Close Quarter Combat (1)

December/January 2001 M A G A Z I N E

HANDSTICKKNIFEGUN

Real Fight Clubs

Human Cock Fights of thePhilippines

The Last Gunfight of Ned Kelly

Counters to Joint Locks

Renaissance Knife Fighting

Real Fight Clubs

Human CockFights of thePhilippines

The Last Gunfight of Ned Kelly

Counters to Joint Locks

Renaissance Knife Fighting

0 774470 98545

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Plus…VanCook’s Run thru

the JunglePower Punches

Bouncer Teamwork…and more!

Plus…VanCook’s Run thru

the JunglePower Punches

Bouncer Teamwork…and more!

CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINECLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINEDECEMBER 2000 / JANUARY 2001

PublisherW. Hock Hochheim

Editor-in-ChiefJane Eden

Contributing Editor(s)Lloyd & Elizabeth Fitzpatrick

Graphic DesignLisa Blanks Ellis

PhotographyKeith Dempsey

Contributing WritersLeland Belding, Errol Deppe,

Perpetua L. Deppe, Gina Gallo, Mike Gillette, Pete Kautz,

B.B. Nashley, Buffalo Nickels, Joseph Reyes Jr.,

David “Smitty” Smith, Barry W. Szymanski,

Jerry VanCook, Glenn Zwiers

Visit CQCMAG on the World Wide Web

www. HocksCQC.comE-mail us at [email protected]

LAURIC PRESSP.O. Box 5372,

Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742Phone: 423-400-9458

Fax: 706-866-2657

CQCMAG is published bimonthly by Lauric Press. SingleCopy $10.00 in U.S.A. $20.00 overseas. Subscriptionrates per year are $30 U.S.; $50 Canada and $70International. Submissions of manuscripts, illustrationsand/or photographs must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The publisher assumesno responsibility for unsolicitedmaterial. Copyright 2000 byLauric Press. All rightsreserved. Reproductionin whole or in part with-out written permissionis strictly prohibited.Printed in the UnitedStates.

FeaturesFour-Phase Guide to Combat Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4By Publisher W. Hock Hochheim

Dispatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Legal Self-Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6By Barry W. Szymanski

Renaissance Knife Fighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7By Pete Kautz

Real Fight Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10By B.B. Nashley

Counters to Joint Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14By W. Hock Hochheim

“Such is Life.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19By Glenn Zwiers

The Squad RoomPolice Blotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21By Police Chief Mike Gillette

True Paramedic Stories - Scoop and Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23By David “Smitty” Smith

True Cop Stories - Smoking Gun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24By Gina Gallo

Military BriefingBattlefield Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Scuttlebutt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Buffalo Nickels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30World Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The ArenaBackCut - Human Cock Fights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33By Perpetua L. Deppe and Errol Deppe

Street Fighter’s Training Notebook - Power Punching . . . . . . . 35By Major Leland Belding

The VanCook View - Gimme a Break. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37By Jerry VanCook

The Bouncer - Team Work Saavy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39By Joe Reyes

On the cover...

SFC Instructor Julian Ortega wins a cage fight in California

4 • Close Quarter Combat Magazine

Combat training consists of fourimportant phases. Missing onemakes your mission incomplete. Ifyour mission is to study a historicmartial art that’s one thing, but if

self-defense combatives against the crimi-nal and the enemy soldier interest you, thefollowing phases provide a lifesavingchecklist.

1st Phase: Solo PracticeSolo practice develops command and

mastery, co-ordination, endurance andfamiliarity with your tools. Tools run thegamut from empty hands to weapons. Forsome traditionalists, solo practice meanskata or forms. Each style has a catchwordfor their sets of exercise-like movements.As a so-called “modern” practitioner, I havenothing against the idea of kata. I do how-ever damn the multiple practice of stupid,unsafe moves rampant in much traditionalkata. Rehearsing unsafe movements 3,000to 5,000 times creates dangerous reflex,and reflex is your last, best line of defenseagainst the ever-so-common ambushattacks of criminals and soldiers.

Take special care to select what physi-cal movements you practice. Studying theindividual realities may cause you to chunkyour whole system, but this is an importantstep on your journey to truth. One big lit-mus test for me? Karate’s reverse punch-anobvious strategic nightmare. But there arecountless smaller discreet deadly errorsburied in many systems that only a veterandiscerning eye may detect. I collect onlysmart movements in standing, kneeling andground heights and practice them solo. Ifwitnessed, one would swear I performed akata! Well, it is, and it isn’t. It’s solo practicein the air! Solo practice also includes yourtime in the gym in strength training andyour time on the turf and obstacle courserunning.

2nd Phase: Solo Practice for PowerThe second phase is to take all that you

do and actually hit something! One must

feel the results of striking alifelike facsimile. I buildChinese or Burmese “warposts” with simulated armsand legs to strike with myedged and impact weapons.Everyday martial and sportstores supply productsdesigned for kicking andstriking.

3rd Phase: PartnerTraining

Partner training con-sists of skill drills and com-bat scenario problem solv-ing. In this phase, you workwith a friend as both a trainer and trainee.You hone skill through drills. Some foolishpractitioners think drills waste time andquit doing them completely! Army drills,Marine drills, police drills, football teamdrills; every athletic endeavor hones skillthrough interactive drills. So you drill tooas part of your overall training, but themore important end performance productis the combat scenario. Through the con-cept of crisis rehearsal, you recreate asrealistically as possible what you mightconfront and then problem solve the chaos.

4th Phase: Mental PreparationWe must study the sciences of aggres-

sion, violence, anger, pain and fear manage-ment. This is where the “aware citizenry” Ioften talk about take front and center stage.There are martial instructors, most inexpe-rienced in real world conflicts, that obsesson these issues, drumming up lists ofacronyms and patents, articulating likecharming, hypnotic preachers. But it comesdown to this; learn what criminals andenemy soldiers do to outthink and outma-neuver you. Learn to control your adrena-line and fear to where it becomes a help nota hindrance. Learn to fight on past the gun-shot, the knife stab, and the broken bone-with the “Win Mentality.” Everything else isa M o n d a y - m o r n i n g - q u a r t e r b a c k ,Trivial Pursuit game question.

An overview study outline looks like this:

Phase 1: Solo Training

• Command and mastery of propermovements

• Endurance and fitness

Phase 2: Solo Training for Power

• Train with a life-like facsimile

Phase 3: Partner Training

• Skill and flow drills• Combat scenario simulations

Phase 4: Mental Preparation

• Study the psychologies of aggressionand violence

• Study fear management• Study pain management

Is your system overloaded with katasand forms? Then you are a circus act not awarrior. If all you do is pound a heavy bag,you’re developing your power inside a fan-tasy world. If all you do are drills upondrills, you will become a drill expert, not afighting expert. If all you do are combatscenarios, then you have no depth, littleknowledge, sparse understanding and shal-low savvy. If you do not understand humannature, you will never understand yourselfor your enemy. Miss any one of these fourphases, and you are one incompletegrasshopper. ✪

Four-Phase Guide toCombat Training By Publisher

W. Hock Hochheim

Train with a Burmese “war post” to practice edged-weapon strategy.

LAND-MAIL MESSAGE:

I enjoyed hearing that Gunsmoke’s James Arness received a belat-

ed military medal. Do you have any additional info on what he

did to win the medal? – JP, Missoula, MN

REPLY:

Big Jim won several medals for his war history and for wounds hereceived in close quarter combat at Anzio in WW II. Jim recentlycelebrated his 77th birthday, and it is truly great to see this realhero and pioneer western star. You may visit Jim’s webpage atwww. JamesArness.com.

Another unsung hero, actor and former US Marine Lee Marvin,dropped out of high school to enlist and participated in 21 combatlandings in the Marshall Islands. They were called “dirty littleaffairs” where Scout-Sniper units bailed out in SEAL-like invasiontactics from fast moving destroyers and worked their way to thebeach. There, they destroyed Japanese positions one-by-one.Marvin sustained wounds during the fighting some say was so closethat his unit reportedly could feel the heat of the enemy’s muzzlefire. There were other war vet actors that hailed from public life.England’s David Niven served as a commando. The military sentClark Gable and Jimmy Stewart on bombing runs over occupiedEurope. Sterling Hayden (the police captain Al Pacino shot in theGodfather) fought with the OSS in Yugoslavia. Even comedian MelBrooks received a citation for heroism.

EMAIL MESSAGE:

My friend in the Denver police department read your “Why Cops

Shoot|” article and was motivated to confront his training super-

visors with some facts, figures and stats. He is a PPCT police

course instructor, and he still teaches the Brachial Stun, yet you

mentioned the stun is now illegal in some places? He wanted to

know where?” – TE, Denver CO

REPLY:

This just further shows the screwed up nature of some police train-ing. The Brachial Stun is basically a forearm strike to the side of theneck. As a cop, I knocked three people out cold with it. I have seenit used successfully many more times by my partners. Sometimesthe suspect only staggered and fell, but the strike always worked.

However, recent studies indicate that in a few rare instances mat-ter may be dislodged and then travel to the brain and kill the per-son. As with any study, no matter how small the percentage, itencourages paranoia among administrators. There are no specificregions entirely on one side of the fence or the other. It’s inter-mingled. North Carolina is just one example where the state policeacademies still teach the Brachial Stun technique. I assume thatregion’s PPCT course does also. But when graduating cadets reportto Winston-Salem PD they are forbidden to use the tactic by theirdepartment policy, categorizing it as lethal force. So you see, thereare pockets of use woven into pockets were such use is restricted.I say teach every cop the brachial stun as one tool in a spectrum ofmany tools. It may save their lives and that’s where my loyalty lies.

EMAIL MESSAGE:

In a recent article you wrote on fear management you said that

a student must “control” his fear and “project” his fear. What

exactly do you mean by projecting fear? – MW, Torrance, CA

REPLY:

In real combat coping with fear is a vital issue. Fear leads to adren-aline rush, and the rush may be your best friend or your worstenemy. I can tell you some of my best physical performances as acop occurred when I only had a slight adrenaline rush. My worstperformances–and I had many of those too–were often whenadrenaline rushed me too strong and then dropped suddenly. I callthat “rushed and flushed!” I learned to control this process some-what, in the same internal way that people may slow their ownheartbeat and other achievable metabolic changes. Not to soundover-simplistic, but breathing has a lot to do with it! And experi-ence too! You do not have to become a medical doctor or a swamito understand the principle or accomplish this.

Projecting fear is about doing, looking or saying things that projectfear into your opponent. An ugly expression. A bone-chilling tone.A matter of clothing. A growl. These things are primal and you canpractice them in the same way a professional actor uses methodacting lessons to perfect a style. “The mightiest warrior never hasto use his sword,” was an old samurai expression. Fear projectionmay also mean simply pretending to be afraid to make your enemyover-confident so you may catch him off guard.

EMAIL MESSAGE:

When you teach the military, do you cover different material than

you do when you teach at civilian seminars? – TM, Chicago, IL

REPLY: No. And that might sound strange, but I do not. For example I taughtthe First Marine Division at Camp Pendleton in September andwhat did they want me to teach? The Journeyman Level Knife-

Dispatches

General Gravitz, General Mock, Jim, and Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera at Jim’s awardceremony.

Send your email questions to [email protected] land-mail to Close Quarter Combat Mag, P.O. Box 5372,Ft. Oglethorpe, GA 30742. As Fox’s Bill O’Reilly would say,

“keep your comments pithy.”

...continued on page 32

December 2000 / January 2001 • 5


You are taking in an outdoor concert witha friend when the people seated in front

of you begin to push and shove each other.Their elbows strike you or a friend in theknee. You ask them to stop, and one of theelbowers stands up, turns and attempts todeliver a roundhouse punch at you or yourfriend.

You stop the punch, seize the person’sarm, and in the process, dislocate a joint.Security arrives. The elbower claims hisshoulder is hurt. The next thing you know,he sues you in civil court for battery seek-ing medical expenses and personal injurydamages.

In a case where an injured person suesyou, your defense, under these circum-stances, is that any injury the plaintiff sus-tained was inflicted by you in self-defense.There was no battery, so therefore you arenot liable to the plaintiff.

In law, the concept of self-defense isthe right to defend yourself with the use ofwhatever force is reasonable and necessary

under the circumstances. If you believe youor your friend are likely to suffer bodilyharm, or that your lives are in danger, thenyou have a right to defend yourself usingsuch force. The force you use, however,must be what you reasonably believe nec-essary under the circumstances.

As a skilled fighter you must prove byyour testimony, if necessary, that youunderstand and know how to apply levelsof force appropriate for the circumstances.Your testimony must show:

• You remained under control at all times • You controlled the force used and• It was reasonably necessary based upon

the actions of the plaintiff.

It’s helpful to show that you attemptedto verbally diffuse the situation before itresulted in a physical altercation.

The law states you have a legal privi-lege to threaten to use force against anoth-er to prevent what you believe to be anunlawful interference against you by anoth-er person. This privilege also extends to theuse of intentional force against the otherperson to terminate what you believe to bean unlawful interference against yourself.The key word here is reasonable force.

You may only intentionally use suchforce, or the threat of force you believe nec-essary to prevent the acts of the other per-son. You cannot intentionally use force like-ly to cause great bodily harm unless youreasonably believe such force is necessaryto prevent immediate great bodily harm toyourself or another. This also extends todeadly situations because you cannot inten-tionally use deadly force unless you believethat such deadly force is necessary to pre-vent imminent death to yourself or another.

Many people don’t understand whomust prove what in court. The burden ofproof rests on you to demonstrate yourself-defense actions were justified to avoidinjurious physical contact! Justified meansthat in your own mind you have reason tobelieve you were in danger. The fact thatyour belief may be erroneous does notmake your conduct wrong. It’s importantto make the judge or jury understand that ifthey were in a similar situation they woulddo the same thing. With regard to age,especially in cases of children, beliefs,instincts, and impulses are judged in courtin relation to those of a reasonable personof like age, intelligence, and experiences.

In a case like this, the judge wouldinstruct the jury to consider:

1) Whether the force you used against theinjured plaintiff was reasonably neces-sary,

2) The injured plaintiffs actions, 3) The force or threat of force exerted by

the plaintiff, 4) The amount of force you exerted, 5) The means or instrument by which you

apply the force, 6) The strength and size of the injured

plaintiff, and 7) Your strength and size relative to the

injured plaintiff.

Verbal abuse is not sufficient to justify

an assault and battery. However, there maybe situations involving what a courtdescribes as an “overt act of an ambiguouscharacter.” In certain situations, self-defense is a justifiable defense in a civilaction where the act of self-defense givesrise to “a reasonable belief of imminentbodily harm when coupled with knowledgeof previous threats of physical harm anddangerous propensities exhibited by thevictim.”

If the judge or jury believes you usedmore force than necessary, they could findyour actions amount to assault and batteryto the extent that the force you usedexceeded those of self-defense. If the juryfinds you acted in self-defense, then thejury verdict should be – No battery!

In summary, if you believe someonemay sue you, get the names of everyoneinvolved or make sure the police obtain thenames of all parties and witnesses. Be care-ful what you say, and hire a lawyer. Also, assoon as possible after the incident, writedown everything you remember about theincident and share this information onlywith your lawyer. Remember your contactwith your retained lawyer is a confidential-ly privileged communication. Lawsuits costyou emotionally and financially. Try to min-imize the expense as soon as possible afterthe incident. Frequently, the other side may“puff” their story. Since you must prove thetruth, it may be hard work. But truth has itsown reward - and a dismissal of the plain-tiff’s lawsuit!

Barry W. Szymanski is aMember of the SFC CloseQuarters CombativesGroup and a rank holder inthe Hand-to-Hand Combat,Knife, and Combat Arnisprograms. Szymanskiworks as an attorney, adefense and arrest tactics

instructor at MATC Police Science RecruitSchool, and with a state of Wisconsin policeagency as a detective.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The goal of this column is to provide

helpful general information about a

particular subject. It is not intended

to substitute for legal counsel. If you

have questions about a particular

case, consult an attorney.

Legal Self-Defense By Barry W. Szymanski

RenaissanceKnife Fighting

During the Renaissance,roughly 16th-17th Century,many changes occurred inthe European styles ofswordplay. A new style

evolved, based on the earlierMedieval methods. Overall, therewas a shift from swordplay basedin military combat, to an increas-ing focus designed for use by civil-ians. This method was used spar-ring in an early training hall envi-ronment, where common peoplepaid to take lessons. Additionally,the invention of the printing pressgave rise to mass-produced train-ing manuals, many of which weretranslated into other languagesand sold abroad. Before thistime, these books contained thesecrets of professional warriorsand the real killing techniques andcounters that had previously beencarefully guarded. This traditionof secrecy changed as teachersduring the Renaissance sought acivilian audience with money tospend who wanted to learn theseformerly classified skills.

In the Renaissance, with therise in urban culture, the rapiert r u l y b e c a m e t h e p e o p l e ’s

weapon, while the military increas-ingly used firearms and pike forma-tions to wage war, lessening theimportance of individual combat-ants, and of the sword. Some mas-ters, particularly the English, pre-ferred the old ways. One famousmaster, George Silver, complainedabout the “new” rapier saying itwas of no use in times of war, andthat men should fight with the oldermilitary cutting swords instead.

Silver was also one of the fewto hold knife fighting in high regard.He taught that tactics are far moreimportant than any technique(which he felt was self evident), andthat knife fighting is entirely basedon understanding distance, timing,and having the judgment of know-ing when to come in and when to flyout. He wrote only a few paragraphson the subject because he feltinstruction and pictures, not words,were the only way to teach it.

This separation between mili-tary and civilian swords was paro-died in England in the 1640’s, in aplay entitled “Work for Cutlers.” Inthe play, two actors representingthe thrusting Rapier and the cuttingSword argue back and forth over

“In these modern

times, many men are wounded

for not having weapons or

knowledge of their use.”

– Achille Marozzo, 1536


Ancient Art of Knife FightingBy Pete Kautz

which of them is the better weapon. Eachone boasts of his unique abilities and whythe other is inferior. A third actor appearsas Dagger, and tries to make peace betweenthe two. Eventually, Dagger gets Swordand Rapier to become friends by declaringthat Sword is best for the soldier andRapier best for the civilian. Dagger, for hispart, says he works equally well with themboth, and will always be there to back themup in a fight! It’s a happy resolution for all,and a great insight into how the people ofthe Renaissance viewed these arms.

The first manual to be mechanicallyreproduced for sale was Achille Marozzo’sOpera Nova (“The New Work”) in 1536, andWestern swordsmen have always consid-

ered it one of the most important fightingmanuals. Marozzo not only published thisbook, but he also taught many teachers,and became the first great Western masterto bridge the gap between the military, thepolice, the martial artists, and the informedcitizenry.” His book covered both the oldermilitary weapons, such as the longswordand spear, and the new civilian weapons,such as the lighter cut-and-thrust swordsand rapiers, and the small buckler. He alsoincluded a long section on unarmed com-batives, which is special, since afterMarozzo’s time, very few Medieval manualswould depict them. Of the 22 techniques inthis section, two of them show knife onknife fighting while the other 20 depict var-ious unarmed versus knife encounters.

Marozzo, then, is the link between theMedieval styles and the new Renaissanceones. What he shows is a condensed ver-sion of the types of moves used in the earli-er Italian systems, such as that used byFiore dei Liberi and documented in his 1410Flos Duellatorum Flower of Battle. DeiLiberi showed over 100 individual tech-niques of wrestling, dagger fighting, andunarmed defense, which Marozzo distillsdown to 22 techniques. One important dif-ference between them, however, is whatMarozzo leaves out of his book. While Fioreshows multiple counters to allof his moves, Marozzo does noteven mention them as a possi-bility. In this sense,Marozzo’s work is very opti-mistic about the techniquesworking as planned and thecounter for counter idea isnot explored.

This in no way reduces theimportance of Marozzo’s work,however, and many scholarssince have studied and taughthis methods, and many fencersdeclared him the “Father ofModern Swordsmanship” and“The First Scientific Teacher.”The great swordsman and histo-rian Alfred Hutton was a fan ofMarozzo’s unarmed versus dag-ger methods, and included 14 ofthe 22 techniques into his 1889book, Cold Steel (not to be con-fused with John Styer’s 1952work by the same name).Hutton was one of the fathers ofmodern research into the trueancient Western combat arts,

and his books Cold Steel and Old

Swordplay are still excellent startingresources. In 1999, as a tribute to bothHutton and Marozzo, this author wrote abook entitled Hands Against the Knife,which describes all 22 of Marozzo’sunarmed versus dagger techniques,explains their hidden inter-connections,and gives training methods for their prac-tice in the modern day, as well as having thefirst complete translation of the text fromthe Italian. Many experts, such as HockHochheim, Jim Keating, and John Clementshave found this book to be insightful intheir study of these historical methods.

After Marozzo, the majority of bookspublished during the Renaissance werepurely on the civilian aspects of swordplay,though as late as 1594 Giacomo DiGrasistill includes the military two-hand sword,halberd, and spear in his True Art of

Defense. With a few such notable excep-tions, the majority of the manuals on intothe 1600’s focused on the rapier, or rapierpaired with a dagger, buckler, cloak or sec-ond rapier. Sadly, the techniques of usingthe knife or dagger as a solo weapon areignored in the majority of manuals fromthis era, and techniques for unarmedcombat are relegated to a few supporttechniques, referred to generically as

Knife fighting is entirely based on understanding distance, timing, and hav-ing the judgment of knowing when to come in and when to fly out.


Grips (Grypes). They were meant for usewhen you ended up too close to the enemyto use the sword effectively, and were nolonger taught as part of a larger spectrumof unarmed skills the swordsman shouldhave. The majority of the Grips used inRenaissance swordplay could be describedas hand snaking or wrapping disarms.

They are generally done with the free handor with the dagger, but are sometimes alsodone with the sword, in what many modernpractitioners would call a vine disarm, orweapon snake.

When the knife is mentioned as a soloweapon in the Renaissance, the classicMedieval tactic of cutting the opponent’sknife hand is frequently described. Like inall great knife traditions of the world, this

simple technique was highly valued as aquick fight-ender. Other basics that werecommonly taught in the Renaissance stylesincluded using low fakes to open up highattacks (and vice-versa), and fakes to oneside before launching the real attack on theother side. Throwing the knife, or even justfaking a throw, were also sometimes men-tioned. One preferred method of throwingwas to use an underhand swing, and torelease as the knife comes on line with theenemy, allowing the knife to fly straightinto the target point first, with no spin.

By the end of the Renaissance, thestyles of sword play would again change, assmaller, even lighter, thrusting-only swordscome into fashion, and the dagger would bedropped from use. These small-swords

became the mark of a gentleman, and wereused for duels of honor. The techniquesthat were used became more and morerefined and abstracted from the realities ofthe Medieval battlefield, hundreds of yearsbefore. They were quick, light, athleticmovements that could be delivered in arapid-fire manner, with each block beinganswered with a thrust. This gentleman’sdueling style was also favored with militaryofficers, and became what we call classicalfencing today. In turn, classical fencing

would change into the athletic sport ofOlympic fencing with the advent of elec-tronic scoring in the 20th Century.

Today, more and more people researchand train in the Medieval and Renaissanceforms, however, and seeking a return toearlier combative roots of the Western tra-dition. ✪

Pete Kautz has trained in the martial arts formore than 20 years and serves as thedirector of Alliance Martial Arts. He teachesMedieval Close Quarter Combat, 1800’sA m e r i c a n Her i tage Ar ts , and ModernCombatives in Ithaca, New York, and aroundthe world at seminars.


Achille Marozzo’s original Opera Nova canbe found online at William Wilson’s website:http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/ fenc-ing.html

Alfred Hutton’s Cold Steel and OldSwordplay can be found online at:http://www.thehaca.com/masters.htm

Mr. Kautz’s book on Marozzo’s unarmedversus dagger techniques, Hands Againstthe Knife, can be purchased through theAlliance Martial Arts web site at:http://alliancemartialarts.com

What must a young man brimmingwith testosterone do to carvehis mark in fighting? Crime,sports, police work or thearmed forces all provide excel-

lent opportunities to get down and grittywith an opponent. But where does a youngman go to win recognition and approvalfrom his tribe. Many choose the fight of allfights a real close encounter at—FightClubs.

One evening recently, I found myselfseriously wondering what draws men tothis dark and dangerous sport. Deep intothe heart of New York City I went to asecret location where at the invitation of afriend, I viewed private home videos of sev-eral arena fights. These videos showedfights so bloody, so intense, I couldn’tbelieve it. The action took place at severalmartial arts schools across the New YorkArea, including the club where I reviewedthe videos.

I watched fascinated as a huge manbody slammed a smaller one down on thehard floor and leaped on top of him WWFstyle, but this was real. No gi. No mats. Norefs. Pure violence. Onlookers orbited thering like a pack of hungry hyenas. I hadnever seen a fight in my life like the ones onthose tapes. Sweat and blood sprayed. Itlooked like one of those nature showswhere the cougar downs the baby antelopewith a vicious, primal gotcha glee. Then thebehemoth bashed his elbow down on thesquashed man’s face. Bam!.. the temple...Bam!..the side of the jaw. Several guysrushed in and pulled the bruiser off. Stillmore swarmed in and ministered to the vic-tim. Moments later, they carried him away.

“What happened to him?” I asked myfriend, I’ll call him, “Drix” who sat besideme.

“Oh, they took him to the hospital,”Drix says. He reaches over and switchesoff the tape, without even an eyebrow


Cage fighting allows men to experience the chaos of the real fight without the normal legal consequences.

Real Fight Clubs

By B.B. Nashley

quirk, which makes me think maybe Ineed to explain how I got caught up inthis adventure in the first place.

I met Drix through a friend at mylocal health club. At the time his armwas in a sling. When I asked what hap-pened, he told me he sprained it in afight, then he explained the type offighting he did. I listened hypnotizedas he described his hobby: training tofight in back rooms, alleys, parkinglots, wherever, for the sake of experi-encing a real fight. As he talked, I fum-bled for my pencil. The writer in meknew a story when he smelled one.

“We got him into the emergencyroom. He was fucked up, but he’s okaynow. When he told the nurses he wasworking out in a karate class, and weconfirmed it, they decided not to callthe cops. After they patched him up,we went back to the fights. They hadseveral more that night,” Drix says.

I watched some of the otherfights that evening, but none seemedas violent as the first one. Rough, butat some point one guy football-tackledthe other and turned the whole thinginto a schoolyard wrestling match.The losers yelled their surrender. The big-ger fighters always beat the smaller fight-ers.

Beside me on the studio couch formost of the evening sat Drix’s buddy, BigWill, a tall skinny intense 20-somethingwith a shaved head. Will did his share ofweightlifting, for sure.

“Sometimes the cops know,” Big Willsays. “Sometimes we call them before andsay, hey, like we have some serious trainingat the dojo tonight. There may be someinjuries. They don’t care.”

Drix bobs his head up and down. At30, Drix harbors a lifelong devotion to mar-tial arts. He likes his head shaved clean andsports tattoos of drunken monkeys on onearm and a green cobra on the other. Yes,he’s studied all types of martial arts. Butnow he and all his friends are totally intothe mystique of the backroom brawl. As Ilistened, I couldn’t help wondering, why?

Apparently, Drix and his friends gotfrustrated about 6 years ago when afteradvancing up the chain of command in mar-tial arts there were no realistic venues inwhich to express what they called “noholds barred” reality fighting (they haveseveral names for it). Mostly it means norules, and no holding back.

After the last film, we left the school.Drix followed me out and locked the frontdoor behind us. “We couldn’t really fightanywhere else,” Drix explains “so weorganized our own events here once amonth on Friday night.” Sometimes theyfight in other places if the school, which isowned by a friend, has another eventscheduled.

“We pick Friday’s because this way wecan, you know dude, heal up some byMonday morning when we gotta go back towork,” said Big Will with a grin. Will worksas a sorter at a clothing factory.

Drix has a slightly different back-ground. Over the years he taught Kung Fufull time but never made a go of it. Fewpeople want to play as hard as he wants topractice. Now he works at his dad’s autorepair shop.

“So we started inviting people over tofight on Fridays,” Drix continues.

“Anyone. No shit what size, we don’tcare. We are in it for the adventure,” BigWill says.

“No size too big,” Drix adds.“How do you meet these people?” I

asked as we rounded the street corner inroute to my car.

“Lots of ways,” Drix says.

“There’s a whole community,”says Big Will.

“We talk on the Internet, on thesefight bulletin boards. We go to semi-nars. See them at gyms. We talk. Thennetwork,” Drix continues. “We invitethem to come, and they always have afighter to talk up and push.”

“Do people gamble at thesethings?” I ask.

“Not really,” Drix says.“I don’t think much,” Big Will

adds. “In the arena fights, the biggerones that you pay admission to get in,some gambling goes on, but that’s notthe reason they come.”

“No,” Drix agrees.“Are there trophies?” I ask, trying

to get at the reason why someonewould risk having his face kicked inon a Friday night.

“No. You just get the rep of win-ning. You walk away with the toughguy rep.”

“Why can’t you guys fight in thesebigger arena matches?” I ask as we getinto my car, recalling the wall posterscovering the inside the karate school Ijust left.

“Politics,” Drix says.“Yea, money and politics. They won’t

advertise you on any ticket unless youare…somebody. Paid fighters usually comefrom these grappling schools that peoplehave heard of. Promoters call these schoolslooking for fighters sometimes,” Big Willsays. “We don’t have any connections. It’slike marketing a name. We are nobodies.”

“…and there are too many of usnobodies with no place to fight, like thisanyway. You come back Friday night inthree weeks and you can see me fight!” Drixtells me. I take it as an invitation.

I drove them to a corner by a dinerwhere they planned to meet a group offriends. As I pulled away, I mentally fast-forwarded to the upcoming Friday NightFight Club event. I wondered if it wouldresemble a Grade C karate movie or a BradPitt movie.

I knew what Drix said was true. Beforehe left, Drix gave me a list of contacts,other people who agree that fight promot-ers look for names they can use to pumpticket buyers. Then they worry about beingsued over a fighter’s injuries, no matterwhat precautions they take. I decide tolook a few of them up.


***Mikey Deluca was a retired kick boxer

in Boston with his fingers into a lot of smallsporting events. He was even in twoCharles Bronson movies with real bit parts.

“Da kids today want to fight to thedeath, it seems to me,” Mikey tells me. Wesit in his strip center business office fromwhich he runs several businesses, onceeven an illegal sport numbers racket. “Youget them to sign waivers, but if they gethurt, they will still come after ya! So youjust have to have rules and a referee. Someof these kids. They don’t like rules. I dunno, you know? It’s a craze, like worldwrestling. Kids cream each other with fold-ing chairs, tables. Jesus! Nah!” Mikeywaves his hand in the air, “I still throwtogether some karate tournaments. That’swhat I do. Some small boxing tickets, butthese new tough guys! It’s a lawsuit waitingto happen.”

“Were there ever back room boxingmatches?” I ask, trying to get him to talkabout the bare-knuckle fight days a sportswriter had tipped me off that he participat-ed in.

“Yea-yea,” he says. “We use to fightback years ago bare-knuckle here andthere. Even the mob put some together. Butwe use to just box. If a fella fell, you didn’tsquash him. You just turned him into pulp,stood there and pounded him until hecouldn’t get up. But all that is illegal now.”

“Did the mob fix those fights?”

“No. They ran a clean show. You know,they didn’t care. They got paid. They didn’tcare who won. They had a fella who wouldwork the neighborhood boxing gyms andget us to fight. The guy was a WW II Vetwith one hand and one eye. Neva forgothim. Good ol’ slob. Died years ago, God resthis soul because he took care of us if we gothurt and made sure we got our money. Hewas a bookie too. Ran numbers.”

“Where was the strangest place youever fought one of these?”

“1966. Some guy’s bachelor party in abeer hall. Broads and boxing. Whattanight!”

***“It all started with the Gracie family

and Brazilian Ju Jitsu and their UltimateFighting Challenge (UFC), almost what…10years ago now?” Arthur, one of the UFCbusiness contacts, told me. I note thatArthur adorns his head with a bad toupeeand has a permanent smile most likely froman overzealous plastic surgeon, but, afterall, he lives in California. Sporting the buildof a gym rat, Arthur calls himself a businessmanager and a shingle outside the door tohis office advertises him as a bookkeeperand accountant in Los Angeles. He says hebailed out of fighting because of the state-by-state frustrations caused trying to set upthe regional contests.

“No one could decide if it was boxingor not, or who should regulate it or evenallow the challenges to happen! State-by-

state they denied us, sometimes well afterthey said yes to us and we had pouredbuckets of money into setting up theevents. Finally we had to change the rules,more controls, less violence. That was thebeginning of the end. The Gracies held astacked deck in the beginning anyway.Now, mean 300 pound machines are outthere and brother, let me tell you, if therewere no rules in these fights, there wouldbe a murder every match.”

And thus, hooked on the fire, and thendeprived, fight-hungry men founded thelesser-known Fight Nights.

***Big “K” took me out back

behind his small martial artsschool in southern California,leaving a judo class of tiny chil-dren under the control of ateenager.

“Here it is.” He showed mea folded-up, huge mountain ofchain link, its fence posts full ofcollapsible hinges. “This is myoctagon, my cage. A few nightsa week I rent it out to a bar or aclub, sometimes to a group ofguys, to parties, whatever, forfights.” Tangled red streamerslay piled up beside the cage.The metallic heap barely fits onthe back of K’s Chevy truck,and he flies pennants to alertother drivers of the super-sizedload.

“That cage has made me alot of money.”


The referee raises SFC Instructor Julian Ortega’s hand in victory at a cage fight in California earlier this year.

“Do you organize some fights?” I ask.“Sometimes. We have the kids fight in

here at fairs and promo events. But that isstrictly clean sport judo or jujutsu. What anattraction! I organize some fight nights atbars. There are college fight nights. I refer-ee them. Ever see the strongman fights onFOX TV? They are like those. They getcrazy too! You can get sued. But at someparties and parking lot fights behind bars,we just set it up, the cage, and get the hellout of there. Sometimes when we comeback to collapse the cage the next morningand haul it off, we see plenty of blood-stains, and teeth! We have seen lots ofteeth on the ground, and ripped clothes. Notelling what went on, and I don’t want toknow.”

“Do you ever fight?” I asked.“Use to fight, but I am 51 years old,

and that’s too old. I still have all my teeth. Iuse to fight bare-knuckle karate tourna-ments in the ’70’s and I still have my teeth.”

“Are there any differences betweenthe bare-knuckle karate and these backroom or cage fights today?” I ask.

“They were tough. The classes weretough. People got hurt. People threw up. Inthe tournaments you were supposed tocontrol the contact, and we did a good job,unless it was a big title fight in the circuit,or a grudge match. And these grudgematches were no trumped up WWF stuff.They were real. There were circuits allover. Detroit, Dallas, New York. L.A. Bigcities. Once in a while you would travel toanother circuit. Lots of the old timers, guyslike Chuck Norris – very tough, and JoeLewis, those guys. They meant businessand kept the ambulances running. Oldkarate and “jujitz” were very tough backthen. Today it’s all kid stuff. But in thosetournaments, you didn’t go down unlessyou were knocked down. Then theystomped on you or bent over and powerpunched you. No ground fighting like today.Yeah, the karate of the ’60’s and early ’70’swere a lot like these cage fights, just nowrestling, that was for the Judo matches.”

***Dr. Robert Parker, a Columbia psychia-

trist and martial artist had an armful ofbooks and his dry cleaning when I caughtup with him on the parking lot of one hisgroup clinic sites. Having written in aNew York Times op-ed piece on violenceand teens, I coaxed the sociologist intoarriving early for one of his appointmentsso he could render an opinion on the sub-

ject of these macho battles.“These young men are venting,” the

doctor told me as his group session mem-bers congregated in the room beside us.“Our society leaves few opportunities tobecome a hero or test manhood. You havecrime, sports, policing or the armed forcesfor example, where a young man, brimmingwith testosterone might leave his mark, butfew opportunities arise where a man maywin recognition and the approvalof his tribe. Few will committo the causes involved withwar and police work. Theyjust want to fight. And tomany, boxing is entirelytoo tame.”

I wondered whatkind of tribal ritual Iwould see back inNew York that Fridaynight.

***I felt like a bit player in a gangster

movie as I knocked on the school doorwhere the fights were schedule to takeplace. Rolls of butcher paper taped to thefront windows restricted the normal viewinside. Projected shadows rippled across

the paper like a makeshift movie screen. Itried the door handle only to discoversomeone had thrown the door lock.Momentarily, the door cracked open toreveal an eyeball and a raised eyebrow.

“I’m here with Drix and Big Will?” I sayin a half question. The password works,and the door opens for my entry.Conversation rumbles among the 27 peopleI count as I enter. Sixteen white, 7 Hispanic

and 4 black. All seem like collegechums, all brothers in the

cause that supersedesracism. Four roll on thefloor demonstrating whatappear to be solutions towrestling holds. Others lis-ten intently as the tricksare passed about. Two

coolers containing beer,water and soda sit against

the wall, intermixed with sever-al big gym bags and backpacks.

Somewhere, a boom box plays rapmusic. Several members near the doorgreet me as if I am a member of a secretsociety. I don’t see Drix or Big Will. I get abeer, then mingle with and study thisunusual crowd. The oldest looks about 40-

...continued on page 40


Counters toJointLocks


In 23 years of police work and over1,300 arrests in South Korea,Oklahoma and Texas, I engaged inmany confrontations, ranging fromfull-blown, knockdown, drag-out

fights to manhandling passive resistors. Toaugment this experience, I practiced in sev-eral martial arts systems since 1973, givingme the chance to experiment with the trueeffects of what many call joint-locks.

Through this training and experience, Isurmised two basic groupings of locks, onesmaller collection I call, go-to-jail locks

and the second larger group, transition

locks. The go-to-jail locks are the rarefew most likely to wrap up the enemy and

best ensure a transition into handcuffs,transport to the jailhouse, or any definitionof custody you might need. But most locksconstitute short transitional pieces,designed to move and shock the opponentfrom one position into a better position,which might eventually become a go-to-jaillock or a takedown or throw. Martialartists, police officers, and now recentlythe military study such joint locks.

Make a list of all your locks and placethem in one of these two categoriesbecause a consummate fighter must realizethat working knowledge and savvy areimportant. However, the focus of this studyis not about the execution of locks but

rather the less scrutinized and rarelyorganized project, counter-strategiesand escapes.

The Cement PrincipleAfter establishing these two groupings

of locks, countering locks should breakdown into three collections, early-phase,

mid-phase and late-phase problem solv-ing, as best exemplified by the drying

cement model. If you put your foot in andout of wet cement, it gets messy but easy toremove like the early phase counter. If youput your foot in and leave it a bit longer, thecement grows harder and you have a mid-

Counters toJointLocks

By W. Hock Hochheim


phase predicament. If you allow the lock toset, like leaving your foot in dry cement –you have a late-phase problem. Virtually,you may problem-solve any lock counterusing this three-phase outline structure.

The Pain Principle vs. the SkeletalPrinciple

Despite decades of training that catego-rized joint locks into the study of pain com-pliance, I learned one important fact frompolice work. You cannot classify joint lockscompletely on the degree of pain they cause.In combat, the subject’s clothing, sweat,jewelry, a mix of adrenaline and an individ-ual’s pain tolerance level severely limits theuse of sheer pain as a base. In sterile class-room practice, our friends react individuallyand accordingly to the amount of pain wecrank on them, often giving us a false senseof security. Joint locking really works moreon the structural weaknesses of our skele-ton system, the true target of joint locking!The truth lies beneath the flesh. Pain represents nature’s way oftelling a guy, “Watch out! Someone cranked your wrist into anextremely weak position!” In fact, if you expertly throw someoneusing a joint lock along the way, you will quite likely dump himbefore he registers a full level of pain. It’s much more about theskeleton! When you twist the lug nut off the wheel with a crowbar,the lug nut comes free, not because of pain, but rather pure lever-age.

The enforcement training movement represents a small butgroundbreaking law, based in political correctness that shuns theold term pain compliance because they fear using the word painmight bolster abuse lawsuits. Any new term other than pain seemspreferable. In an abstract way, this concept benefits the trainerbecause it inadvertently takes the emphasis off pain and puts itback on control, back on manipulation of the skeletal structure. Sopolice administrators, in their timid, never-ending paranoia foronce actually re-define the approach in a better way.

In the early-phase, blast back out of the grip. s

s The enemy gets a “center” or “V” or “S” lock on you. You slap release and counter attack.

❶ ❷

❶

s Strike the enemy’s face in all three phases.

❷

❸ ❹

The Basic Counter StrategiesMake a list of all the joint locks and

joint lock takedowns/throws and groundfighting you know, and then experimentcountering all of them with the followinglist of techniques. Be creative!

Strategy 1)

The Explosive Retraction StrategiesAny drunk in a bar, any knucklehead

anywhere really, already possesses skill atthis early-phase counter, and you do too.When you feel the bad guy seize your arms,yank free as hard as you can. Step backwith the yank. Experiment with this againstevery lock possible.

Strategy 2)

Slap Releases and Circular ReleaseFor someone to joint-lock you, they

must grab you. Another early to mid-phasecounter strategy, slap off the grips on yourperson before the vice tightens. Workingyour arms in clockwise and counter-clock-wise represents a tried and true way toescape a grip. Then add a slap and somedynamic explosive retraction!

Strategy 3)

Striking and KickingHere’s a novel idea. When someone

starts to lock you up…suddenly punch orkick the hell out him! You will find throughyour experimentation, that some maneu-vers respond perfectly to your counterstrike and kick.

Strategy 4)

Specific Problem SolvingSome locks place you in unique and

awkward positions. Inside these positionsyou must find one-of-a-kind solutions on acase-by-case basis. Discover them throughexperimentation or learn them more quick-ly from an expert.

Strategy 5)

Going LimpWe expect a certain amount of resist-

ance on the part of the enemy to exerciseour joint lock. Resistance becomes part ofthe overall execution. You may counter

many of the go-to-jail locks and transitorylocks as your opponent sets them up bygoing completely limp. You may sometimesfoil the best locks simply by sliding to theground. Ask any cop wrestling a real drunkaround about how slippery they may get!No resistance.

Strategy 6)

Ground FightingI absolutely love about 60 percent of

all ground fighting practiced today as itmight relate to real world combat. Only thebrainwashed and foolhardy believe thatgoing to the ground constitutes their onemission in a fight, regardless of strength,size, terrain and enemy weapons. However,one solid time to plunge to lower heights isduring a late-phase counter to a joint lock.Keep in mind that many standup locks aremeant to drive you down on the groundanyway to the enemy’s advantage – such asslamming you face down. During the late-phase, right before your opponent dumpsyou where he wants you, drop to your sideor on your back first! Not only does thisconfound your attacker, but it also may freeyou from the pressures of the lock. Whenyou hit the floor in a position that YOU

want, starting kicking, rolling away andfight like hell!

Strategy 7)

The Next Level: Counters to the CountersYou want to dominate this fight? Make

your joint locks work? In a perfect worldhere is the equation:1) Strike the head. Stun the brain. All the

counters stored up in the enemy’s headand muscle memory may turn to mush.

2) Execute your joint locks quickly, effi-ciently and ruthlessly.

s To escape the figure four and underarm locks beforethey set, roll under in this unique manner.

❶

❷

❸

❹

❺

❶

s To escape the standing center lock before

it sets, spin and strike. q



❺

❷

➏

❸

❼

❹

❷❶ ❸

➏ ❼

sTo escape the arm bar, dive between the legs.

3) Practice lock flows to create musclememory to intercept the escapes.

Fighting through and Past the PainOf all the points regarding joint locks,

this is the most important. On the battle-

field, in life and death combat, when every-

thing is at risk, a true warrior will fight

through the pain of the gunshot, the knife

wound, and these now media famous, sub-

mission-based joint locks if at all possible.

Where sport men train to “tap-out” and say,

“ouch, you got me,” the real warrior must

pummel on through the pain, to save his

life. Look around the emergency rooms

and battlefield hospitals of crime and war

and bear witness to the heroes who fought

through the pain of broken bones and bod-

ies to win and survive. Perhaps this trait,

this indomitable spirit, is the greatest

counter of all. ✪

❹ ❺

❶ ❷ ❸


s To escape a late-phase basic wristlock, sometimes you may drop and kick.

s Escape the heel hook! Fight through the pain!

❼

❽ ❾

❹ ❺

➏

❶ ❷ ❸


Bonnie and Clyde. Al Capone. RobinHood. Every nation has its leg-endary bandits, the anti-hero thathaunts the psyche of a society’sconsciousness in a strange love/hate

relationship. Bushranger, a romanticized termunique in Australia, describes a group oftraveling outlaws who rape, rob and pillageto survive. In Australia, the infamous out-law Ned Kelly more than earned the title.

Decades ago, Rocker Mick Jaggerplayed Ned in a fictionalized moviethat cut a meager path around theworld. While the movie failed to makepulses race, the real Kelly stoppedmany a heart during his illustriouscareer. Throughout his short life Kellypitted himself against corrupt policeand government officials and, as aresult, his crimes like those ofRobin Hood, appealed to the com-moner and earned their empathy. Hefrequently lectured victims he kid-napped about the woes and evils ofthe authorities. Kelly’s personallydesigned, metal, bulletproof helmetand suit added to his mystique. ButKelly’s last stand at Glenrowan, prob-ably fired the imagination ofAustralians the most and cementedKelly as a legend for all time.

Born in 1854 in Wallan, Australia,Kelly grew up as delinquent, pettycriminal and graduated to a full fledgefelon and a murderer early in life.Kelly aspired to head a small army andwreak havoc across northeasternVictoria. Eventually, if things wentwell, he planned to lead a civil upris-ing.

In June of 1880, Kelly decided torest, hide and plot this adventure atthe declining city of Glenrowan. Uponarriving, he qu ick ly comman-deered Ann Jones ’s GlenrowanInn, little more than a simple iron-roofedweatherboard hut with a verandah in frontand a slab at the rear, located adjacent to theGlenrowan railway platform.

It proved a likely spot because part ofKelly’s mission involved derailing the policetrain that transported police officers to hiscrime scenes and frequently confoundedhis plans. To accomplish this, Kelly plannedto remove a section of the track on theWangaratta side of the platform and thusderail the police train after it passedthrough Glenrowan, making it vulnerableto ambush.

The day of the planned attack arrived,and the gang gathered their protectivearmour forged in an improvised bush forgefrom mould boards and ploughshares pur-

loined from,or willinglydonated by,local farmers.A group ofn e a r l y 8 0 0armed sup-porters ral -lied behindKelly and hisg a n g w h oplanned to

battle it out with the police and takeall survivors hostage. In addition, Nedforced a gang of railway workers inthe vicinity of the hotel to tear up asection of the rai lway l ine to thenorth of the Glenrowan platform.The train was only 12 hours away…

At the Glenrowan Inn towardevening about 60 people waited withmounting apprehension. In the hillsabove the town, an additional numberof armed supporters waited withgrowing frustration for a prearrangedsignal for them to join the battle. Afestive air prevailed at the inn thatSunday as the party consumed vastquantities of liquor, listen to musicand improvised dances to entertainthemselves. The Kelly gang sensed lit-tle antipathy toward them. One oftheir prisoners, Thomas Curnow, thelocal schoolmaster, seemed particu-larly helpful. Kelly had capturedCurnow during an earlier buggy rideand bailed [tied] him up alongside hiswife and sister at the inn. Curnowinformed Kelly of the whereabouts ofthe local policeman, ConstableBracken, and warned him the localstationmaster possessed a loaded gun.As a result, Kelly and his band quicklysnatched Bracken.

As midnight passed and the alco-hol ran out, a sense of foreboding fell uponKelly, and he considered abandoning thetrain attack. This change of heart may havecontributed to his ill-fated decision to

A small museum in Glenrowan displays Ned Kelly body armor.

The Last Gunfight of Ned Kelly“Such is Life.”

By Glenn Zwiers


relent to Curnow’s pleading to allow him totake his wife and sister home. But insteadof taking the two women home as he prom-ised, Curnow decided to warn the train. Hequickly set out on foot heading south alongthe railway line holding his sister’s red scarfin one hand and a lantern in the other.

At about three o’clock t h e p o l i c etrain approached Glenrowan and Curnowflagged it down and informed those onboard that the Kelly gang waited in town.When the people at the inn heard the trainapproach, a scene of great confusionensued. As the gang clambered into theircumbersome suits of armour, ConstableBracken escaped and dashed across to thestation to arrive as the train pulled in. Afterthe trained lumbered to a stop, 10 police-men and six aborigine trackers disembarkedwith their horses. Five newspaper reportersfollowed.

As the police advanced on the nowdarkened inn, everyone inside lay down onthe floor. The four-gang members came outon the verandah and opened fire on thepolice, which retaliated in kind. Early in theencounter bullets struck Ned Kelly in theleft arm, and shortly after in the right footwhere a bullet ripped through his bigtoe and came out at theankle. Gang membersJoe Bryne (wounded inthe calf) Steve Hart andNed’s brother Danretreated back insidethe inn, where bulletsripped through the flim-sy weatherboards withgreat intensity.

I n n o w n e r A n nJones’s two children,13-year-old Jack and 5-year-old Jane both sus-tained injuries. Jackmortally, in the stom-ach, and Jane, seriouslybut not fatally, in thehead. Ned, despite hiswounds, reached theback of the inn, where,armour and all, hemounted a horse andmade off planning tojoin his supporters inthe hills and regroup.

Nine police rein-forcements arrivedSunday night with more on the way. By day-break the next day more than 30 policeformed a semicircle around the hotel andexchanged fire with the bushrangers. OneSergeant Steele in a frenzy, fired wildly atthe building, until a threat from one of hisown constables caused him to cease. Agroup of remaining hostages inside the inn

contrived to escape during thenight, preferring to take theirchances in the crossfire ratherthan remain inside. One, Mrs.Reardon a railway worker’s wife,clutched her baby as she ran. Abullet passed through the shawlin which she wrapped the infant,narrowly missing the child. Her19-year-old son was less fortu-nate. A police bullet cracked himin the shoulder and stopped justshort of his heart, but he sur-vived.

For some unknown reason,under fire Ned Kelly returnedalone and used his gun to fighthis way back inside just in timeto see Joe Byrne receive a devas-tating wound to the groin andfall, writhing in agony.Kellywatched him die. Afterward hestumbled outside, and shot atpolice, until he eventually fellexhausted to the ground in abush at the rear of the inn, out ofrange of the police guns.Meanwhile the battle raged on,between the police and the two remaining

bushrangers. As daylight of

the second daybroke Ned Kellysummoned newreserves and stum-bled back into thefray, a revolver inhis right hand, hisleft arm awashwith blood. Hemight no doubthave escaped, butreturned to helpfree his two sur-viving accomplices.Seeing Kelly forthe first time indaylight, the policewatched in amaze-ment as a grotesquefigure, i ts headencased in a metalcylinder with onlya narrow slit foreyes and a coatdraped over i tsheavy breastplate,

advancing inexorably toward them.Bullets bounced off the armour, until twoshots fired at Kelly’s legs sent him reelingbackward.

Police took Kelly to the railway stationwhere his wounds were tended. By mid-morning all the remaining hostages, exceptone, an elderly man called Martin Cheny,

who sustained a stomach shot that eventu-ally resulted in his death, were allowed toleave the inn. However, the fight continued.Frustrated by continued resistance, theconstables decided to destroy the buildingand telegraphed Melbourne to request acannon. However, by mid-afternoon, theshooting from inside had ceased, a n dt h e y d e c i d e d instead to burn it down.One of the police approached cautiouslywith bales of straw and a can of keroseneand set the inn alight. It quickly turned intoa fiery blaze.

The cataclysmic scene broughtnearly a century of Australian bushrangingto an end. Kelly recovered from his woundsto stand trial before Sir Redmond Barry on28 October 1880 charged with murder. Thenext day the jury returned a verdict ofguilty, and Redmond imposed a sentence ofdeath. After the judge pronounced his sen-tence, Kelly said, “I will see you there,where I go!”

Despite widespread appeals for mercy,they hanged Kelly at Melbourne on themorning of 11 November 1880. Ned’sfamous last words were, “Such is life.”

Kelly’s body, like those of severalbushrangers before him, suffered desecra-tion after death. As though he were somefreak of nature, his head was cut off andsubjected to phrenological examination. ✪

Glenn Zwiers owns World Emporium inLilydale, Victoria Australia and is the SFC’schief instructor of Australia. Website: [email protected]

Glenn stands near a giant statue of Ned on the roadside nearGlenrowan.


Free Cops!

In 1994, President Clinton pledged to put 100,000 new police officers on the street to

reduce crime. Gore promised yet another 50,000. Six years after the first pledge, the pro-

gram falls 40,000 officers short of its original goal.

Potsdam, Ohio is doing fine. Their chief worked overtime on all possible grants and allo-

cations, and in theory it is the most tightly patrolled city in America. The tiny village

northwest of Dayton averages one officer per every 35 residents (the average 1 per 400

residents). “We don’t live here so we could live like we are under martial law!” complained

one resident.

Cash poor (huh?) Beverly Hills, CA PD needed Uncle Bill’s help and received more than

$554,000 in COPS cash. Minnesota hired officers basically to tell Vietnamese immigrants

how many fish they could catch in the State’s lakes. Illinois sent troopers to cut corn-

stalks. The catch? In many cases, as the grant phases out, the localities must phase in with

local bucks.

Gun Control

A study published in the August 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association found

no difference in the homicide rate before and after the Brady Bill passed. The study com-

pared 18 states and the District of Columbia with Brady-like regs already in place, with 32

states that implemented the 1994 Brady law. The investigation uncovered no difference

in murder rates.

Paintball Injuries

For many agencies training with paintball guns has become a learning experience.

Officers beware! Eye injuries are skyrocketing. The required helmet and face mask is the

best defense (much “backyard” play goes on without it!), but Dr. Steven Schwartz, an oph-

thalmology professor at the University of California, reported over one quarter of the

annual 2,000 eye injuries occurred when players removed their masks because it fogged

up, to wipe off paint, or because they thought they were in a time-out zone.

Fingerprint Gun

It’s a cold and rainy night. The driver of the vehicle you stop is a felon. After standing in

the rain for a moment, he suddenly goes for a gun. You go for yours. You pull the trigger.

Silence. Nothing…but his gun works! Later, investigators look over the scene and find your

Police BlotterBy Police Chief Mike Gillette

The Squad Room, a place for briefings, training, coffee, war

stories, station-house gossip, and ass-chewings…


gun. It’s called a “smart gun.” It works only when the shooter has a special finger ring on,detectable by a series of high-tech electronics inside the pistol. Sounds great to keep thelittle kiddies safe...then it rained! And skeptics ask about electronic jammers that mightshut all such weapons down? Of course manufacturers of these smart systems say theyare fool and waterproof.

WebPages to Check OutUS Department of Justice: www.Usdoj.gov/US Marshals Service: www.Usdoj.gov/marshals/US Customs: www.Customs.treas.gov/US Secret Service: www.Ustreas.gov/usssBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: www.atf.Treas.gov/Federal Bureau of Prisons: www.Bop.gov/Central Intelligence Agency: www.Odci.gov/Drug Enforcement Administration: www.Usdoj.gov/dea/FBI: www.Fbi.gov/homepage.htm

Fedworld: www.fedword.gov/FEMA: www.Fema.gov/Federal Law Enforcement Training Center: www.Ustreas.gov/fletc/United States Postal Inspection Servive: www. Framed.usps.com/postalinspectorsNational Organization Justice Reference Servive: www. Ncjrs.org/

Mike Gillette isChief of Police for a

city in Iowa. Hisexperience spans

more than 10 years in law enforcement

with an extensive military operations

background. Gilletteworked various

assignments as aTactical TeamCommander,

Rangemaster, PatrolSupervisor and FieldTraining Officer. As aUse-of-Force Trainer,

he has taught officersand agents acrossthe country. In the

military he served inthe 82nd Airborne

and the 194th LongRange Surveillance

Det. (Airborne).(515) 795-2149.

Texas Cure for ChokingTwo Texas State Police walk into a restaurant to wash the trail dust from theirthroats. They sit at the counter drinking their coffee and talking quietly aboutcattle theft, draught, shoot-outs and the whereabouts of Anne Richards.Suddenly, a woman at the table behind them begins to cough. After a minute orso, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. The troopers turn to look ather.

“Kin ya swaller?” asks one of the troops. The woman shakes her head, no. “Kin ya breathe?” asks the other. The woman, beginning to turn blue, shakesher head again to the negative.

The first trooper walks over to her, lifts up the back of her skirt, yanks downher panties and slowly runs his tongue from the back of her thigh up to thesmall of her back. This shocks the woman to the point that with a violentspasm the obstruction flies out of her mouth, and she begins to breathe again.The trooper slowly walks back to the counter, sits down and sips his hot coffee. His partner says, “Ya know, I’d heard of that there hind lick maneuver, but Inever seen anybody do it.”


Paramedic crews encounter situations beyond the scope offield medical work. In these situations they use the SST

protocol which is, “spinal stabilization and transport” knownin the field as “Scoop and Run.” Don’t know what to do?Can’t do anything? SST! Medics don’t often talk to out-siders about the times they get in over their heads, or whenshit hits the fan causing them to scoop up the patient and runto the ER. However Murphy rules, and things often go wrong.As one of the better ER docs once told me, “why do you thinkthey cal l i t emergency medicine?”

My objective in writing this column is to share some ofthe experiences that have shaped me as a paramedic, a mar-tial artist and as a person. I cannot recall all the times myJudo training saved my partner and me. Rule number one, theprime directive of emergency care, is, “do no further harm.”This is one of the most memorable times I violated that direc-tive.

My partner, Joe and I were dispatched to a violent 5150-–that is a psych patient to be taken to County Mental Health.We arrived first before the sheriff’s department and the localvolunteer firemen, which on a violent call always presents aproblem. No matter who is there, you are, “the government,”and you’re, “here to help.” Upon arrival we found a huge270 lb. almost naked man running around in the front yardin verbal combat with an unseen foe. An invisible man.Sometimes he won, sometimes he lost, we judged from thegyrations.

I kept an eye on the guy while Joe interviewed the family. “He just lost it man,” one relative told my partner. Meanwhile I tried to coax the guy into the ambulance, to no

avail. It became me and the invisible man against him.“Hey Joe, get the gurney and some Kerlix,” I told my partner,

“We are going to have to restrain him.”“Okay,” he replies and heads off to the rig. Just about then the guy tries to bolt off. I intercept him by get-

ting right in his face. “Man this SOB is huge,” I think to myself looking up at his face

and straining my neck to look at him shoulder-to-shoulder. Hestands there like Superman, arms akimbo on his hips. Before I havethe chance to dwell more on the size of the guy’s biceps, he roarsand throws a haymaker at my head with a right hamhock the text-book would label a fist. I block with an open hand and quell thetemptation to smash his face with my palm. Instead, I notice hisleft arm, at his waist, still with his elbow bent out arms akimbo likeSuperman.

I hook his bent arm, and turn it into what is called the ham-merlock, bending his arm behind his back. Then I slam it on tightfor all I am worth.

“I have this SOB now,” I think to myself as he struggles butcan’t free himself from my control. Then the guy gets real horsy,bucking up like a bronco with me on him.

“Hurry up Joe, I don’t know how long I can hold this guy,” Iyell.

Then, like a flash, he stands straight up, right aga ins t thearm lock . Crack…his arm breaks just above the elbow. I step

back shocked and surprised. He looks at me then takes anoth-er swing at me, but this time with the broken arm! It swings at theshoulder limp and unnatural. I easily avoid it but barely hold downthe desire to puke all over the guy. His arm flails at inhumanangles like a wet noodle. Then he swings the good one, and Ipass it and get behind him sinking in a good old naked choke – myarm wrapped around his neck.

Joe arrived just as the guy blacked out. We tossed him onthe gurney and restrained him with the Kerlix. Then wesplinted his badly broken arm.

“What happened” Joe asked. “Goddamned PCP is what happened, that armlock didn’t hurt

him a bit, neither did that broken arm, well at least not for now.”

That was when I first realized there are two rules in the para-medic prime directives:

Rule 1) Do not allow yourself or other care providers to beharmed while attempting to help others.

Rule 2) Do no further harm to the patient, as long as theydon’t violate rule number one. ✪

David “Smitty” Smith, a retired paramedic, works in the EMS field inTexas, California and Nevada. He instructs paramedics, nurses anddoctors in advanced cardiac life support. He spent a tour in the AirForce as a security police law enforcement officer. Smitty has 30 yearsof martial arts experience, is a fourth degree black belt in Judo, holds aBronze Medal from the 1996 Senior Nationals Masters Championships,and works as an SFC instructor currently in the San Francisco BayArea. (510) 261-1896.

True Paramedic StoriesScoop and Run By David “Smitty” Smith


Editor’s Note: A cop since 1982,author Gina Gallo has ‘walked the walk’in uniform and undercover throughChicago’s touch inner-city West Side.Guns, gangs, narcotics, and prostitutesare all part of the business du jour in Gallo’sworld, re-created here in searing images. Inthe following excerpt condensed forCQCMag, we pick up Gina as she goesundercover to bust a demonic gun dealer.

After six months of hard work, surveil-lance and intelligence gathering, my part-

ner Phil had established a fragile relation-ship with the Insane Gangster Demons, aparticularly vicious North Side gang.Posing as an eccentric Puerto Rican pimpand gangster, Phil was able to arrange ameeting with the middlemen of a notoriousJamaican gun dealer.

Affecting the accent he’d spent weeksperfecting, he told them he was in the mar-ket for sub-machine guns, preferably acompact design that featured sound sup-pressors and laser sights. He wanted onehundred of them, he said, as well as a cou-ple crates of LAW rockets (anti-tankweapons) if the price was right. The media-tors were impressed.

After a few more meetings and muchnegotiation, a bargain was struck. For theagreed price, Phil would have his weapons.But he wanted more. A transaction of thismagnitude, he told them, meant that heshould be treated with respect. And respectmeant he would be allowed to deal with themain man instead of the flunkies. Moremeetings and negotiations, and finally, anagreement. Phil could meet the main man,if he brought him his best whore as a busi-ness perk, an act of good faith. Sometimesit paid to mix business with pleasure.

Phil was quick to agree. His bitcheswere the best , he assured them,personally trained by him to please aman in every way. He’d be happy to bringone. (He was also bringing six other peo-ple, in the form of Gangs Unit back-upteams, but he figured he’d save that sur-prise until later.) It was a risky set-up, but ifit worked, we’d bring down one of thebiggest gun suppliers in the country. If itdidn’t ... we chose not to think about thatpossibility.

On the night of the big meet, Phil wasdecked out in a pastel linen pimp’s suit and

an elaborate Panama hat. He’dpurposely cultivated a pencil thinmustache to complement thelook, and with his natural oliveskin, courtesy of his Mexican her-itage, he definitely could pull itoff.

As his selected “whore” andprimary backup, I had other prob-lems. As a fair-skinned redhead, I’d neverpass for a Hispanic tart. A black wig wouldwork, but how could I conceal a Beretta 9mm in a dress that was nothing more thanan ambitious belt? Concealing a weapon isalways hard when you’re undercover, butthe only place I had to hide a gun with thisparticular outfit would have required sur-gery to remove it. I decided, finally, to gofor the Gothic Punk look, heavy on theleather and studded dog collar. Whichmeant that high leather boots would com-plete the look and conceal my weapon.

I barely recognized myself. Blackrimmed eyes, wild black wig that curleddown my back like a punk Medusa. Tornfishnet stockings, a scrap of a red leatherdress and a stick-on Scorpion tattoo. In thisoutfit, no one would make me for a cop.

When our car stopped at the designat-ed address, the street people melted backinto the darkness, but only until they sawthe strutting pimp and his wild-hairedwhore step onto the sidewalk. It was justtwo more like them, nothing to worryabout.

Entering the building’s filthyvestibule, we gagged. The stench of filth,urine and steeping garbage was over-whelming. Before pressing the second floorapartment’s cracked buzzer, Phil slid hisBrowning automatic to the back of his

waistband. “We’re up there 15 minutes,” hewhispered. “Then our second team comesup. The third and fourth teams will coverthe outside.” I glanced up toward the dimstairwell.

“How many up there?” “Four. The big guy and his three goons.

He travels light.” “You hope.” Already my knees were

starting to shake. “I know. He just wants to collect his

money and get some ass.” He glancedpointedly at my shrink-wrapped outfit as hepressed the buzzer. “Just strut around forhim, let him think he’s gonna get lucky.There should be no reason to go for yourgun. Let them believe we’re here to party.Fifteen minutes later, we’ll have ‘em all inhandcuffs.”

Heavy footsteps from somewhereabove us began their descent. When I sawthe body attached to those feet, I began topray for a miracle. We’d need one if wewere going to make it out of this alive.

The man who greeted us was dressedin black-voluminous, flowing fabric largeenough to be an airplane tarp. His close-seteyes were glazed, indicating a recent closeencounter of the narcotic kind. And theymoved over me, from lips to breast andlower, like greedy sucking leeches. His evilgrin featured two gold teeth that glowedlike high-beams, showing little mirth andeven less welcome

“Dis da bitch?” he asked Phil in asingsong Jamaican accent. His tongue slidlike a fat slug over thick dried lips.

Phil’s voice slipped effortlessly into anisland accent worthy of San Juan. “Thisgirl, Melvin, she gonna blow your mind! Sheknow how to do you right. This one couldjump-start a dead man!” Joining in the

True CopStories

Smoking GunBy Gina Gallo

Gina Gallo has ‘walked the walk’ in uniform and undercover.

In our years of

working together, we’d

perfected the art of

silent communication.

man’s lewd laughter, Phil winked andnudged him companionably. A seeminglycasual move that told him Melvin wore nosidearms.

With sweat dripping down his face,Melvin nodded. His eyes never left mybreasts. Nodding to the stairs, he motionedus forward. As I slipped past him, he leanedover, sniffing like a dog. “Save some of thatfor me,” he growled, splashing sweat on mybare shoulder. The man was huge-bigenough to freelance as a large appliance. Ishuddered. It was going to be a very long 15minutes.

Upstairs, we discovered there werethree of them, three large men with thedull-eyed expressions of the simple-mindedor the very stoned. These were the media-tors, the same men Phil had met with overthe past months. Their clothes were wrin-kled and filthy, reeking of body odor thatwas nearly over-powered by the stench ofthe garbage heaped around the room. Asingle lamp lit the room, barely, castingmurky shadows where roaches skitteredand feasted on the food remnants that lit-tered the floor. The bathroom, with it’ssoiled floor, indicated that the plumbingwas not in working order, and the men hadobviously found a way to make do with asubstitute “facility”-in this case, a stainedand sodden bare mattress slung into a cor-ner.

In the center of the room, a small fold-ing table held the “party refreshments”: amound of cocaine on a dusty mirror, aglass-tubed pipe, a fat plastic bag of mari-juana, and enough cheap wine for a goodhead start on cirrhosis. The air was filledwith smoke, fetid enough to have us breath-ing through our mouths.

Stepping carefully over a puddle ofsomeone’s recycled dinner, I surveyed theroom. It was small, with no furniture otherthan a few folding chairs and the table. Theadjoining kitchen area was little more thana galley with a rusty sink and a narrow,greasy stove. The tiny counter held an old,triple beam drug scale, and a quantity ofplastic bags sized for quick street sales.Probably a little narcotics sideline the threegoons dabbled in to while away the timebetween weapons deliveries.

There were no other rooms or closets,no visible cases of weapons. And no Mr.BIG, unless he was a dwarf who’d chosento hide in the greasy oven. I could hear mypartner talking to the men, inquiring abouthis gun purchase.

One of the men gestured expansivelytoward the table.

“Ya wanna smoke, mon? Some blow?It’s de finest. Or some a dis wine?”Breathing heavily, he settled his consider-able girth into a folding chair. The butt of agun protruded from his waistband, nearlyeclipsed by his belly. Leering, he waggledhis tongue at me. “C’mon over here, SweetThing. I’ll get you loosened up, help yourelax.”

I glanced at my partner. In our years ofworking together, we’d perfected the art ofsilent communication. One glance was all ittook to tell him the deal was queered. Hiseyes flashed, briefly, but he smiled at the

looming men. “Business before pleasure, my man.

Why don’t we take care of my deal first?”There was nothing to do now but play therole and wait for backup. Leaning back inhis chair, Phil glanced around the room.“And where’s the man, Bro’? I thought yousaid he’d be here.”

“You got de money, mon?” Melvinpaused over his second line of coke. “I’lltake de money right now.”

A sticky situation, considering Phil hadno money. But they didn’t have theweapons, so either way, we’d have to dosome fancy dancing. At least 15 minutesworth.

“You’ll get the money when I get myshipment,” Phil bluffed. “And when I meetthe man.”

One of the other men belched, tossedhis empty wine bottle on the floor. “It ain’tlike you got a choice, mon,” he told Phil.“You give us the money, you give us thebitch. And you get the hell out.” Like ablack behemoth, he rose and lumberedover to the mattress in the corner. “Youdon’t wanna play by our rules; you lose.”Smiling madly, he leaned over to flick asidethe mattress. More roaches scattered, and afew mice that had been feasting on thebody that lay beneath it. The body of a manwho had been dead for days, now gray andgutted like a rotting fish. The black hole atcenter mass meant a shotgun blast at closerange-a swift end for a dissatisfied cus-tomer.

Melvin was standing now, absently toy-ing with a stiletto that protruded from hismeaty paw. The other two men had gunbores trained on my partner. “We can all befriends,” one of them crooned. “Just give usde money. Den we can all party wit’ de girl.”

I wish I could tell you that’s when ourback-up came crashing in, and the goodguys prevailed. That would’ve been the per-fect Hollywood ending. But that’s not theway it happened. When the first shots spat

out from the Jamaican’s gun, Phil dived forcover in a room where there was none.Rolling on the filthy floor, he grabbed forthe mattress while I kicked over the drugtable. It was a diversionary tactic none ofthem expected. I was the whore, the brain-less bimbo provided solely for their pleas-ure.

Grabbing for the gun in my boot, Ihoped desperately that the pleasure wouldbe mine.

The table struck the first man, andthrew up a screen of flying drugs thatobscured visibility in the hazy room. Moregun blasts, the rising smell of smoke andcordite, and finally, blood. By the time ourbackup team kicked down the door, threepeople were shot, two were dead. One ofthem was my partner.

There are no words to describe themoments that followed, nothing that couldbegin to describe the horror. Even the sightof Melvin, slumped against the wall anddrooling blood from the .45 caliber hole inhis forehead, did little to assuage the pain.Two squadrols were summoned, one forprisoner transport, the other to carry thedead.

I stayed with Phil as his blood pumpedthrough that ridiculous pimp’s suit, heldhim long after he was gone. And swore thatI’d had enough, that I was throwing in thetowel that very night. They could have mybadge and all the heartbreak that went withit. I wasn’t aware that I’d been shot, that myblood mixed with Phil’s in those finalmoments. I’d been lucky. It was a channelwound, a light skimming crease along theskin of my thigh. Not enough to kill me, butenough to leave a scar, and the memory.

I don’t remember who took me away,only the rush of other gang officers whoconverged on the scene. They covered mypartner and carried me down the-stairs, butoutside, I struggled away from them,demanded to stand and wait until Phil wastaken away. An ambulance pulled up, nextto the squad car that held the two hand-cuffed goons. As the Paramedics helped meinside, one of the goons said, “That’s somekinda bitch! Even tho she Five-O. I still liketo get me a piece of that!”

“Then take a good look at that ass,” theCop advised before slamming the door.“Cuz that’s as close to it as you’ll ever get!”

In the movies, the good guys live tofight another day. In real life, one of themwas delivered to the morgue. In the movies,the bad guys get what’s coming to them. Inthis particular incident, they got the kind ofslick, fast-talking lawyer that mountains ofdrug money can buy, and greased thewheels of justice. The two surviving goonswent to trial, claiming entrapment and evi-dence tampering. A year later, they wereback on the street.

And every time I look at the white-ridged scar on my leg, I think of Phil andthe pain, and the job I vowed to quit yearsago. And then I go to work and do it allover again, because I’m a cop. That’swhat we do. ✪

To purchase a copy of Gina Gallo's CrimeScenes, call Blue Murder Press (503) 944-6682. $14.95



This issue we

take a look at

a combat seg-

ment from Good To Go, by r e t i r e d

Navy SEAL Harry Constance and

Randell Fuerst, published by Morrow.

Picking one segment over another in

what is said by many to be the best

Navy Seal book, hell the best non-fic-

tion military book to be found any-

where is a real chore. This is the best

of the best. If you can find this book,

buy it now because it will not be

reprinted due to some delicate infor-

mation that forced Morrow to shut

production down. Hardcovers and paper-

backs are still on the shelf. Here with the

permission of Morrow, is a brief,

abridged segment from Good to Go.

We pick up Harry as he is about to

make a midnight raid in N. Vietnam.

– Hock

I lobbed the two grenades into thehouse and started to run. BOOOM!

BOOOM! The earth shook. Immediately,more people were screaming and shouting.I don’t know if I killed anyone–I probablydid–but it sure livened things up. Isprinted away, abandoning any pre-tense of stealth.

Guns started going off. Thenmore guns, and then still more.Guns to the right, to the left, infront of and behind us–all over!There were people coming out ofthe woodwork, all with guns. Thetree line was abuzz with activity.Tracers flew in multiple direc-tions–literally from all over. Ahealthy sense of fear beganwelling up in the pit of my stom-ach. All I could think was, “Thisis it, man. This is the end. Inless than a week, first Fraley,

now us. Damn it all!” I rejoined the team, and still we

ran farther and farther into this dry,barren rice paddy.

Unexpectedly, we came upon abomb crater. We all piled in, gratefulfor the momentary respite. Even morepleasing was the fact there was waterat the bottom. While we didn’t daredrink it, it was so refreshing to splashall over us. It helped get our tempera-tures down. Our chests heaving, weattempted to regroup and assess ourpredicament. When we were running asfast as we could with our back to theenemy, all we could do was hope we

weren’t going to be the recipient ofa bullet in the

back.I started taking stuff off, my jack-

et, my shirt, all my military hardware.My breathing became somewhat lesslabored. I lined up my bullets so theycould be readily fed into my Stonerwith as little disruption as possible. Anassault on our position was imminent. Thestark reality was that, come morning, theywould see us and overrun us easily.

We were five SEALs and oneVietnamese guide, for a total of six.Riojas worked feverishly to get theradio to work. It was our only hope. Ididn’t know how far it was to the riverwhere we were dropped off, but wehad been going the wrong way for thelast two hours. The next major water-way was the ocean, and it was quite a

ways away, perhaps 10 ormore miles. Helicopterextraction was the onlyway out, unless we couldbreak back through theenemy lines in the direc-tion from which we’d justcome.

The Vietnamese guide’seyes were wide with fear. Allhe could tell us, once we hadgotten him to calm down, wasthat we had just attacked amain force VC bat ta l ion .Estimated strength, 300 people.They were full-time soldiers,trained by the NVA. We had justhit 300 of them, and they wereobviously upset.

We hunkered down in a cratersix to seven feet deep and 10 feetin diameter. All of a sudden,Ashton gasped in disbelief.

“Look at that. You guys, look atthis!” he said. He was no longerwhispering.

Good to GoBattlefield Diary



I stood up and my jaw dropped.“Holy crap! There must be 200 of them!These are bad odds!”

In the eerie, predawn hours, it wasalmost surrealistic to watch yourenemy silently moving in your direc-tion, about to unleash a lethal amountof violence at you.

Good thing we have that elementof surprise! I thought wryly.

“If you ever have five of you fixingto take on 200, – an important safetytip–have an awful lot of bullets!” we allwhined. But, rather than an emotional,“woe is me, we’re not going to make it”sobbing, everyone whined in a funny,dry sense of humor, sort of way. “Theyhad better start lining up. I don’t haveenough bullets!”

Pete looked at us with as stern alook as he could muster. “Let’s ambush‘em!”

“Yeah, right. Like they don’t knowwe’re here!” came the reply.

Very quickly, a glimmer of goodfortune emerged. We were positionedin a 360-degree circle so as to best beable to fend off a multi-prongedat tack . For tunate ly, they werebunched together, with the majority ofsoldiers standing within no more thana 30- to 40-degree arc.

To my immediate right was the M79man, Jack Rowell, getting his gun setand ready to fire. To his right wereAshton and Pete. We were as set as wewere going to be.

To our astonishment, we could notscript their onslaught to be any moreof a tactical blunder than it was! Wewere almost laughing. Not quite, butalmost.

Okay, bunch up you guys! Good.

Now, stand shoulder to shoulder.

Good. Hum. We need to make you

stand out so that we can aim better.

Yeah, that’s it. Yes. Have every other

man wear a white shirt. Good. See

how much better that is? You reflect

so much better that way! Let’s see, it

sure would be nice if the full moon

would break through. Hey! Good! Now

you all are casting a serious shadow.

Way to go! Now, walk real slow so we

SEALs will have time to prepare.

And that was what they did. Ratherthan breaking into groups of 40 or 50and attacking from all sides, in a ham-mer-and-anvil tactic, they bunchedtogether.

Soon, they were 200 yards away.“Let’s open up,” I suggested to Pete.

“You got extra bullets? Hang on.We’re gonna let ‘em get close enoughso we can try for a few two-for-onespecials!”

Pete looked at the M79 man. “Jack,

d’ you have any Willie Pete in there?”“Well, no. I have one Willie Pete,

but mostly HE.” “One will do. I want you to set up

to fire the Willie Pete as our firstround. Shoot it for the back of thegroup.”

“Can do, sir.” “Okay. On my mark.” Pete was

counting down as the VC were now atlittle more than 100 yards away. At thisdistance, even if they panicked, shouldthey run at us we’d be overrun.

“All right, you sonsabitches, you’reSEALS. Let’s see what bad asses youare! Open up.”

With that, we unleashed a torrentof violence upon the enemy. The WilliePete was placed perfectly behind theapproaching Viet Cong. Landing, itmade a lot of noise, exploding like aRoman candle, almost giving the

appearance of a mortar round. Byshooting behind them, Pete wasattempting to create tactical confusionby establishing an illusion as to wherewe were and the enormity of our fire-power. Dounk! The sound of the WilliePete even sounded like a mortar. Sureenough! They paused and stopped for asecond. The white phosphorus of theWillie Pete was really pretty to watchas it went off in the middle of the night.Boooom!

I opened up. My sights were fixedon one, then another, then another andanother. I was almost surgically exact-ing with my sights and close proximity.The battle raged. After what seemedlike just moments, the VC turned andran. They couldn’t run 300 to 400 yardsvery quickly. We picked them apart.They zigzagged back and forth in theirattempts to get away. Some hit thedeck.

Round one was over. We couldn’tget too excited, though. At the most, itbought us time. We started to playgames with them. It had started at onea.m. We continued to play cat andmouse for the next three hours. Theysent out one group after another, andwe shot them up. By now, the M16swere out of ammo, the M79 grenadelauncher was out of ammo, the shot-guns were out of ammo, and Pete’sM16-203 was out of ammo. OurVietnamese scout was out of bullets, aswell. The only ones with bullets leftwere myself and Fred Keener.

“Fred, how many rounds do youhave left?” I asked.

“I’ve got 50 rounds left. Howmany’ve you got left?”

“Let me count them,” I replied,sliding down from the perch where Ihad my Stoner positioned. “I have 75rounds left.”

With a gun that fires up to 900rounds a minute, it was hard to getexcited about an approximate five- to10-second burst of ammunition. It wasabout the amount I normally used toshoot two guys.

The hardest decision a commanderhas to make was what Pete Petersonnow faced. Not a word was spoken, but

Unfortunately,

what were the

odds we could

crawl 300 meters

without being

seen, jump up,

and not have

someone right in

front of us?

there was a clear under-standing of what was atstake. He made his deci-sion. “Gentlemen, we arenot going to be takenalive. We are not going tobe captured, and youknow what happens atdaylight. There are a lotof pissed-off people in thetree line. Before daylight,we’re leaving!”

Riojas had the radioworking weakly, butunfortunately, it didn’thave much range. Wewere able to callGallagher’s team, butwhen we asked for help, we realizedthey were in worse shape than wewere. Having taken a grenade that hadwounded everybody but Roy Dean andHooker, they were in dire need of assis-tance themselves.

“Look,” Riojas told Roy Dean,“when you guys get picked up, tellthem where we are tonight. Roger?”

“We can hope. Over,” came hisreply.

Pete intoned, “Here’s what we’regoing to do, gentlemen. In roughly 45minutes, the moon will set and it willbe the darkest time we’ll have beforedaybreak. I want all of us to strip downto our T-shirt and swim trunks. We aregoing to belly-crawl to the tree line tothe west there.” He pointed in a sweep-ing motion to the tree line on our leftflank. “According to my map, insidethat tree line 100 meters is a really nicecanal. The tide’s running out. If you hitthe canal, turn right. The water is head-ing out to the main river. Just take thatcanal to the main river and wait for oneof our patrol boats to pick you up.What we’ll do is spread out, so by thetime we’re at the tree line, we areapproximately 50 yards apart. It isimperative, gentlemen, that we travelslowly. We should all arrive at the treeline at the same time. Then, at mymark, we will all stand up and run likehell. Any questions?”

We knew there were guys lying inthe tree line with guns pointed in our

direction. Hopefully, some of us wouldbreak through and escape.Unfortunately, what were the odds wecould crawl 300 meters without beingseen, jump up, and not have someoneright in front of us?

I thought for a moment.“Lieutenant, you know, I’ve alwayswondered why, when I was watchingthe old cowboy and Indian movies,when the Indians attacked the wagontrain, were repulsed, regrouped, andthen attacked again, why the cowboysdidn’t go pick up the guns that werelying around the Indians they killed.Why don’t Keener and I crawl out withour knives and police up as many gunsand ammunition as we can find? Wecould drag it back in here before wehave to hit the tree line.”

“Good idea. Since we are leavingsoon anyway, I don’t think that will bea problem. We can afford 10 minutes,tops.”

They’d been trying to hit us forseveral hours with a mortar. We wouldhear a BaDouff. Then, out in the field,the round would hit, KaBlam! Theyhad what we figured was an 80-mil-limeter mortar. Whoever was workingit was inexperienced. When they start-ed, they were way off–perhaps 500meters or so away. By now, the rangehad lessened to between 100 and 150meters from us.

“All right, gentlemen, strip down.Leave your empty guns here.” I looked

at Keener. “What happensif they assault when we’recrawling out there? Howdo we play that?”

Keener looked at meand gave me a momentarygrin. Matter-of-factly helaid an M26 grenade downbetween us. “Thisgrenade’s for you and me,buddy. One holds it andthe other one pulls thepin.”

“Man. The only thingthat pisses me off is thatsome dumb-ass farmer isgonna get to kill me,” Isaid, exhaling slowly.

Somehow, it was all right to die at thehands of a “specialist,” but not all rightto be killed by a reservist or main forceVC. “Here some dirt farmer is going toget credit for toasting a SEAL.” Keenerand the two of us started jumping upand down a jig. “We win! We win!”

“You can hear me? You can hearme?” Riojas erupted. “Hot damn!”

“Rios, d’you get somebody on theradio?” Keener blurted out.

Riojas looked up at us and nearlyshouted, “Helo’s inbound! Helo’sinbound!”

We started laughing and clappingeach other on the back. We were shout-ing and enjoying an unbelievableeuphoric rush.

Sure enough three minutes latercame the unmistakable Pwop Pwop

from rotors of incoming helos. “Yes,” I cheered, clenching my fist

and bringing my arm downward in theuniversal physical expression of tri-umph.

“Do you want a cigarette?” asked

Keener.

“Damn right I do.” I took the ciga-

rette and lit it.

“What are you guys doing?” Pete

asked.

I looked at Pete and grinned. “They

know we are here. We just won.”

I grabbed Keener and the two of us

started jumping up and down and danc-

ing a jig. “We win! We win!” ✪



Scuttlebutt

Rambo for a DayThe US Military’s Pentagon picked five win-

ners from 3,355 entries in a “Fantasy

Career in Today’s Military” contest it ran

with Yahoo to boost recruitment.

Contestants wrote essays on why they

wanted to experience thrills like breaking

the sound barrier in an F-15 or parachuting

with the Army’s Golden Knights. For future

contest’s details go to www.careers.

yahoo.com/employment/fantasy/home.

Laptop War GamesThe US State Department offers a $25,000

reward for the recovery of a missing laptop

computer that disappeared from one of

their 6th floor conference rooms. The lap-

top contained information on the prolifera-

tion of weapons of mass destruction as

well as technologies for launching

those weapons.

New ZealandWhere in the World are You?Thought Australia was obscure and over

looked? While teaching a map course a

Warrant Officer once commented on inher-

ent problems and translations with maps.

“One of the best places in a world war to

be?” he proclaimed sarcastically! “New

Zealand.” Mapmakers often just can’t

squeeze it in. The officer explained that

keeping countries and mileage in some

semblance of scale, yet inside the confines

of common size printed map constitutes a

problem. “New Zealanders hope when the

next evil empires plan their world domina-

tion… they’ll use maps like these.”

EatsAbout 7,100 military families hope to

receive extra spending money under the

new Pentagon plan designed to get service

members off food stamps.

CorruptionA new website www.MilitaryCorruption.com

has been funded by private investors and

manned mostly by Vietnam vets. The site

will focus on military allegations of cover-

ups and crime.

BooksBoth Army General Eric Shinseki and

Marine General James L. Jones have

released a recommended reading list. You

will find the Army list on page 36.

Gone?The US Army lost track of 900 million dol-

lars worth of equipment in fiscal year 1998,

according to the General Accounting Office

the investigative arm of the US Congress.

For more on the subject , cl ick on

www.Gao.gov.

Women Front and CenterThe British military will take the first steps

toward opening ground combat units to

women by testing women. Tests will

include firing heavy weapons, digging

trenches, and marching with heavy loads.

The US pentagon is watching closely.

Rock Bottom…is what US Army TRADOC (Training and

Doctrine Command) leaders sum up the

current readiness situation, despite the rah-

rah talk of the Gore/Lieberman campaign

propaganda. The commanders of most

TRADOC centers have given their organiza-

tions the lowest-possible readiness ratings,

according to a report leaked to www.

Geocities.com/armyreadiness.

Osprey GroundedThe Marine Corps announced the tempo-

rary grounding of all 11 of their MV-22

Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. The craft has been

under investigation since the crash in April

when 19 Marines were killed. The ground-

ing of three types of aircraft August 25th,

left one third of the Marine Corp’s aircraft

fleet unable to fly. September some

returned to the lineup. “Without an

increase in top-line spending, so we can

keep the legacy airplanes running at the

same time we’re moving to modernization,

we are going to remain on a slippery

slope,” said aviation head LT General Fred

McCorkle.

Military Quotes“It is better to die on your feet than to

live on your knees.” – Emilio Zapata

“Elevate those guns a little lower.”

– Andrew Johnson

“Nothing is more exhilarating than to

be shot at without result.”

– Winston Churchill

“The greatest pleasure is to vanquish

your enemy and chase them down

before you, to rob them of their wealth

and see those held dear to them

bathed in tears, to ride their horses

and clasp to your bosom their wives

and daughters.” – Genghis Khan

“Well boys, I reckon this is it. Nuclear

combat toe-to-toe with the Rookies!”

– Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove

“Get the inside scuttle on the military,

from the decks of ships, the posts and

bases from around the world.”


Editor’s Note: The always shocking, fre-quently bizarre Buff is out of control andCQCMAG takes absolutely no responsibilityfor what he says and may God help usall…what he might do.

Ever think about what wusses people are?Look around at the animal kingdom.Then look at us. It’s scary. We have no

fur. No armor. Even a little fucking turtlehas a shell. No talons, though I knew anAsian hooker once with some nails thatwould cut diamonds. “Oh! The lovely pain!Mon Ami!”

…ok, what was I saying? Oh yeah, wehave no natural protection. Our skin is asack like a balloon that can’t take a scratchfrom a branch or a bite from an ant.

I was in my yard last week cutting thegrass, and I had to look down at my K-Martsandals. On the top of my foot was a tiny,almost invisible black ant. A spec. But thislittle fucker was gnawing on the top of myfoot, his jaws grinding and so tightlyhooked on me that when I looked closely,his whole body was writhing in the air, heldup by these meshing mandibles. This littlefucker really hated me!

“Whadda do to you!” I said! I was justunlucky I guess. In this whole yard I pickedup this pissed off ant.

I squished the little angry bastard withmy finger. The ant got unlucky. But thescary thing was that I felt it at all! This wasworse than a rat biting Godzilla! Then thenext two days a pimple of yellow puss drewup and the head was three times biggerthan the ant! A little ant’s jaws and a littleinvisible dot of ant poison. The DOD or CIAneeds to bottle that shit! Ant Poison. Howwould you like to have that job? They havepeople who collect snake poison. Whatwould you get paid to collect ant poison?Tedious little project. Can you picture that?Squeezing a little ants face to pump out thepoison. Oh be careful. Don’t hurt its head!

We need to milk him again tomorrow.But that is not my bone to pick with

God or the Devil. When a bug bites me, Iexpect an itchy spot, a swelling up. This isthe curse of having brains, having smarts!You see if a dog breaks its leg, Fido feelspain, but if I break my leg I feel pain, andthen I have mental pain too!

In 1970 I was standing where I should-n’t have been standing, and I got shot rightin the hip. Felt like being hit by a wild pitchin baseball. It spun me round like a top,and I hit the sand on myback. I let go of myweapon but it had asling and it stayedwrapped aroundm y n e c k . Iguess that ’swhy you havethe damn things. Ididn’t yell out.Not because I amtough. I just didn’thave time to. Two of mymen near me dropped tochest high and low crawled over to me. Notonly did it feel like I was hit by a car, but Iknew I was hit. Shot! About 10 thingswhizzed through my head in no specialorder.

Was I going to die?

Was I going to bleed out?

Was my weapon barrel clean or

stuffed with sand?

I am now a burden to my group.

Can I still play basketball?

Could I get up?

Who the fuck shot me?

Are they coming?

Will I ever walk again?

Will my dick still work?

How long will therapy last?

Look what I have done. I have

fucked up.

Then I got fucking mad. The mad of

the unlucky.

All at once! All ina second like that! Mylife didn’t pass beforeme. That ol’ rerun ain’tworth seeing. Therewas not another shot.Quiet. I looked up andthe four others withme were down and

still, barrels up. I moved my toes in myboots and raised my knee. That was good. Itried to roll over on my chest, but someonestopped me. I felt my hip, and it was wet. Iwas wrapped up and they had to half-carryme out a ways. Two civilian vehicles pickedus up, and I laid out in the back seat. Mylegs worked. And my mind worked too,busy feeling guilty and angry. The diction-ary would call it angst. Yeah, I was feelingall angst and shit.

The docs said the tip of my leftpelvis was shot. Bone was

shattered.There would besplinters and surgery.

And as the doses ofpainkil ler cameand went, mymind was busywith the futurepain and recovery.

And basketball.If I lost basket-

ball…MAN! If a doghad been shot, he would

feel the physical pain, but Fidowouldn’t be missing B-Ball.

Through the years I’ve looked into theeyes of wounded people, and I see all thatangst in their eyeballs. Medical personnelcall it “psychic agonies.” And when youtreat a man that’s down, you have to treatthat too.

We are weak. We can’t fly and have lit-tle foot speed. We can’t run very far, and ifwe trip, something could break. Our senseof smell is bad and our hearing is bad. Theleast little weather fucks with our day. “It’stoo cold! It’s too hot!” My bald head needsa hat from the sun. My eyes need sunglass-es, and I can’t see 10 fucking feet withoutbinoculars. (NOBODY is shooting a laserbeam into my eyes. You don’t have to beFlash Gordon to know that Ming theMerciless uses laser beams to destroy theplanet Earth.)

We never knew who pulled the triggeron us that night. It was a rifle round. Didthey run? Was it a random shot? A test fire?I hope not because, if it was a test fire, Iwould be even more mad for being so damnunlucky! Frail as we are, we manage to stayin one piece as long as we stay lucky. Andthat goes for you too little fucking ants, sostay the fuck off my goddamn foot! I amfeeling anti-ant angst. ✪

Buffalo Nickels The Mad of the Unlucky?The Angst and Shit of Being Human

“Buffalo Nickels is a retired US Army special forces operator who

does occasional consultant workand wishes to remain anonymousso he may put in his 5 cents worth

on life, liberty and the pursuit ofwhatever he sees fit.”


Bin Laden Watch

Terrorist Osama Bin Laden, on the FBI’smost wanted list, recently took a fourthwife in a shindig/grandreception at his Afghanhideaway. The luckyfugitive’s wife is an 18-year-old Yemeni girlfrom a well -knownfamily.

TACTICAL OVERVIEW:

Federal law enforce-ment insiders tellCQCMag that Bin Laden reportedly hascancer. Meanwhile Israeli Security forcesarrest members of his militant networkwhenever possible.

Russian Watch

Intelligence sources released results thatthe downed Russian submarine Kursk’stroubles began when one of its own torpe-does blew up. Russian officials claim theaccident resulted from a collision with aBritish or American sub. Overseas politicalexperts report the one last vestige of mili-tary pride left to Russia was its Navy. Thisincident, combined with its failure toaccept quick help from neighbors, causedproblems for President Putin. Putin’s fail-ure to return from his vacation to overseethe crisis did nothing to endear him to hispublic. Norwegian divers report all 118crew members died quickly when the subflooded.

Meanwhile the question arises as towhether the US Navy could conduct a res-cue under similar circumstances. Officialsreleased several reports bragging on DeepSubmergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs)and contingency plans to ease concerns.However, a US Naval submariner told CQCMag

the incident actually left US Navy officials scram-bling for rescue equipment capable of

“elbowing” into downedsubmarines affixed inunusual positions. “Wecouldn’t rescue our ownpeople in a similarpredicament. We toomight get caught with

our pants down,” says one official.

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: A DSRV can reach adowned sub. But the position of the sub mayinhibit hookup and rescue. Improvisational“elbow tunnels” from the DSRV to thestricken sub provide the solution and arecurrently under development.

Philippine Watch

Hostages long held by Muslim Filipinorebels are trickling free. Libya promisedransom money, some $12 million, one mil-lion per hostage, to gain the release of somecaptives. Filipino government officials“cloud” the money payment by calling it“developmental aid,” not ransom money.Meanwhile in August 2000, a California,USA tourist was taken prisoner. Militarysources and martial artists in the area tellCQCMag that the ransom business willincrease as in Mexico and South America.Rebel leader Abu Sayyaf now has severalthousand soldiers and recently bought newrifles, machine guns and rocker launchers.

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: The rebels believe ifthey release their prisoners, the FilipinoArmy will raid and kill them, which theyhave. The US State Department released atravelers warning. Limits are designed tolessen the number of kidnappings.Relatives of US personnel remain on alert.

Indonesia Watch

The dust of recent revolution has settled inEast Timor, and the UN seems positive. Butthe Indo government and its supportmilitias racked up quite a deadly scorebefore the Australian Army and thenGurkas and the UN intervened. Theyforcible removed 200,000 people from theterritory, more than a quarter of its popula-tion. Thousands of independence support-

ers were killed, their bodies dumped in thedeep undersea trenches offshore. Militiamenstill harass and even kill. Recently two NewZealanders and Nepalis peacekeepers werekilled.

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Progress in organizingthe new government called promisingdespite a small setback. UN authoritiespatrol the streets in more of a policing mis-sion than a military one, but small militiasstill creep the countryside.

Sierra Leone, Africa Watch

Thousands of citizens had their noses andboth hands chopped off. Rebels swarmedinto villages and cities and demanded citi-zens not vote in an election that would ousttheir position party. Many of these miser-able victims had anti-election messagescarved into their back with knives andmachetes. The Revolutionary United Front(RUF) asked “short or long?” and then pro-ceeded to hack off limbs either at the wristor elbow. Tens of thousands have been muti-lated in this manner. O v e r 4 0 , 0 0 0 peoplehave fled into neighboring countries. The UNis setting up a war tribunal, claiming thatbrutality occurred on all political sides butmostly the RUF.

At the cost of 2 million a month, thegovernment hired a South African merce-nary group called Executive Outcomes(EO) years ago to clean out the RUF. In a“dogs of a war” performance they shot theirway in and battled the RUF back over theb o r d e r i n t oL i b e r i a . E Oeven patrolledthe streets, her-alded as heroes.B u t e x p e r t sc l a i m t h eClinton-pushedtreaty that soonfollowed onlyset the stagef o r f u r t h e rbloodshed, and allowed the RUF into nego-tiations. When EO left, RUF came in withtheir machetes. EO solved a problem the

CQCMAG stands

watch where conflicts

may begin and explain

why we must train to

prepare for them.

World Watch

Counter Knife Course and the DMS course,the very same material I show everyone. Ialso taught at the Annapolis, MarylandNaval Academy this October and theywanted to learn the Hand-to-Hand Combatand Knife course material. What you get iswhat they get – the true, clean, clearessence of combat. I do still howeverreserve one training module absolutely forour military and allies alone.

LAND-MAIL MESSAGE:

I really like your magazine, even though

it’s more for cops, we martial artists can

get a lot out of it.” – JO, San Francisco,

CA

REPLY:

Thanks and no thanks! Thanks for finding ithelpful, but no thanks for thinking it isgeared for police. It’s not! We reach, teachand produce this magazine under the tenetof “bridging the gap between police, themilitary, the martial artist and the awarecitizenry.” Without a doubt, each groupknows things about fighting that the othergroup doesn’t, and the SFC and CQCMag

strive to educate. You will notice our coverrepresents a different group each printingand the table of contents contains the samediversity. CQCMag is not just for cops, orsoldiers, martial artists or citizens. It is forall. As Buffalo Nickels said a few issuesback, “Its all about fighten’!”

likes of which UN and NATO-types neverdreamed. EO came in, kicked ruthless ass,and drove sadistic killers out!

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: 200 US Green Beretsand 20 million US dollars are in route to thebeleaguered Sierra Leone in an effort totrain, support and stabilize the failed treatybetween rebel factions and several govern-ment political parties. (Seems like the UScould better spend their 20 million hiringEO to come back.)

Australian Watch

In many ways, and despite special eventlike the Olympics, everyday events in thedistant country of Australia remain over-looked. Fantastic archeological discoverieslike the Sprigg Fossil went virtually unno-ticed for decades! And how can we miss theultimate terror? Criminals exploding theirown atomic bomb in the Outback?

Scientists re-investigated a mysteriousseismic disturbance that occurred in theremote Aussie Outback in 1993. At 11:03p.m., 28 May 1993 seismographic needlesall over the Pacific Region twitched off thecharts showing an awesome epicenter inthe deserted Great Victoria Desert ofWestern Australia. An isolated handful oflong distance truckers and prospectorsreported seeing a sudden blinding flash inthe night sky. They felt the boom of amighty, far off explosion with no clearexplanation. The seismograph did not fitany earthquake or mining explosion, andthe blast registered 170 times more power-ful than the most powerful mining explo-sion in history. Routine aerial photography

randomly skimming over the expansivedesert found no craters to rival a meteorcrash upon the already spotty, rugged andrough terrain. Scientists puzzled over it allfor a day or two, then filed it all away.

On 20 March 1995 a deadly nerve gasattack killed 11 and injured some 5,500 oth-ers in a Tokyo, Japan rush hour subway.After days of widespread terror, Japanesepolice arrested members of the religiousapocalyptic-based cult called Aum ShinriKyo-one whose aim was to destroy theworld. Searches of Aum locations aroundJapan uncovered major terrorist attacks inthe planning and a rising pile of chemicaland explosive weapons. As the investiga-tion continued, agents learned Aum hadsubstantial holdings in Australia, toinclude…500,000 acres in WesternAustralia, with an Aum laboratory near,yet safely far enough away from the 1993epicenter. Aum had recruited two nuclearengineers from the former Soviet Union.Along with sophisticated weapons equip-ment and research documents, authoritiesuncovered evidence that lab attendants hadmined uranium!

Military intell versed on the overall sit-uation deduced that Aum touched off anuclear weapon. Whether accidental orexperimental, Aum became the first crimi-nal cult/gang to test a nuke, yet few peopleeven today know the event occurred!

TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Australia is so vastand desolate that espionage thrives.Criminal based intelligence and long-rangesatellite surveillance remain the primarytools to deter similar problems. ✪


World Watchcontinued from page 31

Dispatches...continued from page 5

BackCut Human Cock Fights ofthe Archipelago!

In our search for

the reality of

real fighting, history

books and ancient text

can only teach us so

much. Nothing takes

the place of talking to

someone who’s

actually been there.

In the following

interview, Perpetua

Deppe talks to

Grandmaster Jose

Mena of the

Philippines about his

experience as a

gladiator-like dueler

on the island of

Filipino Archipelago

in the early half of the

20th Century.

–Dwight McLemore

Question: When and where were you

born?

GM Mena: August 5, 1920 in Jaro IloiloCity, the Philippines.

Question: How old were you when you

started to learn the Filipino martial art of

Arnis?

GM Mena: I was nine years old. I wastaught by father who was a master in LargoMano and Cinco Tiras systems. Largo Manomeans long hand or long range fighting.Cinco Tiras is a name centered on usingfive strikes or five angles of attack. Thereare several Filipino systems that use theseLargo and Cinco philosophies.

Question: Who taught your father?

GM Mena: Carlos Jaranilla, the originalfounder of Doblete Rapilon. This is mymain system.

Question: When did you start teaching?

GM Mena: When I was 17 years old. Bythen I was a full instructor. I lived andbreathed for the art. I practiced all the timesince I was a child.

Question: Where you involved in tourna-

ment fighting?

GM Mena: Oh, yes! When I was 20 Ientered my first tournament and won itwith a knockout in the second round. Witha headshot. But I was very experienced infighting by then. I had done things far moredangerous than stick fighting tournaments.

Question: From practicing?

GM Mena: No. From fighting for my verylife. When I was 18 years old, I was havinga picnic with my friends on the beach in theGuimaras. This was about 1938 and thePhilippines was a very wild and primitiveplace. It still is in many areas. There areover 7,000 islands and only 460 of them areover one square mile. There are many dif-ferent languages and different ways to live.

While we had this picnic, a large out-

By Perpetua L. Deppe and Errol Deppe



rigger boat approached the beach and cameright up where we were playing. Men gotoff the boat, what we use to call Muslimpirates – men that would raid villages andpeople along the coastlines. With knivesand bolos, they kidnapped us! They took usand all of our things to the island of Jolo,which is in the Mindanao area.

As soon as we arrived they herded usoff their outrigger and took us to a villageoff of the beach. In two days, we were soldas slaves! The one who bought me was arich man who was a close friend of the Datu(Muslim chief) or Sultan in Jolo. My buyerintroduced me to the Sultan, and the Sultanstudied me. I was in good shape and veryyoung. The Sultan asked me if I knew howto cockfight.

Many of the islands have elaboratecockfights and bet lots of money on thefighting birds. It was quite a sport and still

is in many places in the Philippines. So, yesI knew of the cockfights. I had seen manyfights, and neighbors in my lifetime raisedcocks. He said that I would be “in” thecockfights. Which I did not want to do, butwas bound like a slave and had to.

Later they took me to an arena, andwith other men I quickly found out that theword cockfight to the Sultan of this islandwas with men! Not birds. Men! Humanswould fight to death with real bolos – that

is machetes.

Question: What did you do?

GM Mena: I was thinking of escapingfrom that place! But the house andgrounds of the Sultan were surroundedwith guards. So I prepared myself to getready for whatever may come or what wecall Bahala na. In the days while we wait-ed for the fights to begin, the Sultanordered us to practice with the guards. Butthe weapons we would be using in thepractice fights had…cobra poison (theytold us) smeared on the blades. This wayhe would ensure a good show for the spec-tators because only the best fighterswould survive. Sometimes the guards werefirst slaves like myself and became sogood and popular that they were hired inthe employ of this Sultan. The guards

weeded out the bad fighters.Here I began to fight for my

life against a guard. I realizedright away how important thelessons of my father werebecause the other slaves haddied quickly from the blade or ifeven wounded and set aside,passed away slowly from the poi-sons. Sometimes the poison willkill very quickly, sometimes not,and the man would suffer inagony. I killed the first guardwith my stick fighting skills andwas set aside to fight in thehuman cockfights.

The human cockfights wereheld every full moon, becausethat was their belief or traditionof the island at the time. Everyfull moon, month after month Ifought one fight and killed theopponent. I had to because I wasfighting for my life. Again, Ithank God for my father whotaught me to fight. Frequently Iaimed at the temples on the sideof the head, or made a quick faketo strike low, like to the knee?Then I would strike the headabout temple high. It is alwaysgood to strike the head on the

both sides about temple high. Another thing I did that worked a lot

was to jump in the air and try to hit theopponent right on the very top of the head.It looks a little silly, but I have nailed manywith that power shot. If they try to blockyou can cut their arms too, sometimesalmost all the way off.

I became a favorite of the spectatorsand each time more favored. The Sultanwon a lot of money with me and began to

let me have more and more freedom.Women of the island also watched thefights and became entertained by me. Onewoman was the Sultan’s daughter. After 18months and after about 16 fights, he laterdecided that I should even marry his daugh-ter! I think the fighting for me would havestopped with this marriage.

Question: What happened next?

GM Mena: I wanted still very much to gohome. I played along with it all to stay alive.On the night of my last fight, I killed theman against me. There was a big celebra-tion, and I walked freely in the celebrationwith the daughter. There was much drink-ing and music. Everybody got drunk. Thedaughter was talking to a group, and I justslowly walked away from the festivities andoff onto the beach. I jumped on a fishingboat, shoved it off and took off to escape.The boat had some supplies on it. I madethe journey back to Manila and started mylife off here. But the Japanese were plan-ning to take over the Pacific and war soonravaged our country and forced us tofight…but that is another story…

Question: Did you have to fight the

Japanese with a stick or bolo?

GM Mena: Oh yes, I did in the war. Wewere defending our country and theJapanese were ruthless and cruel. Butbefore we were organized, they invadedand took control of many islands. One timea Japanese soldier, who was wearing a –katana – a samurai sword – made fun of meand our study of stick fighting. He told meto go and get my stick and fight him. I got akamagong stick, which is a very hardwood. I stood before him holding the stick,with the tip down and touching the ground.This is one of my favorite ready positions.The soldier went for his sword, and I hithim in the temple with the end of the stickas hard as I could. His left eye exploded andwas hanging there by tendons, or whatever,from the socket. He fell to his knees, and Iran. That is the only fighting with a stickagainst the Japanese. ✪

Perpetua L. Deppe worksas a freelance writer in theChicago, IL

ErrolDeppestudied forseveral years withGrandmaster while he livedin the Philippines.

Grand Master Mena


Power punching is simply a matter of physics. Force = Mass x

Acceleration. To increase the force, you may either increase

the Mass of the punch by putting your body behind it, or the

Acceleration of the punch by punching faster. Fairly simple theo-

ry, but you may find it a challenge to apply. Proper application

involves generating either linear or circular force through proper

body mechanics and timing.

ForceYou may apply force in a relatively linear fashion, such as a

jab, or in a rotational fashion, like a hook or cross. To increase the

force of linear motions you need to launch your body behind the

punch so on impact the force of your entire body and not just your

arm hits the target. To increase the force of rotational motions, you

coil the body like a spring and then release, driving your body in a

rotational path behind the punch and into the target.

Body Mechanics: Power punching involves the entire body to

properly execute. The punch starts with your toes, travels up the

legs, through the body, down the arm, and finishes with the fist

striking the target.

Feet: Approximately a 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.

The rear foot rests up on the ball, like you prepare to run a 100-yard

dash. The weight shifts forward as you punch, and you end up with

about a 60/40 front/rear weight distribution.

Legs: Bend the knees so the body forms into a crouched posi-

tion, ready to spring forward. The legs provide the power behind

the punch, connecting the earth with your fist.

Hips: Hips typically form a 45-degree angle with the target to

start. As you punch, the hips move first (in conjunction with the

feet and legs) and the punching hip rotates toward the target.

Shoulders: The shoulders form a 45-degree angle with your

target. The shoulders rotate toward the target, driven by the hips.

The shoulders lag slightly behind the hip rotation.

Arms: The punching arm extends straight out from the shoul-

der toward the target, maintaining a slight bend on impact. The

extension begins after the shoulders start to rotate and ends in con-

Power Punching

Street Fighter’sTraining Notebook

To increase the force of linear motions you need to launch your body behind the punch soon impact the force of your entire body and not just your arm hits the target.

Think of your fist as a bullet firing straight down the barrel of a gun.

By Major Leland Belding

FOR CADETS, SOLDIERS AND JUNIOR NCOS:

¥ Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandyto HitlerÕs EagleÕs Nest, by Stephen Ambrose

¥ The Long Gray Line, by Rick Atkinson¥ The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw¥ This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History, by T.R. Fehrenbach¥ AmericaÕs First Battles, 1776-1965, by Charles E. Heller and William A. Stofft¥ A Concise History of the US Army: 225 Years of Service, by David W. Hogan, Jr.¥ The Face of Battle, by John Keegan¥ We Were Soldiers Once and Young, by Harold Moore and Joe Galloway¥ Once an Eagle, by Anton Myrer¥ The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara

FOR COMPANY-GRADE OFFICERS AND COMPANY CADRE NCOS:¥ Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the

Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945, by Stephen Ambrose¥ The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I, by

Edward Coffman¥ The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations,

by Samuel P. Huntington¥ Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War, by

Gerald F. Linderman¥ Company Commander, by Charles B. MacDonald¥ Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command in Future War, by S.L.A.

Marshall¥ For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America,

by Allan R. Millett and Peter Paslowski¥ Certain Victory: The US Army in the Gulf War, by Robert H. Scales, Jr.¥ General George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century, by

Mark A. Stoler

¥ Buffalo Soldiers (Black Saber Chronicles), by Tom Willard

FOR FIELD-GRADE OFFICERS AND SENIOR NCOS:

¥ East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950, by Roy Appleman¥ An Army for Empire, by Graham Cosmas¥ The Evolution of US Tactical Doctrine, 1945-76, by Robert Doughty¥ Jomini and His Summary of the Art of War, by Antoine Henri Jomini¥ Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo and Schmidt, by Charles B. MacDonald¥ Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James McPherson¥ The Challenge of Command: Reading For Military Excellence, by Roger H.

Nye¥ Summons of the Trumpet: US Vietnam in Perspective, by Dave Palmer¥ Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton, by Martin Van Creveld

FOR SENIOR LEADERS ABOVE THE BRIGADE LEVEL:

¥ On War, by Carl von Clausewitz, edited by Paret and Howard¥ Command Decisions, by Michael Howard¥ The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict

from 1500 to 2000, by Paul Kennedy¥ Diplomacy, by Henry Kissinger¥ Military Innovation in the Interwar Period, by Williamson Murray and Alan R.

Millett¥ Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers, by Neustadt and

May¥ Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to Nuclear Age, by Peter Paret¥ An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784-1861, by

William Skelton¥ On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War, by Harry Summers¥ The Peloponnesian War, by Thycydides


junction with the end of the shoulder and hip rotations. Think of

your fist as a bullet firing straight down the barrel of a gun into the

target.

Fist: The fist should form tightly, thumb against the fingers,

rotating somewhere between a vertical position and a horizontal

position and finishing the punch by impacting with the first two

knuckles and projecting through the target.

TimingPunching resembles baseball in that there is a “sweet spot”

when your body is at the right place at the right time and you

deliver maximum force to the target. Punching, like all aspects of

combat, is balance in motion. Finding the “sweet spot” is a matter

of applying proper body mechanics and lots of practice against sta-

tionary and moving targets.

Training The heavy bag is king for power punch training. With its

weight, curved surface, and ability to move, it provides you the

feedback required to quickly develop your punching skills. When

you start to train, be careful because you may easily hurt your wrist

or knuckles until you develop the proper arm/body alignment.

Wear bag gloves to avoid ripping the skin off the knuckles (remem-

ber, it’s a curved, moving target). The next progression for power

training is to hit a moving target. Put on the boxing gloves, have a

partner put on a chest protector, and work those body shots as

your partner moves around. Finally, put on the appropriate pads

and headgear and start sparring. ✪

Leland Belding holds the rank of Major in the Iowa Army NationalGuard. He teaches CQC in Coralville, Iowa. (319) 351-6628

Punching resembles baseball in that there is a “sweet spot” when your body is at the rightplace at the right time and you deliver maximum force to the target.

The Army Center of Military History Reading List

Ijust got back from two weeks in Peru withJeff Randall, Newt Livesay and the rest of

the “Cascabel” team—the name given ourclass, which was the first group of civiliansto graduate from the Peruvian Air ForceDowned Pilot Jungle Survival School—oneof the most prestigious jungle survival pro-grams in the world. During that time, I washonored to instruct knife combatives toboth the rest of the team and the Peruviantroops stationed at the base in Iquitos.Jungle survival training consisted of twodays of intense classroom studies (using aninterpreter) and then heading into the jun-gle to practice what we’d heard preached.

At that point life became a blur ofintense heat and humidity, heavy rains, slid-ing down muddy banks into creeks, cross-ing rickety and slippery “Indiana Jones”style jungle bridges, swinging a machetelong after volcanoes had erupted in ourshoulders and sent molten lava shootingdown our arms, eating organisms yourmother slapped your hand for even tryingto pick up when you were a toddler, andtrying to sleep while unseen “things” bityou in the inkwell darkness of the junglenight. (If you woke up the next morning,you knew they weren’t deadly.)Everything—and I mean everything fromfinding food and water to getting up in themiddle of the night to urinate—became anordeal of 50 times the magnitude it is athome.

No, life in the jungle is not easy. Butwas it fun? Yes—more fun than I’ve had inmany, many years. (At least with my clotheson.) And EASY was not what I’d expected,or wanted, when I signed on. But . . . whatdoes all this have to do with close quarterscombat? I’m so glad you asked!

In a new and fresh way, I was remind-ed of a very important fact that applies tolife in general and to close-quarters-combattraining in particular: Enough of anything isenough, and too much of anything is toomuch. Like I said, I had a fantastic time inthe jungle and can’t wait to go back nextMarch to do it all again. But would I wantto live there year round? A resounding“Hell, no!” I was surprised at how much Iliked eating grub worms. But most of thetime, I still prefer cow.

This relates to close-quarters-combat

The VanCook View“Gimme (and yourself) A Break!”By Jerry VanCook

Front: Jerry VanCook. Background, left: Peruvian soldiers. Background, right: RAT(Randall Adventure Team) jungle survival expert Mike Perrin.

Aware that the

Peruvian troops

had practically

been born with

machetes in

their hands,

VanCook ran one

training section

on Bowie knife

fighting. These

techniques were

easily adapted

to the "jungle

cutters."

Much of the training was conducted on the soccer field located just outside the barracks on the Downed Pilot Jungle SurvivalSchool Base. Heat and humidity were intense, which added to the realism of jungle combat conditions. (No air-conditioneddojos for these CQC sessions!)



in that new students (and sometimes evenseasoned veterans) often become so devot-ed to training that they allow their lives toget out of balance. And a healthy life, ladiesand gentlemen, consists of the correct sym-metry between the spiritual, physical, andmental: it’s a constant juggling act of a vari-ety of interests and pursuits. Let any one ofthese pursuits take over and shove the oth-ers out of the way, and you become a royalbore at best and, in extreme cases, whatpsychologists and psychiatrists callobsessed. This is not only an unhealthyway to live, it also actually inhibits yourprogression toward the very goal youseek— in this case, proficiency in the art offighting. Let me give you a few examples.

Years ago, when I operated a full-timekarate dojo, I offered three classes a dayduring the week and two on Saturday. Thefirst thing I observed was a change inmyself. I had been dedicated to trainingwhen I was a student, but after I beganteaching my own practice sessionsdeclined sharply. Why? I got sick of it all,that’s why. When class ended, I wanted toget out of the white pajamas and go dosomething else. Again, enough was enoughand too much was too much.

The second thing I learned was thatwhile certain new students came on likegangbusters they soon fizzled out and dis-appeared. More often than not, these werethe men and women who were suddenly soenthralled in this new activity that theytried to attend every class and pleaded forme to teach on Sundays, too. To do this,they had to drop many, if not all, the otheractivities they engaged in before enrolling— things I’m sure they enjoyed and soonbegan to miss. During this whirlwind peri-od of training, they ate, slept, lived andbreathed karate, and I have no doubt theydrove their families and friends insane withconstant chatter about katas, roundhousekicks, and hammer fists—subjects that heldno meaning or interest to anyone outsidethe dojo. Some of the more humorous ofthese students even developed phonyJapanese accents, speaking their own bas-tardized form of “Pidgin English” and try-ing to sound as if they’d grown up in Tokyoinstead of Enid, Oklahoma.

I had another revelation along these

lines a little over twoyears ago. I had justfinished writing Real

World Self-Defense,shipped it off to thepublisher, and imme-d i a t e l y l e f t f o rLos Angeles. NashE n t e r t a i n m e n twas taping a specialfor The LearningChannel ent i t led“The World’s MostD a n g e r o u sUndercover Stings.”The directors hadread my other non-fiction book, Going

Undercover , andwanted me to appearon the program. Iwatched hours andh o u r s o f a c t u a lundercover video-tapes in which both cops and criminalswere beaten, shot, and knifed, and then“Monday morning quarterbacked” what I’dseen. At the airport going home I picked upa copy of a romance novel by my goodfriend, and fellow writer, Sarah Orwig. Yousee, I had been literally immersed in theviolence of close-quarters-combat forweeks while writing the book. Then I’dwatched more fighting for two straight daysin Hollywood. It was not only time for achange, it was also time for a big change.

What I’m getting at here is simple: Youwant to maximize your training efforts?Then don’t burn yourself out by doing toomuch in too little time. Think of the longhaul, and always leave the dojo or gymwishing you could stay a little longer. Inother words, give yourself a break once inawhile. Sometimes, less really is more.

Let me throw a few other “junglenotes” at you before we sign off for thisissue. Knives that performed fantasticallyin Peru: 1) Newt Livesay’s (Jeff Randalldesigned) RTAK — a big chopper whichtook down trees like a chain saw. 2) TOPSKnives Dawn Warrior, which proved notonly effective in the boonies but made anexcellent 5” fixed blade for concealedcarry. 3) Al Mar’s new SERE 2000 — Jeff

Randall had this one, I watched him with it,and ordered my own the first day I gotback. Need I say more? 4) The SpydercoMilitary Model. It’s still out there, folks,and it’s still as good as it always was.

Like I said, we’re heading back to theAmazon jungle in March. Anyone interest-ed in going with us should check outRandall’s Training Adventures at www.jun-gle training.com. There’s also a less strenu-ous but every bit as educational trip toCosta Rica scheduled for early December,and I’ll be going along to teach knife, stick,and unarmed combat there as well. Hopeto see you one, or both, places. ✪

A well known author of more than 40 books,Jerry VanCook also is an instructor inOkinawan karate. He has studied Aikido, ThaiBoxing, Kung Fu, Kali, and is a Rokudan (6thDegree Black Belt) in Bei-Koku Aibujutsu. In1998 he was inducted into the World Head ofFamily Sokeship International Martial Arts Hallof Fame, and received their “Writer of theYear” award. His titles include Real WorldSelf-Defense and Going Undercover.VanCook spent 14 years in law enforcementwith the Garfield County Oklahoma Sheriff’sDepartment, a federally funded undercovertask force.

The Bouncer


Few civilians know or under-stand the everyday plan-

ning and coordination involvedin providing security for alarge club. If your businessowns the parking lot youneed lot assignments, frontdoor assignments, walkersinside, and coverage on anyspecial rooms or activities.Security needs to communi-cate constantly over the dinof music. (I remember wellmy old days of having toshout over a rock band, orperform hand signals to getbackup or attention.) Someestablishments have bankruns, cash register protectionand other priorities. Not onlymust team members backeach other up, but also attimes they must fill in gaps inpriority coverage.

I am proud to say that the crew work-ing with me at The Metro Lounge consistsof the finest and most professional group ofguys I’ve ever had the pleasure. My crewspecializes in putting out the fire before itstarts. On a packed night we sometimesemploy as many as 12 guards.

My partner in charge is Nick Denardis(aka) Nickey D. Prior to his work at TheMetro, he worked as head of security inclubs like The Roxy (NYC) Club XS and theCasablanca on the Jersey Shore. Nickey isstraightforward and does not take shit fromanyone. Every night we assign a post toeach guard and, depending on the size and“personality” of the crowd, we appoint oneor two rovers to work the floor. Theserovers are constantly on the move.

Our resident full-time rover is WillieCovino-an EX Marine hand-to-hand combatinstructor. Willie started with us on day oneand handles any situation that comes up. Arover’s job is to be first at the scene of anyaltercation and to pinpoint the location oftrouble by security radio system (we usethe titles bar1, bar2, bar3 etc.).

Ron (the Big Dog) Holman frequentlyassists Willie. Ron is an ex semipro footballplayer and goes for all of about 350 lbs. Theonly thing bigger than Ron is his heart.Another one of our guards is MarkSkwinski, a 4th degree black belt in Koei

Kan Karate and semi-pro boxer. Markassists with searches as patrons enter theclub. Mark can smell dope like a GermanShepard.

Agim Zutha usually controls our VIPsection. Agim is skilled in Tae Kwon Do andkeeps out all unwanted and disorderly fromthis area. Anytime a situation such as afight or any altercation occurs, the spotterimmediately calls in on the radio. No oneguard throws anyone out alone. We watcheach other’s back constantly. Each nightdepending upon the size of the staff, weassign designated exits to remove disorder-lies, such as the main entrance and emer-gency side exit. We often reserve the

kitchen for, as we like to callit, “The Attitude AdjustmentTraining Center.” This is aspecial place for those reallyviolent patrons we do notwish to see again.

All in all we run a tightship. The very last thing wewant is to physically fightanyone, but you have thosenights when beer muscles

and whiskey brains prevailover common sense. Whenthat happens, we subdue theindividuals involved and shiphim or her out. I’ll get a callon the radio, “Joe, I got onecoming out,” someone calls,and I make the properarrangements at the frontdoor for the ejection of thatperson. Once my guys escortthem to the door, they goright back inside and man

their respective post. This “handoff” pro-vides a sound strategy that leaves no roomfor arguing with the guard. I simply informthem that I didn’t see what happenedinside. “No sense telling me, pal!” I saycalmly with an air that the event is com-pletely over, “but if you were brought outby one of my guys, out is out, and you’reout.” I let them know they can come backanother time, but not tonight.

I will and always have backed my guysup 110 percent. Providing security for alarge number of people is not an easy task.You must keep a cool head, identify theproblem spots and the troublemakers andremove them swiftly. When some drunkenfool injures an innocent bystander, it’s theworst.

Our customers need to know that nomatter how crazy the night gets in there,they are entering a safe, patrolled and con-trolled environment… thanks to my team.

Thanks guys! ✪

Joseph Reyes, Jr. serves as a bodyguard

and security supervisor for one of the largest

nightclubs in northern New Jersey. A 10-year-

veteran bouncer and a veteran martial artist,

Reyes is an Advanced Instructor in the SFC

System. You may contact him at (973) 694-

4348.

Team WorkSavvy By Joe Reyes

Left to right: Mark Skwinski, Mark McCombs, Ron (the Big Dog) Holman, Joe Reyes, Nick Denardis,Agim Zutha, Joe Finkler and Paul Combo—The Team!

Not only must

team members back

each other up, but

also at times they

must fill in gaps in

priority coverage.


something, the youngest maybe 19 yearsold.

The first fight starts will little fan-fare.An official of some type stands betweentwo men as they square off in the corner ofthe room, both wear T-shirts and jeans andbig black boots, which I didn’t expect. Ididn’t know what they would wear ontheir feet, but I didn’t expect boots. Noboxing gloves. They circle each otherin a serious silence as the onlook-ers, and myself watch com-pletely mesmerized.An ener-gy of waiting electrifiesthe room. One of themen pretends to dodge in,making the other flinch,then stops. Then the flinchercircles closer, then closer,and hits the dodgersquare in the face with afist. It happens like lightening,and the victim seems to lose allintelligence behind hisopen eyes. He doesn’t havelong to stumble before thepuncher hits him again in the jaw,with a whip like motion. Therecipient falls hard on his assas the observers partways, and his shoulderhits the wall. Eyeso p e n … h e ’ sout. Someonemakes a spas-tic attempt at get-ting him up, but hehas no idea where up and down are. Theofficial yells, “okay, he’s out!” and severalbystanders prop the loser up in a chair andhand him some ice in a beach towel. Thewhole round takes only 8 seconds.

“Are they always this quick?” I askedone of my new friends.

“Sometimes,” he answers. “You neverknow what will be the ace. If a dude’ll movein for the kill, it could be very fast. If theylike to jab and play and wrestle, it couldtake a long time.

Two others start up their match. Theydive into each other, and a very boringwrestling match begins. They roll aroundlike lobsters trying to get the best of eachother, purposely not poking fingers intoeyes, or even punching. After about 5 min-utes, I wander over to the first loser andkneel beside him. He’s still stunned.Someone pampers him and makes sure he

swallows a pile of aspirin. He mumbles…“lucky punch.” I get the idea he doesn’teven know a second punch hit him.

Back inside the “ring” I suddenly heara yelp, and one of the fighter’s surrenders.

They stand, red-

e a r e da n d f l u s h e d w i t h

exhaustion. This no-rulesf i g h t i s f o u g h t w i t h

wrestling rules and lastsalmost 10 minutes.

Then Drix and Big Willstrut out from the locker roomwith game faces, beside threeother guys. Drix wears a graysweatshirt and sweat pantswith a towel thrown over his

shoulder. He and Will stepinto the center of the

floor. Drix shoves amouthpiece into his

mouth. A guy fromthe locker room,

wearing a blackT-shirt with a

dozen martialarts symbolsin gold walksin also. The ref-eree says tobegin.

Like the last twofighters they circle each otherfirst. The man in the black T-shirt rests both his fists on hisface, which I think looks peculiar. Drix’shands are down at his sides. They play tag,swinging their hands in the air and aftereach swing; the man puts his fists back upby his face. Drix swings at the face thenkicks the man in the kneecap. Hard. Realhard. It looks real bad, and the man yelpsand falls back on the floor.

The crowd parts. Drix makes a moveto jump on him, but the guy looks like a carhas hit him. Drix stops. The man gets backup with the stumble of a rookie skier. Hecan’t put any weight on the knee. He tries toconcentrate on the fight, but puts his footdown and tests his balance with a grimace.Drix stands still and watches, then walksup and asks if he’s okay. Others approach

and a group discussion begins about theknee as if he’s a construction worker who’sbeen wounded on the job. They all decideto take the injured man to the hospital.

“Whose got a car?” someone asks, butin a world of subways and buses, no one

answers. “I do,” I call out

from the back ofthe room.

D r i x s a i d ,“Can you take him

to the hospital? This looks real bad.” Witheach arm around a shoulder of his friends,the wounded guy hobbles out to my car,and they all crawl in for the ride to the emer-gency room. There we wait for about 3 hours.

“What do you guys train in?” I askedone of the friends in a fit of boredom.

“Boxing. Shoot wrestling. Filipino mar-tial arts.” He answers and runs a string ofnames like Bruce Lee and some others Inever heard of, and the number of years ineach.

“After all those years…” I say shakingmy head, “and one good kick to the kneeand it’s over?” I say it more to myself thanto him.

“Shit happens man,” he says in a mum-ble. While we sit, a man comes in who hashurt his back falling off a ladder whilepainting. A traffic accident sends two morepeople our way with bleeding heads. Oldpeople come in afraid and ill. One has theflu.

X-rays and several consultations later,our guy’s knee turns out to be severelyhyper-extended and needs an emergency

visit to the bone doctor the next day.I take them all home, and then I

drive passed the school and down theavenue where the evening’s adventurebegan. It’s dark. The butcher paper isgone. No more fights, at least for a fewweeks.

Fight Clubs! What a bizarre, strangenight of courteous, caring, detached hyper-violence. I drive home with a strange senseof the term reality fighting. A loser limpshome, with knee surgery scheduled for thefollowing day. One-kick Drix already hometoo with his new tough guy rep, the hot talkof some obscure chat line, his heroismbased on the opinions of some 26 onlook-ers in a city of millions. Bizarre. ✪

B.B. Nashley works as a freelance writer inNew York City.

Fight Clubs ...continued from page 13

Close Quarter Combat MagazineIntel! • Squad Room! • The Arena! • Strategos! •Battlefield Diary! • True Cop Stories! •The Bouncer! •Congress News!

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State of the UnionScientific Fighting Congress Member News

Errol Deppe of Libertyville,IL, North of Chicago, has ablack belt level rank inBeladiri Silat. Beladiri isIndonesian for self-defense.Silat loosely translated means“to fight,” or “fencing,” or “tofend off .” Errol recentlyobtained the authority fromoverseas Master Frederico

Fernandez to spread his Silatthroughout the United States,promoting rank and instruc-torships. Beladiri is anIndonesian military form ofSilat, very modern andextremely practical. Errollearned the system while liv-ing overseas for years andthen invited Master Fernandez tostay with him here in the U.S. Inbetween seminars, he teaches at Marc

Halleck’s NSA. He’s available for pri-vate and semi-private lessons, classesand seminars.

In July 2000 Hock joined martial artgreats l ike Small Circle JujitsuGrandmaster Wally Jay and SilatLegend Willem Dethaours to teachat the San Jose, California’s GasshukuMasters Annual Seminar. The eventdrew hundreds of martial artists fromthe US and England. While in California,Hock also did a photo shoot withFairtex using their equipment for stickand knife training.

As a result of John Bednarski’s articleon Sir Richard Burton published in theJune/July 2000 issue of CQCMag,Paladin Press contacted John to writea book on the subject.

Rick Sikora of North Arlington, NJk i c k e d o f f h i s n e w W e b s i t e ,www.Combatfit.com

Recently Colorado’s RMCAT Peyton

Quinn suffered a heart attack. Thoughnot serious, we are glad to announcethat Peyton is up and running again withthe help of his staff. CQCMag wisheshim the best as he continues to

recover. You might add yourwell wishes to ours by writinghim at [email protected].

We are proud to announce thatthe response to CQCMag hasbeen overwhelming. With onlyeight short months under ourbelt in the new format, wehave accumulated sub-scribers in 22 countries, sev-eral major advertisers and anational distribution contractfor all major US bookstoresplus selected AAFES distribu-tion centers. We are over-whelmed and touched to saythe least. We appreciate all thegracious and heartwarmingcomments we’ve received. We

also appreciate the tremendous out-pouring of help, constructive criticismand positive feedback that’s made it pos-sible. It’s our goal to continue to bringyou real articles about real people andinstruction that works.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As a member of

the Scientific Fighting Congress, have

you accomplished something exciting

lately? If so, we want to hear about it.

Write us at Lauric Enterprises, Inc., P.O.

Box 5372, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA 30742. Or

email us at [email protected]. We

want to know about your accomplish-

ments, and welcome your comments. ✪

Left to Right: Fairtex Director Jim Wong, the great, “Uncle Bill” Dethaours and Hock inSan Jose, CA


OVERALL RANK LEVELSHock is a recognized 10th Dan Grandmaster/Founder by one of thelargest martial arts Grandmaster groups in the world – The WorldGlobal Alliance, as well as other national and international organi-zations. All rank achieved through the Scientific Fighting Congressis respected and recognized. If you are interested in rank andinstructorships, each course exists in a separate progression somematerial overlaps and cross training is an option. You may work inone area or all areas.

Hand to Hand – Level 1-10Archipelago Combat – Level 1-10Knife Counter-Knife – Level 1-10Dos Manos System – Level 1, 2, 3 (plus instructorships)(Additional Dan Black Belt and Master Levels available)

(Theme videos that focus on individual skills available in the

Knife Counter-Knife System).

American Combat Kempo (ACK). Hock also empowers you with anAmerican Combat Kempo rank. ACK is a secondary, “support” rankand alternative option/title to the Hand-to-Hand Combat program.The material is the same, but you may choose to teach it in theframework of a Karate-type class, to enhance your business suc-cess. Convert appropriate material into a lucrative kid’s class. AnACK rank comes free with each H-to-H rank.

SFC Instructor Levels

1) Class Organizer - leads official workout groups to developskill

2) Basic Instructor 3) Advanced Instructor 4) Black Belt Degree Instructors

Basic and advanced instructors are not Black Belts but may teachand promote their students up to one rank under their rank. BlackBelts may become instructors upon request. A one-time $50 fee forBasic; and $50 for Advanced Instructorships. Basic Instructorshipsstart at Level 5.

Must Instructors Teach only Congress Material?

NO! You are free to do as you wish. Some Congress instructors...1) Exclusively teach Congress material.2) Run Congress courses in their school or other

schools.3) Mix Congress material into their existing

program. 4) Lease time in schools, gyms, rec cen-

ters, etc.5) Use their backyards and garages.6) Travel and develop their own semi-

nar circuit. 7) Are instructors involved in other

famous courses.

HOW DO I TRAIN?The SF Congress has members in 20 different countries that trainand/or network thru Close Quarter Combat Magazine; with over75 instructors and even more class organizers with whom you maytrain. Hock travels to more than 30 states and overseas severaltimes each year. Train...

1) With Congress area instructors and organizers.2) With Hock in seminars, camps, privates and semi-privates.3) To acquire the rank and theme videos, the books and

manuals.4) And test for the first 3 levels by home/video testing.

Hock offers two full day private training sessions in your areabefore or after the seminars. This includes any rank and instruc-torship fees you achieve. You need a workout partner. Weekdaysare best!

1) $1,200 for one person (you need a “stuntman” to work with)2) $850 for two more interested people (per person)3) $2,000 for a group of 10 or more (plus expenses)

Host a seminar? There are several programs available. Base yourplan on a minimum of 25 or more people and it can happen any-where! Call Hock for details.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?It’s simple. Just order the first level of any of the four courses.

• Hand to Hand• Knife/Counter Knife• Archipelago Combatives• Dos Manos System (DMS)

or start with The Foundation – The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia

The CLOSE QUARTER COMBATIVE GROUPYou may progress in separate programs or cross-train in all.Remember, courses are based upon the essence of combat, andsome material overlaps. If you rank in all three courses, you beginto amass certification in the CQC-Group, an elite insider group withspecial expertise in the Congress.

JOIN THE SFC THROUGH MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS.Program 1: U.S. residents $30. Canadian residents $50.

Outside the U.S. and Canada residents $70. This one-year membership connects you with a special group

of police officers, military, martial artists andaware civilians, and entitles you to the bi-

monthly publication Close Quarter Combat

Magazine.

Program 2: Visit the webpage or askabout special video purchase packagesthat include membership and magazine.

Rank Training

HAND TO HAND COMBAT

____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 1 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 2 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 3____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 4____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 5____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 6____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 7 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 9 ____ Hand to Hand Combat Level 10: The

Black Belt Test____ Ground Zero! Ground Kick FightingLevel 8 under production

FILIPINO COMBATIVES VIDEOS

____ Level 1: Yellow Belt____ Level 2: Blue Belt____ Level 3: Blue One Stripe____ Level 4: Green Belt____ Level 5: Green One Stripe____ Level 6: Green Two Stripes ____ Level 7: Brown Belt____ Doble Baston – The Filipino Double

Sticks Levels 8, 9, 10 under production

KNIFE COMBATIVES VIDEOS

____ Level 1: Journeyman Series____ Level 2: Journeyman Series____ Level 3: Journeyman Series____ Level 4: Tradesman Series____ Level 5: Tradesman Series____ Level 6: Expert 3rd ClassLevels 7, 8, 9, 10 under production

KNIFE THEME VIDEOS

____ Knife Showdown! Dueling / Fencing /Sparring

____ Knife Trapping Hands____ Knife “Combat the Mad Rush Attack”____ Knife “Combat the Torso Stab Attack”____ “Sinawali” and “Alleycat” Knife Fighter

Systems____ Chain of the Knife System____ “Do or Die!” Unarmed vs. the Knife____ Tactical Folder for Handgun Retention

(New!)____ Knife Command and Mastery: Solo

Practice Methods (New!)____ In the Clutches of (New!)

DMS: CLOSE QUARTER STICK GRAP-

PLING/FIGHTING

____ DMS 1: DMS Strikes, Blocks and Drills____ DMS 2: DMS Combat Scenarios____ DMS 3: DMS Ground Fighting, the Push,

Pull and Turn Series

TRAINING MANUALS

(Purchase only if you work actively in the systemor have videos to which you may refer.)____ The Hand-to-Hand Combat Course $25

plus $6 postage____ The Filipino Combatives Course $25

plus $6 postage____ The Knife Combatives Course $25

plus $6 postage

S.F. CONGRESS VIDEO, BOOK & CLOTHING SUPPLY CATALOG

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

STATE: _______ ZIP: _______________ PHONE: _____________________________

CREDIT CARD TYPE: ____________________________________________________

CARD NO.: _____________________________________________________________

EXP: _______________________

Subtotal _______________

Plus Postage _______________

Total: _______________

BOOKS (bookstore quality, oversized

paperbacks)

____ The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia Vol. 1:

The Foundation. 346 pages, 1,000 how-to photos $35 plus$6 postage

____ The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia Vol. 2:

Military Knife Combat. 190 pages, 187how-to photos $25 plus $6 postage

T-SHIRTS

____ Congress Logo T-Shirts. Shirts are darkblue with gold Congress logo, small onfront and large logo on back. $25 plus$2.50 postage

____ Congress Logo Sleeveless T-Shirts. Shirtsare black bearing upper arms. Not a tanktop. Small logo on front, big on back.$25 plus 2.50 postage

____ Close Quarter Combatives T-Shirts.Shirts are military OD with Close QuarterCombat inscription across the chest instencil and Congress logo on front andback. $25 plus $2.50 postage (most pop-ular!)

CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT MAGAZINE

(each back issue $10, $2 postage. One year sub-scription $30)____ CQCMAG Back Issue #1____ CQCMAG Back Issue #2

TRAINING KNIVES

_____ Official Congress MetalTraining Knife “The BigBelly” Fixed Blade withCongress logo on blade.$39.95 plus $5 postage

_____ Official Congress MetalTraining Knife “The Normal”Fixed Blade with Congresslogo on blade. $39.95 plus $5postage

_____ Official Congress Metal Training

Knife “The Combat Folder Simulator,”Congress logo on blade. $39.95 plus $5postage

ORDER SPECS

* Each video is $30 with $6 postage and han-dling in United States.

* Any order more than $150 receives a freeS.F.C. membership entitling them to thebi-monthly CLOSE QUARTER COMBAT

Magazine. (membership non-transferable)

* Any order for more than 6 items and under30 items, receives a free S.F.C. membershipAND the total postage for the order is only$25.

* Add an additional $25 postage Internationalorders (not including Canada).

* CQCMagazine and SFC membership $30

* Canadian subscription/membership $50

* Overseas subscription/membership $70

* We accept mc/visa, money order or personalchecks.

* Payable to: Lauric Press, P.O. Box 5372, FortOglethorpe, GA 30742, or call 706-866-2656 orfax order to 706-866-2657



SEMINARS FOR YEAR 2000 October 21, 22 - Romeoville/Chicago, IL

CQC Seminar. Contact Eddie Cavazos.815-485-7344. This seminar is next in theCQC series and will cover a review ofthe CQC Level 1 and 2 and training inthe Level 3 material of the Congresselite Close Quarters Combatives Group.Hock will teach Level 4 next winter.

October 28, 29 - Las Vegas, NV

Extreme CQC. On the Strip at theHoliday Inn! Contact Steve Kyrstek. 702-647-4745. Plan a vacation around thisone!

Nov 4, 5- San Fran/San Jose Bay Area, CA

Review of CQC Level 1, and intenseLevel 2 study in all areas, plus very spe-cial themes. Call David “Smitty” Smith510-261-1660 or Mike Abatacola 408-629-5651.

Nov 11 thru 27 - Melbourne & Sydney-

Australia, & Auckland-New Zealand

After Melbourne, a five day hand, stick,knife, gun combat camp. Other week-night clinics thru Australia being organ-ized in between the weekend seminardates. Contact Glenn Zwiers of Victoria,Australia 03-9735 3799.

December 2, 3 - San Diego, CA

WEST COAST KNIFE/COUNTER-KNIFECOMBATIVES SUMMIT. Contact TrentSuzuki. 1-760-497-4465.

December 9th - Wayne, NJ

Extreme Hand, Stick, Knife, Gun CQC.Hosted by Joe Reyes at ReggieTrinidad’s White Tiger TKD School.Contact Joe. 973-694-4348.

December 10th - Washington DC

Extreme Hand, Stick, Knife, Gun CQCHosted by R. J. Oak and Kevin Beale.Call and ask for Kevin at 301-927-2163.

SEMINARS FOR YEAR 2001 January 13, 14 - Milwaukee Area, WI

Archipelago/Pacific Islands CombativesWintercamp.

January 20, 21 - Dallas TX


Feb 3, 4 - Destin area, FL


Feb 10, 11 - Torrance, CA


March 3, 4 - Kansas City, MO


March 10, 11- Kearney, NJ

Knife-Counter Knife Combatives SummitHost Rick Sikora.

March 17, 18 - Romeoville, IL

CQC Series. Host Eddie Cavasos.

March 21, April 1 - Altus, OK

H a n d , S t i c k , K n i f e G u n C o m b a tSimulations.

Remember hosts move and change phones throughoutthe year. If for any reason you have difficulty contacting ahost, call Hock immediately. We add seminars frequently.Contact Hock at 706-866-2656 for the most up-to-date

schedule, or for hosting and attendance information.Hurry! Dates fill quickly! Weeknight clinics in your city

available on a first come, first served basis! Lock in yourYear 2001 seminars ASAP!

W. Hock Hochheimclose quarter combat

Seminars for 2000/2001

If you would like to place aclassified ad,please contactLauric Press,P.O. Box 5372,Ft. Oglethorpe,GA 30742, orcall 423-400-9458. CQCMAG reserves the right to reject anyad without explanation.

ClassifiedsIn the Next Issue!. Steve Krystek returns

with GunfightingStrategies

. Professor Jeff Allen onBlocking Tactics, Canes and Long Guns

. plus much more!

COLD STEEL - DON STIVERS

Captain Lewis Millet leads Easy Company, 27th Infantry Regiment in its bayonet assault Hill 180,Soam Ni Korea, February 7, 1951

Like all new commanders, Captain Lewis Millett wanted to put his own stamp on the outfithe had inherited. This he did with the bayonet.

While many soldiers in Korea had thrown away the antiquated weapon, Millett re-suppliedit and drilled the men of Easy Company in its use. They kept bayonets fixed, and wentabout stabbing strawstacks and mudbanks in impromptu charges ordered by Millett onthe march. The bayonet became the unit’s symbol.

On February 7, 1951, Millett led his men up Hill 180 as part ofOperation Punch. Throwing grenades, turning back to call formore firepower when he saw the ground ahead crawling withChinese, he seemed constantly upright and exposed standingunder fire, urging the others on. At the crest he took shrapnelfrom a grenade. The men saw him silhouetted on the skylineand heard him now, shouting, “Use grenades and cold steel!”

That day the bayonet was used liberally. Some say it was themost complete bayonet charge by American troops since theCivil War. Of 47 enemy dead, 18 had been killed by the bayonet.For his courage and leadership in the action, Captain Millettwas awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. And atop Hill180, like their own special medal to their new commander, themen left a bayonet stuckin a crack in a rockholding a sign that read,“Compliments of EasyCompany.”

Image Size: 18” x 22 1/2” $150. Shipping $15.Edition 400 S/N USAWC Edition: TBDTO ORDER BY PHONE: CALL 540-882-3855

We accept personal checks, money order, Mastercard, Visa, Discover or American Express.

Close Quarter Combat (1)

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Transcript of Close Quarter Combat (1)