YOUR QUESTIONS:

Dear Master Perkins,

My question is this; I've trained on and off in Martial art
for several years, nothing barely worth talking about. Can someone like myself
with little practical training use these techniques effectively?

Important because I'd liketo send some of this info to my brother in Iraq. He tells
stories of frequently driving through areas and suddenly having crowds press in
on them and the measures they have to take to stay safe, carrying sidearms and
shotguns.

Also, for myself, since I've been in streetfights as a teen in hood,
and now at 47 know that if I have some trouble with some these young hoods if
attacked by more than one. Not likely, but stranger things have happened. As a
matter of a fact, today, on the number 4 train I observed a jumpy guy, pushing
his way through the crowd. Apparently he must have had words with some young guy
in the crowd. He was carrying a baby (weird but true) and had gone halfway to the
end of the car with the child. Then suddenly came back, gave his girl the child
and returned to where he started. He was bouncing on his toes and from where I
sat I could see he had something clutched in his hand and held straight down and
close to his pocket. I'm pretty sure it was a closed knife. Fortunately he
pushed his wayout at 149th street and rejoined his poor wife. So, you're on a
crowded subway car with a maniac with a knife. What do you do? Thanks,
Gentlemen Joe

JOHN PERKINS:

So, You are stuck on a subway car with a maniac with a knife.

We will assume that you are in a subway car with a number of other passengers.
You have spotted a crazy with a knife at a distance from you of maybe ten or twenty feet.
I assume that you are unable to retreat and call for police. The maniac is approaching you
and you can see that he intends to cut you up.

No one else has intervened.

This is a situation that has so many variables that it would be a herculean task to
outline even half of them.

One thing that you can think about for similar situations is this.

Assuming that you are unarmed you can look at this situation in a similar way as a bus
or plane hyjacking attempt by someone with a bladed instrument. If you can picture all of the
poles and hangers that are available on a subway car you can brainstorm in this direction.

If you were on a plane and some knife wielding terrorists were attempting to take over
and you realized that this is it, you could attack the attackers, assuming you had no
makeshift or other weapons, by using the seat backs for balance to deliver devastating
kicks directly at the knife wielder who gets in your path and who may be attempting to
kill a crew member.

If you have balance you can deliver extremely powerful kicks. In fact, your kicking
ability will double in deliverable power, if not more, when you balance using a stable
object or wall. In one of our seminars delivered at a major corporation which dealt with just such a
situation one of the women who weighed approximately 125 pounds kicked a 275 pound man
carrying a kicking shield and a rubber knife as he attacked the woman while she was in an
aisle. He rushed forward and was stopped and dropped by this woman who used a front
stomping kick aimed at the attacker's chest. All of the attendees were amazed, including
myself. When one of our own big guys hit the floor even he was stunned. We could understand
when a 175 pound man did something like this but at 50 pounds lighter with a rushing attacker
it was astounding.

Now just imagine that you are trapped and a knifer is rushing you or moving toward you
with malice and intent on killing you. You could hope that he will come straight on and
if you can time his approach you may have a chance to get in a powerful front stomping
kick by thrusting your heel foward and crushing his chest. Of course he could cut your
leg on the way in. I think that if you are about to have a knife cut your throat or be
buried into your chest it is worth the gamble of a cut leg. One thing you should note. If
the assailant is holding the knife in his right hand you are safer to use your left leg
to kick with because it would make a femoral artery cut less likely. It would also work
better for blocking other slashes and stabs. Assuming that you wear strong hiking shoes
or boots you will be even more protected and have a more devastating effect. Steel toed
shoes are always an option for our construction workers who use the subway to get to work.

If the knifer is not rushing but decides to slowly approach and jab at you while looking
for a good lunge to finish you the situation has just become more dangerous. In the case
of the in flight situation you also have the advantage of a narrow aisle to attack/defend
in. The subway car is wider which allows for more lateral motion on the maniac's part. It
also allows you some lateral movement. If a pole is nearby use it for protection. Keep
the pole between you and the knifer. Assuming you are in the middle of a full onslaught
keep in mind that you could use the subway car walls for stability to enhance your high
speed multi kicking either front kicks or side kicks applied at high speed by kicking at
the target and returning to the floor with the same leg and repeating the motion at the
fastest pace you are able to deliver over and over again. In most cases you will use the
same leg without attempting to change unless you are a real cool customer and see a
possible opening for a kick with the other leg. Side kicks can be delivered with either
leg because the femoral artery is facing the floor in this position.

It would behoove you or anyone to practice the high speed multi kick drills while
standing free while using something to enhance your balance. You should look like a
jackhammer going off horizontally into your target. If neccessary continue to stomp and
kick the attacker even if he has fallen. Take care not to get cut from a grounded man.

If you are unable to get a balanced kick, or have lost your balance, while fighting  a
knife wielder you can drop to the floor and apply the KCD ground fighting kicks as
quickly as you can deliver them.

Remember, this is only a very tiny peek at what you can do in this type of situation.

For more information on the kicking methodology see the various videos and dvds which
contains these drills.

If you are able to visit a class or seminar in person you will get more in depth
training on these methodologies.

Good luck, JP

MORE QUESTIONS:

How does one commence or begin contact flow? How effective is it against boxing?

MATT KOVSKY:

First realize that "Contact Flow" is not a method of fighting, it's a training
exercise. That being said, boxing can easily be tried out within the context of
doing contact flow. Since a boxer will not box slowly, the person doing KCD will
then need to match speed and energy. If the KCD practitioner has skill, he may:
intercept or absorb the first punch then flow in with the retraction of the
boxer's arms and rip the eyes and throat; step in and to the side while simultaneously
skimming eye strikes over and thru the attacker's initial punch;
attacking the attacker BEFORE he even throws a punch; kick his shins; or attack the
attacker first in any free-flowing unorthodox way that is grounded in realistic combative principles.
KCD is extremely effective against a boxing strategy all things being equal.

You initiate Flow anyway you want, but the best ways for reality purposes is with the attacker
performing a blind assault or a close combat entry (see Part 1 of our book). Both parties
should try initiating with close combat attacks simultaneously. You want
to be as creative with this as possible because violence is always chaotic and unpredictable.
Try everything.

YOUR COMMENTS ON NEWSLETTER #26, "FEAR TRAINING":

"No question. Just applauding the newsletters. They are well-written and answer many questions. Thank you John."

--Bill D in Rochester NY. Hope to get down to train with you again."

"I remember times where fear seemed to freeze me solid
or so it seemed. It usually took someone to strike me
before I could react and strike in
response."JP

That is EXACTLY what happened to me when I got into
the fight where I eventually had to stick my index
finger in the corner of the guy's eye who was
trespassing in my backyard.

For one, I thought my posturing would make him change
his mind. I never ever feared being hurt myself, but I
did feel like something was holding me back and making
me move slower than when I train. It almost felt like
I was stuck in mud or something. I never started
moving naturally until I realized that I was actually
under threat.

Mistakenly, I assumed that I needed to flow a lot
more. That was not my problem, although flowing as
often as possible is very important. It dawned on me
that I had almost completely neglected those fright
reaction drills because I thought they were too
rudimentary and that being someone who has been
exposed to extreme levels of violence in the past had
already prepared me.

I was wrong. What JP described in this article was the
exact phenomena that I experienced. That was a great
article. To this day, I've seen NO ONE that teaches a
fighting system in its totality in the same fashion as
you all. Thanks"

--Ken from Chicago

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