Scaling Force. Rory Miller
martial artist; the last thing I want to do is get into a fight with you. Slip behind you and beat you down with a hammer maybe. Fight you? Hell no, I might get hurt!
Let me tell you another story and maybe you will start to understand. I was working at a college bar in Lubbock, Texas. Nice little place where the frat boys like to come and tear stuff up, and pay for damages with daddy’s money. I was enjoying the scenery; it was a real “how slutty can I get away with” night, when one of the regulars, a juice monkey (steroid abuser), walked up to me. I’m six-foot-four and weigh around 260 to 270 lbs. This guy dwarfed me by about four inches and was shredded like a poster boy for a chemical awareness ad (I swear he was one injection away from a nuclear meltdown). He starts telling me about how he won a shot at some MMA tournament coming up in a few months. I told him congratulations and wished him the best. We talked for a little while and enjoyed the boobs walking by. He went on to hang out with some friends and I thought everything was good. I was wrong!
About an hour later Juice Boy walks up to me and starts telling me how he could take me. I said, “Bro, in a ring you would beat me to death. I’m no MMA fighter; hell, I am not even involved in the martial arts.” Juice Boy then spouts off, “No I could take you right here!” Now I am watching him start to swell up, nostrils flaring, and real stupid ideas swarming through his head. I know I have to end this quick or I will be shitting teeth and pissing blood come the morning and I hate that. So I snap my hand out and poke him in the eye with my index finger, sink it in about a half an inch. He hits the ground screaming, I simply ask him, “What, didn’t you hear the bell?”
I guess I said that to get to this: I am not playing by your rules. Yes, there are rules, even in a street fight, no matter what you thought you knew. One of the big ones is “Don’t kill the other guy.” Another, “Don’t get caught.” What, you think that those aren’t rules? They are, and they’re big ones. Your anal virginity is depending on them! Unless prison rape sounds like a grand idea, then be my guest and break them. Lots of people thought they knew what self-defense was ‘till they had to explain their actions to a jury.
I really should be mad as hell at Miller and Kane. I mean, come on guys, who needs a book telling you how to survive a run-in with a professional criminal? You should just keep your head buried in the sand and drink the Kool-Aid that your twenty-one-year-old 4th degree karate master tells you. Hell, that’s what you are paying him a $150.00 dollars a month for isn’t it? You don’t need to know that the killer MMA moves you learned last week will land you in prison doing the shower-shuffle with Bubba and Earl do you? No, and you shouldn’t have to worry about meeting someone that just plain don’t give a fuck about you and gets his rocks off by bashing your brains out your nose! And who in their right mind would ever think that when they stomp the guy that took a swing at them, that it wasn’t self-defense?
I wish I’d had this book when I started. Would have saved me a small fortune on lawyers and bail bondsmen! But, besides that, it might have given me the foresight and knowledge so that I could still chew on both sides.
In the following pages, you will find a complete school on what to do and what not to do. Certain misconceptions and outright fantasies will be shattered for some. Others will find a few open-mouth face-slaps—“Why didn’t I think of it that way” moments. And you will really start to see and comprehend why self-defense isn’t always what you think it is.
Don’t just read this book, study it. Think about what the authors are trying to get across to you. Go through it again and again until it sinks in. Work the drills and practice the techniques they discuss. This book could honestly save your life and the life of your loved ones, because you aren’t the only one to suffer when you go to prison. I know too many guys that are doing time because they thought they knew some form of martial art and had a small understanding of the justice system, that they could get away with pounding someone’s head in during a bar fight. Reality is a major bitch especially when you get to court and are cleared of criminal charges only to have the other guy serve you for civil court as you walk out.
Miller and Kane really have been there and done that; it’s not a fun place to be. When your entire livelihood and future depends on the whim of twelve people that weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty, needless to say it causes a little stress! Every lawyer who deals in self-defense cases needs to read this book. It may help them keep their client out of prison, so buy another copy and send it to an attorney too!
Let me give you a few more reasons to really study and pay attention to what Miller and Kane are trying to get across to you. I don’t get sick anymore. Funny reason, huh? The smell of fresh-spilt intestines doesn’t bother me. Neither does trying to hold them in place while their owner writhes around, screaming. All because he mouthed off to the wrong Mexican, who didn’t play by middle-class white boy rules. The smell of someone’s brain’s laying on the ground doesn’t faze me either; funny I think they smell like Ivory soap. Sick, I know, but they really do!
There are a lot worse out there than me and they don’t care what “Über-ninja badass martial art” you practice. They don’t care where you study, what you know, or who you are. They will split your gut open from your balls to your brisket without blinking an eye. And you will never see it coming.
I really think that’s what Miller and Kane are trying to get across to you in this book; it’s not always what it appears to be. The key word is “it.” It is the ideas that you have formed from television, movies, the internet, and other media. It is the miscomprehensions and false sense of reality that come from training and studying under someone who doesn’t understand the facts himself. And in most cases doesn’t even know it.
I remember a case in Dallas several years ago where a woman was attacked by her husband. She had been studying Krav Maga. And she was the one to go to the penitentiary for attempted murder. Why you ask? After her husband was down, she proceeded to stomp him in the testicles and head, even after he was unconscious. This is what her teacher had trained her to do. Well, sorry but after he was no longer a threat, he became the victim. It’s that easy to screw up and ruin your life in a matter of moments.
Like I said before, don’t just read this book, but study it. Learn it and apply the ideas and principles taught to your martial arts training or self-defense portfolio. If you still think it’s really not that important, you need to pay close attention to my last few statements.
If and, I hope not when, you get into an altercation with another individual, then every aspect of your life will be on trial. Every statement or post on your social networking site. Every martial arts/self-defense class you have ever taken. Everything you have ever done will be scrutinized and examined by the District/Prosecuting Attorney. It can and will be used against you in ways that you never thought possible. If by some chance, you are found not-guilty, then be prepared for the lawyers in the civil case that is coming to play even dirtier than the D.A. Your character, reputation, family history, everything about you and yours, will be on display for the jury and world to see. Think it is a joke? Talk to someone that has been through it and you will find out just how bad it can be.
FOREWORD—RON BISHOP
Ron Bishop has been in Law Enforcement/Corrections for the past 27 years. He is an established and recognized expert in police/corrections use of force, deadly force, and logistical operations. Ron has served as a command level officer with his agency for the past 15 years, advising and establishing policy and practices. He has testified in both Federal and State level cases involving force and operational issues. Ron is a graduate of the National Institute of Corrections Leadership and Executive programs and holds the highest level of certifications in the State of Oregon. He is an active Freemason. Ron resides in the State of Washington with his wife and two daughters.
Those who just put this book down are risking everything, maybe even their freedom.
When violence comes to you, will you survive? I would bet that several who just read that question replied “Yes.”
Let