In over a decade and a half of doing this kind of work, I’ve faced all kinds of combative patients, some drug induced, and some just plain belligerent. A mythology had grown around PCP that they become some kind of superman, and while that does happen sometimes, it doesn’t always happen. Some people are really strong on any drug, and some are really strong ordinarily. That sort of power is within all of us - it’s just more commonly associated with PCP. Such PCP episodes are usually very dramatic, so they stick in people’s memories. But there’s always a hidden statistic - you never know how many people have good trips. Obviously some do, or they wouldn’t keep doing it.
My intention with this thread was to share an experience which I felt typified a theory-meets-practice situation. I’ve been in more situations where such an lock was plenty efficient to get the job done then not. This particular episode just struck me as interesting since it was so recent. And the timing of it, which I guess you’d have to have been there to see. There’s always a gap, and that patient just got clean in it. All the theory in the world won’t save you from that.
Chin Na on the wrong person could be dangerous, wind up breaking your own wrist.
I use locks but do not grab. I use the forearm and body, breaking with my chest a lot. My sifu can easily break my wrist if I grab him anywhere on the arm for even a second.
Most of us will never have to worry about it, but if ever fighting a high-level guy, keep that in mind.
Of coarse! Most things do. Until you face off with someone who can defeat it.
I’ll tell you this, try it on an old school master, and your wrist is in trouble.
Here are a few thoughts:
1.) 10% of the populace will not feel enough pain to comply.
2.) If an individual can ignore the pain for more than 30 seconds, neural shutdown begins and the pain becomes tolerable.
Reply:
Visit a seminar by Yang Jwing Ming and offer to stand
in for a demo. It opened my eyes.
… but that’s ok. It’s a great discussion.
Chin Na works - I’ve used it numerous times in many combative patient scenarios successfully. It just doesn’t work all the time. Nothing does. My reason for relating this story was an example of when it didn’t. It was a real life demonstration of the gap of chin na. But everything has a gap, so I certainly wouldn’t chuck it all out because of that.
As for the use of martial arts in a medical environment, you must alwasy use it compassionately or what are doing there? Obviously you want to protect yourself and your staff, but you’re really all there for the patient. Healers take oaths. So you do what you got to do - in many ways I beleive it’s the best service a martial artist can provide humanity. Like that security guy, we can take the hits, so who better to absorb the pain and let the healing begin?
Way too often I hear things like, “Chin Na doesn’t work against a hyped up opponent”, or “high kicks expose you too much”, or “punching with a fist can break your hand”. And people use these these facts as a justification for throwing those techniques out of their arsenal.
But, like the General said above, NOTHING works every time. One time (at band camp, JK) I put a billiard ball through a guys face. It broke his cheek, nose, and eyebrow. But it didn’t slow him down in the slightest. He was choking me at the time and didn’t even loosen his grip. Scary sh!t!
Now, how many of you want to step up and be my practice dummy for that particular technqiue? What, no takers? 99.9% of the time that would decimate an opponent. But nothing works every time.
So, just becuase it won’t work every single time, it doesn’t mean that any particular weapon or technique isn’t valuable and shouldn’t be trained.