Unarmed Combat - Self Defence Police Arrest - Martial Arts What’s The Difference!!!

Unarmed Combat - Self Defence - Police Arrest - Martial Arts

……….What’s The Difference!!!………………

Information website: eliteinternational.uk.com

Background: I write this from various platforms of experience; as a leading authority on martial arts - As a police advisor and trouble shooter on violence - As an advisor with the American Military - From hands on experience at street level, with the innumerable conflicts during police arrest.

Usually all of the above are just seen as some form of pugilism. However, they all have different motivations and purpose. Even the average person thinks they are pretty much identical. This leads to dangerous misunderstanding, it’s like grouping rope, string, and parachute cord in the same category. That’s fine until you jump out of your plane, with string attached to your parachute. I am sure you get my drift, you always need the right tool for the job. Now let’s look at each group individually and see the difference.

First we can deal with unarmed combat. This is designed to be used in battlefield situations, there are no rules or conventions. If you want to survive, breaking necks, taking out eyes, breaking limbs, biting off ears etc, are all part of the course. There are two considerations, the first is that, no matter how good you are, do you have the mind set to follow through. Secondly can you accept dying as default if you lose.

Self defence relates to protecting yourself within the laws of the society in which you live. This means that you can only use reasonable force under the circumstances in which you find yourself, which has to be justified in a court. It’s also good to remember that there is a big difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. You may say ‘I don’t care, what the hell, I will do it anyway’. That’s fine if you factor in serving a stretch inside.

The rules of police arrest comply with the above paragraph, the same as anyone else. The big difference is that their main task is to bring offenders to justice, that is restraining them with reasonable force and taking away their liberty. Sir Richard Mayne (27 November 1796 – 26 December 1868) was the first joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. His ‘prime directive’ still stands, and that is; ‘The primary object of an efficient police is the prevention of crime: the next that of detection and punishment of offenders if crime is committed. To these ends all the efforts of police must be directed’. This alone divides self defence from police arrest. Their primary objective is arresting offenders.

Martial Arts are an eclectic study, for various reasons. Some retain a traditional heritage, others are directed towards self-development, some purport to be for self defence. There are both weapons and empty hand skills involved in many systems. For whatever reason you decide to train, the one thing you know is, that at the end of the night you will be going home. When I first trained in Japan during the 1960s, people were on occasion, killed during training. Reason varied from missing lessons, to lack of determination. If you don’t believe me I have a few press cuttings. By the time martial arts took off in the West, it became more of a social activity, with health benefits, and a hint of self defence.

I can only talk from experience, but from my very first encounter in the police, the real picture came home to me quickly Dojo training was in a safe environment, training was with consideration to safety. As I have said, you always knew you would go home after the session (unless you were in Japan in the 1960s). In contrast, a street encounter is unpredictable, I have rolled in the gutter with quite a few. You never know if the guy you are struggling with is ‘mister average’, or a ‘psychopath’. The outcome is unpredictable, it could end in injury, or even death. It is a very different experience (one I hope you never have to encounter).

As you can perhaps now see, we are looking realistically at the above. It’s a question of the right tool for the job, a point that is so frequently overlooked.

I hope this article give you some food for thought, the popular media image is very misleading. If you understand what I am saying, please let others know.

Article By

Michael Finn

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