Trainers: Endura or Delica for Defense?
Trainers: Endura or Delica for Defense?
Read lots here of the efficacy of the Gunting Drone for self protection purposes - any thoughts on the protective potentials of the other trainers?
In my opinion, using a drone decreases one's chance of survival, without any countervailing legal advantage. A drone is a lethal weapon.
Two years ago, I was showing trap and roll to a friend, a very experienced martial artist. I was using a trainer cut from heavy sheet aluminum. Aluminum is considerably weaker than hardened steel. The trainer was duller than a Delica trainer because the aluminum was thicker than a Delica trainer's steel blade. The point of the aluminum trainer was severely rounded. The aluminum trainer was single layer of aluminum, except the handle had been dipped in liquid plastic. So, it was also lighter than a Delica trainer.
We were going half power, half speed. In trap and roll, one blocks the wrist. Something in my friend's training made him try to block my hand. I felt no impact, but the dulled tip of the trainer caught him in the web of his hand. There was blood everywhere. It was a bad stab wound. Fortunately, my friend recovered. If the trainer had gone in his eye, he would have been dead. If the trainer had entered his abdominal cavity, he would have been at great risk.
Granted, my trainer is generally shaped like my carry knife, a Tempest, which is extremely good at transmitting force. But I have no doubt that a Delica can do similar damage. A trainer is safer than a knife. It is not safe.
If I ever get in an altercation, and the matter ends up in court, I do not want to be testifying that a trainer is non-lethal while the prosecuting attorney is stabbing it through a pot roast for the edification of the jury.
My preferred defense would be, yes, I was using a reasonable level of force to counter a lethal threat. At that point, it does not matter to the court if I am using a poor lethal weapon or a good lethal weapon. But it matters to me. I want the best tool I can get. Where is that Yojimbo?
Qship
Two years ago, I was showing trap and roll to a friend, a very experienced martial artist. I was using a trainer cut from heavy sheet aluminum. Aluminum is considerably weaker than hardened steel. The trainer was duller than a Delica trainer because the aluminum was thicker than a Delica trainer's steel blade. The point of the aluminum trainer was severely rounded. The aluminum trainer was single layer of aluminum, except the handle had been dipped in liquid plastic. So, it was also lighter than a Delica trainer.
We were going half power, half speed. In trap and roll, one blocks the wrist. Something in my friend's training made him try to block my hand. I felt no impact, but the dulled tip of the trainer caught him in the web of his hand. There was blood everywhere. It was a bad stab wound. Fortunately, my friend recovered. If the trainer had gone in his eye, he would have been dead. If the trainer had entered his abdominal cavity, he would have been at great risk.
Granted, my trainer is generally shaped like my carry knife, a Tempest, which is extremely good at transmitting force. But I have no doubt that a Delica can do similar damage. A trainer is safer than a knife. It is not safe.
If I ever get in an altercation, and the matter ends up in court, I do not want to be testifying that a trainer is non-lethal while the prosecuting attorney is stabbing it through a pot roast for the edification of the jury.
My preferred defense would be, yes, I was using a reasonable level of force to counter a lethal threat. At that point, it does not matter to the court if I am using a poor lethal weapon or a good lethal weapon. But it matters to me. I want the best tool I can get. Where is that Yojimbo?
Qship
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revolvergeek
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Michael Janich
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Revolvergeek makes a very good point. Since knife laws are notoriously imprecise and are subject to wild interpretation, the act of drawing any knife-like object, open or closed, could be interpreted simply as "drawing a knife." That simple definition could therefore immediately be interpreted as application of lethal force, even if you were completely responsible, exercised restraint, and never exposed a blade--sharp or otherwise. It's kind of like drawing a gun and pistol whipping someone. Most juries (and certainly all attorneys for the other party) will see it simple as "he drew a gun." In their minds, you crossed the line into the realm of lethal force.
The legal challenge of using knives as impact weapons is very much like the legal challenge of "defanging the snake." Although we have purposely designed programs that are ethical and responsible and emphasize a restrained response at every step, the mere fact that they involve knives works against us. This is exactly the reason that Bram and I have gone high profile with the goals and tactics of our systems--to establish them publicly as responsible, ethical, legally defensible, and extremely effective means of personal protection. If we let everyone know what we're doing, they can't plead ignorance and we'll have a variety of records to document our approach.
That's the long, philosophical answer to your question. The short, practical answer is that, depending upon your hand size, the Delica and Endura drones can make very effective impact tools. The specific design of the Gunting makes it the most versatile impact tool/knife currently available. However, if there is enough of an Endura or Delica projecting beyond your hand when you grip it, you've got a very effective yawara-style striking, pinching, and poking tool. With the training blade open, you can also use it as a short stick for strikes, pokes, traps, and levers.
Again, the Gunting is designed to maximize the potential of impact and pressure techniques. It also allows the unique kinetic opening of the blade. Just as importantly, since there has been so much public discussion of the use of the trainer as a less-than-lethal defense weapon, your attorney will have a lot more material to back you up should you ever have to use it.
Stay safe,
mike j
The legal challenge of using knives as impact weapons is very much like the legal challenge of "defanging the snake." Although we have purposely designed programs that are ethical and responsible and emphasize a restrained response at every step, the mere fact that they involve knives works against us. This is exactly the reason that Bram and I have gone high profile with the goals and tactics of our systems--to establish them publicly as responsible, ethical, legally defensible, and extremely effective means of personal protection. If we let everyone know what we're doing, they can't plead ignorance and we'll have a variety of records to document our approach.
That's the long, philosophical answer to your question. The short, practical answer is that, depending upon your hand size, the Delica and Endura drones can make very effective impact tools. The specific design of the Gunting makes it the most versatile impact tool/knife currently available. However, if there is enough of an Endura or Delica projecting beyond your hand when you grip it, you've got a very effective yawara-style striking, pinching, and poking tool. With the training blade open, you can also use it as a short stick for strikes, pokes, traps, and levers.
Again, the Gunting is designed to maximize the potential of impact and pressure techniques. It also allows the unique kinetic opening of the blade. Just as importantly, since there has been so much public discussion of the use of the trainer as a less-than-lethal defense weapon, your attorney will have a lot more material to back you up should you ever have to use it.
Stay safe,
mike j