“Of course, when dueling with sticks, training with other stick-fighters, we all want the head shot. That is what is stressed in any sparring and rewarded in competition. So, in your street-wise view, how does that wash with the survival situation and the self-defense environment?”

-Nero the Pict

There are three reasons why head shots should be stressed in training and sparring, from most to least crucial:

-1 All serious attacks against your person with weapons that are not edged or firearms, as well as unarmed attacks, will be directed at your head. The functionality of stick-fighting over many other defensive arts is this, inculcating in the fighter a commitment to deny access to his head.

-2 You need to gain the ability to stop a dangerous aggressor with whatever weapon you train with, and in the case of sticks, against a formidable man, only a head shot will stop him.

-3 Lastly, you want to be able to compete in whatever sport form your art has available in order to experience the level of intensity present in a real survival situation, and in competition, the had shot is rewarded.

The question gnawing at us here is surely this, when should I use the head shot in a self-defense situation?

Let’s examine a graduated threat matrix, with the crucial judgment post action in legal minds going to be framed in terms of disparity of force:

If you are more fit for combat than the antagonist, you cannot use a weapon against an individual menacing you unless they are armed.

If an individual menacing you is more fit, then you can arm yourself, but in many states may not do grave bodily harm—much less kill them—unless they are armed and intent on doing the same.

If you are being menaced by a group of individuals, who individually are less fit for combat than you [ebon teenagers for instance] than even though you face an aggregate disparity of force, once you drop one antagonist, it is very likely that his accomplices will transform into witnesses of your one-to-one aggression against the unlucky one. This is actually the most common threat, being a group of 2 to 10 teens, who are regarded by the media state as essentially incapable of doing you bodily harm. For this reason you should never take out the first person with a shocking level of force unless you are dealing with overwhelming force, such as three hardened convicts with weapons obviously trying to kill you. In such a situation you have entered pure survival combat, a zone far less likely to engulf you than the nebulous pack violence so diligently cultivated by the Media State.

In case of a nebulous threat, such as a flash mob:

-Do not brandish the weapon.

-Do not strike the head, as this will be seen as intent to kill.

-Do not hit the hands, as such strokes could be described by prosecutors as “defensive wounds” sustained while warding off your attack.

-On the high line hit the collar bone with a descending vertical stroke.

-On the mid line whack the torso with a power slash.

-On the low line hit the outside of the large tendon on the outside of the knee, with a passing slash. Don’t stand your ground while hunting legs, but travel.

Keep your strokes tight and move at least one step for every stroke delivered.

Fighting Smart: Boxing, Agonistics & Survival