1. Power! Power changes the nature of the combat space. If you lack the power to punish your opponent with a single stroke of the stick, then you are the hunted, and if he’s got the power, he’s hunting you with a gun.
2. Hands. Your hand must be denied as a target, and you must access his hand as a target.
3. Head. If you cannot effectively strike the head, you will not be able to save your ass effectively if you are attacked on the street or in your home.
4. Movement. You have to be evasively mobile at all times in a weapon fight.
5. Never, ever swing the stick. Jab with it. Slash with it. Smash with it, or stab with it, but never swing it.
6. Do not use your stick to defend your legs. If you don’t believe me, come to Baltimore. Charles has used me up. He needs somebody to fight.
7. Time and measure. Know what you can hit, when you can hit it, and when you can be hit. This is the defining characteristic of the weapon fighter, to know where he is in relation to the threats in the combat space.
8. Know the combat space. Do not just fight in one range. You have to be able to circle, angulate, advance, retreat and stand. If you’re lacking in any of these areas, the key to your opponent’s victory will lie there. He will need only find it. Make sure there’s nothing for him to find.
9. The stick. Do not fixate on the stick. The stick is not going to do anything to you. It’s the guy wielding it. His stick is simply in the way of you getting to him. You use your stick to work out how he can be gotten to, and if need be, drop it to get the job done. In the end, the stick is just an accessory to the violent act. I’ll take a violent actor against a stick in any fight.
10. Power!
