Ridiculous Attacks- Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

People spend countless hours training for scenarios that will never, or could ever happen. Yet masters all over the globe teach them without any thought to what they are actually to the content or context of the attack itself. It's mindlessly regurgitated techniques in "because I said so" fashion. Well it's time to seriously take a look at what you are doing and ask your self "Am I being ridiculous?"

There are three factors that make an attack ridiculous, the way it's practiced, the attack itself and the circumstances around the attack. The video gives an example of each of these with the wrist grab, the "stiff arm knife" and the POW execution.

The wrist grab is an ever popular attack and if you walk into any self defense seminar or martial arts school you will most likely be placed in this deadly hold.

Why do we practice it?
You practice this attack because like most other attacks, it's left over from Judo's Goshinjutsu. In the 1900's Judo developed a series of self defense techniques and called it Goshinjutsu. Yes JUDO (doesn't sound so sexy anymore does it?) No other martial art prior to this used this term, no matter what your sensei says. After the introduction of Goshijutsu, every style of martial art from Tae Kwon Do to Brazilian Jiujitsu, took liberally from it and of course put their own twist on it. To be honest, the original Goshinjustsu left a lot to be desired. It was based on outdated Japanese Jujutsu techniques. Seen here:

Part 2 is here:


Look familiar? I want to go on record and say that its not all rubbish, there's some good stuff in there if you know what to look for and I could probably spend hours talking about it. Truth be told, I love this for what it is but it's confusing and misleading for direct translation to self defense. More to the point of this post, you have probably seen a lot of these techniques or variations of them in your local school. Even the formula of strike, joint lock and control is taken from Judo's Goshinjutsu.

Would a wrist grab even happen?
Sure, if you were going to be pulled and dragged or even just pinned and distracted while you were assaulted. You even have the drunk brother in law situation. In any case, the actual grab on the wrist is not life threatening and in reality, you shouldn't even pay attention to it. Your brother-in-law can be pushed, yelled at and you can pull your arm away, all others need to be hit repeatedly and very hard I might add.

Attacks like the "stiff arm knife", the "stiff arm Frankenstein front and rear chokes" and collar grab series are all pretty useless.

Why do you practice these attacks?
Because anything works against someone when their arms are extended. All joint locks, grabs, holds and releases work. Unfortunately, you do not get attacked like this, EVER.

Would this attack happen?
Yes, but not like it's practiced in most systems. During mugs like these your attacker will pull you close to intimidate you. He will also want to conceal what's happening from the rest of the world. In the case of a knife mug from the rear, its obvious that he's trying to get something from you and doesn't want to kill you yet. So he's going to keep you close and talk to you to keep you calm and under control. In order to do this he needs you to feel his breath and make it seem like there's no one else in the world.

Now before you start handing him your wallet, keep in mind, he may want to move you and in that case you're most likely going to die, be rapped or worse. The reason a criminal wants to move you is because they want to do something to you that they can't do there. Believe it or not, some people are just sick and twisted and not just interested in money.

The POW- Gangsta assassination defense. A favorite among white suburbanite self defense enthusiasts. This is the one where the defender is on his knees and the bad guy puts the gun to the back of his head and right when he's about to blow his brains out, the good guy spins into action and takes the bad guy out without even harming him.

Why do people practice it?
I guess the reason why people practice this is for self confidence. You think of the worst case scenario and you put yourself there. The thinking is if I can get out of this, I can get out of anything.

Would this situation really happen?
Sure, anything can happen. Maybe your drug deal went bad or you couldn't pay the vig. Perhaps you're Jason Bourne, you have a flash drive with the launch codes inserted in your rectum and you need to get it to the embassy, heck even the more realistic scenario of a home invasion gone bad is still a stretch. Let's just say a lot has to happen before you get to this point. Hopefully you would have done something along the way, but in case you didn't and you're kneeling with your hands behind your head confidently waiting for your moment to pounce, there are a few things you should know.

First, if he's going to pull the trigger on you, he's not going to press it against your head (unless it's a revolver), the slide on a semi-auto needs to, well a...slide, no slide = no bang, bang. All it takes is 8 pounds of pressure to lock a gun up. In other words, he can't fire when it's pressed up against your skull.

Second, there's a little matter, brain matter that is. When your melon is pierced with the bullet it will spray and splatter. No self respecting criminal is going to get your gray stuff all over his Dolce and Gabannas. Chances are he'll be a foot or more away when he actually puts a "cap in your ass", is that how the kids say it?

Finally there's the matter of mobility. How long have you been kneeling? Try getting in that position for five minutes and "jumping" into action. I assure you, it will not be pretty.

In short, if you are going to train for this situation make sure your attacker is a foot away and try to defend yourself after sitting there for 5 minutes. Yep, that's what I thought. Like my Judo instructor said about being choked, "best defense is not to be there."

Time is valuable. I don't know about you but I seem to have less and less of it. It's hard enough to get in proper training let alone wasting time with situations that will never happen. If you only have so much time, wouldn't it be better to focus your efforts on what will most likely impact your life? Its more likely you will be approached while getting into your car or apartment than be executed gangland style. Its probably more likely you will have to hit someone than apply a rear naked choke. If you only have a handful of hours to train, prioritize your training, don't glamorize it.

Train Honestly,


Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company


Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr; Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.