H,

"My personal fear has always been being grabbed from behind, with a knife (number one in the above list ), and I can say that RAD covered this assualt in the basic workshop...but without the weapon"


I think awareness is the only realistic defence for that situation. Everything else is a coin toss.

Yes, I agree with you. And the RAD workshop that I took did heavily emphasize that awareness, not being a 'victim waiting to happen' was most important. That, and being lucky.

ExCon found some good info to add here:

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/s...72#Post15927533

Thank you very much. A very worthy and informative topic

I'd just like to add that although useful, I wouldn't consider Patrick McCarthy's HAPV list as the best source.

Why? he quoted no studies for his list.
He states he has partially reverse engineered his list from kata movements. This can be deceiving as you may think a move is designed for a specific attack when in actuality it is useful against a broad range of attacks. This means it's open to an individuals biased interpretation.

Shoshinkan is quoting statistics from a British Home Office Study. I saw no reference on McCarthy's site to any recent studies providing statistics. To quote his HAPV article directly:

"During my study I gradually modified the classical empty-handed attack scenarios to best exemplify those acts of physical violence commonly found in today’s western society, and fortified the experience by developing many variations on these common themes."

and

"Challenging myth and tradition, I used eclecticism and critical thinking, as immutable devices in deciphering the time-honoured enigma called kata."

Now, I'm not criticizing his efforts to move kata / bunkai study forward. In fact, I admire and applaud them. In fact, his ideas helped me think in new directions. For such hard work and open mindedness, he is to be respected.

However, based on his own statements, I'd rather use a list compiled from a peer reviewed study like Shohsinkan and exCon posted.

Been awhile since I've trotted over to the Federal Repository on campus (it's filled with reams of stats on crime).

Any good Federal links that anyone can find?

USA Bureau of Justice crime statistics -

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

Not as detailed as I would like, but it's the closest thing I can find.

In shoshinkan's list, the number one attack is with a weapon. In the US, I heard that "weapons" of the typical kind (gun, knife, etc) were highly restricted in the UK through comprehensive laws severely restricitng or fobidding their possession by citizens? What type of weapon is refered to then?

Good question. I would assume knife, since guns are heavily restricted there. Shoshinkan also montions bottle, glass or ashtray attacks. But I assume those are more the bar-fight scene, as opposed to robbery/rape situations.

Disturbing: http://www.thearma.org/essays/Fringe.htm