Training Follow Up

Following up on the baseball bat murder in Loveland, in Leadership Class/Instructor Training on Friday we worked on defending several type of blunt object attacks from various angles.

We constructed a long 'hallway' our of heavy bags and worked on surprise attacks while in that confined space. If in a hallway and faced with an attacker with a bat or similar object, there is really on 2 angles that it might be deployed at. The most likely angle is the overhead swing. Likely to come in a down-and-in type angle. It's also likely to be held shorter due to the restrictive height clearance. The second angle is less dangerous but might be used in an effort to move you to a more open area to continue the attack; that is the 'thrusting' attack with the end of the bat.

In either case, side stepping is not only slow and a large movement, it may not be possible because of the restrictive environment. Both defenses require re-directing the weapon and counter attacking simultaneously (what a surprise). After that, your options are limited because of space and you will likely have to continue the fight trying to drive them back or into a wall (which will allow you to get by possibly escape if the exit was there and you've bought some time) or use the wall as a back-board for their head until they drop the bat!