Modern Combative Systems Blog

I have discovered that anything 5-6 inches long so it extends from both sides of your hands will work. I also heard that the smaller the tip is the more force it will concentrate on a small surface area. I looked it up in a physics book that that will cause more damage to the target that is struck. Then I got to thinking, maybe something like a flashlight or pen would work too. I mean you could write or use it as a light and hit someone with it if you needed to. Maybe if it had another legitimate purpose you would be more likely to carry it all the time so you had it in your hand if you needed it. Might also help you justify it to people like TSA. I bet if you find a good sturdy pen or flashlight it will work as a Kubaton. Probably much easier than finding and great kubaton that writes or shoots light out of one end. These are all just theories I am working on.

Another thing came to my mind as well, does something being a specific color or having a specific name make it more effective. I mean maybe on a firearm with a reliable history record but the reliability of using a pen for self defense would come from the person using it ….right? When I get a chance to look into this stuff some more I will get back to you on it.- George

We would like to announce that we are lowering our continental US flat shipping rate from $5.00 to $3.00. Our preferred shipping method will remain the US Postal Service.

You can order products through the website or total up what you want, add $3.00 and Pay Pal it to mcs521@gmail.com. Please list.

We are also happy to accept personal check and USPS Money Orders at-
Modern Combative Systems LLC
PO Box 143
Felton PA 17322

The Fox 40 Micro Pealess Safty Whistle is the choice of NATO Forces, US Coast Guard, and the American Red Cross.

Outside of gyms and soccer fields whistles are seldom heard these days, and when they are they attract lots of attention. Everyone should have a whistle in their EDC. Great tool for your kids in public places like fairs, amusement parks, and concerts.

$7.99 each (Black only)

Fox 40

Made in the USA by Alpha Innovations, 6 inches long and 5/8 inch in diameter. Also has a hole drilled so you can carry it on your keys or attach a mercleash. Koppo sticks are used just like Kubatons but have some advantages. The Koppo has an adjustable parachute cord loop that you slip over your two middle fingers. This allows for the same sabre grip and hammer fist strikes as with the Kubaton in addition to being able to apply open hand strikes that would result in dropping a Kubaton. Great for runners/walkers, or when you have the kids or groceries in your hands.
$9.99 each

Koppo Stick

Koppo Stick

People who have been to MCS classes know that I relate many of the psychological and physical aspects of violent confrontations to car crashes. Most people have never been involved in a life or death self-defense situation. But almost everyone has been involved in a car accident or at least seen one happen or the immediate aftermath and wondered what happened. This is using the known to teach the unknown. As with self-defense the best thing you have is driving experience under realistic, fluid conditions. Imagine you just drove down a straight road (the range) and there was nobody on the sides, behind, or in front of you besides one other car. Pretty easy huh, but that is not how it is. Here is the example I use for the physical damage one vehicle causes to another and the damage caused to the occupants.

A big truck rear ends a little car, what will the damage be? Here are some questions.

How big was the truck?
How big was the car?
Was the truck in motion?
If so how fast?
Was the driver braking?
Was the car in motion?
If so how fast?
Was the car breaking?
Where was the car hit?
Was the vehicles drivable or did they need to be towed?
Did the car strike another object as a result of the crash?
Did the truck strike another object as a result of the crash?
Was the car moving in the same direction as the truck?
What was the angle of impact?
What were the physical characteristics of the road surface?
What was the lighting and weather at the time of the accident?
Was the driver of the truck injured?
Was he belted?
Did he have any preexisting physical conditions?
Did he subsequently strike or was struck by any objects in the truck?
Was he ambulatory after the crash and exit the truck that may have aggravated injuries received in the crash?
Was the drive of the car injured?
Was he belted?
Did he have any preexisting physical conditions?
Did he subsequently strike or was struck by any objects in the car?
Was he ambulatory after the crash and exit the car that may have aggravated injuries received in the crash?
Were there any protrusions on either vehicle like trailer hitches of bumpers that may have concentration more impact on one area during the crash or dampened impact?
Did there any other accidents as result from the primary accident?
Were any pedestrians injured as a result of the crash?
How many people were in each vehicle and what were their seating positions?
Where there any non involved witnesses?
What did they hear?
What did they see?
Who reported the accident?

Getting kind of exhaustive now huh? These are just some of the questions that could arise from one minor motor vehicle accident. If it is a fatal accident you have no idea what goes into the investigation. Without answering these questions and many, many more how can we accurately predict what the effect will be of a truck hitting a car? Doing so under controlled conditions using fixed speed, angles etc, is not a clear representation of what will happen under unknown dynamic circumstances.

So you can see that believing or being ego invested in a magic gun, knife, bullet, or technique that only works most of time in practice, books and magazines is foolish?

What works is mindset and movement and being willing to discard something that is not working to try something else, and if that does not work, then try something else until the situation is effectively dealt with or you draw your last breath.

Recently I was reading one of the gun magazines and there was an article on self-defense techniques for kids. In the article there was a set of progression pictures showing a kid around 9 or so defending against his much larger older teenage brother. The pictures looked like an old Ju Jitsu text with lots of wrist grabbing and sidestepping. The last picture showed the victim with the attacker’s arms crossed in front of him and suggested that he was now in a position to through his attacker.

It is one thing when information is passed onto to adults that may be should be able to make intelligent decisions on their own, but when it comes to kids I have to throw the BS flag on the field. As Judo player myself and having two kids with a Judo background, I know that it takes it can take a few weeks to teach even the brightest kid to throw another kid his size, much less an adult.

My son was about seven and had been taking Judo for about a year when one day he informed me that if someone tried to grab him he would just use Judo. Needless to say we had a long talk.

Kids are much smarter than we give them credit for. In my experience as a father and teaching kids I think around four is a good time to start working with them on physical skills. My favorite to teach the little ones is the art of biting. In my opinion it is the only thing a little kid has against and adult. It is both natural and intuitive. Here is how to do it-

Get a bath towel and wrap it around your arm, secure both ends with duct tape.

Pull on the child and instruct them to pull a bit before turning into you biting your forearm. Even through the towel it will hurt you, you can use a thicker towel. The good thing is that this will give both you and the child confidence in the defense. As you yell or let go encourage them to run away.

The little girl in the picture is my seven-year-old Emilie, she is special needs and on a four year old level. She was able to comprehend the drill and follow directions within a few minutes allowing us to take the pictures.

Let them know to bite all targets of opportunity as hard as they can to get away. I don’t want to teach my kids to “fight” an attacker. I want them to know how to fight and get away as fast as possible like a cat fights when it does not want to be picked up.

Depending on the child I have found that around 7-8 you can start teaching strikes and kicks as well as improvised weapons like pens and pencils. Don’t teach them anything that encourages them to hold onto their attacker. The idea is to use massive pain as a tool to escape.

Showing their dedication to the safety and well being of their agents, Century 21 Heritage Reality of York PA recently hosted MCS Personal Protection for Real Estate Professionals.

The free hour long presentation covers the threats that are most likely to be encountered by agents. Also covered is how to protect themselves with simple tactics and tools that are transparent to clients.

Marty Clayton, General Manager of Century 21 Heritage Realty, commented “we have been lucky” referring to violent attacks including rape, robbery, and murder of agents around the country.

The state of Kentucky reported that between 1982-2002 approx 200 real estate agents were killed on the job in the US.

MCS has been invited to return to Century 21 Heritage Realty in the future for a hands on Personal Protection Class.

Marty Clayton and George Matheis

One of the many things I have learned over the years by setting up shop at many gun and knife shows is you never know who or what you will see. Recently at the Valley Forge Gun show I just happed to have a table next to Don and Dawn Hartman who own and operate D&D Blade Research. Don, a Vietnam veteran, and retired English teach has always had a passion for collecting bayonets, especially those of the Krag rifle. After retiring from teaching, his passion turned to obsession as he researched, wrote, and published his first book, The U.S. Krag Bayonet. His wife Dawn took many of the pictures in the book. During research, Don and Dawn were able to even answer some questions for the Smithsonian. Their book on the Krag Bayonet is well done and full of never before seen schematics and government documents. It is a must have for anyone interested in military edged weapons.

During Don’s never ending search for more pieces to add to his collection he has attended many auctions. During one such auction he purchased the prototype of the dagger designed by combative legend, and a personal hero of mine, Col Rex Applegate. The dagger marked P-1 on the cross guard was produced by Boker of Germany. Don’t had this piece for sale at the show. Not having the money on hand to buy it did not prevent Don from letting me take a few pictures. Being able to hold a knife that was designed made for and owned by Col Applegate was a real privilege. Below are some pictures.

Please visit www,DDBLADERESEARCH.com

When you react with a gun in your hand it is typically back with your strong foot, The usually encourages people to move only backwards or not at all. That is the trained mind. If you are not armed armed and react it is typically by stepping back with your reaction side foot and powering off your strong foot. That is the untrained mind from 1000’s of years of hard wiring. Under stress the trained mind and the untrained mind are in conflict and people can sometimes just melt down and not move at all.

My two biggest issues with much of traditional training is two fold, the first is the emphasis of getting both hands on the gun even at conversational distances. Time and time again I see that once people get two hands on the gun the get glued in place. The second is as you bring the gun up bypassing the pelvic girdle to engage the chest. We teach to begin engaging at the pelvic girdle. It is super vascular and a structural lynch pin. Just like when you get ball tapped, a round to the pelvic girdle will bring the head down and present a better chance of rounds striking the central nervous system to the top on the head, rear of the spine or even behind the clavicles.

Here are some progression pictures showing the MCS Drop Step during the anti-car jacking portion of a course in PA.

Picture 1- The shooter naturally squares to sound or noise and recognizes it is a threat that requires a deadly force response. He reacts by stepping to his reaction side using his reaction side arm to steady himself around the car as he begins to draw his pistol.

Picture 2- Now after starting his response his speed increases as he moves to the rear of the cover to create distance and move to cover.

Picture 3- Now with pistol deployed and engaging the threat, he continues to use his reaction side hand to navigate to the rear of the vehicle. Because of ritualized combat he began the confrontation square to the attacker. As he moves his arm comes out to the side and naturally points in the direction of the threat. He be begins firing at the pelvic girdle and continue to the upper chest area as the head comes down.

Picture 4- having moved to the rear of the car the shooter assumes a two handed firing grip while continuing to engage/assess the threat.

Another shooter doing the drill live fire while taking physical control of another student. A necessity when moving with loved ones in tow.

Demonstrating the same default targeting position after being knocked down / falling to my back. Right handed people will usually land on their right side, after rolling to my left to access my pistol I chamber my foot to jam my attacker’s knee to slow him down and and bring his chest in an intersecting angle with my muzzle. This can help minimize deflection and stray rounds.

As the attacker comes down on top of me I fire a contact round under his chin.

Photos by John Pavencello