Weapons and the Security Guard
A
question some people ask is should they carry a weapon if they earn their living
as a security guard for their own protection; to which I always reply No! No!
No! The job of a retail security guard is to lower the insurance rate and act as
a deterrent to theft, you are not a policeman, you don't have a legal right to
have an extendable baton, pepper spray, truncheon or handcuffs. The present
government and local authorities have become enamoured with community wardens,
security guards that perform some of the duties of the traditional bobbies on
the beat, at a cheaper cost. Not a good idea as the community wardens do not
have the same level of training as a policeman or the same powers of arrest,
should they see an offence being committed.
Over the years I have met security guards who wore rings on
their fingers, thick enough to act to act as knuckle dusters. I knew also people
who never played baseball, but always had a baseball bat handy should anyone
fancy a game. Another trick I learned from my friends in low places is the use
of a hand pack, a hard object retained within your closed fist to inhance the
weight of your fist. A disposable lighter seems favourite, after all the police
cannot prosecute you for carrying a lighter. The problem of using these objects
is it builds a dependence on them, what happens when you forget to carry them?
The greatest fear I have is encountering weapons, namely
knives, bottles and firearms. The carrying of blades is widespread by the youth
of today; it is almost a fashion accessory for the young. I can say that I have
only had to face a sharpened weapon three times, twice with a sharpened
screwdriver and once with a hypodermic needle. I have had glass bottles used
against me three times and once with a cigarette lighter that looked like a real
gun against the back of my head and he said "I'm going to blow your brains out",
at the time I thought it was a real gun; a definite change of underwear time.
With bladed weapons, the thing to avoid is being stabbed, instead of cut. You
can survive being cut, it is usually not fatal unless an artery is cut, but if
you are stabbed the chances of survival are a lot less due to trauma, blood loss
and shock. Therefore the most important thing to do against knives is to get
yourself out of your attackers weapon. Make your body as small a target as
possible and pin his arm against his own body by controlling his elbow (the
elbow is a hinge joint which only moves up and down, if pinned by your hand
against their body their arm is restricted). Then follow up with multiple
strikes until the weapon is dropped or your opponent cannot continue to you. In
all attacks against you with weapons get out of the line of the attackers attack
with a weapon, make yourself as small a target as possible and keep striking
your attacker until the threat is neutralised. If in the struggle you are able
to grasp his or her hand then strip the weapon by punching the back of the
opponents hand, this if done sharply will cause your attacker's hand to open in
a reflex action, dropping the weapon.
Remember if all else fails and you are confronted with a weapon,
emulate Lindford Christie and run away as fast as you can, but in the opposite
direction, you don't have stab-proof vests and are not a policeman; be alive to
make a complaint, not dead or in a hospital ward.
Yours in budo.
Lurch