CAPTAIN'S BLOG
Gun control is one of those controversial, touchy subjects in today's world, and is one of those almost perfectly symmetrical ideals in that each argument cancels each other out - Liberals say that guns are dangerous and need to be unavailable or heavily restricted for the general public, and Conservatives say that there can be no real personal safety without guns.
I think both parties are right. I think the Conservative's solution to personal safety, however, is a little heavy handed. For some background, I am a martial artist. A lot of pro-gun people usually sneer at me at this point - if I have a gun, you'll lose every time! is what I've heard from my more combative opponents in the past. Since a lot of people also seem unwilling to listen unless I concede this point - a weapon is far more powerful than an empty hand. However, that conceals the truth that a well trained empty hand is still plenty powerful enough to distract, disable, weaken, or otherwise help someone escape from a dangerous situation. In my martial arts class, in which we were taught Americanized Wing Chun, my Sifu also taught us general escape tactics and often reminded us the importance of what Wing Chun was for: it is not a sport, it is a very effectively-escalating medium-to-short-range self defense martial art. This is the key here: unlike guns, Wing Chun can effectively increase the force one defends oneself with. It is the phasor of the self defense world. So, if you're within arm's reach of your attacker, and can't get away, you can either knock him out if he's just some drunk in a bar (you probably won't even have to do that much), or you can jab your fingers into his eye sockets if he's got a knife. Which is not to say that it is a trivial task, but it is certainly much easier to do specifically within the martial arts framework of Wing Chun. Wing Chun even has excellent mechanics for closing medium distances, and at long distances, you'll need to think creatively to either get closer or get further away. None of this is not to say that protecting yourself or another with Wing Chun (or similar martial arts, like Jeet Kune Do) is easy - it is, without a doubt, one of the most harrowing and challenging experiences of one's life, and just like defending yourself with a gun, it could cost you your life when doing nothing would have saved it. Wing Chun in particular has several mechanisms in it that I think make it one of the safest martial arts to learn. It is based on several principles, all based on basic body mechanics, that enable the user to protect themselves while attacking others simultaneously, including blocking and punching simultaneously, and blocking and punching in one punch. It is a martial art that requires time to learn, as it requires careful positioning and training good muscle memory, as it's very much like a gun in that each individual piece must be working perfectly, or else it will fail at the weak point. So, as this relates to gun control, I think if people want to own guns specifically for the case of self defense, then they should learn a martial art and how to defend themselves with their hands first. That is obviously extraordinarily impractical, so in a real world scenario, I would hope that the men and women out there who wish to carry a gun with them at all times do so in tandem with learning how to defend yourself with just your fists (and hopefully your mouth too - it can be a self-preservationists best tool), so that you might escalate self-defense scenarios with more granularity. I think this is 100x more important with the police force, as well. No matter our gun control situation, I am ok with beat cops having guns, but I think hand-to-hand training should be their specialty. We should seriously have shaolin motherfucking warriors rolling around, rather than weak and frightened men defending themselves with the only weapons they have: Their sense of authority and their guns. I want them to have more than that - I want them to feel safe even when their guns aren't drawn, so that maybe they won't draw them quite as often.
3 Comments
I'm sorry hun,but the cops are issued guns and not issued wing chung for a pretty good reason. Bullets beat fist like rock beats scissors. Do they have UFC in Canada? See much wing chung in the ring? No.Why? Because it is not even a valid martial art, and if you can't deflect fists with it then how you gonna stop a bullet?
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Christina
6/15/2015 02:30:37 pm
Did you read the article? She specifically stated that cops ought to keep their guns, just have martial arts training to help discourage them going for their gun every time they feel threatened.
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Marvin
6/16/2015 06:29:52 pm
Adding to your point: People seem to think that it's either guns or training. What they forget is that using a gun requires a lot of training in itself, regarding proper care, handling and marksmanship. Otherwise, you get people shooting themselves, loved ones or innocent bystanders - or simply losing their gun to a determined attacker in a close quarters situation. Which brings me to my main point:
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AuthorChristina Hitchens is a trans female writer living in BC, Canada. She loves computers, animals, and a good argument. Archives
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