Training for out of the ordinary situations

Stan Meador wrote:

Do you ever train to fight with your hands bound? Do you know of any other styles which do? Do you even think that such training would be relevant in the time and place in which you live?

As with all things, priority should be given to the scenarios that are most likely. Although this skill is theoretically useful to all, it’s not something I would but any priority on in my classes. There are other societal groups who would though.

I would suggest that, in today’s society, it is the criminal element that are most likely to need the skills associated with not being handcuffed and then being able to escape and do damage if the were.

Those who have seen the old “Surviving Edged Weapons” video will recall the footage of prisoners practicing motions for drawing knives and using them to escape from standard police frisk positions. This was in a prison yard and the prisoners thought they were out of sight. I therefore think we can be pretty sure that the more “professional” career criminals will practise methods for avoiding being handcuffed etc.

Anyone using handcuffs (police, security, airline staff, prison service etc) will also need to be familiar with the options the people being restrained have in order to minimise any potential vulnerabilities. In training, you also need people to “play the bad guy” so they will practise fighting with their hands bound too.

So anyone providing handcuff training or training in the use other restraints, and the criminals trying to avoid them, will train with hands bound.

I’m not aware of anything in the martial arts world though?

All the best,

Iain

Thanks Iain for your thoughts.

There are parts of the world where kidnappings and home invasions are more common and these situations often result in having one's hands bound. So, I think anyone frequently visiting or living in one of those enviornments should also consider this type of situation.

I once trained with an Uzbek college student. We were working on some aikijutsu. He was very interested in moves to escape come-along locks and other restraints. This was maybe five years after the fall of communism in his home country. Evidently some people who were not criminals were sometimes treated like them, and this is not only a situation in the former Soviet Union.

So, considering these aspects of real life for some people, I think this type of training may hold some interest.

I agree it probably won't be a primary aspect of training. Another thing to consider is that hands are usually bound behind the person by law enforcement officers today, so that may change things too.

Stan

I guess we're training in order to avoid being tied up in the 1st place and studying martial arts we strive for perfection of character and obeying law aswell so theres another way of staying out of handcuffs haha

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