground and receives commands fromthe cover officer. The contact officermoves in at an angle and assumes a Kneeon Back Control Position. From this bal-anced position, the officer starts to securethe suspect. After the first cuff is affixed,the officer reverses his position by throw-ing out his opposite leg and coming to reston his other knee. He then completes hishandcuffing sequence.

❝ Law enforcement

skills in ground fighting

have not been actively

addressed until

the past few years.❞

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Clinch Engagement to a TakedownThis example depicts a grappling sce-

nario that started from a standing position.I initiate the takedown by throwing a kneestrike to stun and off-balance the assailant.I control the assailant’s head by first pullingit towards my chest and then pushingstraight down. To reduce injuries, I controlthe head all the way down. Finish by stabi-lizing the suspect on the ground.

EmergenciesIn this traffic stop scenario, the offend-

er knocks the officer to the ground andkicks him several times. Using his patrolvehicle as temporary cover, the officer rollsunderneath so he may access his radio andcall for backup.✪

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Police ReportI the undersigned Richard Wells

before answering any questions ormaking any statements, DetectiveHochheim and Detective Wawro aperson who identified himself as a PoliceDetective duly warned and advised me,and I know and understand that I havethe following rights: That I have the rightto remain silent, and I do not have toanswer any questions or make anystatements at all; that any statement Imake can and will be used against me ina trial or trials in a court of courts of lawfor the offense or offenses concerningwhich the following statement ishereinafter made: That I have the right toconsult with a lawyer of my own choicebefore or at any time during any quest-ioning or statements I make; that if Icannot afford to hire a lawyer, I mayrequest and have a lawyer appointed forme by the proper authority before or atanytime during any questioning orstatements that I make, without cost orexpense to me; that I can stop answeringany questions or make any statements atanytime that I choose, and call for thepresence of a lawyer to advise me beforecontinuing any more questioning ormaking any more statements, whether ornot I have already answered somequestions or made some statements.

I do not want to talk to a lawyer, andI hereby knowingly and purposely waivemy right to remain silent, and my right tohave a lawyer present while I make thefollowing statement to the aforesaidperson, knowing that I have the right andprivilege to terminate any interview atanytime hereafter and have a lawyerpresent with me before answering anymore questions or making any morestatements, if I choose to do so.

I declare that the following voluntarystatement is made of my own free willwithout promise of hope or reward,without fear or threat of physical harm,without coercion or being forced to do so,without favor or offer of favor, withoutleniency or offer of leniency, by anyperson or persons whomsoever.

Wells: I am under arrest for the murder ofBob Rush and I wish to co-operate with thepolice and tell what exactly happened. I didnot shot Bob Rush. Jesse Shepard did.

It all started the night before the mur-der. Shepard drove up to me on LakeyStreet and asked me if I knew where Rushlived. Shepard was mad, and he wanted tofind Tiger and get some kind of revengeover Sam Dillion’s house having been shotup by Tiger and his gang. I got in Shepard’scar. It was a blue Honda. In the car was me,Shepard, Digger, Stringer, Slick andJohnson. Digger told Shepard that the Tigergang had shot at her too, just the other nightat the Phoenix (a local hotel).

Then there was this Whataburgershooting thing. These people have beenshooting at each other for some time. Atone point after we dropped Digger off at the

Phoenix, we saw Rush drive by in his whiteCougar. Slick said, “that’s him, he’s withTiger and them.” Shepard tried to followRush, but by the time Shepard turnedaround, Rush was already gone. He nextdrove to Digger’s house and got into a whiterental car, a Tempo. In the white car and theblue car we took a ride to Gainesville, alongwith Shepard’s girlfriend, Gay.

After we dropped Gay off, Shepardcame out of the apartment with two suit-cases. Up under his arm was a shotgun.Then Slick and me drove back to Denton inthe blue car. Shepard, Stringer and Johnsondrove back in the white Tempo rental car.We met up on Moore Street at Digger’shouse. Shepard went inside and changed.He came out in a black ninja suit. I remem-bered Digger talking about a Sandy whohad driven a car in the Dillon house drive-by shooting. Then Shepard came out andsaid that everything was going to be takencare of.

We got in the blue car, just Shepard andme, looking for these guys. We were lookingfor Sandy to find out where Tiger lived to“get in to it.” To fight. Because Shepard’snephew’s baby could have been killed in theDillon street drive by shooting. Shepard hada .380 pistol, chrome with brown pistolgrips. The suitcase was in the back seat. Wefinally gave up on trying to find Sandy; wedrove back to Digger’s house.

I knew where Rush lived, so we decid-ed to go over there and talk him into tellingus where Tiger lived. Shepard wore a blackninja outfit with the split between the toes.He wore gloves. He also had one of thosewrap-around black masks like a ninja.Shepard said, “If you shoot any of these bul-lets, don’t leave fingerprints.” And hepassed out gloves, showing us how to useand load the guns without leaving prints.

In my career as a detective I worked felonies that actually involved ninja-influenced sus-pects. What follows constitutes a statement I collected from an accomplice to a murder.Later Detectives Wawro and Parkey and myself ran the ninja hit man down, and I cor-

nered him in a house and arrested him. Here now is an anatomy of a murder.

True Cop StoriesAn Anatomy of a MurderBy W. Hock Hochheim



Shepard passed a .380 to me, black with apink handle. He passed Slick a chrome .380,the one with the brown handles. He passedStringer another .380. Johnson did not get agun. Shepard kept for himself a .357revolver, black. He gave us some hospitalmasks to wear. I didn’t wear mine. LaterSlick did wear his.

In two cars, the Tempo and the Honda,we all drove out to the Country View MobileHome Park. Johnson was in the Tempo withShepard. Me, Stringer and Slick went in theHonda. Slick drove that. We parked at A-1Print. I got in the Tempo with Shepard, andwe drove through the park looking for whichmobile home Bob Rush lived in. We saw hiscar. I showed Shepard where it was. After thatwe drove back to the A-1 Print Shop. Shepardwanted to “soft probe” the house next.

Shepard, Stringer and Johnson walkedback and looked around the house. Whenthey came back, they said they looked theplace over. Slick said that Stringer was tooold to go back because he was too old torun if Rush decided to run off when we gothim. Then I replaced him. Me, Shepard andSlick walked back to the mobile home.Stringer and Johnson stayed by the cars.Shepard instructed them to leave one of thehoods up to make it look like a breakdown.

We walked up to the trailer. Slick wasgiving me hand signals about the progressof Shepard, that he was making it throughand into the trailer. Next, five maybe sixminutes later, I saw that Shepard came outwith Rush. Shepard was on the right handside of Rush. Shepard’s left hand wasaround Rush’s neck and Shepard had hishandgun in Rush’s side. Rush was squirm-ing. Since I was near Rush’s car, Shepardand Rush approached me, and we now withSlick started walking Shepard toward thefield. Rush mentioned something aboutwhere Tiger lives. Rush said he would takeus to where he lived. There was a shortcutto get to our cars through a fence. It was abarbwire fence. Slick and Shepard crossedthe fence first, then me. Then Shepardwanted Rush to cross it.

That’s when Rush broke and ran. I sawShepard point and fire at Rush. I heardRush cry, “Oh shit.” He fell on the first shot.Slick and I ran off. But I turned back to seeShepard pointing his gun in the direction ofthe ground and shooting the gun. Then aswe ran, Shepard caught up with us. We gotback in the cars and drove back to Slick’shouse on Moore.

At the house we all talked about them.Trish Ryan woke up from another room and

she walked in. We wouldn’t let her know thedetails. At one point Shepard cleaned upthe .357 revolver outside under the carport.He put the empty casings into a rubber hos-pital glove. Shepard told us not to say any-thing about this to no one. I went homeabout 30 minutes later.

The next day, Shepard came by myapartment. He said he was leaving forDallas. He said he and this Trish Ryan gotinto a talk about this and all he told Trishwas that he had gottin’ into it with someone.

Detective Hochheim: Did you think atanytime that Shepard was going to kill BobRush over this Tiger shooting at the Dillonhouse?

Wells: I did not think we were going toshoot or kill Bob Rush. The purpose was toget Rush to tell where Tiger lived.

I have completed the 11th grade, canread and write and understand this state-ment to be true and I have said this toHochheim and Wawro, and Hochheim hastyped them down, line by line. I understandmy rights. They have been explained tome.✪


Who Has the BombThe United States has 7,200 deployed (posi-

tioned and ready) warheads. Europe Britain andFrance together have more than 600 warheads.Russia has 6,400 deployed warheads.

China has about 300 warheads tucked into themountains of Central China, about 20 missiles capa-ble of reaching the US. Israel is rumored to have acouple of hundred nuclear weapons. India isbelieved to have 50 warheads. Pakistan is believedto have 25 warheads. North Korea, Iraq and Iran arebelieved to be on the brink of nuclear power.

Red Cross Butchered in CongoApril 2001, attackers with guns and machetes

shot and slashed to death six Red Cross workers ona remote road in eastern Congo, reported to be theworst attack on the Red Cross in five years. Theworkers from Switzerland and Colombia, wereunarmed and untrained.

New On the New and Old FrontsExisting mine detectors are little more than

metal detectors. But modern antipersonnel minesnow contain only a fraction of metal. A new systemacquired and tested by the US Army combines ametal detector with ground penetrating radar.Inside, a computer evaluates the messages anddecides if the buried object is a mine. CyTerra Corpof Waltham, MA designed the unit.

Oil FuturesAbout four-fifths of the world’s petroleum

reserves lie in politically unstable or contestedareas.

Taliban Watch: The Badge of theMinorities

Afghanistan’s ruling religious fanatic groupTaliban declared late last May that all non-Talibanreligions must wear some distinct clothing or abadge. The last time we saw this was in NaziGermany.

China Outlines Future WarsIn the new Chinese book Unrestricted

Warfare, written by two People’s Liberation ArmyColonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, the authorsdeclare the Gulf War was supposed to be the last hur-rah for the old style American warrior. The age of tech-nological integration and globalization has realignedthe relationship of weapons to war. Does a single com-puter hacker attack count as a hostile act? Can usingfinancial instruments to destroy a country’s economyequate battle? Did CNN’s broadcast of an exposedcorpse of a US soldier in the streets of Mogadishushake the determination of the Americans to act as theworld’s policeman, thereby altering the world’s strate-gic situation? Warfare that transcends all boundariesand limits, in short, is unrestricted warfare.

More KidnappingsMuslim Philippine rebels kidnapped three

Americans and others at a classy tourist resort, pre-sumably for political advantage and ransom. Rebelsclaim to have killed one tourist.

Late Night Eye on Colombia and Cocaine

Late Night’s David Letterman drew politicallyincorrect heat when he quipped that Ms. Colombiawas disqualified from a recent beauty pageantbecause she could not swallow 50 balloons ofcocaine in the talent contest. Many groups protest-ed and complained about the bad image Lettermanportrayed of Colombia. The contestant came on theshow afterward to help re-establish the politicallycorrect message and image of her country.

Letterman apologized, but all is far from wellin this South American nation, a land where druggangs have turned a generation of unemployedurban youths into a sicarios-or hired killers. Butthe rural areas are even more dangerous. The RedCross has given aid to 130,000 displaced peoplewho fled to the cities to escape the rural violence.Huge groups have been kidnapped, such as the 180

farmers held last May, to do the bidding of cocaineproducers needing manpower.

The annual statistics of death are shrouded inconfusion. According to their defense ministry,there were 1,777 deaths in combat last year, buthuman rights group like the CJJ Commission ofJurists say that 6,067 people were killed as a resultof socio-political violence in the year 2000.

In the past decade, the civil war in Colombiahas claimed more than 35,000 lives often in brutalmassacres. The war involves four parties.

Party 1) The Colombian GovernmentParty 2) FARC - the revolutionary armed forcesParty 3) ELN - a Cuban inspired military

movementParty 4) Paramilitary right-wingers

Perhaps Ms. Colombia needs to appear onFox’s O’ Reilly Factor instead of David Lettermanand let Bill ask the tough questions.

CasualtiesWell over 100 million people died in wars dur-

ing the 20th Century (the vast majority were non-combatants). Relatively few were victims of bomb-ing attacks. According to one estimate, 62 millionperished from 1900 to 1970 as a result of genocideor war-induced starvation; 24 millions were killedby small arms; 17 million by artillery and naval gun-fire, and 2 million to air attacks.

Propaganda PresidentRussian President Vladimir Putin wields con-

trol over almost everything his countrymen read,hear and watch after a state-affiliated companytook over the independent TV news outlet ownedby a prominent critic of the government.

World Watch

Here Putin [right] wrestles successfully with his judo opponent.


ScuttlebuttNew Sheen on the Marine

Female Marines will no longer beallowed to wear colored fingernail polishwhile in their utility uniforms. In other uni-forms, the polish must complement the outfit.

★ ★ ★A recent survey conducted by Army

Times reported that 72 percent of those inter-viewed would leave the Army for the Air Forceif the AF promised them a bigger bonus.

★ ★ ★ The martial art colored T-shirt award

system that was reported in CQCMag

Issue 6 has already been replaced. Now,martial arts trained Marines will be award-ed colored belts that are modeled after theexisting rigger’s belt. The Marine CorpUniform Board dictated that awardedstripes for trainers and instructor trainersmust bee worn at the ends of the belt thatextend to the left of the buckle.

★ ★ ★ Marines were never allowed to wear

earrings, but the policy became official in1990. However, it only covers ears, nottongues. Now effective, Marines are not toattach, affix, or display graphics or hardwareon their skin, tongue or any other body part.

Long Range Female Killer19-year-old Jennifer Donaldson, a

senior airman with the Illinois NationalGuard is the first woman to graduate fromU.S. Sniper School. More than 50 percent ofthe countries that we have identified as hos-tile have used or are using women snipers.

Come Fly with MeThe Hessian fly hitched a ride on

German mercenaries fighting with theBritish during the Revolutionary Warand, as a result, became ournation’s worst wheat pest.

New Rifles for US NavySEALS

The Mk 11 Model, a 7.62mm semiautomatic sniper rifleform Knight’s Armament Co. ofVero Beach, FL will be issued toNavy SEALS as a primary weapon.

A Better TrapAny hot weather vet knows how miser-

able bugs can make your life. Battling bugsis different than any other kind of warfare.

Thomas Fernandez, owner of PestBustersin Singapore has a better mousetrap, orrather…mosquito trap. Mosquitoes detecttheir victims two ways, from the warmth ofthe victim’s body, or from the expelled car-bon dioxide in breath. Fernandez’s Mega-Catch is a 38 cm black plastic box that radi-ates both carbon dioxide and heat. Sinceonly females suck blood, the female is luredinto the box by these emissions and also bya pattern of light (many bugs, even mosqui-toes are attracted by lights only). Onceinside, the machine sucks her down into apool of water where she drowns. Thoughtheir larvae can swim, the adults loose thattalent when they learn to fly. Tests showthat the device may catch and kill as manyas 1,200 mosquitoes per night.

360°Submariners tell CQCMag that a bet-

ter sub periscope has been in the works foralmost five years. However, in light of the

recent ramming of the Japanesefishing boat, officials have

placed a new omni-direc-tional on rush, offering aviewer with a 360-degreeview as well as analyticalsoftware. They hope tohave all 73 of the subs

using this equipment. “Thesingle picture is spread out

and somewhat distorted, butyou can make out shapes and

images,” says one Naval insider.

“Get the inside scuttle on the military,from the decks of ships, the posts and

bases from around the world.”

continued on 28

Ask MajorCorrigan!

Q: I have read that not a single

Gurkha landed on the beach during

the Falkland’s War in the 1980’s. Just

the idea that they were coming was a

cause in the surrender of the

Argentineans.

Major Corrigan: Your infor-mant is incorrect. Five InfantryBrigade was the second brigade(after 3 Commando Brigade) to go tothe Falklands, consisting of 2nd BnScots Guards, 1st Bn Welsh Guardsand 7th Gurkha Rifles. They sailedfrom Southampton on RMS QueenElizabeth II (The QE) on 12 May 1982and 7th Gurkhas were landed atSouth Georgia and transshipped ontoa flat-bottomed ferry, which landedthem at Port San Carlos on 1 June.

The battalion moved that day byhelicopter to Darwin and took over from2nd Bn Parachute Regiment. Duringtheir second night there, one patrolkilled an unknown number of Argentinesoldiers (unknown because the bodieswere not brought back in the dark, butprobably 12 or so) and captured 10 whohad a large number of SAM7 anti-aircraft

continued on 39


I heard from an old salt the other day that anemu was shot down under by a Marine. Ithought at first it was another name for a

sheik, emir, iyak, shesskabob…some kind ofturban head what got nailed in the balls. Butno...it’s an ostrich, and it got nailed inAustralia. I don’t know the differencebetween an emu and ostrich. Don’t tell me. Idon’t wanna know. Don’t care.

But the teletype communiqué ran some-thing like this…

“Military officials are investigating thedeath of an emu killed during a May 8 live firetraining exercise in Australia. The death of thelarge ostrich-like bird forced the suspension ofExercise Tandem Thrust, a joint operationheld every four years in Australia with 27,000troops from both countries participating.Americans and Australian officers are taskedwith the investigation. All marines in the areawill undergo a refresher course on how to pro-tect plants and animals during training. TheMarine Corps promises swift action againstthese offenders.”

As I read this, I thought to myself, maybethat emu needed killing! And I’ll tell yawhy…I’ll tell you the frighteningly true storyof Tina the Cannibal Big Bird.

I had a First Sergeant we called Lefty whoretired from the Army back in the ’80s and sataround for a year or so afterward doingabsolutely nothing. He has since died ofcancer, but back then he got bored and sodecided he would use some perfectly goodfarm property he owned in upstate New Yorkto raise the latest cash critter…the emu. Their

eyeballs, you see, can be transplanted forhuman eyes. The meat is fat free and tastesbetter than chicken. Their glorious feathersadorn fashionable clothing. Their necks, oncehollowed out, can be used for fire hoses. Theirlegs and feet, once petrified, make excellentback scratchers. In short, every part of thiscritter can be cashed in for moola. Gettis.Even emu poop makes good fertilizer.

All Lefty thought he needed was amomma and pappa emu. Once he had the twolovebirds settled in beautiful upstate NewYork they would fuck and create platoons ofpotential organs, steaks, hoses and backscratchers. He sent off for them (and theywere expensive!) and waited excitedly forthem to arrive. Once the newlyweds arrived,he quickly settled them on the family farmnear the Finger Lakes. His wife named themIke and Tina, after the Turners.

But Ike and Tina didn’t fuck. They fought.Tina pecked, kicked and clawed at Ike, dayand night until one day, Ike just turned up histoes and died. Lefty drove up and found Tinafeasting on Ike’s fat free meat. When Leftytried to shoo Tina away, she came after him!Now Lefty saw combat in Vietnam, but the 6 ft.6 inch bird quickly proved too much for him.With crazy, kicking legs and a huge, thrusting,bulbous body, she clawed and scratched himin places he didn’t even know he had. In theblink of an eye, he turned tail and ran for histruck. The giant bird creature sprinted afterhim. Ike’s bloody tendons flapped like wet, redstrings from her mouth as she made hot pur-suit. Lefty claimed she made frightening

dinosaur screeches as she ran.Tina covered consider-

able ground on him before hejumped into the truck, Leftygained entrance without aninch to spare. As he slammedthe door, Tina began bangingher beak against the windowso hard, he thought she mightbreak the glass.

“She started jumping up and down,”Lefty told me. “Her body butting up againstthe truck. The bird went beserk!” Then thefeet started in kicking and scratching thetruck, as she bleated savagely. It was Big Birdgone mad. On LSD. On PCP. A cannibal.

“I thought, I can’t just drive away. I stillhave to get out to open the gate. And what ifshe attacks somebody else?” Lefty told me.

Resolved to take action, Lefty popped hisglove box and pulled out his .357 Smith andWesson revolver. He told me later he stuck thebarrel at her face behind the glass and yelledat her. (He later admitted he felt foolish fordoing this since being an emu from Australia,she had certainly never seen a gun.) Tina kepton screeching and clucking and banging thedriver’s door.

He slid over to the passenger door andgot out. The nightmare bird dashed aroundthe hood of the truck in hot pursuit. Leftyscrambled to jump into the truck bed, butbefore he could escape entirely Tina’s headlunged out like a giant rattler and bit theright cheek of his ass. Yelping in pain, hepulled free and, staggering back in the bed,he fired a magnum round at the bird’s fuzzyhead.

Clipped her! Tina’s head swung back, andshe began to swoon like some sort of drunkpuppet.

“Gotcha ya, ya skank bastid!” he yelledwith glee. He felt of his bleeding ass and won-dered how bad she had wounded him. For abrief moment Tina seemed to recover, and herhead snapped forward again. Lefty tumbledback, falling into seed bags and loose tools, thehydra head striking at him here and there. Hesaw it leaping up and down as if it were going tohop into the bed with him!

Fired again. Missed.Fired again. Missed.Fired again! Got her!Tina lurched back. Lefty crawled onto

one knee and fell forward where he says hehung himself over the side of the truck, took

Buffalo NickelsTina the Mad Killer Emu

Ms. Lefty tells me she took this photo of Tina the killer emu shortly beforethe incident.

“Buffalo Nickels is a retired US Army special forces operator who

does occasional consultant work and wishes to remain anonymous so he may put in his five cents worth on life, liberty and the

pursuit of whatever he sees fit.”

DraftThe US Selective Service reported that

87 percent of males who turned 20 had reg-istered, up in 1999 for men of the same age.New England and the upper Midwest hadthe highest compliance. The draft andmandatory registration of 18-year-olds,once ended in 1973, was re-instituted in1980 to make sure the nation could respondrapidly to the outbreak of another war.Women are not required to register. Thosewho fail to register could face up to fiveyears in prison and a $250,000 fine.

★ ★ ★Since the “Army of One” campaign began,

hits on the www.GOARMY.com website haveincreased from 7,300 to 30,000 hits a day.

CannibalizationAt least 154,000 times a year, a military

mechanic takes a part from one airplaneand puts it on another because a new sparepart is not on hand, reports the GAO-Government Accounting Office. This causessome one million extra work hours a year.

How Many Power Angels Can Sit onthe Head of a Pin?

US Army insiders tell CQCMag thatthey have seen fuel cells the size of a pinthat can run cell phones and other equip-ment for a considerable amount of time.

Khaki The word Khaki is derived from the

Hundustani word meaning, “dust” of“dusty” and filtered into military terminolo-gy via Great Britain’s colonial occupationsof India and the surrounding region. In theUnited States the word G.I. Joe or “Joe” wasa nickname for the common troop. In

England, “Tom,” “Tommy,” or “TommyAtkins” became popular as the typicalBritish private from the working class.

“Danger, Sgt. Will Robinson. Danger!”The National Defense Industry is gear-

ing up for its future in robotics. Armor, air-craft and sea-going equipment can be runfrom afar with a higher degree of safety.

★ ★ ★At Camp Pendelton, CA digging is not

allowed at certain times and places. Whenmilitant training calls for a foxhole or defen-sive position, such locale is marked off withtape to play-pretend you dug a hole.

★ ★ ★The Marines own 17 miles of beach-

front property at Pendleton, but are limitedto just 2 ? miles for amphibious training andthen don’t have full use of that stretch. Frommarch to September Marines perform“admin landings” where they storm thebeach and then line up their vehicle likecommuters on a crowded highway on-rampto drive up designated roads so as not to dis-turb the local birds during breeding season.

Military Quotes “At fifty yards, I would rather be shot

at from a revolver in the hands of an aver-age marksman. An Indian seldom missesanything the size of a man at that dis-tance, and he will send the arrow clearthrough the body. These fellows are thefinest riders I ever saw. They ride intobattle without a saddle or bridle-only alariat round the nose of the pony. Howthey keep on them I don’t see, but they dokeep on and put them through all sorts ofmaneuvers with the greatest facility. Theyare “light” horsemen and attack in openorder, never coming straight or in acharge, but circle round and round in agallop till they are ready to fire. Theyshoot their arrows without paying theleast attention to the horse, and they willkeep four of them in the air all the time ata distance of 50 or 60 yards.”

LT. Col. L.P. Bradley,

Commanding Officer, Fort C.F. Smith

“Modern historians publish endlesslyon the eminence of Alexander the Great,the greatest thug the ancient world pro-duced, a man who in his sheer propensityfor killing the innocent-over a million wereto die in his swath to the Indus-was a kin-dred spirit to Hitler.”

Victor Davis Hanson,

historian

“I love war and responsibility andexcitement. Peace is going to be hell on me.”

General George Patton

“I could have ended the war in amonth. I could have made North Vietnamlook like a mud puddle.”

Barry Goldwater ✪

Scuttlebutt continued from 25

aim and emptied the gun into Tina’s fat torso.It wriggled. It spun. It made a croaking noiseand fell.

“I had a chunk of my life savings tied upin those two birds. One of them almost killedme,” Lefty told me. “There they lay, dead onthe ground.”

Years later, I knew a lot of emu owners whowished they too had just up and shot those expen-sive, worthless birds, or the con men that sold ’emin the Great Emu Rush of the ’80’s.

I laughed like hell when Lefty told methis, but you know…when I see ostriches, or

emus, in the zoo, I feel damn glad there’s afence between us. They are huge, and they areugly. I have heard stories about them peckingoff the tips of people’s noses, fingers, stomp-ing and scratching up people with their giantchicken feet that look like alien claws. Theyare ugly and dangerous, and I don’t like them.And, personally, I don’t care if they wanderonto a training field and get nailed. Do you?

Anyway, as I said before, I think if thetruth were known, those Marines probablyacted in self-defense.

Bye-Bye ✪


The Chinese concentrated all theirfire on our little redoubt. Mortars,artillery, and small arms thun-

dered around us; one round landed soclose that it knocked over our LMC;and filled the hole with fragments.Amazingly, none of us was hit. A six-inch-long, jagged shard of shrapnellanded an inch from my knee. Soclose and yet so far from a million-dollar wound. Without thinking Ipicked it up to show to Thackerand Wells, meanwhile burn-ing the hell out of my hand onthe red-hot steel.

We stayed low in ourcrater—even lookingover the brim was a guar-antee to be blownaway—and for a whilehad to go blind, return-ing fire by holding ourrifles over our heads andpointing downhill. Wewere so low on grenadesthat Lieutenant Gilchristordered that we get hispermission to throw one.I was down to my lastwhen a gut feeling toldme it was time to unlim-ber it, right in front ofour position. I motionedfor Gilchrist to comeover. Indicating that wewere not alone, I request-ed permission to pull thepin on the frag. He gave it.

I was lying on my backwith my head pointed toward

the attackers. When I pulled the pin, Ispent a lazy second or so setting thegrenade on the crater’s edge (whichdidn’t make Gilchrist, still lying besideme, too happy). Then I gave it a littleflick with my fingers. It slowly tum-bled down and exploded. Bwam. Thehole shook, debris rained down, andthen the air was filled with gentlyfloating feathers. A down-jacketed

Chinaman had gotten what he wasgoing to give us-except a gut feelinghad told me to get there first.

We were quickly running out ofammo. Thacker had no more than abelt and a half for the machine gun,and our rifles were down to a coupleof M-l clips. Strict fire disciplinebecame the rule; we couldn’t afford towaste one round. We policed up acase of Chinese potato-masher

grenades. They were probablyWorld War I German Army

vintage and about as effec-tive as cherry bombs, butthey made a lot of noiseand at least they weresomething. Funny how afew hours before we’dbeen a rifle platoonloaded for bear, and nowwe were on our ass, hurl-ing firecrackers and notmaking a dent.

As we broke up thelast belt of LMG ammoand distributed it for theM-1s and BARS, Gilchristtold us a squad fromSergeant Reeves’s 2dPlatoon had volunteeredto join us on the hill.What a great sight it was,moments later, to seetheir lead element com-ing up behind us. “Hellobrah,” said their pointman, Aguda, as his bud-dies ran past, tossing usbandoliers of M-1 ammo,

Battlefield DiaryAguda – One Crazy BastardBy Colonel David H. Hackworth



grenades, and several boxes ofmachine-gun ammunition. “Big fighthere, huh?”

James Aguda was one of myfriends from the Hawaiian mafia. He’djust returned to his platoon a few daysbefore, after having been woundedduring a previous operation. When I’dfirst seen him after he’d gotten back,I’d noticed he was not wearingshoepacks. “Get rid of those leatherboots,” I’d told him. “You HawaiianBuddha-heads have enough troublewith the cold. No sense asking forfrostbite.” I’d given him a pretty hardtime—intentionally, because I was try-ing to find out how much his woundhad affected him. Sometimes a manwould come back from the hospitaland say, “Yeah, Sarge, I’m cool…only ascratch,” and the next thing you knewhe’d crack up. But Aguda had takeneverything I dished out, and finally I’dsaid, “Okay, fine ... but you better getyourself some shoepacks.”

Aguda had just shrugged and said,“I’m not going to be around here longenough to need them.”

I’d dismissed the comment; suchfatalistic statements were par for thecourse, especially before a big fight. Ihadn’t thought any more about it, nordid I now, on the hill. All I thought wasthat help had arrived. More ammo, morerifles, the staying power we needed tohold our objective. Now we just neededa little time. Aguda, casually saunteringpast with his BAR, gave us that.

The crazy bastard stood up. Hedidn’t go prone like the rest of us. Hejust walked to the forward slope andstarted mowing down the attackingChinese ranks like John Wayne in TheSands of Iwo Jima. His BAR wassinging as he fired magazine aftermagazine. And the whole time he wasscreaming to the Chinese, “Come on,you motherfuckers, come and getme.” I yelled, “Get down! For Christ’ssake, Aguda, get down!” But he justkept firing and reloading, firing andreloading-the perfect killing machine.Slugs were snapping all around him. Iknew he was going to be killed. ThenI could see he was getting it. I couldsee it. In the leg, in the arm, then twomore in the legs. But he just keptshooting and screaming, and I keptyelling for him to get down. Finally hetook one in the chest. It spun himaround and he dropped. KIA.

Aguda’s action, and similaractions from the other brave volun-

teers of 2d Platoon, turned the tide ofthe fight. They bought us time at per-haps the most critical phase of thebattle—time in which the men of 1stand 4th platoons could get into posi-tion and start putting down the effec-tive fire that broke the back of theChinese counterattack. But thestrange thing about Aguda was that hereally had known he was going to bekilled. It wasn’t just his shoepackcomment; after the battle, a poemhe’d written was found among his per-sonal possessions, predicting hewould die in battle on a cold,windswept hill. I guess he knew hisnumber was about to come up, and hejust decided to go out fighting.

The Chinese had broken off theirattack, and we had time to consoli-date our defenses and evacuate ourcasualties. An ad hoc platoon aid sta-tion had been set up in a rocky out-crop near the crest of the hill; at onepoint in the battle it had beencrammed with forty-two casualties,all of whom were cared for by anamazing infantryman who, armedwith knowledge gleaned from aYMCA first-aid course, had takenSergeant Brown’s aid bag at gunpointwhen the severely wounded medicinsisted he could still do his job. Wecouldn’t dig-the hill was solid rock-sowe modified Chink bunkers, stackedrocks in front of our fighting posi-tions, and hunkered down as best wecould. The position was still hot, withplenty of incoming mortar and small-arms fire. Our platoon, which wasnow less than a squad, drew most ofit; Thacker’s machine gun had beenthe focal point of the complete baffleso far, and we still occupied the highground in the company center.

I was looking for a better machine-gun position when the enemy launchedanother attack. I hopped into the near-est hole, a large Chinese foxhole thathad probably been a platoon CP. Nowits sole occupant was one deadChinaman, curled up in the bottom. Ilay there with him, and whenever therewas a lull in the firing, I’d pop up, fireeight rounds, and go back down toreload and wait until I could jump upagain. It was kind of like playing humanjack-in-the-box, and during one ofthese routines I caught a slug. Oh, shit,I thought, not again, not in the head. Myhelmet, which I had on backward, wasripped off my head, and I was propelledto the bottom of the hole.

If someone took a baseball batand swung it at you-at your arm, yourleg, or your head-with all his might,that’s what getting hit with a bulletfeels like. Bam! and then you don’tfeel anything for about 20 or 30 min-utes because of the trauma caused bythe speed of the projectile. Only afterabout half an hour does it really beginto hurt, so when I got it this time, all Iknew was it felt just as it had on 6February.

My head was spinning. I slowlyreached up and touched my forehead,and then looked at my hand-no blood.I found my steel pot. It looked as if ithad been neatly parted with an ax.The bullet had struck the helmetbetween the bottom lip of the steeland the liner, but because the back ofa steel pot is reasonably oblique, thebullet had skipped along between theliner and the steel before coming outthe top. If I hadn’t been wearing thething backwards (a habit I’d pickedup from my dear friend in theweapons squad, machine gunnerJerry Boyd), I would have been asdead as the Chink who was sharingmy hole.

Colonel David H. Hackworth,

(US Army, Ret.) was the youngest

full colonel in Vietnam, and

America’s most decorated live sol-

dier. Well known author and mili-

tary commentator, he provides star-

tling and important insights into

American values during both war

and peace time. The above excerpt

was taken with permission from

David Hackworth and Julie

Sherman’s About Face published by

Simon Schuster.

Lt. Col. “Zimm” with crew members in front of his 70 ton, highlyarmed battalion command post during a desert deployment in 1999.

T he brass came, saw and declared victoryfor the digitized 4th Infantry Division.

On April 11, Chief of Staff Gen. EricShinseki and his digitized generals gloatedabout their accomplishments in an official state-ment, in which they agreed the future is aboutinformation dominance, leveraging technologyand systems-enhancement packages. Butbesides inventing new buzzwords, they didn’tsay too much about the most critical war-fight-ing factors.

• Well-trained and tough humans, who knowthe strengths and weaknesses of their high-tech gear under all conditions.

• Experienced junior leaders with initiative,who act decisively even when battlefieldinformation isn’t perfect, and who intuitivelyrecognize when information is bogus.

• Equipment that is lethal, simple and reliablein mud, snow and rain and won’t leave youhanging when one battery runs out of juice.

From personal experience, I know youcan’t trust all the fancy gear under combat con-ditions, especially when operations exceed 48hours. Often, your global positioning system willfail and your Game Boy screen map, designed toshow gazillions of good and bad guy icons, willblank out at the worst time. In combat, you bet-ter have a backup—on paper—and be able touse a compass. But map reading, listening andtaking good notes are becoming lost arts.

I also question the need for computerscreens and tactical e-mail in every tank com-mander’s hatch when our vehicle radios stillcan’t transmit much farther than the ones wehad in the 1950s.

Now the troops are so busy with key-boards and screens, no one watches the outsideof the tank.

For leaders, the biggest Force XXI chal-lenge is to cut through information overload andmake decent decisions. As with e-mail overloadon your home computer, you have to know whento hit delete.

During several War fighter exercises, Ibecame highly frustrated with senior comman-ders who couldn’t make a decision because theyneeded perfect bean counts of every little icon onthe screen. By the time satellites, aerial reconand digitized scouts had provided comfortablenumbers, our stone-age enemy was clobbering

us. Information had dominated the Blue Forcesinto paralysis.

There is also a question on how to outma-neuver and kill the enemy with equipmentmainly designed to collect and produce moreinformation.

The M-1A2 (SEP) is a good tank, but itsucks as much fuel as its predecessors. It does-n’t have a better main gun or carry more ammo.It also weighs too much to cross bridges outsideEurope. To accommodate the Game Boyscreens, the designers decided that you nolonger needed to fire the trusted .50-calibermachine gun from inside, and that makes thetank commander sniper bait.

Topping that, the digitized LAV even turnsan outdated Russian T-55 with enhanced armorinto a real bad dude.

To enhance the foot soldier, the Army hasdecided to hang every gadget you find inside atank on one man. Unfortunately, there aren’t any1,500 horsepower engine implants for our grunts.The sci-fi grunt carries an 18-lb. $10,000 rifle, andhas full personal Internet capability, but no oneseems to be asking if he can still dodge bullets,sense his environment and carry sufficient ammoin addition to his 40-lb. battery pack.

I’m not asking new technologies thatincrease lethality and survivability. I am wor-ried, though, that many systems today aren’tready to be fielded, or that they merely providethe brass more tools to micromanage the mod-ern battlefield, which undermines combat initia-tive and lethality.

We’d get more bang from the buck if weinvest in mature, off-the-shelf weapons and vehi-cles that kill the other guy quicker and at longerranges. We need the armored-gun system. Andthe troops would prefer better and simplerradios to tactical e-mail.

“…under Army Infantry center rules, theheavy load is what is required for infantryman tocarry. It is 92.6 pounds worth of weapons, ammu-nition, hand-grenades and protective garments.Sixty percent of the weight is the uniform and theclothes in the ruksack. There are 55 pounds ofclothing and equipment, and 24 pounds ofweapons and ammunition. For Land Warrior(computer system carried by each soldier) thegoal was to add the electronic without increasingthe overall weight beyond 92.6 pounds. The solu-tion is trade items.”✪

Ralf Zimmermann (Lt. Col. ret.), has

more than 20 years experience in armor

and reconnaissance

assignments. He com-

manded a tank battal-

ion and is a veteran of

Desert Storm. He is

president of the non-

profit group Soldiers

For The Truth and

writes for ArmyTimes. You may e-mail

him at: [email protected].

Soldiers For TruthBy Ralf Zimmermann

“…under Army Infantry

center rules, the heavy load is

what is required for

infantryman to carry. It is

92.6 pounds worth of

weapons, ammunition, hand-

grenades and protective

garments. Sixty percent of the

weight is the uniform and the

clothes in the ruksack. There

are 55 pounds of clothing and

equipment, and 24 pounds of

weapons and ammunition.

For Land Warrior (computer

system carried by each

soldier) the goal was to add

the electronic without

increasing the overall weight

beyond 92.6 pounds. The

solution is trade items.”

—Col. Bruce D. Jette,US Army


The hardcore martial art of HawaiianKajukenbo is world famous. You mayfind branches in many countries and on

many islands in the Pacific Ocean.Traditional Hawaiian Kajukenbo trainingconsists of self-defense through studies inpunching, grappling, knife and club defens-es and Pinans or martial arts forms. Fivemartial artists, all experts in their chosenfields, joined forces to create this streeteffective system. The Big Five are:

Peter YY Choo - A Tang Soo-Do BlackBelt and boxer

Frank Ordonez - A Kodokan Ju-JitsuBlack Belt

Joe Holck - A Kodokan Judo Black BeltAdriano D. Emperado - A Chinese Kenpo

Black Belt and Filipino EscrimadorGeorge Chang - A practitioner of Chinese

boxing or Sil Lum Gung Fu

These Kajukenbo workouts were leg-endary. Broken ribs, noses and black eyesoccurred frequently. Professor Emperadowould say, “The workout isn’t over until Isee blood on the floor.” The system camethrough the USA, as did several other mar-tial arts systems on its journey from Chinaand Japan. Ed Parker’s Kenpo school fol-lowed a similar route. Other notable USAKajukenbo pioneers that either migrated orstudied in the US were Tony Ramos, JoeHalbuna, Charles Gaylord, Al Dacascos andAleju Reyes, just to name a few.

After I achieved my 4th degree blackbelt, in the Gaylord Method of Kajukenbo, Iorganized Kajukenbo Combatives, a modern-ized version of the original Kajukenbo sys-tem. Kajukenbo Combatives takes the tradi-tional system and adds a new athletic tech-nology that focuses more on the combativeaspects of training and less on the forms.

It retains the name Kajukenbo out ofrespect for the teachers and the pioneersthat shared their knowledge. Their blessingand encouragement opens our minds andhelp us to evolve and grow. My techniquesparallel the categories created by thesegreat men. Today, Kajukenbo Combativestakes on many evolutionary facets. Listedbelow are the original sources and evolu-tions. This breakdown by syllable providesthe now famous roots of each name.

KA – Karate now much moreKali/Arnis/Escrima

JU – Judo and Ju-jitsu, now also Americanand Brazilian Grappling

KEN – Kenpo Chinese Kara Ho KenpoKarate, now Hawaiian & AmericanKarates)

BO – Boxing-Chinese boxing nowAmerican and Thai boxing COMBATIVES- And the SFC combat-

ive approach - In addition to the above, W.Hock Hochheim’s Scientific FightingCongress inspires and influences our sys-tem.✪

Martial Training SystemsKajukenbo Combatives By Sifu Dean Goldade

Sifu Dean M. Goldade (right) teaches the KajukenboCombatives and SFC courses in Austin, TX and he alsotravels to conducting seminars. You may reach him at(512) 218-9646

“The workout isn’t over until I see

blood on the floor.”

—Professor Emperado


StreetFighter’sTrainingNotebookBy Marc Halleck

O ne of the most effective and powerfulstrikes is a forearm or hammer handto the side of an attacker’s neck, to

what is called the brachial plexus, called bypolice experts the brachial stun. It disruptsthe blood flow to the brain, distorts theblood pressure and like a switch may causethe victim to pass right out or stumble anddrop to a knee. Studies show the successrate for a quick knockout is high.

Few people know it may even workbetter in a ground fight! When an opponentbends over, cardio doctors report bloodpressure to his brain is already out of sync.A strike to the brachial of a bent over sub-ject works even better!

You could attempt a lengthy and dan-gerous wrestling maneuver to try andobtain a choke on the opponent, always adangerous endeavor against even anuntrained adrenaline-pumped criminal, oryou might work for the quicker result, thebrachial stun.

1. Here an attacker catches Marc.

2. Marc frees himself from the choke.

3. He blocks the punch.

4. He strikes the brachial plexus.

Marc Halleck owns the North Shore

Academy in Libertyville, Illinois.✪

1

2

3

4August/September 2001 • 33

Joe Decker wanted to be the very best:

So he:• Bicycled 100 miles• Ran 10 miles• Hiked 10 miles• Power-walked five miles• Kayaked six miles• Skied on a NordicTrack 10 miles• Rowed 10 miles• Swam two miles• Crunched 3,000 abdominal crunches• Jumped 1,100 jumping jacks• Lifted 1,000 leg lifts• Pushed 1,100 push-ups• Weight-lifted, cumulatively, 278,540

pounds

He accomplished all this in 24 hours, infront of duly sanctioned counters and wit-nesses. For his efforts (and pains), he earneda place in the Guinness Book of World

Records: the fittest man alive.“It was fun,” Decker says. “I enjoyed the

whole thing.”The World’s Fittest Man does not look

the part. Oh, he’s lean and in shape, and has aflat stomach, verging on a washboard. But at5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, he’s on the stockyside. At age 31, he has the look of a pleasantlysoftening collegiate jock. If you stood next tohim at the starting line of an ultramarathon,

you’d write him off as an early dropout. Whichis fine with him: “I can run, row and paddlemillions of miles, and my body doesn’tchange. I like being built like this. I’m a darkhorse. People underestimate me.”

Decker lives in Gaithersburg, MD. Hemakes his living as a fitness trainer. He callshis business Body Construction, and hedesigns corporate fitness programs and leadspersonal and group exercise sessions in theearly morning and late afternoon and evening.His office is in the basement of his duplex.

Most of what he does routinely would killmost people. For him, a marathon is a trainingrun: “I don’t mean to sound crazy, but onceyou get to a certain point, it’s just nothing. Irun a marathon a month.

It’s not unusual for Decker to run amarathon on a Saturday and be doing inter-vals – sprinting up hills – Sunday. On a typicalSaturday, he’ll rise at 4:30 a.m. and run 40 to50 miles, or bike 50 to 100 miles, or kayak 20to 30 miles. That way, he’s back by early after-noon and can spend time with his girlfriend.

“I’ve got a high idle,” he says with alaugh. “It’s hard to sit still.”

For Decker, 2000 was a momentous year.He received a handsome trophy, topped by astatuette of a bald eagle, for completing theGran Slam of Ultra running – four 100-milers.The fun began in May with the mother of allendurance contests, the Raid Gauloises,which last year was a 520-mile adventure racefrom Tibet to northern India via Nepal and theHimalayas. He finished in eight days.

You may be wondering: Is Decker totally over the edge? An

obsessive-compulsive body Nazi to the 10thpower?

Is Decker bionic? Does he have anuclear-powered bilge pump for a heart,bones made of titanium, joints made of Teflonand steel-belted muscles that never produce adrop of lactic acid?

He doesn’t fit the stereotype. Enduranceathletes tend to be sour and sullen, introvert-

ed and dyspeptic, grimacing in perpetualagony like the long-suffering St. Sebastian,exuding all the warmth and personality of adead haddock. Decker, by contrast, is allsmiles and midwestern congeniality. He says“darn” and “heck” a lot. And his face is sosunny, wholesome and all-American; itdeserves to be on a box of cornflakes.

“He really has a way with people,” hisdad, Dan says. “He has friends all over. He’sjust a real nice guy.”

Decker calls himself “a country boy atheart.” He grew up on a farm in centralIllinois, near the town of Cuba, about 50 milesfrom Peoria. His father is a farmer who alsoworked for Caterpillar. His mother was custo-dian at the school. “She’s made of tough stuff,”Decker says. Her hobby: breaking horses.Decker couldn’t beat her at arm wrestlinguntil he was 13.

Decker was a chubby child. In sixthgrade, he took part in a weight-lifting conteston a Nautilus machine. Bench-pressing 50pounds, he managed to do the most reps. “Ihad found something I was actually good at,”he says. Infatuated with power lifting (a sportthat involves lifting your maximum in threeevents: bench press, squat and dead lift),Decker began working out with the older guysat the high school. As he matured, he grewstronger and more serious showing up at theweight room to practice at 6 a.m. In power-lift-ing meets, he was invincible. He earned thetop ranking in the state and, while still a teenwas bench-pressing more than 40 lbs. “I’m anall-or-nothing person,” he says. “I wanted tobe the best.”

With no money for college, Decker joinedthe Army. He credits the Army with toughen-ing him, mentally and physically. Once, he andhis fellow shoulders were dropped off in thewoods in upstate New York in the middle ofwinter. “It was 30 below. Snow was falling. Thewind was blowing. We had no tent,” he says.“But heck, we made do. We survived. And thatkind of experience made me a good mind-set.

Fitness is Mind over MatterBy Art Carey


No matter how miserable it is, I know I canmake it if I maintain a positive attitude. Today,I actually prefer racing when the weather isnasty. I feel it gives me an advantage.”

After the Army, Decker enrolled atWestern Illinois University, in the pre-law hon-ors program. But by the end of sophomoreyear, he was having second thoughts aboutbecoming an attorney. Miffed by a financial-aid snag that prevented him from studyingabroad, he dropped out.

Here, Decker’s saga takes a surprisingturn. He wandered and traveled across thecountry. He wound up in New Orleans, work-ing as a bartender on Bourbon Street. “It wasMardi Gras 365 days a year,” he says. “If youdidn’t drink and do drugs, you weren’t part ofthe crowd.” Decker doesn’t go into detail, buthe makes it clear that the temptations wereplentiful. “I lost myself for two years,” he says.

One day, he took a long look in the mir-ror. “Who the heck is this person?” he remem-bers thinking. His face looked haggard anddissolute; his body was soft and flabby. Heresolved to change. He began running and lift-ing again. He returned to college, earning adegree in corporate fitness. “Fitness saved mylife,” Decker says. “Exercise gives me a high Iused to get from alcohol and drugs. It keepsme sane and takes away stress. When anxietybuilds up, it relieves it. It keeps me function-ing in society. Without fitness, I’d be dead.”

During the week, Decker follows ahealthy diet. He drinks gallons of water, butexcept for a multivitamin he eschews pills andsupplements. On weekends, he cuts loose,consuming a lumberjack’s quota of calories,pancakes, burgers, ice cream, beer and hisfavorite, pizza. After completing an ultra,Decker celebrates with wine and a cigar.

“It’s all about balance,” he says. “Youcan’t be an extremist. You’ve got to be human,to live a little. To give up everything and beonly fitness—no sir, it wouldn’t be fun. And ifit’s not fun, why the heck do it?”

His body is remarkably durable. He’s hadbouts of plantar fasciitis in his feet and occa-sional tendonitis of the ankle, knee and wrist,but he has been free of injury.

Suggest that he has a gift or is a geneticfreak, and Decker’s face clouds. “Hang outwith me when I work out an see how much ishard work and how much is genetics,” he says.“So many times, people sell themselves short.But if you set your mind to it, you can do it.”

Decker is gearing up for more marathonsand ultras, and in September a triple iron manin Virginia Beach. That’s a 7.2-mile swim, a336-mile bike ride and a 78.6-mile run. He esti-mates it will take him 45 hours. For 2002, hehas his sites set on an event that has to be theultra of endurance tests: an iron man triathlontimes 10. Even Decker calls it “totally sick.”✪

Bad MuscleMemoryR ecently in California a police officer

who had many years experience inwrestling and submission fighting,

chased and tackled a criminal. He grabbedthe criminal’s neck and squeezed. Thesquirming criminal frantically slapped theofficer’s body. Feeling the multiple taps, thecop reflexively let go of the criminal, hismuscle memory recognizing the movementas a submission tap-out. The surprised sus-pect immediately took off, and the chasewas on again!✪

Close Quarter Combat MagazineSubscribe to:Close Quarter Combat Magazinenow and receive your membership in the Scientific Fighting Congress for one year FREE!(Certificate available upon request)

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By Jerry VanCook

Lessons I Learned from My GrandfathersThe VanCook View

Both of my grandfathers were born insod houses in Oklahoma soon after theCherokee Strip Land Run. This was

still several years before Oklahoma wouldbecome a state, and they grew up hearingabout bank robberies, gunfights, the Doolinand Dalton gangs, and cattle rustling—notas history lessons the way we have but ascurrent events. As that weird little narrator-guy in Conan the Barbarian said, “Thesewere the days of high adventure.” It wasstill very much the Old West in both theIndian and Oklahoma Territories, andpotential violence lurked over every hilland around every bend. Law enforcementwas scarce—often well over a day’s horseride away—and these pioneers had to takecare of their own problems. They under-stood very well the need to protect them-selves and their property, and they knewthe government wasn’t going to do it forthem.

How well I remember both GrandpasMelka and Cook. (Van is actually my middlename—I just put them together when Iwrite—don’t ask—another long story foranother time.). Both were fine, highly moralmen, and neither liked to fight. (Okay, I sus-pect Grandpa Cook liked it a little.) Both,however, had seen their share of engage-ments growing up in such dangerous times.They were of very different personalitiesand body types, and their approaches toself-defense were very different. But eachhad worked out a system that fit them well,and I adopted techniques and strategy fromboth men.

By around 1915, give or take a year,

Grandpa Cook had left the homestead andbecome a drummer. (That’s a salesmankids, not the guy at the back of the bandwith the sticks). He traveled throughout theSouthwest and into Mexico by train, andalways took his old S&W and a Marble skin-ner with him. By the time I was born, thedays of drummers were over and he’d trad-ed his train tickets for an El Camino. Hewas still selling though—a genuine travel-ing salesman. (Please—no traveling sales-man jokes—I’ve always wondered if someweren’t based on true stories about him.)By the time I was out of diapers, I was occa-sionally accompanying him on these trips. Iremember my father frowning a little inworry, and my mother nearly breakingdown in tears each time we left. But I hadthe times of my young life.

I havememories ofcrawling overfences to picksand plums,swimming increeks on hotsummer days,and an endlessline of countrytaverns wherethe farmers andranchers towhom he soldfertilizer hungout. GrandpaCook would sitme up on a bar stool and then head for theback room where the illegal poker gamewas going on. That’s where he did his busi-ness, and probably played a few hands him-self. The barmaids (who he always seemedto know by name) became my babysitters,bringing me Cokes and telling me what acute little fellow I was. This may explainwhy I’ve always felt comfortable, and beenable to operate without fear or self-con-sciousness, in the seediest of bars. It alsomight explain why I’ve always had a softspot in my heart for barmaids.

Those were the late 1950s, andGrandpa was nearing retirement. He hadbegun leaving the revolver and knife in thecar and carried only a leather blackjack.Several times, I recall clients he called onasking to see it, and then beginning to tellstories. Grandpa Cook would look quicklyat me and then cut the story off short. I don’t

❝ They were of very

different personalities

and body types, and their

approaches to self-defense

were very different.

But each had worked out

a system that fit them

well, and I adopted

techniques and strategy

from both men.❞

Grandpa Cook

(Photo courtesy Robert B. Garvey)

know if hewas worriedabout settinga bad examplefor his grand-son or the factthat thestatute of limi-tations mightnot yet haverun out. But Ieventually putt o g e t h e renough bitsand pieces toknow thatthere wereseveral inci-

dents in which the blackjack had been used,and that he had quite a reputation with it.Once, he’d been attacked at an oil lease by aburly truck driver, and dropped the manwith a quick flurry of blows to the head andshoulders. The phrases “like a cobra” and“fast as a snake” got blurted out more thanonce before he could shut the storytellersup. Something else had occurred in a poolhall and yet another incident at a diner but Inever got the whole stories and Grandpawasn’t talking.

Grandpa Cook taught me about pres-sure points long before I had ever seen any-one in a gi. He called these “jew-jitses” andmade me promise never to use what heshowed me on anyone unless I had to do soto avoid being hurt myself. Of the manythings he taught me about knives, my mostvivid memory was “if you have to stab aman, stick him and then walk around him.”As I got older and began to study the bladearts, I realized this was his simple, down-home and uncomplicated, way to explain“thrust and pump.”

I was in high school, and he was in his70s when he got into his last fight. He and afriend of his had had a falling out, and itfinally came to a head when they bumpedinto each other in the lobby of a bank in myhometown. They went at is with fists andfeet until the police came to break it up.When neither was arrested, they left togeth-er, friends again. Legend has it that as theywere leaving the bank president said, “I stillwouldn’t f*&# with either one of those oldb@$+@#d$.”

My mother’s father, Grandpa Melka,grew up during the same wild years inOklahoma. He was a short man ofBohemian decent and a first generationAmerican. I remember him as very kind,somewhat reserved and proper most of thetime, but hilariously funny when he wantedto be. I used to visit the farm for a couple

weeks each summer, and go with him to“check on things” on weekends throughoutthe year. He gave me my first shooting les-son with a JC Penney .22 bolt-action rifle, agun I still have. He also toted a 12-gaugeshotgun in his pickup for rabbits, coyotes,and what he called “two-legged wolves.”Once I asked him why, even when we wentto town, he always had a large tractorwrench stuck in the back pocket of his pin-striped overalls. He smiled wearily, and toldme about “Mr. Smith,” another farmer wholived in the area. They’d had a running prob-lem over the years and the wrench wasGrandpa Melka’s deterrent. Every time theysaw each other, Mr. Smith would glance atthe wrench and then go on.

Once, when I was in the second orthird grade, Grandpa Melka told me aboutan older kid who’d picked on him whenhe’d been in grade school himself. Everymorning this older boy would wait at a cer-tain quarter section on the road that led totheir country school. When Grandpa camealong, the boy would proceed to slap himaround and generally bully him. Grandpacarried his books in a gunnysack, and oneday he simply tossed a brick in along withthe books. You can figure out the rest. Theimage of him telling me that story is frozenin my mind forever. We were in his old blue’52 Chevrolet 5000 pickup, driving down adusty dirt road with the windows rolleddown and sweat streaming down our faces.“I sure worried when that boy didn’t cometo school the rest of that day,” Grandpa fin-ished as he pulled a blue bandana out of hisoveralls and mopped his forehead. “I wasafraid I’d killed him. On the other hand,Jerry, he never bullied me again.” He lookedover at me and grinned. “You might want tothink about that if you ever have the need.”

I did, Grandpa. And I still do.As I write this, Memorial Day is just a

few days away. I sure miss both those guys.✪

A well known author ofmore than 40 books, JerryVanCook also is an instruc-tor in Okinawan karate. Hehas studied Aikido, ThaiBoxing, Kung Fu, Kali, and isa Rokudan (6th DegreeBlack Belt) in Bei-KokuAibujutsu. In 1998 he wasinducted into the World Head of Family SokeshipInternational Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and receivedtheir “Writer of the Year” award. His titles includeReal World Self-Defense and Going Undercover.VanCook spent 14 years in law enforcement withthe Garfield County Oklahoma Sheriff’s Department,a federally funded undercover task force, and theOklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Grandpa Melka

(Photo courtesy Robert B. Garvey)



Iwatch heads bobbing in a sea of heads onthe dance floor at night. After a few yearson the job, I know which heads bob

because they are dancing and which headsbob because they are fighting. When I spota fight, I hand signal and radio to a team-mate then cut through the crowd to thefight. I pull one of the fighter’s away anddespite the fact we dress like security, hestill kept on fighting, still more mad at theother guy than at me.

My first verbal attempts to shut himdown don’t work and my courtesy grab ismet with resistance. The struggle is on…

I am in the middle of a dance floor withabout a 100 people, some hostile to me and

maybe this guy. I cannot toss him down ontothe tiles. Even if I go knee high with him, thepotential to be kneed, stepped on or kickedis severe. PLUS! If I throw him down, now Igotta pick him back up again and carry himout of there.

Experience has taught me that afteryou put a patron in a grab, a joint lock or achoke, the job isn’t finished. You still mustget the guy off the premises or worse, con-trol and contain him until you can shacklehim in some way. Some bars have handcuffsor cable ties close by, some managementsdo not like security to have them. That iswhen I began my study into these tech-niques with a “one-step beyond” approach.

I began to practice getting the hold, takingthe subject off balance in a manner thatlooks like the beginning of a takedown, butstopping right there! In between the graband the takedown. Something I call a walk-off, or walk-away.

My favorites are when I can hook up aguy and bend him backward, getting him tostep backward with me as I head to the door.This keeps his body busy wrestling with hisbalance, rather than wrestling with me.

I think all bouncers, police and guardsshould look hard at this specific area ofstudy-tactics after the lock and just beforethe takedown. ✪

The Walk-Away“Between the joint lock and the take down...is the walk-away”By Joe Reyes

The Bouncer

missiles with which they hoped to take on theRoyal Navy aircraft operating from the two air-craft carriers.

The battalion then moved to gooseGreen and Bluff Cove, where they weresubject to frequent air attack). They thentook Mt. Challenger (four wounded by notvery efficient enemy shelling) and were thereserve for the attack on Tumbledown andthe lead battalion in the attack on MountWilliam. Apart from the major actions, theyspent a lot of time patrolling around andbehind Argentine lines taking out officers,signalers and OPs. The Argentines surren-dered after the Mt. William action and thebattalion returned to UK on 9 August.

Q: I have been told that the Gurkhas

had trouble in Argentina during the

Falkland War because of the cold weather.

Major Corrigan: Gurkhas come fromthe foothills of the Himalayas, where win-ters are very cold and often wet. Falklandsweather was no problem, and their sicknessrate was far lower than that of Britishtroops.

Hope this helps.

Gordon

Major Corrigan is a retired British

Army Colonel and former commander for

the Gurkha Training Wing. He has offered

his vast experience as a veteran soldier,

commander and historian to answer your

questions. Please direct your questions to

[email protected] or in writing to

Major Corrigan, P.O. Box 5372, Ft.

Oglethorpe, GA 30742 ✪

Ask Major Corrigan continued from 25


M ost people think of emergency serviceswork such as police, fire and paramedicwork as exciting and adventurous. While

it has its moments, often the excitement isdwarfed by long periods of boredom. Medicswill tell you that standby duty is one of theworst parts of the job. Frequently a paramedicunit has to sit on a street corner to cover theirdistrict and the adjacent district when that unitis on a call. Most medics get bored and mustfight to stay awake and alert. Occasionally dis-patch takes a unit completely out of service tostandby at a fire or police situation.

My partner John and I experienced justsuch a situation one shift, going a couple ofhours without any calls when dispatch sent usto the eastern slope of Washoe Valley to stand-by at a forest fire. The area provided the mainaccess points to Lake Tahoe and containedmany large expensive homes.

The area burned most of the day, and theweather remained hot and windy. The fire hadspread almost to the lake and several homeswere involved. At this point no one had sus-tained injuries, but officials had evacuatedmost of the residents. Several homes went upin smoke that morning. The weather proved aworst-case scenario for a forest fire, hot anddry for weeks now intense winds blew ingusts around us. Our role—to sit and wait andwait and wait...

Paramedics live in a constant moraldilemma. They enjoy their work, however peo-ple must experience injury in order for them toperform that work. I have never met a medicthat wanted to see someone fall ill or injured,but most have a strong desire to actively dotheir the job and not wait around. This urge towork can drive you nuts, but medics reallyenjoy helping others and want to alleviate painand suffering.

So here we were, John and I, sitting all dayin the hot sun waiting while other units rancalls. The day wore on as we tried to stay alert.We read and listened to the radio—anything torelieve the boredom. The firemen stayed busy,so we couldn’t spend time shooting the breeze

with our friends. We sat there doing nothinguseful while all around us exhausted guys andgirls covered with soot and sweat worked theirhearts out. We did what we could. We passedout lunches and drinks, but our efforts paled incomparison to those around us. We knew theywere glad to have us just in case they neededus, but it was not easy to sit and watch theeffort these people put in.

I believe few people have any concept ofhow hard firefighters work, especially duringforest fires. It is a testament to their trainingand conditioning that we don’t treat moreheat exhaustion cases during a fire. At thispoint, none of the firefighters needed medicalattention.

Finally we received a call regarding twocivilians with burn injuries. We received fewdetails except they were about five miles upthe hill with another group of fighters.However we still had to wait because a wall offire burned between them and us.

As we waited, the helicopter crew madea fly by and decided the winds are too strongfor them to get near the patients. We had to sitin anticipation and frustration waiting for abreak in the fire to get to our patients.

Finally after a few minutes the break inthe fire occurs, and the on scene fire com-mander gives us the go ahead to pick up ourpatients. It takes us only 10 minutes to arriveat the location of the other fire crew. Theyhave provided basic first aid treatment for ourtwo patients and their Alaskan Husky dog.The patients are a man and his wife, both chi-ropractors who barely managed to escapefrom their home before it burned down. Theyescaped to a nearby stream with the dogwhere they watched as their house burned tothe ground in minutes. The patients sustainedburns over eight to 10 percent of their bodies,not bad for suffering through a firestorm,however the dog was much worse.

They dog had been difficult to controland keep in the water. Most of the burns theyreceived were from struggling with the 100pound plus Husky. John and I treated their

burns as well as the dogs. We gave the dog 10mg. of morphine to calm him down and allevi-ate some of his pain. We loaded everyone,including the dog, into the ambulance andheaded down the hill toward the hospital.

As we begin our descent, the firemen tellus to hurry because the wind has shiftedagain, and they have word the fire down thehill is out of control again. I radio ahead andask dispatch to have an animal control officermeet us ASAP. It is against county health reg-ulations for us to have the dog in our rig, butthere’s no other way. I couldn’t leave himbehind. I start IV’s on both of our patients asJohn races toward safety. I talk with the manand his wife as they struggle to keep their dogcalm. I can see out of the rig as we drive, butfortunately our patients can’t. John pressesthe Chevy van to the max, 85 mph, as we racedown hill. Fire engulfs the side of the road,blowing flames in front of the van as we drive.Suddenly the fire jumps the road, and flamesfrom both sides surround us. John can seescarcely 50 feet of road in front of him.

I can see how nervous John is; he is asalert as a cat on speed. I’ve trusted this guywith my life many times, and feel confidentthat if it’s possible for us to get out of thisfirestorm, John will make it happen. Afterwhat seems like 30 minutes, but I know is onlyabout a minute and a half of the flames sur-rounding us, we emerge from the wall of fireonly to find several fire engines blocking theroad less than 100 feet ahead. I swear to thisday I heard John think “Oh Shit”. He brakesfiercely and swerves onto the dirt doing about75 mph. We slide sideways both of us prayingthe rig will stay upright as several firemendive for cover. John somehow keeps it undercontrol and gets us back on the road past thefire engines and several fleeing firemen. Johngives me a quick glance over his shoulder tosee if we are okay. Everyone in the back isfine—a bit confused by the rough ride butokay none-the-less.

We receive a call from dispatch with alocation to meet animal control on the way to

Scoop and RunWhen things heat upBy David “Smitty” Smith


the hospital. She also informs us that Brianwith County Health will meet us at the emer-gency room. Great, just what we need, abureaucratic SOB in our faces. We meet upwith the animal control officer and quicklydiscuss the dog and where they will take himfor treatment so that I can inform my patients.Minutes later we deliver our patients safely tothe emergency room.

The County Health Officer is an overzeal-ous young guy in charge of ambulance ser-vices. He makes no attempt to hide his con-tempt for private companies in the paramedicbusiness. He has lobbied for the fire depart-ments to take over paramedic services in thecounty. He takes full advantage of everyopportunity to interfere with our ability tooperate and to generally harass us. He meetsme on my way out of the patients exam area

and gets right in my face. He screams at mefor transporting a dog in my rig and blah, blah,blah… I tell him to take it outside because theER is no place for this. He looses it thinking Ihave called him out or something. He shovesme. Adrenalin still pumping in my veins, I grabhim and start dragging him outside wishing Icould beat the crap out of him.

Steve, one of my favorite doctors followsus in an attempt to intervene. He tells me Brianisn’t worth loosing my job over. He tells Brianhe is out of line and to just go away. So for nowwe calm down, but Brian will be back.

There are two lessons I carry through lifefrom this experience. First, the bureaucraticmind is probably the one constant in the uni-verse; and second, sometimes boring is betterthan exciting. I personally have had enoughexcitement for two lifetimes.✪

David “Smitty”Smith, a retiredparamedic, works inthe EMS field inTexas, California andNevada. He instructsparamedics, nursesand doctors inadvanced cardiac lifesupport. He spent atour in the Air Forceas a security policelaw enforcement officer. Smitty has 30 years ofmartial arts experience, is a fourth degree blackbelt in Judo, holds a Bronze Medal from the 1996Senior Nationals Masters Champion-ships, andworks as an SFC instructor currently in the SanFrancisco Bay Area. (510) 261-1896.

received apologies from the editors of BB.Kary’s organization decided to advertise inour magazine after the dust settled and real-ized what the mission of the magazine wasand the type of reader we attract.

Some people find the nature of our mag-azine confusing. They ask if it’s a magazineor a fancy newsletter for W. Hock Hochheimand the Scientific Fighting Congress.

The answer is, it is a magazine on crim-inal and military close quarter combat.Inside CQCMag there are indeed two enti-ties at work. There is W. Hock Hochheim thetrainer who teaches four combat courses.There is also W. Hock Hochheim the pub-lisher of Close Quarter Combat Magazine.

You have and will continue to see allkinds of systems advertised in CQCMag

from Tae Kwon Do to Commando systems. My dream for this magazine is that it

becomes a central clearinghouse, the cen-tral focus for the advancement of CQC in allits forms. However, just because someoneadvertises with us doesn’t automaticallymean that I endorse the product or service.If we believe the subject is reasonable andattractive to a segment of our readers, wewill publish the ad.

No matter who else or what elseappears in the magazine, I will always teachthese courses. You may or may not studythem. That’s life. In the last 30 years, I havegone through all the flavors like a kid in acandy store, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino,JKD, police defensive tactics, commando...you name it. One man’s Bruce Lee is anoth-er man’s Rex Applegate, or Ed Parker, orDan Inosanto, whoever!

The older and wiser I get the more Irealize there is a truth in combat, a generic,non-denominational truth that belongs tono one country, or no one style or person.It’s about the smartest tactics for the cir-cumstances. TACTICS! The reality, the truthis in the tactics. It’s a science! The tacticsprovide common ground for all.

Nowadays, I look around and seeyounger men and woman staring in thatsame candy store window. I understandthis. It is a process of learning and this mag-azine is dedicated to the personal educationof people in this process.

Whether you spend your life in a karategi or camo fatigues, this magazine is an openinvitational to all—meant to push yourenvelope, increase your knowledge, tip youoff balance, knock you off your center-line,thinking and learning something new.

Last year JKD people called me a trai-tor. A few months back commando-typeshated me. Last winter many Filipinos dis-owned me. This week it’s the Brazilianground fighters for ram-rodding the fea-tures in this issue. Who’s next? But theycome around once we begin to talk tactics.Push your feelings aside. It’s the feelingsthat make this so confusing. The science isclear. Take off your uniform. Lets talk reali-ty. Lets talk….tactics! Now, you understandCQC Magazine.

Land-Mail Message: Hock, I just read your article “Beyond

the Mask of Killing” in the Apr/May 2001

issue. I want you to know a lot of different

thoughts went through my mind.

First: how many times have I heard

someone say “Just toastem” or “shoot first,

then ask questions!” Too many.

Second: Sometimes you have to kill.

There is no other way out. If you’re wrong,

you will always know it. If you’re right,

you will also know it.

Third: It takes a mature, smart, fast-

acting person to resolve the situation,

without deadly force, if they can.

I wanted you to know that I agree 100

percent with what you wrote. That is how

young soldiers become old soldiers. If I ever

get the chance, I would be delighted to address

any class of students on this subject.

Aim high-shoot straight and keep

everything sharp. Harry Constance, US

Navy Seal (Ret.)

Reply: Thank you sir! From a guy like you,

that means more than you know.✪

Dispatches continued from page 5


A s a martial artist, military, and/orpolice/corrections officer, most of youknow to stay alert in your everyday

environment. Notice the people aroundyou. Study general demeanor and wherethey put their hands. After a few years ofpaying attention (and nothing happeningbecause you remained alert) it’s easy tobecome complacent. Now is the time toreview basics!

For those of you who teach self-defense: students need to know how toavoid confrontation as much as they needto know how to survive it. It’s hard to avoidsome situations, but you may avoid mostsituations if they understand how to evalu-ate each set of circumstances.

And what about your mother, father,wife, kids, aunt or cousin? Would theyknow what to do to avoid an attack? Mostof my relatives and friends do not train inself-defense, and most remain unaware ofthe basic things to watch for. These are thepeople who most need this information!

Here are some tips that everyoneshould know. Share it with your family andfriends:

• Watch the hands! Everyone in lawenforcement knows this, but you cannotrepeat it enough. Unless you’re dealingwith an experienced kick boxer (not like-ly) then the hands are probably going tohurt you, either with a weapon, or emptyhand strikes. So watch the hands!

• Remain alert. Take in your surroundingsat all times. Keep track of who stands infront and behind you. How tall are they?What are they wearing? What color hairdo they have?

• When in public, walk purposefully andwith confidence. Hold your head up.Make quick eye contact with thosearound you.

• Avoid wearing shoes or clothing thatrestricts your movements.

• Trust your instincts. If you feel uncom-fortable in a place or situation, leave.

• If you feel someone watching you, switchdirections or cross the street. Walktoward an open store, restaurant, or light-ed house. If you feel scared, yell for help.

• When walking, stay with a group when-ever possible. If walking on or near aroad, face traffic so you may seeapproaching cars. Also, walk close to thecurb, away from shrubbery and otherdark places where a would-be attackermight lurk. When walking close to thecurb, watch for vans. It’s easy for them toslow down, open the side door and grabyou or your belongings, then drive awaywithout anybody seeing.

• Avoid shortcuts through wooded areas,parking lots or alleys.

• Carry belongings close to your body,preferably, instead of a purse use a fannypack, and do not flaunt expensive clothesor jewelry.

• Avoid letting a passerby distract you.Criminals sometimes work in pairs - onemay ask you for directions, fake aninjury, or beg for money - and the othermay lurk just out of sight, ready to attack.Watch your back.

• Avoid jogging or biking at night. Also con-sider NOT wearing headphones-youshould remain alert.

• When using a public phone, stay alert.Keep the call short and simple.

• If you feel threatened in an elevator, getoff at the next floor. If attacked in an ele-vator, push the alarm button and as manyfloor buttons as possible.

You can read additional tips for a varietyof situations at www.TeachersofDefense.comClicking “Safety Tips.” If you know a safety tipyou feel we should mention, please e-mail it [email protected].

Stay Aware and Alert!

Randy

Nichols

(right)

is a police

officer for the

Chicago Police

Department.✪

Stay AlertBy Randy Nichols

Citizen Self Defense League


O ther than the theme seminars suchas on the knife, or ArchipelagoCombatives, 2001’s general theme

is Combat Simulations where we workhand, stick, knife and gun combatscenarios. Remember also that eachseminar always has time allotted to workon your individual test requirements,instructor development and specialrequests.

July 20, 21, 22 Torrance area, CA West Coast Archipelago Combatives CampContact John McCurry( 562) 602-0313

July 28,Nashville area, TN Knife/Counter-Knife Instructors CourseContact Ron Goin at(615) 847-0931

July 29 Miamisburg, OHCQC SeminarContact Brandt at(937) 866-4879

August 4, 5 Austin, TXSpecial SDMS, plus Hand to Hand andKnife CombativesContact Dean Goldade(512) 218-9646

August 11, 12 Norfolk, VA3rd Annual Knife Combatives Summit

Contact Dwight McLemore( 757) 890-2228

August 18, 19 San Diego, CACQC Hand, Stick, Knife and Gun CombatSimulations CampContact Trent Suzuki.(888) 400-2074

September 5th, Huntsville, ALKnife/Counter-Knife clinics and coursecontinues. Contact JR Reynolds(256) 379-4022

September 8, 9 Monterey, MexicoCQC Seminar. Contact Rodrigo [email protected] or0052-88-12-12-93

September 15, 16 US Naval Academy, MDClose Quarter Combatives for military &police.Contact Hock for civilian invites(706) 866-2656

September 22, 23 Vero Beach, FLCQC Combat Simulations Seminar, withSteve Vaughn, Contact school host David Roth at(561) 563-9333

Sept. 28-30 Des Moines, IAUnited State Knife/Counter-Knife Summit. Contact Police Chief Mike Gillette [email protected]

For more information about future seminars and dates see www.HocksCQC.com or call (706) 866-2656.

HOCK’S SUMMER 2001HAND, STICK, KNIFE, GUN

CQC SEMINARS


W e’ve made a few changes to our masthead this issue at the insistence of our distrib-utor. They feel the changes were necessary to make it easier for our readers to findon the newsstand. Had to twist Hock’s arm to gain the use of his name. Those who

know him well will understand just how much effort it took. However, he insists he willnot appear on the cover of CQC magazine until it’s 10th anniversary.

Police Chief Mike Gillette has accepted an offer to become-The Director of Trainingat the prestigious National Law Enforcement and Security Institute in Des Moines, IA.Gillette will oversee a staff that trains police and security officers, military and citizens. Hewill resign as police chief and take up his new position in July. He will continue to keep hishands in real world action. Already Gillette has developed connections with area agenciesto work on their SWAT teams or perform reserve or part-time police duties. We will con-tinue to feature Gillette in CQCMag. This month he premiers his talk forum called “TheTraining Room” on our webpage www.HocksCQC.com. Check it out!

Tom Pierce of Atlanta area, GA now teaches at Pil Sung Martial Arts Academy, 1795Pilgrim Mill Rd., Cumming, GA. For more information about his classes call (770) 844-788.

Lisa Blanks-Ellis leaves our staff this issue to become a mother. While we hate to see her go, we are excited about her future plans. With equal excitement, we welcomeSophie Trikosko Dicks to our staff. Her talent, skill and experience are apparent even inthis her first effort.✪

State of the Union“THE BUSINESS AND NEWS OF SFC MEMBERSHIP”

By Jane Eden

OVERALL RANK LEVELSHock is a recognized 10th Dan Grandmaster/Founder by one of thelargest martial arts Grandmaster groups in the world – The WorldGlobal Alliance, as well as other national and international organi-zations. All rank achieved through the Scientific Fighting Congressis respected and recognized. If you are interested in rank andinstructorships, each course exists in a separate progression somematerial overlaps and cross training is an option. You may work inone area or all areas.

Hand to Hand – Level 1-10Archipelago Combat – Level 1-10Knife Counter-Knife – Level 1-10Dos Manos System – Level 1, 2, 3 (plus instructorships)(Additional Dan Black Belt and Master Levels available)

(Theme videos that focus on individual skills available in the

Knife Counter-Knife System).

American Combat Kempo (ACK). Hock also empowers you with anAmerican Combat Kempo rank. ACK is a secondary, “support” rankand alternative option/title to the Hand-to-Hand Combat program.The material is the same, but you may choose to teach it in theframework of a Karate-type class, to enhance your business suc-cess. Convert appropriate material into a lucrative kid’s class. AnACK rank comes free with each H-to-H rank.

SFC Instructor Levels

1) Class Organizer - leads official workout groups to developskill

2) Basic Instructor 3) Advanced Instructor 4) Black Belt Degree Instructors

Basic and advanced instructors are not Black Belts but may teachand promote their students up to one rank under their rank. BlackBelts may become instructors upon request. A one-time $50 fee forBasic; and $50 for Advanced Instructorships. Basic Instructorshipsstart at Level 5.

Must Instructors Teach only Congress Material?

NO! You are free to do as you wish. Some Congress instructors...1) Exclusively teach Congress material.2) Run Congress courses in their school or other

schools.3) Mix Congress material into their existing

program. 4) Lease time in schools, gyms, rec cen-

ters, etc.5) Use their backyards and garages.6) Travel and develop their own semi-

nar circuit. 7) Are instructors involved in other

famous courses.

HOW DO I TRAIN?The SF Congress has members in 20 different countries that trainand/or network thru Close Quarter Combat Magazine; with over75 instructors and even more class organizers with whom you maytrain. Hock travels to more than 30 states and overseas severaltimes each year. Train...

1) With Congress area instructors and organizers.2) With Hock in seminars, camps, privates and semi-privates.3) To acquire the rank and theme videos, the books and

manuals.4) And test for the first 3 levels by home/video testing.

Hock offers two full day private training sessions in your areabefore or after the seminars. This includes any rank and instruc-torship fees you achieve. You need a workout partner. Weekdaysare best!

1) $1,200 for one person (you need a “stuntman” to work with)2) $850 for two more interested people (per person)3) $2,000 for a group of 10 or more (plus expenses)

Host a seminar? There are several programs available. Base yourplan on a minimum of 25 or more people and it can happen any-where! Call Hock for details.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?It’s simple. Just order the first level of any of the four courses.

• Hand to Hand• Knife/Counter Knife• Archipelago Combatives• Dos Manos System (DMS)

or start with The Foundation – The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia

The CLOSE QUARTER COMBATIVE GROUPYou may progress in separate programs or cross-train in all.Remember, courses are based upon the essence of combat, andsome material overlaps. If you rank in all three courses, you beginto amass certification in the CQC-Group, an elite insider group withspecial expertise in the Congress.

JOIN THE SFC THROUGH MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS.Program 1: U.S. residents $30. Canadian residents $50.

Outside the U.S. and Canada residents $70. This one-year membership connects you with a special group

of police officers, military, martial artists andaware civilians, and entitles you to the bi-

monthly publication Close Quarter Combat

Magazine.

Program 2: Visit the webpage or askabout special video purchase packagesthat include membership and magazine.

Rank Training



HAND TO HAND COMBAT

____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 1 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 2 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 3____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 4____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 5____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 6____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 7 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 9 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 10:

The Black Belt Test____ Ground Zero! Ground Kick Fighting____ Unarmed Combatives Solo Command

and MasteryLevel 8 under production

ARCHIPELAGO COMBATIVES

____ Level 1 Study Progression____ Level 2 Study Progression____ Level 3 Study Progression____ Level 4 Study Progression____ Level 5 Study Progression____ Level 6 Study Progression____ Level 7 Study Progression____ Double Cane Studies

KNIFE COMBATIVES VIDEOS

____ Level 1,2,3: Journeyman Series(2 hrs) $49.95

____ Level 4, 5, 6: Tradesman Series(2 hrs) $49.95

Levels 7, 8, 9, 10 under production

KNIFE THEME VIDEOS

____ Knife Showdown! Dueling / Fencing /Sparring

____ Knife Trapping Hands____ Knife “Combat the Mad Rush Attack”____ Knife “Combat the Torso Stab Attack”____ “Sinawali” and “Alleycat” Knife Fighter

Systems____ Chain of the Knife System____ “Do or Die!” Unarmed vs. the Knife____ Tactical Folder for Handgun Retention

(New!)____ Knife Command and Mastery: Solo

Practice Methods (New!)____ In the Clutches of (New!)

SDMS: CLOSE QUARTER STICK GRAP-

PLING/FIGHTING

____ DMS 1: DMS Strikes, Blocks and Drills____ DMS 2: DMS Combat Scenarios____ DMS 3: DMS Ground Fighting, the Push,

Pull and Turn Series

TRAINING MANUALS

(Purchase only if you work actively in the system orhave videos to which you may refer.)____ The Hand-to-Hand Combat Course $25

plus $6 postage____ The Filipino Combatives Course $25

plus $6 postage____ The Knife Combatives Course $25

plus $6 postage

S.F. CONGRESS VIDEO, BOOK & CLOTHING SUPPLY CATALOG

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________

CITY: __________________________________________________________________

STATE: _______ ZIP: _______________ PHONE: _____________________________

CREDIT CARD TYPE: ____________________________________________________

CARD NO.: _____________________________________________________________

EXP: _______________________

Subtotal _______________

Plus Postage _______________

Total: _______________

____ SDMS Combatives Course $25 plus $6 postage

BOOKS (bookstore quality, oversized

paperbacks)

____ The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia Vol. 1:

The Foundation. 1,000 how-to photos $39.95 plus $6 postage

____ The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia Vol. 2:

Military Knife Combat. 205 pages, 187how-to photos $25 plus $6 postage

T-SHIRTS

____ Congress Logo T-Shirts. Shirts are darkblue with gold Congress logo. $25 plus$2.50 postage

____ Congress Logo Sleeveless T-Shirts. Black.Not a tank top. $25 plus 2.50 postage

____ Close Quarter Combatives T-Shirts.Military OD Greenwith Close QuarterCombat inscription. $25 plus $2.50postage (most popular!)

____ SDMS Combatives T-Shirts. Stone. SDMSInscription. $25 plus $2.50 postage

TRAINING KNIVES

_____ Official Congress MetalTraining Knife “The Big Belly”Fixed Blade with Congresslogo on blade. $29.95 plus $5postage

_____ Official Congress MetalTraining Knife “The Normal”Fixed Blade with Congress logoon blade. $29.95 plus $5 postage

_____ Official Congress Metal TrainingKnife “The Combat FolderSimulator,” Congress logo onblade. $29.95 plus $5 postage

CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINE

(Back issues are $10, $2 postage. One year subscription $39.95)____ CQCMAG Back Issues

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7(circle one)

* CQC Magazine and SFC membership $39.95

* Canadian subscription/membership $59.95

* Overseas subscription/membership $79.95 (Membership certificates available uponrequest)

ORDER SPECS

* Add an additional $3 postage per item forCanadian and International orders.

* We accept MC/Visa/Discover/AmExpress,money order or personal checks.

* Payable to: Lauric Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box5372, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742, or call(706) 866-2656 or fax order to (706) 866-2657

All videos are $30 each with $6

postage and handling, except for

the two special 2-hour knife videos

listed on this page as $49.95

Prices expire November 1, 2001. Order now!

LAURIC ENTERPRISES, Inc.P.O. Box 5372, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID

CLEVELAND, TNPERMIT #30

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