Posted on 07/24/2010 8:57:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A MARTIAL arts expert was fighting for his life last night after he and his wife were stabbed in their home by intruders.
Johannes Alder, a five-time British champion in sombo wrestling, confronted two teenage burglars after they attacked his wife Liz, 38.
But, still half asleep, the brave 37-year-old was stabbed in the head and body before the thugs fled.
Medics at first listed him as critical, fearing he would die from his serious wounds. Liz also underwent surgery for a slashed wrist. Both were in a "serious but stable" condition last night. Blood could be seen on the door of the couple's home yesterday. Police branded the attack "appalling". Apprehend It is understood Johannes and Liz were asleep in their home in Saucelhill Terrace, Paisley, when the burglars struck. It is believed the teenage thieves were loading valuables from homes into a car parked nearby. Liz heard noises and went downstairs, catching them in the act. Johannes then tried to apprehend one of the youths before both turned their knives on him.
Neighbour William McGuire said: "We could hear shouting. I heard Liz shouting, 'Phone the police, phone the police'.
"She sounded frantic, really terrified, and I suspected that there were intruders in the house."
William, 61, added: "They are lovely neighbours. I know Johannes is into martial arts, but he would never be aggressive. He is a very decent, quiet guy." Johannes is an expert in sombo wrestling, a Russian martial art, which merges judo, ju-jitsu, karate and east European wrestling. He has an IT degree and worked for the police before moving to another job. He was recently made redundant. Liz runs a business with her sister Angela, selling children's clothes. The couple married in 2008. Police said the attack happened in the middle of a spree of thefts in the area.
Superintendent Niven Rennie said: "This is an appalling attack on a couple within their own home. Clearly, our thoughts are with them at this time. I would appeal for anyone who has information to contact us."
Police said the suspects were between 17 and 19. One was 5ft 10in, with short, blond spiky hair.
The second was of similar build and both wore dark clothing.
20 posts and no Chuck Norris jokes yet?
There has to been something amiss here?
Spot on,,,
Nobody seems to teach “street fighting”,,,
While sparring and kata work is fine most don’t teach
the student to kill,,,
They don’t teach one what to do if attacked with a blade,,,
The Dojo now days is only a money maker...
Bringing a foot to knife fight is never as good as bringing a .45.
“Even in MMA and boxing, the rules do not permit fighters to hit their opponents until they’re no longer moving”
They also don’t allow biting, throat punches, eye gouges, and other best practices in a street fight.
Nothing beats Gun-Fu.
Wow. Two teenage punks with knives? Remind me not to bother with Pombo, or whatever the hell he was teaching.
“Outside of MMA and boxing, martial arts tournaments involve pulling punches. Even in MMA and boxing, the rules do not permit fighters to hit their opponents until they’re no longer moving. Outside of MMA and boxing, tournaments involve pulling a series of slick moves and waiting for the referee to add up the points scored. In real life, you fight until all of your opponents are no longer threats. (He had the option of not fighting them in the first place, but having chosen to confront them, he needed every move to be a lethal strike). “
You forgot Muay Thai, western Kickboxing, Savate, and other striking arts around the world that are full contact and competitive. MMA and Boxing aren’t the only non-bullshido things out there.
Sombo/Sambo is a derivative of Judo, just like Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. It is Judo mixed in with Russian folk wrestling. It is very competitive and they have tournaments just like western wrestling or brazillian jiu jitsu. It’s a very effective grappling system.
But grappling is not what you take to multiple opponents. Grappling is not what you take to a knife fight. So when you try to grapple multiple opponents that have knives, you get stabbed. Not that there’s any magical unarmed martial art that works great against multiple opponents and weapons, don’t get me wrong! But if one were to fight more than one person, one would be better off striking than grappling, in most scenarios.
Before you deride MA, this guy could have been easily downed by these youths, even if the victim was carrying a gun. The perps were wearing black clothes and sneaked up behind the guy. I don’t care if you’re an expert marksman, you’re not going to drop anybody who’s wearing black and sneaks up behind you in the dark. It’s just simply too hard.
From another account:
“”One struck the lady with a knife, causing a severe laceration to her wrist, but she managed to run downstairs. She was pursued by the suspects and she opened a door hoping that they would leave.”
But courageous Johannes chased after the yobs to protect Elizabeth.
Supt Niven added: “Following them down the stairs, the husband grabbed hold of one culprit, however, the other turned on him and stabbed him with a knife. The man he was holding also took part and he was struck several times resulting in serious injury. The culprits fled out the door.”
Also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ3T4mTuv-M
He’s the guy in blue. Doesn’t look optimum for taking on multiple knife users...
FWIW, a determined knife user is a real challenge for a gun user. Unless you shoot to the head (and hit), you WILL be open to being stabbed. But in my house, it would read in part, “He opened fire with his 44, putting a large hole in the chest of the closest before the second stabbed him. His wife then opened fire with the 357...”
It is sad, but that is what happens when your government requires you to be defenseless.
When sailing internationally, you often come to ports in countries where guns are outlawed. If you live in such a country, the same rules apply.
Get a large dog. Two are even better. Buy kevlar. Wear it or keep it next to your personal weapon to act as a handheld shield in case of emergency.
Get the closest weapon to a small firearm that such a country allows...often this is a flare gun (which can be illegally converted to a gun with a common conversion kit).
Pepper spray and stun guns also come to mind. Canes (better, cane with sword tip or sword hidden inside cane) if nothing else.
As a last resort, wear a “belt” made of steel cable with a heavy buckle that allows it to be rapidly removed from your waiste and slung at a bad guy.
There are also hidden weapons such as sap caps (baseball caps with a lead-heavy hitter hidden at the back for swinging at an adeversary). Flashlights that are also stun guns...pepper spray that looks like lipstick, a pen, or a cell phone, etc.
Install security film on your windows...prevents easy break-ins, too.
If you are wearing kevlar, walking with two attack dogs, and carrying any of the above, you will be kilometers ahead of what any petty thief is expecting to encounter in such countries that ban guns.
No, they did not sneak up behind the guy.
?????
Did she think they were animals that got into the house by mistake?
yep. excellent points.
If what the article says is true, that he practiced some kind of merging of "judo, ju-jitsu, karate" then he is some kind of dabbler.
A true martial artist fully believes in one style, with no need to borrow techniques from other styles.
He also keeps the fact that he studies a martial art, even from his neighbors.
Thanks for these ideas. I’ve been thinking a lot about buying and learning how to use a gun. My husband has one but I’d like my own. However, I like the idea of having alternatives as well. My gut tells me ratcheting up some self defense is a good idea.
No martial art is foolproof, even in the hands of an expert. I’ve trained in Shorniji-Kan Jiu Jitsu for the past 5 years. Jiu Jitsu itself was invented by the Japanese Samurai and is designed to kill other human beings on the battlefield should you find yourself unarmed. This includes armed and multiple opponents. It was developed with particular emphasis for confronting opponents as a policeman during a riot.
However, even then it was intended as a last resort. Quite simply, the person with a weapon and the will to use it has the advantage in most cases. One of my former instructors was a policeman who in addition to being a second dan was also a riot and armed response officer. Very tough bloke with real experience in brawling as well as being highly trained. Nevertheless, he has been stabbed 3 times (on duty), strangled into unconsciousness once and had a wooden cosh broken over his head on at least two occasions during training.
Fortunately, the occasions when he was stabbed he managed to regain the upper hand thanks to his training and slap the cuffs on, but if he been stabbed in the wrong place, he would be dead. No one is invincible, and anyone who is truly paying attention when training in a bona-fide martial art will come to the conclusion that actually fighting someone, especially if they are tooled up, should be a last resort, when you cannot flee or when you have to stay in order to protect someone or something else. This man had a better chance at fending them off than the average person, but even that wasn’t enough against two thugs with knives and the will to use them... Thats why I keep a sword close by my bed. It also has the psychological effect on most people of deterring them from having a go at a householder carrying a large, glinting sharp thing that is bigger than their small, glinting sharp thing, regardless of how good they think he might be...
Proves what I always suspected. Martial arts is not going to defend you against martial blade craft.
The lesson? Get a gun. The guy with the gun wins.
Better off doing both. Unless you hide behind your door 24/7 and never venture off into the world, there are going to be times when you don’t have a gun on you.
If you know martial arts, you are never completely unarmed...
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