journeyjjbluebelt

Valente Brothers had a weapons self-defense seminar last week. I couldn’t attend; however, it did bring up a bad memory.  At the start of the first Gulf War, I was living as an exchange student in Madrid, Spain.  Every Friday at the University, after the last class, the communist party along with the socialists, would have a parade in protest against capitalism and the US.   It really got heated up when we declared war on Iraq in 1991.  Very very anti American.  One weekend, my friend and I were attacked by a Moroccan guy with a knife in an old part of Madrid, Spain. My friend and I were American exchange students going to the bars. That night, it was the wrong time, wrong place. A guy approached us, I didn’t understand him. We began yelling at each other.  I heard a click, then I saw a six-inch knife blade.  I saw the knife blade coming towards my face in a slashing motion. I pulled my head back. It barely missed me.  I knew this guy didn’t speak English so I told my friend to run in the opposite direction when I tried to draw him towards me.  It worked.

As the knife attacker and I circled each other, my mind was racing.  What should i do? I was thinking about all the possible outcomes. I came to a quick conclusion, there was no up side.  The best decision was to run away.  Could I out run this guy? I took off.  He followed not far behind.  A block later, the attacker was still close. I thought to myself, ” Great, I’m going to be knifed in the back.  Then I heard shouting from the attacker.  The guy had stopped running after me. His hands were on his knees. He was out of breath.  I kept running. I watched him from across the street while I was hidden in the shadow of a building.    It looked to me that this guy was either ill or out of shape. Once everything was clear, I went to bar.  There was my friend.  He was all shaken up and so was I.  We ordered a drink then called it a night.  We didn’t go to the police because nobody was injured, we couldn’t speak the language very well, and we didn’t want other problems.

This week we learned a self-defence attack that may render the aggressor permanently disabled.  I had some ethical questions about learning this.  It is a strike to the ear. When done properly, the ear slap would cause a rupture to the eardrum. Your ear is where balance is stored. I believe it would be very difficult surgery to fix. If the eardrum is ruptured, it would be difficult for that person to maintain balance.

When should you even consider using the ear slap attack?  First, I would quickly analyze the pre fight situation.  Do I feel confident to take the aggressor without this move? Are their multiple opponents?  Second, escalation of violence. Does the aggressor have a weapon? A knife? A gun?  If the aggressor flashes a hidden weapon or I believe he has one then this attack would be certainly justified. If you choice to fight someone with a weapon, you need to take them out.  I maybe able to handle a knife. I may not be able to handle a gun.  Third, if the attacker has a knife, could I avoid the attacker all together by an escape? Could I escape an attacker with a gun?