by Al Case
I was teaching a martial arts class in a small town some years ago, and I had one student whose father dropped his son off, then sauntered over to the bar next door to enjoy himself while his son was getting healthy and strong. Class was just over one day, when the father staggered in and pointed a gun at me, and asked me what good my karate was now? I moved, he gaped at his gun suddenly appearing in my hand, and I grinned.
It is possible to take a gun away from somebody, even easy, and it doesn’t even matter if they are pointing it into your face. I took that fellow’s gun away from him, and I’m going to tell you how I did it. That said, and even considering what I am about to tell you in this article, I don’t recommend risking your face against volatile discharge, and I do recommend giving your money to a fellow holding a gun on you.
You must consider which way the communication is flowing when somebody points a gun at you. The typical scenario is a fellow steps out of some alley, gun in hand, and he says he will shoot. It is easy to see that the intent of his communication is towards you.
Moving slowly so that he sees your total compliance, you put up your hands, and place them in a position that is best for what you are about to do. You should engage in a lot of intensive practice to know what position is best. It is crucially important, in this situation, that you relax your muscles utterly and entirely and make your mind icy calm.
Now, the fellow says to give him your money, and this is the point you have been waiting for. At this point the intent of the communication is towards him, and away from you. At this point he is not intending to shoot because he expects you to move towards him.
As I said, you must have muscles that are totally relaxed, and you must have an utterly calm mind. You are going to hit his wrist, and you must shift your head away from the direction the gun will move in and off the line of attack when you do so. Grab the barrel of the gun and twist it as you slap the inside of his wrist.
Slapping the inside of his wrist will mess up his muscles, and there may be a discharge of the weapon, but the gun should have angled so it will miss you. With practice, and specifically practice of the technique and of the ability to be relaxed in one position in space, and then assume another position in space, you can actually refine your technique and try different methods of controlling the gun.
Having said all the above, let me say that the technique won’t work if the fellow is too far away, if he is not interested in getting your money, but rather kidnapping you for purposes of domination, or if you just read this article and never practiced it…a few thousand times, I also want to say that the reason I wrote this article is for purposes of enlightenment in dire situation, for training purposes, not to give you the idea that risking your life is more important than money. And, I want to let you know that when the fellow is caught and goes to trial, it is going to be a lot of fun to go point a little laughter in his face.
About the Author:
Al Case has practiced the martial arts for over forty+ years. You can see videos of him disarming an attacker at
Monster Martial Arts.