By examining the field of the law and understanding what the proper
amount of force to be used in an actual fight is sometimes something that
martial artist fail to know or understand.
So what I am going to discuss and
or even talk about is the proper use of force that is allowed in society today
if ever a situation arrises and you must defend yourself.
USE OF FORCE: “To
use the least amount of pressure or to apply least as possible strikes to an
opponent to get him/her to comply.”
By most statutes in law use of force is to go one step above
that given unto you.
Does this mean if you are not
being struck that you can strike him/her?
It also depends on the gender of
the attacked. If a man attacks a
female then she is more likely to use more use of force than that of a man to
defend herself. If she is
just grabbed she can strike and do what is necassary to protect herself.
If a man is attacked by another
man and he is just being pushed around and grabbed,
legally he cannot strike this person.
If the attacker pulls a weapon i.e.
Knife, Club, Gun then at that moment the law says to comply to this
persons wishes or demands due to your getting hurt.
But we as martial artist tend to think we can beat this person, this is
not always the case. We do however by law have the right to protect
ourselves and our loved ones using the use of force in a situation of this
stature. I believe a good
choice would be an equalizer, or your bodies own personal weapons or anything
you think you could use to bring between yourself and your assailant, but again
using weapons is a serious issue that you’d have to have a great reason for in
the court of law.
Going that one step above the
attackers aggressions is often a gray area that we may or may not know.
Who is it to say your one step above is the same as my one step above?
In the court of law that will have to be proven however.
And be it as it may in America even the accused has the right to a fair
trial and if your a skilled martial artist and you were just protecting yourself
and your family the attacker can counter sue you in court for damages you done
to him as well. (Just something to
keep in mind) So how does all this
martial arts we practice daily help us in the real world?
Some say they practice martial arts for health, sport,
mind/body control and the most reason is Self Defense.
But is it useful in self defense? If
it saves your life then yes, but after the fact if you harm a person or even
kill a person using martial arts as self defense and your use of force was far
more than should of been then you will be charged w/ Criminal Battery and maybe
even Premeditated Murder or Murder just for using martial arts as you spend so
much time training. How
can we change this? How can we
stand for this? What can we do?
This
article that I’m writing is by no way meant to put fear in martial artist but
to however point at the possibilities that may come in your training, and for
you to understand as to what your training yourself to do and react upon.
We as martial artist may learn self defense and learn techniques that
come straight out of combat but we must also practice the Humble side of the
arts as well, learn the way to control ourselves use what is necessary in a
situation and stop from there. Don’t
go poking peoples eyes out like they teach you in JKD, or biting at a man’s
neck as they teach in Kino Mutai, or cut a man to pieces as they teach in
Filipino Kali. These arts are great
and I learn them all as well but to know and understand when and where to use
these techniques are the difference in a multi million dollar lawsuit or even
Imprisonment for some serious time.
As
Law Enforcement officials learn Defensive Tactics in their field they are only
given so many areas they are allowed to strike and only so many certain
techniques they may rely on. This
is for their own safety on the streets and to protect them from Law Suites.
Only are they allowed to use lethal or deadly force only if the assailant
has a weapon and the proper means to use it at that given moment.
A verbal threat is to be taken seriously however, it has to have the
means to back up that verbal threat. If
a person is in handcuffs and says he is going to kill that officer, then
yes he is using threatening verbal assault but he does not have reasonable means
at that point to back that statement up so the Police Officer cannot use deadly
force. This stands the same
with civilians.
If I am being attacked and a man
has no weapons other than his fist and he says he is going to kill me,
only if he is a better fighter and has the skill to do so w/ his bear
hands can I react, but again their is a GREY area there.
If the attacked was a woman then she could defend herself in any manner
necessary to be relieved from that attack.
So if any of
you teach Self Defense in your Martial Art School you should first and foremost
come together with a safe way to teach the self defense and yet only give a
short few techniques to escape a given situation using PPCT (pressure point
control tactics) or strikes / kicks to non-fatal but yet keep it in a harmful
area, that will allow the person to
escape when need be.
Go to your local law enforcement
academy or Police Dept and talk about the legalities behind self defense and
what is and is not acceptable on the streets.
Sensei Cory Ballinger
3rd Dan American Karate-Do
2nd Dan ChungDoKwan TaeKwonDo
Asst.
LEO Defensive Tactics Instructor
Combative Solutions Group Leader
Instructor Filipino Kali/Silat and JKD