Long Edged or Bludgeon Type Weapon Disarming Under Entry Assault

Long weapons can range from specific type weapons like swords and machetes to riot sticks and baseball bats. Improvised long weapons can be as diverse as fence palings, carpenter’s saws, pipes, waratahs (star pickets), pool cues, broomsticks, jimmy bars, reinforcing rods, etc.

From top: machete, baseball bat, pipe, e-tool, and waratah fence post (star picket)

Col Applegate's advice on being faced with a secondary or improvised weapon threat for military close combat was to shoot your armed assailant as the primary means of neutralization. In this article we are going to cover the realm of being unarmed against a long weapon where you cannot escape the immediate situation and do not have any weapons capabilities to employee to disarm your armed assailant at your disposal.

Always remember the safest distance from a weapon is 100s of metres away, three streets away, two backyards away, or in the next field. As soon as you have been confronted and the weapon has been drawn or directed at you it's time to go tactical.

Always remember, against a weapon your vision should be on the tip of the weapon and not the weapon holder. I employ what I call point and place sighting against a weapon threat with your point sighting on the weapon tip and your place vision on the immediate environment so as to be unable to identify any additional threats or situational hazards risks or changes in situation. Do not become so fixed and focused on the weapon that you sacrifice your peripheral version and enter into a state of losing your ability to assess, decide, hear, see, or move at optimum levels. Tunnel vision, audio exclusion, confusion and fear to the point of the physical effects of stress causing you to physically react uncontrollably or freeze in place and be unable to employ sound physical tactics procedures and skills are a reality if you are not prepared for such sudden aggressive shock environments and actions and threat situations. Psychological conditioning for battle is a very important phase of Todd Close Combat Systems training and without it could be the difference between success and failure, victory or defeat, life or death.

The following are the physical tactics procedures and skills relating to disarming long weapons when unarmed.

Immediately you identify a weapon threat against you, specifically of the long weapon category, ensure you employ your point visual focus on the tip of the weapon being the closest point of the weapon to you and place sighting on your immediate environment. Do not at close range in the extreme danger zone attempt to converse with your armed enemy as speech slows your reaction time down and if your enemy engaged you, you would need to stop the verbiage and employ your physical skills. Maintaining verbal silence ensures you are ready to act or react to any actions on and do not have to stop your attempts to negotiate and reassess or evaluate any immediate actions on and employee physical means to neutralize the threat.

Being aware of your surroundings and immediate environment is essential especially when you cannot escape and need to break a reactionary gap safely. Continue to remain focused on the tip of the weapon and break a minimum of a two metre reactionary gap ending in a neutral stance so as not to increase your body mass and potentially see your limbs impacted with the weapon. Fighting stances can restrict or slow movement for weapon evasion.

Control your breathing, maintain your point and place sighting, and affinity with the ground in a ready position and status to evade when engaged with the weapon threat. Always remember in any disarming related evasion not to raise your arms during the evasive manoeuvre as this has the potential to not only reduce your evasion speed but also increase your target mass.

Timing is of the essence when evading a long weapon threat, to ensure you do not initiate your evasion too early and as a result evade into the travel path of the incoming weapon. Just as important is the requirement of not evading too late and being unable to escape weapon contact.

When in the ready status and neutral position maintaining an affinity with the ground with the balls of the soles of both boots and controlling your breathing and remaining focused on the forward tip of the weapon you are best ready and prepared to identify not only the direction in relation to the inward coming weapons travel path but also will be able to determine timing wise when the weapon is fully committed and beyond the point of no return. This is the critical time to initiate your evasion prior to your disarming phase.

The evasive footwork is the next most important component of long weapon disarming. I have seen many individuals employ single leg long-in-length methods to move the body mass off the weapons perceived impact point. These manoeuvres usually involve not only taking a single large step but also crouching down and away and outstretching and straightening the leg closest to the armed enemy. I have undertaken extensive tests of practical employments of long weapons by a wide range of trained combatants and untrained subjects utilizing long weapons and have recorded very high percentage training outcomes of the following. The weapon has been directed at the targets head or upper quadrants and then has tended to follow a natural predetermined gravity assisted diagonal downward path of travel or as a result of identifying the targets wide crouched evasive action has deliberately followed the target diagonally away and downward. The common outcome has been impact with the weapon on the stationary outstretched leg leading to incapacitation and vulnerability to continued assault. One must remember that a weapon can be employed with a single forehand or backhand swing an overhead swing, a straight thrust, or multiple swinging forehand and backhand motions. The most common employment of a long weapon is the cock and swing and if you were to evade to early and away from the cocking action you would be moving directly towards the swinging action.

It is essential post breaking a reactionary gap visually focusing on the forward point of the weapon and holding the ready neutral stance and status that you only initiate your evasive manoeuvre when the weapon is fully committed and on its final travel at you to target and beyond the point of no return where changing direction would be close to impossible at full committal speed and would require a stoppage in the entry assault and repositioning cocking and secondary execution for the armed assailant.

One of the factors that makes long weapon and especially heavy long weapons evasion and disarming possible is that it requires considerable physical effort for the armed attacker to cock and deliver such a weapon and these factors not only produce an increase of telegraphing of the weapon employment but also depending on the weight of the weapon can slow the initial cocking and execution delivery. Evasively when the weapon is fully committed employing multiple small to medium evasive steps away from the travel of the incoming weapon and round to the weapon holders side using them as a barrier against their own weapon is the primary means of evasion and effecting cover and weapon containment positioning against the weapon. Every centimetre the weapon travels towards its intended target prior to your evasion sees you moving away from the travel and intended impact point by centimetres.

Post evasive manoeuvre push your sternum in against your armed enemy’s side using them as a barrier against their own weapon and positioning yourself where you can jam the weapon holding arm or arms above and below the elbow joint checking the weapon and preventing its continued travel. This is very inline with unarmed counteroffensive safety against an unarmed assault where counter offensively the minimum safe range prior to being engaged is 2 metres and closer ranges of less than one metre and inside the unarmed assailants striking and kicking range increase the danger levels by considerable. However shutting your unarmed assailant down by being in point blank bodily contact and jamming seizing and securing them reduces their strike capabilities by considerable if your stance, guard and close quarters containment skills are effective. From this cover position you can seize and secure either the weapon holding wrist or both wrists or the weapon itself if it is safe to do so.

The means of seizing and securing the weapon or weapon holding wrist or wrists is by means of an opposing forces grip. The first grip will be with the forward most hand in relation to your enemy’s front thumb pointing down groundward securing either the furtherest away wrist in the case of a weapon being held with two hands or the weapon itself as far forward as possible from the weapon holding hands. If the weapon is being held with one hand only you will first seize the wrist of that hand with your forward most hand in relation to your enemy thumb pointing groundward.

Your secondary hand will be employed thumb pointing skyward, completing the opposing forces grip either on the wrist of the closest hand in the case of a double hands grip of the weapon or immediately above your first grip in the case off a single-handed grip of the weapon. To complete an opposing forces grip with both hands seizing and securing your enemy’s weapon if it is safe to do so and there are no sharp edges or protrusions the second grip with the thumb pointing skyward will seize and secure the weapon immediately between the weapon holding hands if there is a gap over the top of the closest weapon holding forearm and not underneath it. In the case of a double handed grasp of the weapon with no gap between the weapon holding hands the secondary grip will be immediately forward of the weapon holding hands. When effecting an opposing forces grip on a double handed hold of a weapon the aim of the grip is to increase your retention of the weapon and not to create pain or a disarm as a result of the grip. You are simply employing the first thumb groundward grip to reduce the likelihood of the weapon being broken from your grip in an upward bicep curling action. The secondary grip, thumb skyward, then reduced the likelihood of the weapon being broken from your grasp with a downward action. Once you have effected the grip it’s a matter of maintaining a compressive secure grip and quickly getting into position and setting up your disarming counter offensive. You can resist or yield to maintain the grip or employ your body opposing the weapon holders closest elbow joint. Once you have completed your opposing forces grip of the weapon holding hand hands or weapon itself staying in a side stance and stepping towards the forward point of the weapon as well as levering forward by pulling forward with both hands moving your enemy’s weight forward you can now put them in position to neutralize the threat. They should be bent forward virtually off balance on tip toes and most likely resisting making their knee joint rigid and a very effective target to not only decentralize or ground the enemy but also incapacitate them by inflicting a dislocation or ligament damage of the knee joint or knee cap.

Make sure you keep your secure grip as your enemy is downed from the effect of the leg stamp following their downward travel and immediately post-decentralization stepping in to point blank range on them in their grounded position. Manipulating their position is achieved by pulling on the weapon or weapon-holing wrist or wrists preferably to position them on their side with their back to you. The leg stamp I have just described is a primary initial means of incapacitation prior to employing necessary skills to achieve your objective in relation to your rules of engagement and standard operating procedures for military close combat, it may well be deemed excessive under the laws of some countries in relation to self-defence and a lesser option may need to be employed. This is a decision that will need to be made by the individual in relation to the situation threat level and laws of the land in relation to self-defence. I personally believe the leg stamp is an effective means to neutralize an armed enemy bent on doing life-threatening harm to an unarmed subject. While stamping kicks may not generally be life threatening they certainly are an effective means to neutralize an assailant regardless of their physical attributes levels of commitment or what ever they may be under the influence of. Once the integrity of the knee joint has been compromised they can easily be contained, controlled, restrained, or eliminated in kill or get killed military close quarters combat.

This edition of the close combat files has covered the primary tactics and principles prior to employing long weapon multiple evasive steps and post evasion, a primary unarmed means of disarming. Do not attempt wrist locks or the like to effect a disarm over employing the heel stomp for military disarming of an incapacitated ground enemy post evasion and weapon seizure and securing. Employing a heel stomp in the right place to achieve a military battlefield disarm will effect an immediate release of the weapon with minimum effort.

There are emergency evasive and stationary methods of long weapon disarming that the hands on trained and skilled combatant must also be competent in.

Finally always remember the following formula for long weapon unarmed disarming. Vision on the weapon, break a minimum of a two metre reactionary gap, stand neutral and ready, when the weapon is beyond the point of no return at you, its intended target, evade away from its travel employing multiple small to medium steps around to your armed enemy’s side. Use your enemy as cover against their own weapon and seize and secure their weapon or weapon holding wrist or wrists. Step and lever their weapon holding arms or weapon forward and downward and move into position to employ your unarmed means of enemy neutralisation.

Post breaking a reactionary gap.