Caution: The contents of this article are for education purposes only. The principles described are extremely dangerous and are for military close combat training and operations only. Their application applies solely to the military.
The truth and hard facts when it comes to gender and sexual violence based on the work of a military CQB master instructor and leading self-protection expert.
Sexual assault in the sexual predator’s environment
There should be no differential in skills for gender if it is the most proven and effective options that are being offered to deal with serious threat level violence. If they are the most proven and effective options then they should be the same option regardless of gender period.
When you cover the most proven and effective option in military close combat that often means armed employments. This is where civilian self-protection and military self- protection options usually become very different in the method, means and force levels. Stealth, surprise and overwhelming firepower combined with every tactic and dirty trick to get a quick terminal conclusion are the norm for military close quarters encounters combined with total and ruthless controlled aggression and commitment.
Civilian self-defence is normally a very different set of rules and options. The element of surprise advantage is normally lessened or lost and having massive firepower is not the norm with attackers picking their targets, as well as the place of attack, and ensuring their target appears far from formidable. The law of the land can play a big part in the decent citizen’s means of self-protection and can restrict their ability by considerable.
While the employment of defensive improvised weapons is a real advantage in any self-defence situation this column is mainly to cover the all too common reality of being unarmed against your attacker.
Military combative systems provide primary, secondary and emergency options, just like navigating by GPS, compass or by non-equipment assisted navigation. This defensive tactics file primarily covers the unarmed primary options but your highly ranked military qualified instructor would also include secondary and emergency options as part of a ‘hands on’ training package.
In an unarmed self-defence situation it should be the best of battle proven primary options that is employed regardless of gender. There are exceptions to this rule like assaults on children or disabled persons where there is no way they have the ability or capability to defend themselves unarmed against a capable determined adult attacker. These situations require individual and threat specific options and also to a great extent rely on everything turning out right and public intervention.
For example a small child is not going to be able to out grapple or strike a fully grown determined attacker and must rely on sound tactics to avoid, evade and escape as well as calling for assistance. Gaining distance and ensuring the attack takes too much time and creates too much attention to be practical for the offender makes a lot more sense than trying to fight off an attacker that they probably can’t beat. Using the natural attributes of being small and fast as the primary means to get away makes a lot more sense.
In a captured or cornered threat situation stamping out with the child’s longest limb, the leg, at the attacker’s closest limb, their forward leg, while bringing attention to themselves and their situation is the situational common sense option.
Finally to reduce the risk of being lifted or moved in an abduction attempt when caught and cornered, dropping to the ground and propping and stamping out at their upright attacker while bringing attention to themselves and their situation would be the best option in this bad situation to make themselves a hard target and buy time and summon assistance.
But taking their fully-grown attacker on with some traditional based self-defence techniques is down right stupidity. The reality is the safest option is to escape or buy time and summon assistance to prevent the attack or abduction.
If counter attack has become the requirement to stop the abduction or assault, the stamping kicks offer the greatest level of practical safety and effect and even if they don’t incapacitate the attacker, which there is a good chance will be the case, they can keep the attacker at bay and will make the attack more difficult, time consuming, and bring unwanted attention to the situation for the attacker.
Even the verbiage used to attract attention is something that must have been drilled and be the most proven words to ensure the general population are immediately made aware and convinced this is a real abduction, not a naughty child.
However for an able and willing adult regardless of gender, primary proven skills accurately and effectively employed provide the best chance and means of winning not merely surviving.
Primary proven self defence options based on military unarmed combat are very much a military science in that they have been developed, tested and adopted to combat the threat in the best, simplest and safest manner for the proponent.
The military science aspects include the following considerations in unarmed combat, the situation, the threat, the medical aspects in regards to methods of target destruction, and the required physical attributes to destroy the target and neutralize the threat. Always presuming the enemy, or in this case attacker, is bigger, stronger, more highly skilled, armed and bent on killing you, will ensure you never underestimate the attacker or possible threat and enforces the reality of the fact that there is only room for best of battle proven.
Neutralise meaning whatever option or level of force that is deemed applicable and in relation to the laws of self-defence to achieve the required objective.
This could be to disarm or disable your attacker or in life or death situations dispose of the threat depending on the individual attacker or attackers involved and threat and situation.
Some situations may well be able to be neutralized by controlling and restraining or containing the attacker while others may require skills to incapacitate the attacker and in life threatening violent threat situations employing lethal options as in kill or get killed options may be a reality.
The threat level I will cover in this file is where the potential victim is faced with a medium to high risk threat to their personal safety and where they can’t escape the threat and must counter it to incapacitate over eliminate the threat.
For this file the presumption will be that the intended victim is a slight to medium built female that is prepared to fight for her life employing the primary proven options to do so. The skills are not only the primary options for a female but they are also the same for a male, as they are the best of battle proven in unarmed options. The best of battle proven has been determined by research, development and testing in the training wing and in the field ultimately in high risk combat employments.
The master instructor who heads research development and testing has a full range of resources at his disposal ranging from medial personnel to veterans and current operators as well as physical training instructors and psych’s.
The time frame to develop skills that are in the primary and battle proven category is considerable and must be to identify and select any said option as the best.
The research and development includes considerable interviewing of not only the (victor operators) but also victims as to how, why, when, what, and most importantly the human factor or faults.
I have been working on an anti-rape and counter-rape package for many years when time allows away from my CQB work.
This package has involved thousands of man hours interviewing victims and researching real life violence as well as communicating with enforcement personnel and support people that have had to deal with sexual violence combined with developing trialling and testing of my physical principles and skills.
I have interviewed victims of sexual violence as well as prostitutes individually and as a collective group to determine common methods or means used by sexual offenders that they have experienced first hand.
To effectively instruct how to counter such threats you have to be able to think like the bad guy and to have experienced and been privy to violence first hand and be used to the darker aspects of life is a major advantage. This background really provides an understanding, awareness and knowledge that is a real advantage and can’t be learnt better any other way than in real life.
Sexual violence is simply a form of violence where the objective is of a sexual nature for the attacker. Like a knife is to stab or slash, or a fist is to punch, and a bat is to bludgeon.
Sexual violence, or rape as it is usually titled, should never be considered undefeatable, as it is like any other threat type counter or combatable with the correct skills and commitment in most situations
Prevention by early situation recognition and avoidance is the first thing that should be instructed. Operation education as I call it, teaches your exponents how the predator thinks and works and what to look out for and avoid.
Next we make them hard targets and enforce the importance of advance planning to reduce risk. The danger of threat perception over careful threat assessment is something that my courses detail to ensure paranoia and panic does not create a problem or make a problem worse.
Going tactical and not over reacting or not under reacting in an action’s on situation is carefully detailed addressing the likely outcomes of such actions or reactions. The covert verses overt approaches are explained so exponents on courses are well aware of likely outcomes as well as advantages and dangers.
Provision of all the necessary tactics to avoid or escape a situation as early and as safely as possible are extensively detailed.
If you are aware of danger areas and danger signs and know how to recognize them early, and tactically and covertly avoid them, your safety is increased to the highest humanly possible level in such a situation.
Some basic principles that are instructed include the importance of controlling distance, safe positioning, footwork, balance maintenance and having an affinity with the ground, controlling emotions and adrenalin, remaining focused and alert to not only the direct threat but also peripheral threats and most importantly going tactical, not confrontational, are all vital factors in such self protection.
The 6 P’s: Planning, preparation, and practice to avoid pretty poor performance are critical as it is too late once you are faced with the threat to wish you had done your home work. The CQB version ends with piss poor performance.
Such proven training is the best insurance when faced with such a threat. I remember as Charlie Nelson would tell us, “there is no such thing as traditional mugging or rape and traditional methods were not made to combat such unconventional violent and explicit threats.”
Many of the people I met in the United States in the 80s and 90s when I was training and instructing there were Eastern students who had trained in martial arts in their home land and realized that they needed very different training to make themselves safer in the big US cities.
They all said the same in that they felt vulnerable and realized this was a very different place and people when it came to street violence. They couldn’t understand in many circumstances why so many western people were training in traditional eastern arts for self-defence that would not give them the best answers to western violence. This type of threat requires unconventional specific tactically correct, controlled, non-emotive aggression to win, not merely survive.
We live in the most violent times where violence is not acceptable, that is for the decent responsible citizen. We are expected to deal with violent criminals without weapons or without using excessive force.
Bearing this in mind and taking into account that every time one has to resort to physical skills there is the likelihood of injury or worse, not to mention prosecution. The best and safest priority is to arm yourself with knowledge that provides high levels of planning to avoid potential threat situations by early recognition and removing yourself from a potential situation before it unfolds.
Always remember that sexual predators know how to deal with their victim to take away their ability and capabilities to fight back. They realize that most females will try and eye gouge or scratch their eyes and that they will try and knee them in the groin. Its common knowledge that they will have been told, taught or exposed to such methods.
These methods are so easy for the sexual predator to prevent by seizing his victim’s arms and all and changing his posture to use his forward leg to cover his groin. These are as much natural methods of self-protection for the sexual attacker as trained methods.
I have had people approach me for training that have been taught to reverse punch to combat a rape situation or front or roundhouse kick. The people that teach them such dangerous and flawed methods to combat sexual violence should be ashamed of themselves in my professional and personal opinion. They obviously have never walked the walk and faced serious violence personally or aren’t aware of the modus operandi of the sexual predator.
I find it difficult to believe that these people are so stupid that they can’t see that what they are doing won’t work for the vulnerable and is dangerous and irresponsible.
De-escalation or methods of outsmarting your attacker prior to any physical encounter may be required skills. Employing every practice to reduce risk and never incite or escalate the situation is a priority.
Remember sticks and stones, this is very true, and words will not wound or kill you and should never be allowed to get to you.
Most attackers are very predictable and you should use your brains to out smart them and control the situation once again in the words of the late Charlie Nelson, “Use your brains to outsmart the bad guy, don’t get them rattled.”
It will be evident what they want and how they are intending to go about getting it by their demeanour, the situation itself, their demands and you must draw on your proven tactics to safely and effectively deal with the situation.
Speech slows your reaction time so maintaining silence is an advantage that can also maintain your element of surprise to some degree and reduce escalation by verbiage. Remaining silent can also present you as a grey anomaly and may act as a threat deterrent or termination measure.
This can be achieved by simply remaining ready and focused in a neutral status where your attacker can become confused as to why you are not acting or reacting in the expected manner under the situation and they may start to self doubt. The self doubt may include they think your armed or highly trained or have alerted assistance.
One of the difficulties or dangers for law enforcement personnel for example is that officers have to converse with suspects and this slows their reaction time down should the suspect attack. If you don’t have to go verbal and there’s no advantage then don’t.
There may be times in a sexual assault that cool calm calculated communication is the best aid to achieve your objective especially when there is not a likelihood of escape or assistance. This once again is a tactic that is deemed the best and most proven to reduce risk and increase your combative chance of achieving your objective.
If verbiage is the best option it can be used to buy time or set up the optimum position status and timing to launch a counter offensive. A calm head will be able to establish the nature of the situation and how best and when best to combat it and verbiage may aid in this process.
Think before you open your mouth and say the wrong thing and when you do, speak slowly and clearly in a confident manner but not in a manner that may be demeaning or come across as authoritarian and cause your attacker to go on the offensive, do not be condescending or over sympathetic as this defies human nature and could escalate the situation.
Try and offer them a way out that is reasonable under the circumstances.
There are many considerations that you must go over prior to employing counter measures and this process in itself is very proactive and also acts as a means of occupying your mind with the important check assessments and decision making over allowing your thought to wander into self doubt or anticipation.
It’s not the perceived threat you need to determine it’s the actual threat.
Assessment checks, tactics, remaining ready are principles that allow you to deal with the threat or changes in threat or situation as safely and effectively as humanly possible.
The first physical skill we are going to look at once the avoidance or escape aspects have been taken from you or may not be applicable is prevention, initially in a low to medium risk threat in a public place or social setting (low risk) or possible nuisance type threat.
The old cold demeanour or direct verbal and a ready posture as well as definite deterrent hand signals including a neutral facial expression especially if you are receiving unwanted attention in the presence of others may well stop a potential later situation if you ended up alone with the threat.
Stay in control and make everything you do a definite required tactic principle or skills to achieve your objective. Move away from the situation if it does not move away from you and ensure you have people around you.
This hard targeting in the safety of others can be the difference between the reality of later ugly events and never knowing or experiencing such an unfortunate situation.
Remember calculated sexual predators or even a drug or alcohol affected individual with lowered inhibitions and a lack of control and after sex can use charm, bait and promises to get their victim where they want them to be.
The reality of being able to effectively evaluate a person on first meeting and know their intentions is very low and unlikely. The best option is to air on the side of caution, common sense and take precautions not to be separated from your party and end up alone with a stranger (stranger danger). Simply by staying with your party and taking time to get to know people over time you will all but eliminate the stranger danger risk.
The reality is the sexual type offender you may meet out socially is not likely to be a sexual predator and is more likely to be under the influence of alcohol and or drugs and not in control through such a status. That’s not to say he is not a sexual threat but is another category of sexual threat.
Sexual predators are unlikely to identify themselves in the company of others socially. Make sure you know details about people before entrusting them with your personal safety.
Know their name where they live their friends and family and by knowing this and taking the time to get to know them the chance of a sexual assault like that of a sexual predator will be virtually eliminated.
Careful situational assessment and sound decision making in a high-risk sexual threat situation where the ability of escape has been taken from you is essential.
Picking the right time to initiate your counter measures is critical and can only be determined on the specific situation by the individual at the time with all the facts brutally in their face.
To be in a situation to be able to assess decide and execute an effective counter offensive will be a reality based on two things, prior proven training and inner resolve, plus of course everything going to plan, or turning out the way you want it to.
The timing to execute your counter offensive option will be based on specific considerations such as your physical abilities against your attacker’s physical abilities the best time in relation to the likely stages of the attack to achieve your objective and the means you have at your disposal.
The military CQB skills that the Todd systems comprise of promote the use of the human senses in situations where you may have to rely on them because of your situation like in the dark or when you are injured or your vision is impaired.
The sense of touch may well be your best method of target recognition and location for example in a night environment.
Correct decision making is vital like if you do not think you can stamp kick your attacker’s knee joint out from medium to close range to prevent a close quarter clinch then you may have to wait until you can execute a close range stamp kick from the clinch. (Close quarter bodily contact range)
The reason why traditional or competitive kicks are not primary options in such close combat or self protection situations is that they can’t be executed effectively in the close quarters clinch in a toilet cubical or telephone booth and as such not worth even considering.
Kicks that sweep or merely contact with muscle mass against a much bigger and determined attacker could make the situation far worse for you when they fail and as such escalate the situation.
Prevention is always preferred over counter and if you can control distance and prevent any clinch then you reduce the risk of sexual close contact or decentralization and being sexually assaulted.
Simply, if it is a safe and practical option for the said victim in the said situation then knowing how to control the correct distance maintain a ready position and stability and employ an effective unarmed offensive, evasion and counter offensive or if not applicable stationary self cover from where you can prevent the initial grasp or attack attempt and deliver an incapacitating stamp kick to decentralize your attacker and take out his knee joint is a must.
In some situations the counter offence is offence, like when you are backed up to a solid backdrop and your attacker is closing in on you and your escape route.
Proven human reactionary self-protection is a natural logical continuation of natural human reaction to shock or aggressive action and it does not promote the employment of unrealistic practices such as polish on polish off single technique blocks.
The reality is you can train in techniques all your life but when the bang goes off or you are exposed to a flash of aggressive movement or colour, your human instincts and reactions kick in and take charge.
I have trained thousands of combatants that have joined the services because they have the interest and commitment in such a profession. Many of them have trained in many different fighting arts before signing up and they all come to the same conclusion after facing real threats. They say their prior training simply is not for combat as the practices go against human instincts of fight and flight or natural reactions to violent sudden shock action.
I have been told we may enjoy our traditional or competitive practices outside the forces but when we put it to the vote as to our combative training you get 100% vote count every time to instruct us in what is military battle proven and tactically correct. This is because they are highly trained and motivated people that know the difference between the best and the rest.
If you have trained for, and with your human instincts in mind, and not against them then you have a real advantage, as your counter measures will be in tune with your human reactions and will be a natural progression and your decision making and execution time will be decreased.
You will also have muscle memory from the human reaction position that you have no control over which will be a natural launch position for your tactically and situationally correct and best of battle proven counter offensive measures.
Then there are the considerations of if you are carrying an injury that prevents stamp kicks or clothing or foot wear that reduce or restrict your chances of achieving your objective with such kicks or you simply don’t have the physical capabilities in comparison to your attacker or the confidence to execute such timing and range related skills.
If you decide that waiting until you are in bodily contact with your sexual attacker would be a better time period and option for you to exploit him when he is most vulnerable and distracted then so be it and your situational planning preparation and bodily placement must be geared towards this.
This is one of the positives of common sexual violence as far as counter offensive goes; most attackers will want to have close bodily contact with their victim over striking or kicking their victim. This allows for the said victim to be able to position and wait for the optimum time to go on the counter offensive. You can then secure your attacker in what appears to be a natural embrace (covert or masked seize and destroy)
My course has taken my seize and destroy military close combat skills and has modified the grasp positions to incorporate fake natural embrace hand positioning that provides covert counter offence positioning.
Primary option, post seizing and securing your attacker is to destroy their knee joint decentralizing them and taking away their ability to chase with your boots (primary option) or for specific situations where upper quadrant targets are the best option with your bare hands (secondary option) or the aid of an improvised weapon (situational option) Remember range plus skill and commitment equals your best combative chance of success and over kill is essential.
Target the seized and secured attacker’s chosen vital multiple times if applicable to reduce the likelihood of recovery and employ skills prior to escape to prevent any chase like stomping on the knee and ankle joint or Achilles tendon of your decentralized attacker. Break everything.
Do not attempt to employ multiple attacks to any target that is being protected against such attacks and your initial attack has not been effective.
The best option is to identify another exposed vulnerable vital and target it.
Seizing and destroying bodily targets using an improvised weapon with an object that is made from some thing that is tougher and harder than human natural weapons and won’t be injured in the process is a real advantage.
Make sure that the improvised weapon is robust enough to achieve the objective and employ it covertly so the first thing the attacker knows of the improvised weapon is the result it has achieved.
Many of the females I have interviewed or trained have stated they would much rather use an implement to attack than their bare hands as it strikes them as less personal and a psychologically easier option and more effective.
To incapacitate an attacker you need to prevent his ability to achieve his objectives when your unarmed with primarily your sole of your boot or in specific situations your bare hands and if available improvised weapons to target human delicate senses, life support vitals or means of maintaining stability or being able to chase.
Unarmeds most effective offensive option – stamp kicks
Secondary unarmed upper quadrant offensive option
Be aware motivated goal driven attackers will be situationally alert and aware and will do what ever to stop your counter offensive efforts.
This is why stamp kicks are the best option for serious threat violence including sexual violence, as they are a gross motor skill that is more difficult to identify and prevent.
They may be able to control your arms and protect their groin but you have your legs and they are like a tree waiting to be cut down.
In a clinch embrace you can use your sense of touch with the arch of your foot and or toes to follow the shin and then drive a stamp kick at the knee joint and down onto the instep of the foot.
Be prepared if taken by surprise and find yourself being lifted, pushed, pulled, dragged tackled to go into self preservation with as soon as practical and possible resistance and regaining control of your situation and balance prior to going on the counter offensive.
Having been taught methods that are based on real life threats and how to employ natural human reactions against such actions will ensure you get yourself into the ready position to employ your tactically correct counter offensive quickly quietly and in a controlled aggressive manner.
The practice you do in training rehearsals will prepare you for the real life situations and will include methods for in a dwelling, vehicle, car park and in the street or a field or woodland environment.
Very different to a studio environment where safety is the priority
Urban environments provide opportunities for sexual assault
The Todd anti and counter rape programme walks exponents step by step through the realities of real life sexual assault scenarios complete with prop’s and practical settings that enable practical handling exercises, to be very realistic.
This controlled environment and very specialist training package allows for gradual learning and control of intensity in training. The end result is the most realistic and relevant training to best prepare the exponent to combat such threats.
The entire environment is controlled to ensure it is as safe as possible and the highest standards of professionalism are maintained. Intensity is only increased with proficiency.
The higher the stress level the lower the skill level and reaction time and any fancy dancy techniques could get you raped and killed as they are less than proven or guaranteed for sport or hobby practice and far less than proven or effective for real life serious threats like sexual violence or combat.
Use your powers of thought and consideration as to how often in tournaments do participants get incapacitated and seriously injured or killed how often do techniques fail against a ready opponent.
Now magnify this by 100 fold where your attacker will do anything and everything to achieve his objectives and there are no rules judges or referees and where the environment is foreign and presents dangers itself and you will soon see that you require far more than what most, wrongly consider self defence techniques.
Ask yourself out of the tens of thousands of practitioners and competitors at full contact tournaments annually in every country what are the percentages of opponent incapacitation over no injury effect results.
The testicles can be seized in one hand and the penis in the other and torn violently apart to incapacitate and such injuries if employed with full force ruthlessly can be fatal, but need to be taught the best and safest execution for dire situations.
Likewise seizing the scrotum and using an unarmed or improvised weapon option to incapacitate can be very effective, in the right situation and utilizing correct skills and timing of execution.
The Todd Systems provide clear and precise information on the male genitals and the effects of arousal that make this target more difficult to seize and destroy. Most courses the exponents say never covered the important facts such as changes in target through situation etc like the Todd systems do. We cover the medical aspects in required force percentages to achieve objective to increase confidence in the individual ability to win against the odds.
Remember range, skill, commitment, multiple controlled aggressive action executions and be ruthless, no time for conscience or a weak stomach.
The reality is the most proven and universal unarmed counter offensive is the stamp kick on or below the knee joint however I have outlined attacks to other vitals with your bare hands so that you understand there are other options at your disposal especially if you are in an upright clinch or grapple situation on the ground where by your position and the position of your attacker stamp kicks are not applicable but using your bare hands or improvised weapons are.
Dire situations require the best and most proven skills
Ground executed stamp kicks are also instructed as well as a full range of anti abduction counter measures from up right and on the ground. The thing with sexual violence is that it is based on sex and how to achieve sexual satisfaction without consent and against resistance.
There are positions and methods that make non-consensual sex, where resistance is a factor, easier for the sexual predator that you must be taught how to combat in your counter rape training.
The use of weapons by your attacker to control, threaten and subdue require specific consideration as to the primary time to employ your disarming counter offensive and may require you to use verbiage to get your attacker to dispense with the weapon or drop his guard because you have lolled him into the belief that you will not resist.
Say whatever you have to in order to achieve your objectives, the better you can lie and convince your attacker that your not only telling the truth but mean every word of it the easier you will make your preparation to counter attack.
There are also situations from standing kneeling and lying where the sexual attacker can achieve his objective easier and there are ways that your clothing can be adjusted to make you more exposed and or restricted and more vulnerable to being raped.
Bed linen in a rape situation in the home can also be used to restrict and control you in a position that exposes you to rape.
Ligatures are another tool of the sexual predator and you need to have been taught how and when is best to defeat such a device in a sexual assault. The very methods I instruct soldiers to counter a garrotte are employed to counter such ligatures and breathing methods for when gagged or your head is covered are also instructed.
Control of every aspect of your physical and psychological self to remain ready and able and not let phobias or the threat overwhelm you are crucial aspects of the training.
Your immediate surroundings and environment can be used against you and it is important that you have assessed your immediate surroundings for likely dangers or improvised weapons and escape routes.
Many rapes happen in parks and wooded areas where the terrain can be used against you. You can be positioned over trees stumps, park benches, at the edge of drops where you can not safely move forward.
Remember sexual predators have put thought and planning into how they are going to achieve their objective and there usually won’t be anyone likely to come to your aid.
The distress alarm is unlikely to attract anyone into the secluded chosen environment of the sexual predator but it may get you killed for activating it in such an isolated place that is once the attacker has destroyed it. Burglar alarms today hardly get any attention let alone a panic alarm coming from who knows where.
Although the thought of sexual violence is terrifying to you remember it’s not like being stabbed or bludgeoned or beaten up with fists and boots with no time to put a counter offensive in place.
The aim is sexual satisfaction and this requires situation circumstance time and cooperation to achieve and you can make all the previous work for you if you can stay ready and are willing to do what you would normally consider unthinkable and sickening to your stomach.
Many of the victims I have spoken with have shown a real major concern for contracting AIDS or some other STD from such a sexual attack.
While this may be a common concern the reality is the most important thing is to ensure sexual penetration never happens by preventing it with a sound counter offence.
There are real concerns in any rape situation by a sexual predator where he does not attempt to protect his identity and may have rape and murder as his modus operandi and this situation from the outside should ring alarm bells.
There is no doubt in these high tech times of DNA that a sexual predator must be aware of being identified and caught by bodily fluids and trace evidence and this even makes the need to end the attack before it eventuates more crucial as his intentions may not stop at rape.
I have observed women’s only self-defence training that defies common sense and is down right dangerous and irresponsible. Not only instructing dangerous skills but also rather than advising their students to avoid an unknown situation like a wolf whistler or the like but telling them to get into his face and abuse him. I have no idea why you would tell anyone to move into the space of an unknown subject and hurdle abuse.
Then there was the very important gathering of evidence during the attack and saving it by rubbing it on their clothing, take some snot from the nose I believe was the instruction and rub it on your sweater – dangerous, stupid, risky.
I have heard these so called self credentialed women’s self defence experts calling victims of sexual violence that have clearly done nothing to save themselves and preserve their pride and dignity, survivors when they have lost by accepting they will be raped.
It’s win or lose and if the rapist wanted to kill his victim he could have. He wanted sex and got what he wanted, he won and the victim that did nothing but accept their fate was to be raped lost.
There are situations where by bad judgment or the very nature of the situation (extreme high risk) that risk reduction over counter offence is the best option.
Like when entrapped in a gang-fortified premise or in a completely isolated environment where escape is not a reality at the immediate time.
But for most sexual violence situations where the option to employ sound counter offensive skills is a reality then to do everything to win and be able to know you never quit and done everything possible to prevent the attack and reduce the risk is important for you to maintain your dignity and self respect as well as emotional stability post attack, not to mention prevent the possible physical risks and injuries.
These over night self defence experts that have never been highly trained and tested up to instructor rank and status aren’t fooling anyone with any common sense when they call a victim of a sexual assault that did nothing to save themselves a survivor. When the victim lies in their bed in the dark of night and can’t sleep and reflects how their situation might have been very different if they had made the decision to fight to win the survivor mantle seems worthless.
They know they were the loser and that the rapist won, getting what he wanted without any resistance because his mark was easy.
The facts are hard and hurtful but why water down or soften the reality when its black and white, plain and simple you either do or don’t fight to win not merely survive as a victim.
I have no respect for anyone that provides the needy with false hopes or anything but the best and most proven tactics skills and principles and I think they should be made accountable.
How can you be a master builder without being a builder first and an apprentice prior to that and the same should be for being an instructor of self-defence.
There are building codes that promote safety practices and methods of construction standard practices that are the best options and so it should be for self-protection.
The problem is there isn’t a civilian agency with the expertise to determine such requirements or a standard enforced and if there were there would be very few instructors still in business.
Both the police and defence lawyers in serious violent cases including murder have utilized my knowledge and that is because I have spent my working lifetime in my professional training the elite of elite and the responsible citizens and have the credentials, expertise, and service that is required to be a subject matter expert.
I have had to train, test and prove myself to be qualified under the expert instruction of the pioneer and current military armed and unarmed combat experts but then anyone can call themselves an instructor with no such lineage or qualifications or record of service.
It’s a down right injustice and severe danger to the safety of those that are the most in need of the best possible training.
These “I hate all men” types that become an instructor in a flash under the tutorage of an individual with little or no credible qualification in close combat or proven self defence and no instructor service record are down right dangerous, the only motive for being an instructor must be out of a professional duty of care and without any alternate agendas.
There are also many martial arts instructors that instruct women’s self-defence based on the traditional or sporting arts that they practice that provide very ineffective and risky techniques to counter sexual violence that are far from the best and safest means to achieve the objective for an underdog up against the odds.
The reality is children have black belts today and many instructors have never had a real life street fight in their life and many have never done anything outside the safety of the sterile environment of the studio or dojo.
How many would practice what they preach like using the X block against a razor sharp knife used in a real life deadly manner.
These instructors clearly have not taken a close look at how women are sexually assaulted and what they need to effectively deal with such threats and dire situations.
This is a very important part of the promotion and delivery of the Todd anti and counter rape package known as operation education or in some cases re-education to ensure that people that have been subject to less than the best and most proven training are corrected and made safer and aware.
They are reminded that in combat sports that there are weight divisions and gender divisions as the usual outcome would be that a small highly trained fighter will not beat a big highly trained fighter with such practices.
You wouldn’t see Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis losing to a lightweight champion.
Knowing how to do a kata or punch air or kick a bag, grapple with an opponent of the same gender and weight will hardly prepare you for a rape attempt from a male attacker in the dark where you are on your own and where he has a weapon to your throat.
You need to know the best way to recognize the warning signs and dangers and avoid them prior to and if in an unavoidable situation you need to be able to recognize the threat and assess decide and execute your best of battle proven plan to win not merely survive.
Instructors, ask yourself if you know the answers to the following questions and if the answer is no to any then you should take a look at what you are instructing. I don’t mean think you know. I mean you are confident you know the very best and most proven option to win in such a situation.
- Do you know the modus operandi of a sexual predator?
- Do you instruct the best tactics to harden your students against sexual violence by teaching them the realities of sexual violence?
- Do you tutor them in psychological preparation for sexual violence and how to remain ready and control their reactions to the threat?
- Do you instruct the likely outcomes in relation to the medical aspects of employing armed or unarmed counter measures?
- Do you know what to do and instruct how to combat the upright clinch and ground grapple positions in sexual violence from upright to bent forward through kneeling and lying on the ground in various sexual high risk of rape positions against an attacker that is over double the victims body weight?
- Do you know how sexual predators use clothing and implements to achieve their objectives and how to counter them?
- Do you know how to and if it is possible to disarm a sexual attacker with an edged weapon at your throat standing, kneeling or lying down from behind the front or from the side?
- Do you know how to instruct anti abduction skills for in the home street or in a vehicle?
- Do you know how to use your cell phone to effectively gain assistance covertly?
- Do you know how to deal with firearm-aided sexual assaults?
These are just some of the questions that a confident competent qualified self-protection instructor must know without question.
The same skills apply to any serious threat of violence whether male or female whether of a sexual nature or not.
Less serious threats can be prevented or countered with less serious options of both a verbal and physical nature but for serious violence against male or female whether it be to cause injury death or achieve sexual objectives there is no place for anything but the best of battle proven.
There are schools and instructors out there that are self promoted so called experts that simply do not have the intestinal fortitude to commit to the years of training testing and qualifying to be a professional in the field.
They are rogues that take a bit of this and that style to form what ever they label their bullshit arts but they lack in integrity substance and even honesty with themselves let alone the people they train that believe in them.
They will never be qualified on a real combative course as they would be found out as there is no place to hide and if you’re not honest with yourself you are being dishonest with others.
The unfortunate thing is they seem to believe their own bullshit and their life is one big lie.
Not the sort of instructor you would want to teach you on how to prevent yourself being raped or save your life.
Operation education makes both instructors and exponents take a reality check and be honest with themselves.
The reality is that methods that are of military close combat are meant for the most violent of situations real combat, police tactics are for dealing with civilian violence and although there are requirements for deadly force are more geared towards civilian enforcement of the law and martial arts and combat sports have their place and roles.
But it is only military combative methods that are deemed battle proven and at the highest level when it comes to combating violence.
If society was to break down and the police could not control the situation it is my opinion that the combatants and combative practices of the military that would be the ultimate solution.
This is why I instruct for sexual violence military combative battle proven based methods or modified methods, as they are the ultimate options against extreme violence.
One prostitute I interviewed as part of my research told me of the many risky situations she had had to deal with.
I asked her what she would do if she ended up in a hostile environment like a gang fortress and was singled out by an offender that was going to rape her.
She said she would do and say anything to reduce the risk and get even.
She even said she might be a fool to be in her profession but she is a streetwise fool that has made mistakes and had to deal with them as best she could.
She said if she had ever gone to a gang house to party and had been singled out by any scumbag that intended to rape her she would tell him you can have it if you want but don’t come after me when you get AIDS.
She said she would offer another form of less invasive sexual satisfaction and offer to get from her car supposed products of her profession to take care of her attackers wants with a product that would create some major skin problems for him in days to come.
I asked what would be her motivation to take such a risk and she replied I would want to stop him getting away with raping me and I would want to get even the best way I could.
She said she had been in many risky situations and had learnt to deal with them her way.
She was streetwise through her profession and situations faced and own making in many ways. Through being exposed to the darker aspects of what life could deal out she was far more prepared to deal with the ugly realities than most of your average citizens and far more likely to face such threats.
See there are no rules and situations can change nature rapidly.
It is the unorthodox you must be prepared to deal with and you must always remember rape is not a traditional art or competitive sport and there is no honour or rules officials or opting out in the real world of sexual violence.
You may only get one chance to defeat your attacker and it better be the best and most proven.
I interviewed a victim many years back that had been sexually violated at weapon point through in an intoxicated state making a bad decision to walk in a dangerous area. She was aware at the time that she could not escape or incapacitate her attacker safely or effectively. So she made a decision to go into self-preservation mode and risk reduction and after the fact do everything in her powers to get even. She even in this high stress state and being intoxicated tried to remember things about her attacker and the nature of the attack.
Armed and dangerous at extreme close quarters requires very
specific counter measures and there is no place for sport,
honour, or tradition – only the best of battle proven.
She reported it to the police and went on the hunt herself for her attacker and eventually found him and called the police in and he was arrested. She made a decision based on the helplessness of the initial situation that she could not physically stop the attack but to get even and did so. She could lie in her bed in the still of night and think about how she never gave in and how she got the result she planned for.
The most dire of situations in sexual violence is when you end up on the ground with your attacker and can no longer escape or employ your preventative self-protection skills or stamping kicks to incapacitate.
This situation requires a specific range of basic principles to enable you to remove yourself from the specific position and incapacitate your attacker in the process.
Once again through operation education and knowing how to assess the situation and determine what your best option is then you can prepare to achieve your objective.
Combative principles promote the same components whether stand up or decentralized when it comes to having an affinity with the ground and maintaining the correct stable positioning that allows escape and counter offensive.
Whether it be on land upright or decentralized in water or climbing, surface contact (an affinity with the surface) and balance maintenance are paramount and the same for military applications applies as for civilian employments
Being proactive in the positioning of your limbs to reduce them being restrained or restricted both for balance maintenance and counter offence is essential.
Knowing the correct means from the correct position to incapacitate your attacker combined with your escape plan that allows quick ground to upright footing recovery and positioning and skills employment to make sure your attacker can’t recover his footing and chase you is all included in the counter rape from decentralized training package.
This package also ensures you do not panic through a failure to know what to do when your clothing is being removed or used to control you or a ligature or weapon is being employed.
Likewise if the bedding is being used to restrict your movement contain or restrain you having the prior training in dealing with such realities is essential.
Train for what you will encounter and in the way you will counter it.
Breathing is another factor that comes in to consideration in rape situations where a ligature, bed linen, clothing, duct tape or even a hand is used to silence you or restrict your breathing and you need to know how to deal with this.
Making sure you assess the situation correctly and chose the correct time to employ your correct counter offensive is critical.
Modified ground to upright footing recovery that promotes principles to restrict your attacker’s fast footing recovery but aid your footing recovery is essential.
You won’t remove a determined much larger sexual attacker with any ability off of you on the ground with your fair play techniques and the manoeuvre requires first sudden extreme violence to a delicate unprotected bodily vital combined with the escape manoeuvre recovery and employment of the skills to ensure he doesn’t get back up and give chase.
Like I advise all my close protection specialists and combatants of the importance of good footwear for safety protection and combative effect so do I emphasize this to women’s anti and counter rape courses.
This includes when it’s safer to remove your footwear if they are not suitable and could cause self-injury – they may be a better improvised weapon than footwear. Always assess, never guess and think ahead by realizing that for your attacker to achieve his objective he will have to ensure you are in the position and state of mind to achieve his objective.
This positioning will vary in relation to what type of sexual satisfaction he has in mind and are all covered on Todd system courses.
He will have to expose his genitals too and this can restrict or hinder his mobility and can be taken advantage of. For sexual penetration he will need to have you in a position where he can both control you and penetrate you and he will need to ensure your genitals are exposed.
The process of removing your clothing to expose your genitals and position you provides time and opportunity from your immediate assumed ready position to employ a counter offensive.
The old saying a penny between your knees is very relevant and slight position changes and muscular contracting as well as assuming a tight closed position can create difficulties for your attacker that buy time and opportunity.
Likewise the old saying a man with his pants down doesn’t run as fast as a women with her pants off has some truth when we are talking about taking every advantage and timing and opportunity.
The natural human foetal position that is often adopted in a reaction to risk and fear is another of the natural human reactions that the Todd systems use to the maximum advantage to employ a counter offensive against a sexual threat.
The most important preparation for such counter offensives is to ensure that you make your one chance count by position set up and use every bit of cunning deception and nous to mask your intentions. (COVERTLY)
Employ counter offensive skills when they can’t be countered, covertly where the reality is that if you achieve your target destruction it is as close as humanly possible to being a forgone conclusion.
Know how to use deception to create a response or reaction or mask your intention geared towards achieving your objective.
You can fake unconsciousness injury or a medical condition when being held for example to achieve a release and then employ your counteroffensive, however never take for granted the hold will be released by allowing the full effects of the hold to applied.
The course I have been designing for so long employs sound escape counter offensive principles to counter ground containment in sexual violence situations that is the same for all the common positions of sexual violence, whether it be body straddling, side straddling or the missionary position or as I call it the mercenary position.
Commonality reduces confusion in regards to skill selection in high stress situations.
The escape method is the same best of battle proven regardless of the previous positions and this reduces the skill level requirements in regards to technique selection in such a high-risk situation and increases the desired outcome.
To effectively prevent sexual violation from a formidable attacker and incapacitate and escape the ground secured position against a much heavier attacker you need to understand you have to combine a ground affinity and ground combat positioning with extreme aggressive violence at delicate life support vitals or delicate senses combined with the bodily containment ground escape combat principles and subject incapacitation to prevent further attack or pursuit.
The course has all the reality of real life sexual assaults and all the methods of combating the various forms of sexual assault, which after being learnt are practiced in a real life operational like skills rehearsals manner and practical handling exercises.
Everything from using layers of clothing and props to set the scene as close to the real life threat as possible. Training must be like a real life rehearsal. No point in training studio or dojo style for anti or counter rape when such skills were not meant to rape or prevent or counter rape.
Rapists don’t generally break out into reverse punches, back spinning kicks, leave their punches out in the air space to be grabbed and they don’t gently grab their victim and stand there statically waiting for the grab or hold to be countered.
They seize them to control them and instil fear and helplessness, lift them and move them or take them down to the ground hard and fast with violence to shock and increase fear levels in their target.
Train the way you will combat the threat against a realistic threat is the only way to prepare for the unthinkable, and then build up the intensity to achieve maximum confidence and competence.
The exponents are instructed through each specific scenario and what to expect stage by stage and how and when best to employ their counter offensive. They are taught how not to panic but to be proactive and stay in a state of mind and body readiness physically and mentally to achieve their objective and not to freeze.
They are taught if they make a mistake, or don’t achieve the desired effect, to fast map and continue with the best option under the circumstances to achieve their objective.
This program will take them through the realities of sexual violence without being raped and makes such an experience more familiar to them and less of a barrier if it ever came to having to counter such a threat, it arms them with knowledge and empowers them to self protect by means of the best and most proven methods.
It also reduces the risk of them ending up in such a situation by making them aware of such dangers and less likely to expose themselves to them.
The skills principles and tactics that make up the Todd anti and counter rape package have been drawn from the Todd systems and include methods from the following modules of military combative instruction.
These specific skills from military combative programs are the most proven and safest options used by regular and elite military units trained in the Todd systems.
They provide the civilian and in this case a female up against a considerable threat the best chance humanly possible of winning.
Some of the civilian self-protection training and management package included modules:
Self Protection
Stances and guards, offensive and counter offensive unarmed combat. Mobility and stability, tactics and procedures to identify and avoid a threat, unarmed counter offence by evasive and static skills, weapon disarming.
Security and Law Enforcement Training
Close Quarter tactical adversary seizure and securing, tactical positioning movement and stability, tactical communication and negotiation, control and restraint, preventative close combat.
Military armed and unarmed close combat
Upright clinching, ground combat, lethal and less lethal close combat, improvised weapons, medical aspects of close combat, psychological conditioning for battle, Prisoner of war tactics CQC modified to combat sexual violence, urban warfare against individual and multiple attackers, ambush phase disarming, ground protection and recovery, specific enemy incapacitation and neutralization, counter interrogation and negotiation skills for sexual violence, weapon and equipment retention skills for clothing retention, military ground recovery and breaking distance and escape and evasion.
Close personal protection
Close protection related close combat to protect third parties, close protection related vehicular security and embus, debus skills, security awareness.
The skills will have commonality being the primary and battle proven options from the Todd System and in a wide range of situations will be one skill for many threat solutions making skill selection from prior training as simple safe fast and the outcome as guaranteed as humanly possible.
The most important factor is the individual’s inner resolve and commitment to winning against the odds and the best of battle proven training provides the best insurance humanly possible when all other outs options and assistance have been taken from you.
I believe that after over 100,000 hours in close combat and having trained tens of thousands of exponents and instructors taking them from basic entry level through advanced and specialist training and testing phases the skills have to be simple and battle proven and the exponents fully committed.
The formula I use to describe the normal human required attributes to be victorious in a real life or death encounter it’s over 90% determination and less than 10% skills.
Always remember the higher the stress and risk level the lower the skill level and reaction time and the more required simple combative means to achieve your objective.
Finally while it would be nice to think we can drop our guard and do what we like and go where we want this is a perfect world outlook and we all know it’s far from a perfect world we live in.
The reality is we have to plan prepare and practice to avoid and reduce risk and be ready to combat or counter it if unavoidable, never be so foolish to believe the dangerous ramblings I have heard from some quarters that you can dress go and do whatever you want whenever you want, as it’s your right.
Think like the bad guy and you will be enlightened.
The reality is rapists don’t play by any rules or abide by any laws and unless you arm yourself with knowledge based on common sense and that is as proven as humanly possible you are at a real disadvantage if ever confronted with the unthinkable.
I have not watered down or dressed up the content or nature of this file as I do not believe in attacking a problem with a feather duster but do believe in addressing a threat professionally and with anything and everything to ensure victory over being a victim.
Life in the 21st Century requires responsible citizens to be ready
at any time, in any place to protect themselves.
Interested in Close Combat Training? Todd Group Depots are located throughout New Zealand and at various overseas locations.
For more information on Todd System of Close Combat see the following books, dvds and cds:
- Close Combat Books
The Do’s and Don’ts of Close Combat – Tactical C&R – Control and Restraint – No Nonsense Self Defence – Military Close Combat Systems Phase One – Combative Masters Of The 20th Century
- Close Combat DVDs
Self Defence of the Elite – 80 Years of Combative Excellence – Primary Option Control & Restraint – Military Unarmed Combat – Phase 1
- Close Combat CDs
Technique To Command – Combative Code of Conduct
