The Pen Is Mighty

[tmcg]

In Krav Maga, you use your bodily weapons (punches, kicks, elbows, knees...). You're also expected to improvise weapons by using whatever comes to hand--my favorite recent suggestion was your cellphone.

In Martial Artists, MobiusStrip linked to this brutal account of a street confrontation.

Read the fourth paragraph. (Yeah, it's gross; this stuff is gross. It's also very funny within the sobering context.)

Note the item that came to hand.

Comments

[thenetwork.livejournal.com]

"The pen is mightier than the sword"?

Accurate as anything, that. And not so funny. But you have to laugh, because truth does that.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

The pen is mightier than the eyeball, anyway.

According to MobiusStrip's comments, the guy is still pretty messed up, and the whole thing is really kinda depressing, since they're mugging him again in court. (What I laughed at was "Will you take a check?" Now it looks like they'd like that very much.) Not that I've tried to verify any of this, so all of it goes with the usual cyberspace grain of salt. But that's probably worth a rant at some point. Beat up two guys who just laid you flat and then took a baseball bat to you when you tried to run; get sued. Ooooookay.

[akaspeedo.livejournal.com]

Which is why I'm sneakily taking those KM classes, huh? Since all the self-defense moves I need to know are impractical outside the dojo. I mean, who's gonna hold their punching arm out long enough for you to grab it, I ask you?

Adrenaline management and knowing which strikes to use only if you have to kill someone... unfortunately, that's the real shit.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

Totally the real shit. It's about control as much as aggression.