Building a Self-Defense Strategy

Claiming Self-Defense?

At ARES we teach our members that if physical force is applied, there is a good likelihood that legal ramifications will follow. If you claim self-defense as your means of self-protection during a situation, you better understand your rights. At ARES, we review legal cases, constitutional law and Supreme Court rulings, however, even with this understanding, the legal systems based on your actions may still view your responses as a crime, even if you claimed self-defense. While ARES does not offer legal advice, we do offer common sense and we suggest that you have an attorney on retainer and on speed dial. Not joking.

Scenario: You walk into your home late at night, after a long day at work. You’re tired and ready to clean up and go to bed. Suddenly, you see a flash of metal from the corner of your eye. You turn quickly to see what it is, only to realize that is a knife and it has just penetrated your stomach. With a reflexive miracle and luck, you get off a one in a thousand shot right into the attacker’s throat. With the will to survive, you get to the phone, and call 911 before collapsing from the blood loss. Paramedics arrive on the scene, and it is obvious that your throat punch crushed his trachea and he suffocated to death.

The attacker is dead and you’re alive. You killed him and that is homicide. I know, I know, the prosecuting attorney will most likely attempt to charge you with manslaughter since it will be hard to prove that your attack was specifically designed to kill him. At this point, you are your legal team are trying to build an affirmative defense strategy. I mean you did kill him; the burden of proof is now all on you. You must prove that you had no choice. Sucks huh?

Scenario: You are in an argument with a stranger over a parking spot. He is loud and offensive, screaming profanities at you. Your kids are watching from the car, crying. In fear of shame and your escalated ego, you deliver a quick strike to his throat. He collapses forward. You then knee him in his face forcing him to fall completely to the ground. Witnesses begin to gather as he lies limp on the ground, rendering him completely unconscious and bloody. The police arrive and detain you. They interview witnesses while the paramedics arrive. The police then observe the video footage from the store parking lot CCTV. The paramedics are not getting a pulse and begin CPR. After many failed attempts the man does not survive and is dead. The police return to you and arrest you for murder. You scream, it was “self-defense”, it was “self-defense”. What do you think the courts and jurors will say?

In the example above, is how most martial arts schools teach their students how to respond to a hostile situation. They teach physical restitution as the first and last choice. If a guy grabs you, punch him. If a guy yells at you, punch him. Friends, courts are not aligned with this mission plan. The man above allowed his ego to control him and in the end, he will serve life in prison, never get to see his kids again and he destroyed another family’s life, as well.

This is why ARES was developed. We feel we have a moral obligation to teach you the use of force, to teach you de-escalation strategies and to help you learn and project empathy, even under the worse conditions. If things do go physical, we teach you some steps on building an affirmative defense.

As part of our ARES Cybernetic curriculum, after each scenario, we hold a debriefing period. During this period, all members’ can critique and offer suggestions on the outcome of the scenario. We help one another grow and develop. We hold mock trials with mock jurors. We video tape and play back the events, so that we can see them for what they are, and learn from them. Remember that under stress, the body doesn’t process or perceive data the same way as in a non-adrenalize state. With stress survival and functional responses to violence we can all better equip ourselves with the proper mindset and mission plan.

Be safe my friends,

Rick McGhee, ARES Instructor

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