WARNING! I posted some things on this page which might seem… offensive to some people.

READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Hello Everyone,

Okay, I admit it: I named the title of this page what I did so you would click on it.

Anyway, this is part 2 to the “WHAT DOES CAPOEIRA HAVE TO DO WITH SELF-DEFENSE?” page.

I’ve decided to make a Part 2 to that page because, Self-Defense is such a vast subject, that I couldn’t type in everything I wanted to share with you on one page.

so, I decided to post some things here that I didn’t get to share in Part 1.

On the last page,  I gave you some strategic tips on how a capoeirista is supposed to fight. So on this page, I’m gonna show  you some basic physical strategies a capoerista would use against a violent assault.

NOW, we step into the realm of… THE DARK SIDE.

But first, I want you to click HERE, and read this article.

And watch this video.

Did you watch it?

Well, there’s a very important reason I wanted you to watch, and really think on what is said in that playlist.

Because, that is the subject of this section.

You see, what I’m about to post here are ways to do VIOLENT things to people, things that if properly applied, WILL cause injury, or DEATH.

And quite frankly, I don’t think that many of you out there are ready to read this information.

Some of you may think you are. I mean, you may go to “Martial Arts class ” a couple of times a week, between work and turning yourself into a couch potato, and probably do no actual training, or any other type of exercise except for that class, and still think of yourself as some kind of “Martial Art Warrior”.

BUT HERE’S THE THING…

And, most people out there who call themselves “warriors” are just not prepared to “GO THERE” when the time comes when they may have to do some “Warrior Shit” to someone.

Or, to keep someone from doing it to them.

You see, like I posted on another PAGE, there are a lot of delusional “Martial Art Warriors” out there who think that they know, when in actuality, they don’t know jack s@*t about real violence, or how to deal with it. In fact, if they actually see an actual violent incident occurring, they’ll most likely run like little BITCHES back home to mommy.

It’s not that they’re cowards or anything, it’s just that they haven’t learned to use their martial skills in what I like to call,”The face of fear”.

So, what do I mean when I say, “Face of Fear”?

You see, there’s a HUGE difference between using your skills in a demonstration with a fellow student in a situation where neither of you wants to actually hurt each other, while your other fellow student are cheering you on, and in a street fight where one or more people have no problem with putting you in the hospital, or worse.

To try to illustrate what I mean, I present this video playlist containing scenes from “Demolition Man”, and “The Last Samurai”.

Like I typed above, none of those police officers or soldiers in those clips were “cowards”. They weren’t trained to use their skills in the “face of fear”, and as a result, they just couldn’t handle the situations they found themselves in.

I hate to say it, but most people, including trained Martial Artists, have this problem.

On this page, I’m gonna type about way that capoeiristas deal with violence, and basically, methods that we use to protect ourselves. On another PAGE, I typed about the ARTISTIC side of what we do. Now, we need to explore the SAVAGE side.

Of course, this isn’t limited to capoeira. EVERY Martial art, even a martial art like AIKIDO, has it’s DARK SIDE…

In fact, because violence and Self-Defense are such large subjects to cover, this page is not totally gonna be about Capoeira Angola, or any other Capoeira style per se.

Although I believe that Capoeira can be used very effectively for self-defense, on this page, I’m going way beyond Capoeira… Even though everything I’m about to type fits within the context of Capoeira.

So, What is violence?

Well, for the purpose of this page, I define violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, underdevelopment, or deprivation.”

Violence is brutal, and more to the point, it’s TRAUMATIZING. In most responsible martial art schools, in a situation when a thug pulls a weapon on you and tries to rob you, the teacher will more often than not, tell you to just give him your wallet, etc. even though they’ll teach you how to defend yourself in such a scenario. WHY?

Because they know that it’s not worth their students losing their lives over a few dollars…

…Nor is it worth their students living with the reality of one of them perhaps having to have taken another person’s life over a few dollars…

IT’S JUST NOT WORTH IT.

Oh, and for you SUPER HEROES out there… I would like you to watch these 2 videos.

Here’s a quote I sorta stole from a self-defense expert named TIM LARKIN…

Violence is rarely the answer, but when it is… it is the only answer.

Very wise words indeed.

But before I get into this, I want to give you a little… review, so to speak.

“The capoeirista walks thinking in evil, not because he is a bully. It is a question of self defense because a person can be assaulted at any moment. Life is difficult for those who work, while for a scoundrel it is easy. When the scoundrel encounters a sucker, he comes out well; but when he encounters a capoeirista, he gets a razor across his face… it is for this reason and not because he is a ruffian. All capoeiristas are workers and not vagabonds. (Coutinho 1993:42)

I posted about these subjects on the self-defense PAGE, but when it comes to self-preservation, you can’t stress this enough. So, I’m posting about it again.

O.K., before we go any further, there’s ONE LAST THING that I want to stress to you.

The things that I’m about to talk about is potentially deadly and, if you become good at it, this will make you a dangerous person. However, if this idea makes your heart beat faster, gets you “excited” or whatever…

I want you to click HERE, and watch this clip over and over.

There is NOTHING glorious or glamorous about life-and-death combat. It is messy, desperate and the absolutely last thing you would want to be involved in.

O.K., NOW LET’S DO THIS.

CAPOEIRA, AND HOW TO STAY ALIVE WITH IT 101

Anyone who has studied Capoeira for a good amount of time knows that there are a plethora of strategies he or she can use to physically dominate an attacker. But hey, don’t take my words for it…

O.K., I wouldn’t say that it’s perfect, but Capoeira is a very  practical Martial Art, Although it doesn’t look like it at first.

I found this article called, “Is Capoeira the Best Martial Art for Self-Defense?” By lapinha , which gives some pretty good reasons why the author thinks that Capoeira is actually the best option when it comes to self defense, some of which I addressed on this webpage. Click HERE to check it out.

Now, although Capoeira does have a combative element, and  members of the Brazilian police and military DO practice it, and have done so since at least the late 18th century, Capoeira, in my humble opinion, is NOT A COMBAT ART.

To those who may wonder why I typed that, please allow me to clarify what I mean.

THIS is what I call a COMBAT ART:

A combat art has two main objectives, “STAY ALIVE“, and “KILL YOUR ENEMY“. If your in the military, and you’re fighting a battle or a melee, or if you were in say, a situation where somebody’s actively trying to kill you for whatever reason, you’re gonna need a set of skills that focuses on THOSE OBJECTIVES, if you are to get back home alive.

But Capoeira, though in the past was used on the battlefield (I go into that a little bit on the history pages 1 and 2),

And at some times, it can get pretty NASTY…

I  define capoeira as a CIVILIAN martial art, which rather than killing your enemy, is a lot more about KEEPING YOUR ENEMY FROM KILLING YOU, preferably without killing him, unless you had absolutely no other choice.

To further illustrate what I’m driving at, check this out:

So, how would a capoeirista defend him/herself in a real fight?

People think it might go something like this…

Or this…

And it COULD happen like that… Anything’s possible, I guess.

Now as you know, those are MOVIE scenes which have little to do with reality, and all due respect to the guys in those fight scenes, I bet even THEY would tell you that if you ask them.

Oh, and by the way,  for those of you who want awesome kicks, spectacular acrobatics, and BACK-FLIPS, well, here:

ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

O.K., no disrespect intended to anyone in these videos, or anyone else who has taken the time and put in the hard work required to learn and perform this side of Capoeira.

Heck, I’m learning to do this stuff myself, despite being nearly 50 years old.

Charles, my 1st capoeira teacher, tells this story all the time how when he started capoeira, all he wanted to do was learn how to do a back-flip. For about a year, he’d ask his teacher, a man named OMULU, to show him how. And all throughout this time, his teacher would say, “O.K.”, and would then ignore him.

However, after that year, Charles came to realize, what I bet even the people in the above videos would tell you.

All the fancy kicks, flying through the air, and stuff like that isn’t really gonna help you a damn bit when the s@&t hits the fan, so to speak.

But AWARENESS, avoidance, de-escalation skills, the ability to deceive your attacker, and striking  when he/she least expects it, will.

So… how WOULD a capoeirista defend him or herself in a real fight?

Well, probably  like in this playlist…

Your attacks should be executed ONLY when opportunity arises, and though they can be preceded by feints, pokes, some mental disruption, etc.

they must be precise and decisive, like a direct kick to the head, face or a vital body part, or a strong take-down.

Some people like to think that training Martial Arts makes them some kind of one-man army or whatever…

But in Capoeira Angola, you don’t read too many stories of the old masters doing stuff like that. But you WILL hear and read a plethora of stories where the old-school capoeirista out-smarted his attackers.

For instance, in the book Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art by Greg Downey,  there’s a story about when the great Capoeirista BESOURO was almost cornered by a patrol of 4 police officers in an alleyway. 

He started thrashing on the ground, crying, and begging  the officers not to hurt him. Of course this confused the officers, because they knew his reputation, and expected a hard fight. But after a minute of besouro crying like a little baby right in front of them, they decided that maybe his reputation was a bit… exaggerated, and they lowered their guard.

And the second they did that, besouro suddenly jumped up over their heads, and took off down another alleyway, leaving the guards wondering what the hell just happened.

There’s also a story in that book about a capoeirista named Bentinho, who was at an outdoor party, when he saw an enemy sneaking up on him with a machete in his hand.

As soon as the guy got close enough to cut him, Bentinho fell to the ground and started screaming like he was gravely injured. Then he pointed at his enemy and yelled out, “It was him! He hit me!!!”, while he was writhing on the ground. Then the crowd, seeing bentinho on the ground, and his enemy with a machete in his hand, pounced on the would be assailant, disarming and beating the hell out of him, while Bentinho escaped in the confusion.

However, when things DO get physical, YOU HIT HIM OR HER WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK!!!

O.K., now that we’re done theorizing, let’s start with the “NITTY-GRITTY”.

Let’s start with the Ginga, shown and taught here by my good friend and training partner, Cheyenne Amen.

Now, although this website is dedicated to Capoeira Angola, I’m going beyond Capoeira Angola on this particular page, and so, here’s a video of the ginga for self-defense from the perspective of a practitioner of Capoeira Regional/Contemporaneo, to give you all a bit of a more “rounded” view, so to speak.

Now, I find this clip very interesting.

This is video clip of a conversation between Tuhon Jared Wihongi of Pekiti Tirsia Kali, and a student of his who’s also a capoeirista, comparing the ginga and the hirada footwork of FMA.

I hope that you watched these videos, because I’m not gonna add to much to what was said in those videos.

I’m just gonna remind you that the ginga is the ALPHA and the OMEGA of capoeira. Not only does EVERY other movement of capoeira come from the ginga, I will go far as to say that every other movement in capoeira is a PART of the ginga.

So if you want to be a capoeirista, then watch them, study the movement, practice it, MAKE IT A PART OF YOU, and EVERYTHING else you learn will fall into place.

Especially, after you FIND A SCHOOL.

And speaking of techniques…

QUESTION: How many martial artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

ANSWER: 100. One to screw it in, and the rest to argue endlessly about how THEY could have done it much better.

Once every year, in the warehouse that I work at, we have a safety drill where everybody learns what to do in case of earthquake, or fire. 

 However, since we practiced this drill only once per year, no matter what safety measures we have in place, if (god forbid) an actual emergency DOES takes place, we all know there’s gonna be a measure of panic and confusion taking place, and what people will do if an emergency actually happens  will be NOTHING like we drilled or PLANNED…

Well, It’s the same with Capoeira Angola, and any other martial art.

I HATE those kind of “If he does this, you do that” kind of self-defense sequences that we all know NEVER work in real life. Anyone who has studied self defense for any amount of time knows that in real life, nothing really goes how you planned. You can learn 100 defenses for 100 attacks, but in a real situation, you’re attacker WILL attack you with ATTACK NUMBER 101, i.e., a scenario you never practiced for.

That means, you’re not gonna see any sequences here.

When it comes to technical skills we all have our “bag of tricks”, so to speak, based on our previous experiences in fighting, our body type, our personalities. For example, checkout this clip:

This was made by Cheyenne, back when we were students together, during a couple of classes. However, Charles, the dashingly handsome short guy (Yes ladies, he’s single) teaching in that clip, didn’t really like that video.

The reason is that those applications Cheyenne was doing in that video is not something that Charles teaches or does, and he feared that somebody watching that video would go to his class thinking they were gonna learn those particular techniques. Those techniques are part  of CHEYENNE’S UNIQUE BAG OF TRICKS . Charles has HIS OWN little bag of tricks to pull out, based on his own experiences, size and body type, and knowledge of the fundamentals.

Now to further stress my point, here’s three  video clips I found on YouTube:

The first 2 video clips were posted by Righteous Science Martial Arts. below, is the You Tube description from both videos:

“Here are some clips from Forrest Park College in St. Louis Mo. We were invited to conduct a workshop and lecture on Capoeira Angola, and give an introduction to some of our principals on how to apply Capoeira Angola in a street, or self defense situation. The material covered here is just an entry and is not intended to serve as a comprehensive or complete outline of the Adigun Sipho system for street defense.”

The guys in those 2 videos were sharing some of what’s in THEIR bag of tricks. And here’s a small clip of their teacher, Mestre Terry Baruti, showing a tiny bit from HIS bag of tricks…

You see, there is no such thing as a “cookie cutter” technique in Capoeira Angola, or any other martial art for that matter.

ANYONE who teaches or says ANYTHING differently is selling something.

Although the principles of Capoeira Angola are the same,  Every individual practitioner is going to perform the moves and techniques in their own special way, based on his/her own experiences, body type, and on his/her knowledge of the FUNDAMENTALS.

Now once again, although this website is dedicated to Capoeira Angola, I also posted a video of self-defense skills from the perspective of a practitioner of Capoeira Regional and Capoeira Contemporaneo, to show you all a small bit of an overall view of capoeira.

Besides, Quite a few of these techniques are also found in Capoeira Angola, just executed in a slightly different manner.

I found this video on YouTube and posted it because for me, it’s very nostalgic. It’s from this video series from panther productions that I first learned capoeira movements… and it brings back a lot of great memories…

Now, about this technique…

I’ve seen this kick in several YouTube videos billed “The world’s most powerful kick”, or something like that. Apparently it was scientifically proven on a NAT GEO SHOW, so I’m not gonna argue about it. However, it does make me think about something I read some years ago:

“Your best technique done at the WRONG time will never work; Your worst technique done at the RIGHT time, will always work.

Now before I go on, I want to say something about WOMEN’S SELF-DEFENSE. I haven’t touched on this subject until now, because ALL of the capoeira strategies that I touched on above work for both men and women. In fact, I’ll go as far to say that some of capoeira’s fighting strategies are better for women than for men.

However, as I posted on another PAGE, the things that a woman needs for Self-Defense is different than for a man, for obvious reasons.

Hopefully, this video from “Armchair Violence” will explain it to you better than I can…

Now, this next video is a little… CONTROVERSIAL. However, I absolutely believe that every woman out there has to watch it. My purpose for posting this page is to help men and woman find resources to keep them safe, and I’m not gonna let any sociopolitical movement or ideology keep me from doing it.

WEAPONIZING YOUR SKILLS

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Now, I want to talk about weapons. But before I type this, I want to be PERFECTLY CLEAR.

IF YOU DON’T NEED TO USE A WEAPON IN AN ALTERCATION, DON’T USE IT!!!

If you’re the type of person who likes to walk around in your camouflage pants with your “TACTICAL” knife in your pocket, ready for WAR, and you’re a civilian in a nice suburban setting, then once again, I want you to click HERE, and watch this clip over and over, because the LAST thing you need is another tool to make you yet “more deadly” than you already are.

OKAY. NOW LET’S DO THIS.

O.K., most M.A. websites tend to separate empty hands and weapons use for whatever systems they’re representing.

I did that here as well, for simplicity.

However, when we’re talking about survival, I believe that this kind of separation is a bit… flawed, and it’s not what I think of when it comes to weapons use.

I think the best way I can show you why I believe this is so, is to show you this video featuring self defense expert and awesome FMA Guro, Doug Marcaida.

One of the 1st things Guro Doug says in this video is something I think that most people tend to overlook or outright forget when it comes to fighting. Your weapons are not limited to what you can put in your hand. your hands, your elbows, knees, head, etc. are ALSO WEAPONS.

Yes, we all know that’s OBVIOUS, but many times, when people have that weapon in their hand, they tend to overlook the fact that they still have their other hand, elbows, knees, etc.,

And, the fact that they can be deadly with them.

Click HERE if you wanna explore that a bit more.

Now, let’s explore where these uh, “special tools”, fit into capoeira.

Throughout  most of its history in Brazil, capoeira commonly featured weapons and weapon training. Capoeiristas were said to carry at least 2 knives with them, one of metal and the other of wood, which was usually carried to be able to defend oneself against those who might have had made their bodies impervious to metal weapons (You may laugh at that, but that was the belief at that time and besides, a wooden knife can be a VERY effective weapon). And the berimbau could be used to conceal those inside, or even to turn itself into a weapon by attaching a special spear-like blade to its tip with a ring. Capoeiristas were also said to place razors on their feet, thus hiding the fact that they had a weapon on them, and with one well placed kick, they could easily cut the throat of an unsuspecting opponent. The knife or straight-razor was used in street rodas and/or against openly hostile opponents, and would be drawn quickly to stab or slash. Other hiding places for the weapons included hats and umbrellas, both of which could also be used as weapons.

Now, although some groups still practice the use of razors for ceremonial usage… As you’ll se in the video playlist I put above, this kind of weapons training is almost completely absent in current capoeira teachings (at least in public).

So, I strongly suggest that you learn a weapon – based martial art to develop your weapons skills.

While there are a few that I personally prefer, I’m not going to make any recommendations here.

Why? Well, once again…

QUESTION: How many martial artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

ANSWER: 100. One to screw it in, and the rest to argue endlessly about how THEY could have done it much better.

Everybody has their own opinion about what art is good or great or not. YouTube is full of videos like this.

You don’t think so? click HERE…

Now personally, I believe that EVERY martial art out there has the potential to be totally USEFUL, or totally USELESS. It all depends on how much knowledge you have about a number of different factors which affect how you are able to use your martial art effectively.

And now, I would like to show you something.

This little drawing above, constitutes my 4 main rules for using any weapon, from a sword to a ball-point pen. I think I drew this thing over 20 years ago, before I even started formally learning the martial arts. These rules aren’t even my ideas, I believe I got them out of a martial arts magazine, if I could remember which one I’d credit it.

Now, in case you can’t read what I wrote on the drawing, here’s my main 4 rules in handling a weapon:

1. Move the weapon with SKILL In other words, PRACTICE!!! Practice until that weapon becomes a part of you. Your attack will only be as good as your level of training. Do not expect your weapon to do the work, if you yourself have not done the work to get where you should be.
2. There should be NO difference when fighting with empty hands, or fighting with a weapon. ALL basic principles and techniques used when fighting barehanded should be the SAME as when fighting with a weapon.
3. Learn the 3 basic thrusts and every possible configuration of the weapon with which to thrust. (I put them on the drawing)
4. Learn the angles of strikes and every possible configuration of the weapon with which to strike. (On the drawing, I have 8 angles, but you can use5, 10, 12, or none if you prefer)

And also, quite a few years ago, I found 2 articles from stickgrappler.net that have some very interesting solo weapon training drills that I’ve incorporated into my own training many years ago.

ARCHONE’S SOLO WEAPONS TRAINING ARTICLE

ARCHONE’S UPDATED WEAPONS DRILLS

Now none of what I just posted is meant to be instructional. It’s just a few things that I’ve done over the years, which I wanted to share with you. In fact, like I said before, I really recommend that you go find instruction in a good weapons based system, if you want to improve your weapon skills.

And now, I want to share with you my most important rule…

WEAPONIZE EVERYTHING!

Remember, most of the weapons used historically in capoeira, i.e. straight razors, machetes, walking sticks, etc. were more or less improvised weapons, or as what we call them nowadays, EDC (Every Day Carry). Remember this phrase:

Innovation through desperation, or restriction.

This is important for all of you to keep this in mind, especially when governments start banning certain items or specialist tools used for self preservation.

You don’t really want to spend lots of money on a really nice knife or assault tech, only for the authorities to restrict its public carry or use within a self defense parameter.

They did it with the “Butterfly knife”, among others…

Learn from criminals, gangsters, etc. and how they create on-the-go weapons and tools out of ANYTHING to get the job done. Nothing fancy or expensive. Just quick, disposable gear that will get the job done.

And now, a few words from Cheyenne Amen, and a few others, on EDC.

Now, I want to talk about 3 forms of weapons training that are very common, very basic, and mastery of which can translate into the use of many other weapons as well.

NOW, LET ME BE CLEAR. NONE OF THIS IS FORMALLY TAUGHT IN CAPOEIRA!!!

WE’RE GOING BEYOND CAPOEIRA.

Now, let’s continue.

The first 2 forms are Stick-fighting, and Knife/Blade-fighting.

STICK-FIGHTING

Stick fighting is a general term for martial arts which utilizes simple, long, slender, blunt, hand-held, usually wooden sticks such as a cane, staff, baton, walking stick or similar for fighting. Some methods can as well be utilized with a sword in a scabbard or a sturdy umbrella.

though numerous systems are defensive combat methods planned for use whenever attacked while lightly armed, others like GATKA and KENDO were enhanced as safe training techniques for unsafe weapons. Whatever the history, numerous stick-fighting methods adapt themselves to being considered as sports.

Fighting with sticks might seem like a primitive and ancient form of combat but it actually has a lot of importance for the present day.

 When used correctly, a stick can be a very effective self-defense weapon. A stick strike can cause severe blunt-force trauma injuries. Sticks are also ubiquitous and can be readily employed in many self-defense situations.

There is always the possibility that you can be attacked by a stick wielding criminal. Stick combat actually teaches you about the weapon’s strengths, weaknesses and limitations, which is vital if you are going to effectively defend against the weapon.

To end this little section, I’m adding a playlist of stick fighting styles from all over the world. The first few are styles from The african diaspora, styles that the africans who developed Capoeira would have used, in particular Jogo de Pau, a stick-fighting art which originated in Portugal, and was widely used in brazil, where it most likely mixed with west African stick fighting forms as well.

Shout out to Da’mon Stith of Austin Warrior Arts, and creator and President of Historical African Martial Arts Association (HAMA for short) for creating these videos and putting them on YouTube.

KNIFE/BLADE-FIGHTING

A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants is armed with a knife. A knife fight is defined by the presence of a knife as a weapon and the violent intent of the combatants to kill or incapacitate each other; the participants may be completely untrained, self-taught, or trained in one or more formal or informal systems of knife fighting. Knife fights may involve the use of any type of knife, though certain knives, termed fighting knives, are purposely designed for such confrontations – the dagger being just one example.

Now, before I type anything about blades and fighting with them, I need to show you this video, which I believe is one of the best, if not THE BEST video for civilians about using blades in a fight.

Now I posted these 2 video clips below because they have great info on using and defending yourself against a knife, and also because i know that any capoeirista out there reading this page would find these clips very interesting.

This first clip is an instructional called, “Winning A Street knife Fight” by Marc “The Animal” Macyoung. I’ll “type” more about him at the bottom of this page.

These next clips are a video playlist primarily by a self defense expert named Kevin Goat. He has a self defense course called, “SELF DEFENSE WITH KEVIN GOAT”, and you can get it here: https://bit.ly/3fsYseV

And, here’s his YouTube Channel: @Self Defense with Kevin Goat There’s a lot of great tips on what to do if you’re being attacked, and I’ll definitely be posting more of his clips on this website’s blog.

Now, even though those were great videos, I do have a couple of things to say about this subject, so now, I want to share with you a few things I’ve picked up in my study of fighting with blades.

Oh, and although I’m using the terms “knife” and “knife-fighting”, In this section, I’m also talking about swords, machetes, bolos, etc… Basically ANY edged weapon.

First and FOREMOST,

Drawing a knife and then using it on someone is against the law, unless you’re a soldier.

In most places, if you pull a knife on someone, you’re already committing a crime. Wherever you may be from, a court of law will determine whether your actions were in self defense and not your super-duper knife-fighting guru.

Let that sink in while you polish your fancy $200.00 “tactical fighting knife” you got from COLD STEEL or EMERSON KNIVES.

Yes. Just let that sink in.

Knife fights ARE NOT fights. They’re ambushes. Once a knife is drawn, expect to die. Forget words such as honor, integrity, and fair play. This IS NOT a duel.

Well, except for the times when it is a duel.

Once a knife makes contact with human flesh, THAT HUMAN FLESH WILL BLEED.

This isn’t like a fist fight, where you can trade blow for blow. As you bleed out, from any wound, YOU ARE DYING…. unless you receive medical attention.

Crime is where knives are most used against humanity. Not war.

Now, as for actually USING a knife…

Knives are mostly used by criminals in a civil society. There aren’t any knife fighting tournaments where one can sign up to compete (Although I did see one EXCEPTION on the Travel Channel, many years ago).

Targets… Go for the vital targets first. Heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, arteries.

These may not always drop him but will definitely affect resistance performance and health.

Stay away from the arms, if you can. Any cut or slashes found there will be interpreted as defensive wounds by a Court of Law.

Now, in case you don’t know what a Defensive Wound is…

Defensive Wounds

FROM ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM: Defensive wounds are any type of injuries that result from an attempt, or repeated attempts, to defend against an assailant using such sharp edged weapons as knives or blunted instruments such as fists and clubs. Such wounds are usually deeply indented stab wounds, but can be either blunt or sharp in nature. Violent crimes involving defensive wounds can include criminal homicides, rapes, and robberies. Although defensive wounds can appear anywhere on the victim’s body, they are generally found on the upper extremities of the human body including the back of the hands, the inside of the palms, and the inner side of the forearms. The different positioning and angles of the wounds indicate to the forensic examiner the exact way that the victim was trying to ward off and protect themselves against the attack.

Ironically, many Filipino and Indonesian weapon styles have the hands and arms as the primary targets in their curriculum, so they’re teaching their practitioners to attack a opponent the exact same way a deranged psychopath would attack their victims.

Besides, if you go for his/her arms, besides the chances of disabling the arm, the rest of him will still be able to sue.

Now, I wanna end this section with a playlist I made of knives and other blades used all over the world. Once again, none of the videos on this playlist is meant to be instructional, even though you can learn some thing here. It’s just showing how different cultures used various blades.

And ONCE AGAIN, Shout out to Da’mon Stith of Austin Warrior Arts, and creator and President of Historical African Martial Arts Association (HAMA for short) for creating these first videos of how historically, blades may have been used in Capoeira Angola, and putting them on YouTube.

Now, I wanna type about a subject that many of you might find controversial, since this is a website about Capoeira Angola.

However, this webpage is about self-preservation, and I believe that when it comes to SELF-PRESERVATION, this knowledge is VITAL, I’m gonna post it here.

And besides, I DID say that I’m going BEYOND capoeira on this particular webpage.

GUNS AND GUN FIGHTING

Okay, I admit it. I posted that clip because I thought it was cool.

Now Let’s get serious.

What do guns and gun fighting have in common with Capoeira, or any Martial art for that matter?

Not only are they both forms of protection, but they’re also martial arts.

I know what you’re thinking…

But I haven’t gone off the deep end. When most people think of “martial arts” they think of Karate, or Brazilian jujitsu, Muay Thai, or MMA.

And of course, Capoeira.

Traditional martial arts have always included weapons as a part of their training, and some martial arts are specific to one weapon. Have you ever heard of JUKENDO (a traditional Japanese martial art that uses bayonets)? One might go as far as stating that gun fighting and TACTICAL SHOOTING is a modern martial art.

In this video playlist, you will be learning about gun safety, and gun fighting tactics.

In the first video, Cheyenne is instructing a couple of mutual friends.

Okay, we’ve covered Sick fighting, Knife/Blade fighting, and Gun fighting. Of course there’s MUCH MORE to these subjects than what I posted here, but this is just one webpage. I encourage you, the reader, to go out, research these subjects yourself, and find what works for you, and what doesn’t.

Oh, and 3 more things…

IF YOU’RE IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO USE A WEAPON ON SOMEONE, THEN YOU’RE IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO KILL THEM!

YOU SHOULD NEVER DRAW A WEAPON TO THREATEN, OR TRY TO SCARE SOMEONE!!

ONCE YOUR WEAPONIS DRAWN, BE WILLING TO TAKE A LIFE, OR PUT IT DOWN!!!

Now, I want to stress to you this 1 thing: you DO NOT need to learn 1000 special techniques, Armed or Unarmed.

Just a few BASICS,  learned, PROPERLY TRAINED, and practiced until you can do them in your sleep, is all you need…

Of course, PROPERLY TRAINED are the operative words here. Because just like any other martial art system, if you do not train PROPERLY, in whatever system you’re learning, well, you’ll end up like this…

And if you DO train properly? Well, then when something happens, then everything you’ve trained WILL all come together…

Of course, life is not a movie like these clips, and No one comes out unscathed in a fighting situation. NO ONE.

However,  with proper training, you’re chances of survival will increase TREMENDOUSLY.

That is, WITH PROPER TRAINING.

And how do you get that proper training? Well…

YOU START BY FINDING A CLASS!!!

Look, it would be VERY IRRESPONSIBLE for me to post this information, and then try to imply or tell you, the reader, that you can now defend yourself just because you read it. This is just a bit of information on a web page. It’s up to YOU to continue to research, to FIND A SCHOOL, to practice, and I mean PRACTICE, what you’re taught there. Study up on the subjects I typed about on this website,  try them out, and learn to APPLY IT, so you can FIND OUT IF THEY WORK FOR YOU.

Let me tell you all a story. I was in a Silat class, learning from the late, great ERNIE PUGA, of Pukulan Pentjak Silat SIKAP BARU, and I would take notes on everything my teacher said. In fact, sometimes he would teach me something, then say, “It’s in your notebook!” Then one class, he got really frustrated when I couldn’t perform a certain exercise, and he picked up my notebook, and tapping it, he said to me, “You wrote a lot of BULLSH*T here in this notebook.”

Considering that what I wrote in that notebook were HIS words, almost VERBATIM, You can probably guess what I was thinking.

Then he went on to say,”But you’re not APPLYING your bullsh*t! It’s not bullsh*t for me because I can do it, I can demonstrate it, and I can APPLY IT. But for you, John…”

UNTIL YOU CAN DO THE SAME, EVERYTHING YOU EVER WROTE IN THAT NOTEBOOK OF YOURS IS BULLSH*T.

It’s the same for you, and whoever else is gonna read this website. Until you take this stuff, GO FIND CLASSES on these subjects and learn more about them, and make it all work for you, then everything you’re reading here, is BULLSH*T!!!!

Until YOU can apply it.

Please understand that when it comes to self defense, YOU HAVE to hold yourself accountable for what you learn and what you do with it. Our world has become a pointing finger where no one wants to take ownership or responsibility for their own actions and no thought of other people that they have to account for.

Don’t blame other people for your actions, be prepared with what you do, but also, be RESPONSIBLE, and make sure that what you do are within the legal definitions of self defense in your country.

Now for those of you who want to think that I’m trying to say that capoeira is the ULTIMATE MARTIAL ART…

To those people I say this: There is no such thing as the ultimate martial art. If there was, EVERYBODY would be studying it, and developing counters to it. Remember, the Gracie family of GRACIE JIUJUTSU was undefeated in challenge matches for over 70 years, until other people studied their methods and found ways to counter them.

And while I’m at it, I wanna talk about this idea of PURITY in the martial arts for a minute.

As far as I’m concerned, THERE’S NOTHING MORE “PURE” THAN “PURE FIST” ON “PURE FACE, “”PURE STICK” ON “PURE BONE” OR “PURE BLADE” ON “PURE FLESH!”

This page is dedicated to one thing: SELF-DEFENSE. And in self-defense, styles, purity, etc. none of that sh*t matters.

I realize that I wrote this on another PAGE, but I’m gonna post it again here.

You don’t have to believe me, or anything I wrote here. I’m not a self-defense expert. I’m just a capoeirista, sharing MY thoughts on this very complex subject. Now having said that, I hope you liked this pretty long webpage, and I also hope that it inspired you, if NOTHING ELSE, to take your well-being seriously.

Now for the last, but certainly not least, I want to share with you these websites from a few men who teach self-defense for a living. If you don’t listen to anything on this webpage, I hope you listen to what THEY have to say.

Marc “Animal” MacYoung (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American author, lecturer and martial artist. Initially known best for his street-violence survival books, he later went on to write personal safety / self-defense books and make instructional videos. MacYoung is considered to be one of the pioneers of reality-based self-defense.

If you want to know more about him, please check out his websites at marcmacyoung.com, and nononsenseselfdefense.com.

RICHARD DIMITRI – Richard Dimitri is considered one of the top 5 self protection & defense tactics experts in the world available internationally for privates & workshops…

CHIRON – On this website, you’ll find some very good information on dealing with violence, and teaching other people to deal with violence. This is the website of Rory Miller. He’s a former Corrections Officer, CERT leader, contractor in Iraq, author of several books on how to deal with violence.

LOREN CHRISTENSEN – FROM HIS WEBSITE: As a professional writer since 1978, Mr. Christensen has penned 50 published books with five publishers, dozens of magazine articles, and edited a police newspaper for nearly eight years. He has written on the martial arts, missing children, street gangs, school shootings, workplace violence, riots, police-involved shootings, nutrition, exercise, prostitution, and various street subcultures. Of late, he has been writing a police and martial arts thriller fiction series called Dukkha. Four have been published and one more is in production.

I just posted some info about a few world-renowned self-defense experts. There are quite a few more out there. I recommend that you find them yourself.

Because ultimately, it is not my job to be responsible for your safety, it is YOURS. You should be the person who cares the most about YOU and YOUR FAMILY keeping from being victimized. If not YOU, who else?

Well, we’re at the end of this page. We covered a bit here on what a capoeirista can do against a physical assault. However, on the next PAGE, I’m gonna talk about a more dangerous and constant danger that we capoeiristas (and anyone else) need to defend against.