heel of your rear foot is raised slightly to give you a little more spring if you need to lunge forward. Raising your rear foot heel also provides a “shock absorber” should you get hit. You can rock back on the heel of your rear foot, absorbing the power of the blow to your body (see Fig. 8).
Knees: The slightly bent knees also give you better mobility. Look at how tennis players stand when they are receiving a serve. Their knees are bent so that they can move in any direction as quickly as possible (see Fig. 9). The bent knee also gives you protection against a quick knee attack. Every martial artist knows that it is easier to break a straight leg than a bent one. Many street fighters say that they wait for their opponent’s leg to straighten out before they kick it—so that they can break it (see Figs. 10 and 11).
Hands: Your hands should be held up at eye level. With your hands in this position, it is easier to block an incoming blow to the face. I prove this theory with cadets by telling them that those who do not keep their hands up when they box with me will get hit in the head. Ninety-nine percent of them will get hit in the head—but only if they drop their hands below eye level. When the cadets and police officers that I have trained keep their hands at eye level, they can block 80 percent of all incoming punches to the head.
Elbows: Your elbows are tucked in to protect you from getting hit in the body. Your elbows act as a defensive shield to block any incoming blows to the body.
To show how important it is to block a body blow with your elbows, I always tell my students that if they don’t do this, I’ll knock the wind out of them. To date, I have knocked the wind out of well over 10,000 students—with either a punch or a kick—because they didn’t keep their elbows tucked in. More than half of these were police officers. Many police officers believe that if they wear a vest in the field a body blow cannot drop them. I prove them wrong when I spar with them—with them wearing a bulletproof vest. The results are the same—with the vest on, I just hit them a little harder.
Getting dropped by a body blow could be fatal to an officer involved in an altercation, which is why I am an avid believer in keeping the elbows tucked in. The real beauty of the elbow block, though, is that it does not compromise your defensive stance. I have personally broken many people’s hands with a simple elbow block.
Head and shoulders: Your head is also tucked in and your shoulder raised slightly to protect what I affectionately call the “knockout band”—the six-inch parallel line that runs around the front of the head from the nose to the chin (see Fig. 12). Boxing trainers direct their fighters to hit this area to knock their opponents out. Tucking your head and raising your shoulder hides and protects this imaginary line.
It takes only a few minutes of dedicated practice to become proficient in this basic stance. Next, you need to learn how to move using this stance to be effective.
4
Balance and Footwork
The most efficient way to move when responding to an assault or attack is to take a series of short six-inch steps. First, move the foot closest to where you want to go six inches in that direction (starting with your right foot when moving toward the right, etc.). Then move your other foot in the same direction—again with a short six-inch step. Repeat these moves—first the lead foot, then the trailing foot—until you get to where you want to go. For example, if you want to move to the left, you should first move your left foot six inches to the left, then move your right foot six inches to the left—before moving your left foot another six inches, and so on (see Figs. 13-15).
The same approach applies if you want to move to the right, forward, or backward.
When moving side to side (left or right), you are usually trying to move out of the way of an assailant (see Figs. 16-18).
When moving forward, you are usually trying to subdue or strike a suspect or attacker, so first move your front leg forward six inches, and then let your rear leg catch up six inches (see Figs. 19-21).
When moving backward, you are more than likely trying to get out of range of a suspect who is attacking you. First move your back leg six inches; then let your front leg catch up six inches (see Figs. 22-24).
Here’s a brief drill that will help you practice this “short step” movement: First, move ten feet to the right using the footwork described above. Then go ten feet to the left using the same footwork. Then move ten feet forward, then ten feet backward—always using the short-step footwork. Keep practicing this movement until you can do it smoothly, quickly, and without thinking about your feet.
Try to maintain the stance demonstrated in the previous chapter: your hands should be held up, chin tucked in, elbow tucked in, knees
