Let’s look at # 7: Use a weapon if you have one.

This might me the most controversial of all my tips on how to win any fight, but it is actually the most practical and is used by all Police departments across the Word. Use a weapon if you have one. There is no reason to have a “fair fight”. Let’s get it straight, I don’t think that you should be in street fights unless your life is in danger or someone else’s life is in danger. So if your life is being threatened it makes a lot of sense to use every technique and everything and anything you can to win the fight.

Whether you find yourself going against a 300 pound punk, or 150 drug addict your attitude and defenses must be the same. You intention is to win the fight, to win it as quickly and easily as possible. The last thing you want to do is be in a boxing match, a karate match, a ground jiu Jitsu match. This is a fight and there simply can’t be any “rules” in a real street fight. If you are fighting in a club, a dojo, a mma event, etc, then there certainly are rules and you must follow them. But if you are fighting for your life in the streets, there can be no rules. 

The police are taught to “one up” an attacker. If he uses his fists, they use pepper spray, mace, a baton, or Tonfa.  If he uses a knife, they use a gun. If he uses a gun, they use a shot gun, or machine gun. The military uses this most effectively. I am sure most of you don’t remember WWII when the Italian Army fought the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians used poles, sticks, knifes and some even had some pistols or small caliber rifles. The Italians used tanks.  When the Russians during the 1950’s were crushing the democratic revolt in Hungry, they meet the same type of civilian resistance. A mob armed with guns, a few rifles, and knives. They used tanks. 

Here’s the point. It was totally an unfair fight. The civilians didn’t stand a chance and while the rest of the World was appalled at the death and destruction of the populist in reality a lot more civilians were saved from death by the immediate crushing of the resistance with overwhelming force. If the Italians or Russians had fought hand to hand with their guns and rifles, the battle would have gone on for months, even years. They decided to show the severe consequences of resistance and it only took a few bullets bouncing off the tanks and the tanks destroying entire buildings with one shot to quell the riots.

It should be the same way in a street fight if you have a weapon use it. Use it immediately and with force and determination to end the fight to cause the attacker to quickly realize the futility of his attack and to withdraw or be beaten into submission, and possibly death. Remember your life is at stake, and there is no reason to be polite when someone is trying to kill you.

You can bow, you can smile and then you can shoot him.  Or you can beg him to stop his attack, plead for mercy and get into a long fight with someone who has no qualms about crippling you, or killing you.  I suggest the first is better. I don’t advocate it, I don’t encourage it, but I do suggest that if you are attacked and you have a “gun” you must and should be prepared to use it and use it effectively to stop the fight. Don’t brandish a gun if you don’t intend to use it. Don’t use it for a bluff. Use it because your life is at risk and be prepared to stop the attack with the gun. Learn to use a gun from a qualified teacher and practice at the local gun range until you are confident in using it for self defense.

If you have a knife, a bat, even a pen; use them the stop the attack. Don’t use them to scare, use them to end the attack or use them to get away, flee and get help. I have invented a great legal carry weapon, The Gambretta. You can learn how to use it at my website www.sevensecondselfdefense.com  for free.

One point, I certain that someone reading this article will remind me and you that if you use a weapon don’t forget that the attacker can take it away from you and use it on you. There will also be someone who will remind us that it is illegal to carry guns without a permit or carry a weapon without permit, and you can’t carry weapons into various places, etc. Thank you for your comments and advise. But here is the simple fact. If you have a Legal Permit to carry a gun, then you can carry a gun. And if you take it out for self defense, you better be prepared to use it to stop the crime. If you know how to use a Gambretta, or a knife or some other improvised weapon you find near you when you are being attacked in your home. Use them and use them to stop the fight and get away and get help. Don’t use an improvised weapon to prolong the fight or go into a boxing match or wrestling match. Use the weapon to get away and get help.