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Jumping Fences and Burning Bridges
By
Robert T. aka "The Saint"
COMBAT GONKA Resident Instructor
Fence: Archaic. a means of defense; a bulwark. Verb (used with object) to enclose by some barrier, establishing exclusive right to possession:
Bridge:
1. A structure spanning and providing passage over a river, chasm, road, or the like.
2. a connecting, transitional, or intermediate route or phase between two adjacent elements, activities, conditions,
3. verb (used with object) to make a bridge or passage over; span
Bridging: (From the COMBAT GONKA Fighting Synthesis) Creating a dynamic barrier and route to the adversary via the limbs, with a priority to gain on top pressure and proactive control.
I want to start by saying that this article is not about gear… so all of you gear queers will be disappointed. No special knife, stick, wonder-pistol will be evaluated or tested, no ballistic tests, and definitely no out of shape writer whom has never been in a real fight telling you to buy shit from his website. If you are merely gear-curious, well… read on.
Building bridges and tearing them down has been an essential piece of warfare since time immemorial. We must gain access to our opponent(s) and/or deny him access to us. In this discussion we are going to specifically discuss the Fence and Bridge (the act of Bridging) in a melee context.
The concepts we are going to discuss draw heavily on materials put forth by Geoff Thompson, SouthNarc and Bryan S. AKA “Gonkafied”. Credit must also be given to the great men who taught, inspired and came before them. Before we move on to specifics I would like to address some common themes I see presented in the world of keyboard combatives. A lot of clever slogans like “you can’t tap out on the street” or “no sporting application” being used to point/counter-point Internet arguments. Let me be perfectly clear on this no one system or instructor has every answer… and in the real world every violent encounter is any given Sunday. Let go of the “cult-of-personality” allegiance to one school, instructor, or discipline that has become very commonplace in the civilian training community. Although certain truths are self-evident, those who are willing to put time in will see the rewards. Sometimes its not who is trained the best/or most, but rather the guy who’s will and gas tank doesn’t empty first. There are no Marques of Queensbury rules in the real world. Your plausible attacker(s) has been training at the school of hard knocks, his whole life whether in an inner city group home or the streets of a third world country. He is hard as a coffin nail.
I want to also talk about trapping… My problem with the verbiage of “Trapping” is that this implies that I am setting a trap, and then the mechanism of my trap will then somehow impede, injure, or incapacitate my attacker(s). I find this to be a fallacy due to the need to wait for your opponent to strike to allow him to be trapped. Trapping lacks Proactive Action, one of the chorus lines in the COMBAT GONKA Curriculum.
Let us define the rules of engagement…
From the COMBAT GONKA Fighting Synthesis: If someone expresses the intent and has the capability to physically attack you, the right to proactively respond with force is justified. Furthermore, the level of force applied is determined by the physical action required to nullify the intended attack, expressed intention and capability of the adversary.
The Fence in our context is about control both physical and subconscious. A cornerstone of British instructor, Geoff Thompson’s method; the Fence is essential to employ as a threat management tool in the realm of personal protection and professional protective services. The Fence is a proactive posture that allows the user to feel as well as fend. The Fence is typified by a palms out, STAY BACK type of stance, but can expand and contract with all of the limbs and wielded implements. Think of it as a highly sensitive trip wire barrier with lots of sensors and concertina wire.
The term Bridge is derived from a concept within Chinese Martial Arts and exists as a defined physical protocol in the COMBAT GONKA Curriculum that covers the spectrum of improvised weapons, gun, knife and empty hand fighting. When conducted properly, Bridging is an aggressive, proactive and devastating endeavor. Not a defensive game of blocking and catching. We are using this physical concept to Proactively Manipulate our “contact.”
The Bridge or means of Bridging is the act of physically tearing down your adversary’s Fence. To remove all obstacles that restrict our access to him, while crossing the space between us.
Our bridging technique will vary given the circumstance and participants. Possible bridges include clenching, strikes (elbows, punches, kicks, knees, head butts), the use of a weapon, or use of the physical environment etc. These concepts are one in the same. My fence allows me to control distance and manipulate his centerline and appendages. My bridging allows me to tear down his fence and control him through the use of Proactive Manipulation. . This should be a seamless flowing action. Within this same framework should also be a solid default position (i.e. SouthNarc’s Vertical and Horizontal Elbow Shield defaults, that I have personally found very effective).
As an armed professional, one might often find himself or herself bound by an ROE (rules of engagement) that requires a gradated response, based unfortunately on a reactive principle. One size does not fit all when it comes to prophylactics or gun grips. Your Fence should change size and shape between working dignitary protection, working the door, soldering, policing or when walking the streets as citizen.
When working dignitary protection …
Work can either be high profile contractor with full battle rattle, 5:11’s, Oakley’s, and shit hot hair-gel. Rolling weapons hot in a convoy, manning a crew served weapon on a counter assault truck, standing a post; or quite possibly it is so low profile we pass by without ever being noticed.
Employing Clandestine Combatives with discretion as a must may be the order of the day. In a mob of fans (fan is derived from fanatic) decisions have to be made in an instant. Admiring event attendee or the next Mark David Chapman? Clandestine Combatives is a concept within the COMBAT GONKA Curriculum that involves the use of the same concepts of Proactive Action/ Manipulation: the clinch, Offending Limb Isolation and manipulation using on-top pressure, but in a discrete manner. The “clandestine” clinch may look much more like a personal conversation, or hug than the dramatically powerful traditional clinch. Always remember we are employed not to just physically protect our clients but to protect their image and dignity.
When on the door…
I am Cerberus; none shall pass without my consent. My fence must be used to proactively manipulate the patrons, threats, and benign contacts alike. As always I am responsible for my own safety, but also for that of the staff, patrons, and property that I am employed to protect. In this situation social hierarchical posturing isn’t just a factor it is a matter of the utmost importance. Respect for the rules, staff, patrons, and property all begins with the respect of the doormen. One must be able to be both firm and gentle… a good doorman, is a diplomat, a host, a busboy, and hopefully a fighter with some sand. Ego suppression is a must, but the man who calls you a pejorative and gets no reprimand at eleven feels as though he has dominated you… this same individual with another 3 hours of hard drinking in him may very well feel the need to challenge you again… only now he is running on full Johnny walker judgment. Most people in the bars that I have worked in are decent people, but like most of us “instant asshole” just add alcohol. I have seen a doorman disfigured by the bite of a one hundred ten pound middle-aged elementary school teacher. Should he have pummeled the banshee into submission or should he have executed a more discreet Adversary Nullification.
When dealing with intoxicated humans, one must always be prepared to deal with the unpredictable. As my experience has increased I have learned to incorporate a passive fence at all times by “talking with my hands.” Many people laugh when I use my hands to add dramatic or comedic emphasis to an anecdote or joke. By doing so I am keeping my hands up and where I need them. Resisting the urge to do something such as place my hands in my pockets. One can already be in a “fight” before any physical action has been taken. The outcome of this fight will most likely be decided by who seizes initiative and strikes first. If someone says “I’m going to kick your ass” or “I’m going to fuck you up”, he is standing in front of you, posturing, and showing pre-fight physiology/pre-fight ques. Don’t wait for him to strike so your “trap’ can be sprung. Cross his bridge and crush him. I hear a lot of so-called “bouncers” say that they will take the first punch in order to be justified in their actions of using violence. My problem with this load of shit smelling bravado lies within the consequences of one punch. You could be knocked unconscious, knocked over and cracking your head open on the deck, or does that punch come with a knife clenched firmly in its grasp? It is time that we except that waiting for an opponent to throw the first punch may very well be our undoing.
On the street…
One must treat all unknown contacts, as possible threats while maintaining the restraint required when living in a civilized society. We are all responsible for being able to gauge the appropriate level of response to a perceived threat. I think many “gun guys” feel as though they are in possession of a magic remote control. With one push of a button (or pull of a trigger) the threat will be turned off. Where as I think many “martial arts or MMA guys” feel as though their physical prowess and hand-to-hand skills will pull them through any violent encounter and carrying guns is for the paranoid. As warriors we must dispel all these heinous preconceived notions. This kind of hubris will only lead us to our eventual destruction at the hands of someone who’s training consisted of an abusive childhood, chemical courage, and education in combatives training from within one of our nation’s most prestigious correctional facilities. As I have heard SouthNarc say many times… “They are not looking for a duel.”
Your attacker(s) is going to stack the odds heavily in his favor, before he strikes. This means he has consciously removed many of the advantages that your “training” and “highspeed gear” will provide you. The downfall I have seen with most (generalizing) MMA training today is that there is a sporting aspect that confines us to a “Marquess of Queensbury” mentality one opponent within a confined fighting area.
A lack of mass attack problem solving and real world environment included in this training will present a deficit outside of the gym. Whereas the average McDojo is too worried about running off students to actually allow real resistance training, where stress inoculation, and contact sparring would prepare the students for true violent encounters. Firearms instructors although typically have the mindset part of the equation correct, are too busy reminiscing of days never lived and teaching uber-tactical-highspeed-contractor bullshit to realize most of their students may not have ever been in a real fight. That many people in the “gun community” came to it with the (unsaid) truth of never having been in a real fight. Learning to use a firearm was easier on the ego and with a few swipes of the debit card they became badass. Unfortunately, they do not understand what the effects of the adrenaline, noradrenalin, dopamine, enkephalin (stress hormones) are going to do to them physically when their endocrine system starts dumping this chemical cocktail into their bloodstream. Even the most hardened fighters feel the heavy effects of these hormones, nausea, time distortion, rapid breathing, shakes, tunnel vision, loss of fine motor skills, overwhelming sense of dread, sudden need to defecate/urinate etc. Fear is a natural state. We must train to deal with the fear and stress and to fight through it, to use our natural gifts not allow them to reduce us to base creature that is no longer thinking but merely reacting.
In the real world we must deal with what comes our way. Situational awareness, preparedness, and honest self-evaluation are our best means of being ready when our card gets pulled. We should all find some deficit in our abilities, training, preparedness, etc. Acknowledge them and work diligently to correct them. Not every man is going to be a collegiate level wrestler or IPSC grand master, but we can all work to better our odds by putting time in. Whether it is more time at the gym, dry-fire drills while watching television, or simply meditating/visualizing on the possible fight to come. Seek out instruction from those who have valid assets to add to your arsenal, not the guy with the coolest avatar on a gear-based forum. Always remember the days in the gym or on the range that hurt the ego the most, build the most character and capability.
T.
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