Emerson Combat Karambit

The System

This course is designed to take a student's natural protective/fighting instincts and enhance them into a useable, controllable force. There is no attempt to force students to learn or act in any way that does not come to them naturally. In this manner, we enhance the natural skills that every student possesses and give them confidence that is not gained through traditional martial training. We assume that not all students are trained students of the martial arts and these skills are designed to be learnable and most importantly retainable to students of all skill levels. They are not high maintenance skills that must be constantly trained and practiced to maintain proficiency. By applying the concepts learned to any fighting situation, greater survivability and fewer serious injuries are the result. These concepts and power inducing skills will apply to any previous martial talents that any student already possesses.

The course consists of concept training through lecture and practice drills. It then progresses to footwork, distance, timing and power skills. The course then moves to defense against the weapon/knife attack.

These defenses are then escalated into counterattack and control resolution, thus destroying the offensive ability of the attacker.

The course progresses to offensive use of the knife against any attack scenarios that an individual will encounter.

Techniques that are taught are ground fighting with the knife, against the knife and how to survive when you are forced into a situation off of your feet.

The class also covers weapons retention, weapon control and limiting the effectiveness of the opponent's weapon.

This is an intense and physically demanding class. We will introduce as much mental and physical stress as possible under classroom conditions. In this way we can see how the student performs under simulated attack situations.

We require a good level of physical fitness and the student should be able to endure minor injuries (bumps and bruises) as they may occur.

This is a high-speed class that demands a lot from both the instructors and the students, but in return, better prepares the officer/students to deal with the ability to survive a physically violent attack.

OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE

The objective of this course is to give you the tools to survive the first few seconds of a violent, deadly, attack. I stress the word survive and I use it because of its singular focus. I did not say defeat the opponent, beat the opponent, disarm the opponent, or subdue the attacker. That all comes later. You can't do any of those things if you don't survive the attack. What you do and how you act during those first two seconds will be the most important actions you will ever take. Your very survival depends on it.

This course is based upon the recognition of two ultimately powerful factors. They are unstoppable and immutable. These two factors are: the human body's physiological response to stress and its reduction to the use of gross motor skills. In addition, all of the techniques are based upon the physical and instinctual laws that govern the survival instincts and physical function of every human being. Once you become aware of these factors, they do not catch you at a disadvantage. This course teaches you how to manipulate and use them to your advantage while causing these same reactions to become a tremendous disadvantage to your opponent.

THE BASIS OF STRUCTURE

The course is designed to be built just like a brick wall. First, you start with the foundation and you work up in stages laying a new course of bricks, as you want the wall to grow higher. You may stop anywhere during the process and you still have a good solid brick wall.

So it is with this course. You start with and develop a strong foundation, understand the concepts and the reasons why the techniques work and then build layers from the simplest techniques through the intermediate techniques, up to the most difficult. You may stop at any level of progress through the course from the very beginning and walk away with a strong, usable self-defense system that will work for you in most situations. As you continue through the course, you will soon see that every technique I built is a progression from the previous layer of techniques and concepts.

The system is developed to teach an all around encompassing fighting skill that covers empty hand skills (stand up and ground), weapon skills (blunt and edged), alternative force skills, lethal weapon skills and the psychological and psychophysical aspect of combat survival. Also included are training, drills and fitness routines. These skills will apply and react with (enhance) any martial art or fighting skill that is presently being studied. Any student can pursue any aspect to which degree they choose but it will also give them a basic skill level to cover all the other aspects.

The core concept of this course is that you do not need to develop separate techniques for different attacks, such as technique A for an overhand knife strike and technique B for an overhand club strike. Rather these techniques are developed so that you defend against the angle of attack, no matter what the weapon is. In that way we avoid confusion about what to do at any given point in a time when precious milliseconds can mean the difference between life and death. This system teaches the skills to cover attacks and negate their offensive capabilities. It teaches concepts, attributes and enhanced power so that the student is prepared to use his skills in a dynamic way to adapt to any situation.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The true bottom line of this course is to teach you how to survive a violent, deadly attack. It is a survival fighting course; it is not for sport or tournament fighting. It is not even designed to beat or defeat your opponent (although that is most often the outcome). It is designed to give you the tools to survive. This does not mean that you will not get hit, cut, broken or even severely injured. What it does mean is that everything you will learn is geared to enabling you to survive a violent attack. You must enter into the study of this course from the point of view that the end result of any attack may be your death. It is only with this clarity of purpose that you can employ the techniques and embody the concepts so that they give you the tools to survive. A photo cannot convey the intensity and violence with what they must be delivered to be most effective. If you think you can hit hard you must hit 10 times harder. If you think you are fast, you must be 10 times faster.

Forget the dojo, forget sparring, and forget the tournament or ring. Forget the teacher, the rules or referee. Imagine that it is 1:30 am on a Saturday and your car has broken down in the worst part of the worst city in the world. As you step out of your car, you see the three predators who are going to rape your wife and daughter and then kill all of you. They've done this before and totally without conscience or compassion and they are about to do it to you. At this time, there is nothing else in your life that matters. There are no safeguards. It doesn't matter if you are the most powerful CEO in the world or a gas station attendant. The only thing that exists in your world now, is you and them. The only tools that you have now are your physical skills, your wits and your most powerful natural weapon; the will to survive. In most cases, it is the only advantage you posses. Out manned and out gunned, you may be the only deciding factor. You may even need to sacrifice your life to save your wife and daughter. This is the mentality that you must draw upon and develop during the study of this course.

This is the violence that, God forbid, you may have to confront some day and you must be prepared for this level of pure violence, both physically and mentally, in order to survive it when, and if, it ever does happen.