Evasive Footwork

Brian@ITC · August 9, 2005, 10:50 PM

Evasive Footwork

As always there is going to be different opinions on which way you should move in a confrontation. NO ONE can tell you for certain you need to move any particular direction. There is no possible way that someone can know all of the elements in your situation to say “this is the way to move” in a confrontation. Realistically, all that instructors can do is to provide you with options for dealing with life-threatening situations. The elements in a situation will determine your direction of movement and NOT the instructor. Some of those elements are as follows (but not limited to): surroundings (buildings, cars, furniture, etc.), multiple attackers, distance from the attacker(s), is the attacker armed or unarmed (if armed, with a short range or long range weapon), ideal escape route such as a doorway or possible cover, loved ones, to name a few.

A lot of instructors teach you that moving lateral is your best option. I tend to disagree with this even under “ideal” circumstances. Sure, moving lateral is bettering than standing there trying to draw. One of the issues with moving lateral is that it is “easy” for a beginner shooter to hit a target moving laterally. Or should I say that it is more likely that an attacker may get lucky hitting a target moving laterally than moving away at an angle.

However, moving laterally may be your best option under the circumstance. Therefore you should not discard this teaching. Moving laterally is ONE WAY to move! It is not “THE WAY” to move!

So, what way is “better” to move under the “ideal” circumstance? I was doing some research years ago when I was just beginning to shoot with a rifle. The research was regarding lead time when shooting. It is much harder to gauge the direction of movement, distance, and speed at which the target is moving when the target is moving at a 45 degree angle (forward or rearward). Moving at 45 degree angles adds 3 dimensions to the target making it much harder to successfully hit the target.

Therefore, if moving away from the attacker is indeed your best option, then I would suggest moving back at 45 degree angles zigzagging becoming a harder target to hit. Your first movement may be back to the right at 45 degrees and then back to the left at 45 degrees and then back to the right again. Now, this leads us to the actual footwork in moving back at 45 degrees. I do not recommend moving back 45 degrees square to the target. If you are moving back 45 degrees to the right you should drop back with your right foot making you a narrow target. Your left shoulder is forward and your right should is back. I don’t have all of the pictures available yet, but you should look something like this or this if you are looking straight on. Now that you have made yourself a narrow target you should have decreased the surface target area by about 25% if your body positioning is correct. In order to move your rear foot (which is the right) should be facing in the direction you are headed as it is in the first picture. As you step your left foot should move across the right foot placing the side of the left foot next to your toes of your right foot. This is actually footwork from ninjutsu called yoko aruki. One advantage of stepping this way is so that you can see where you are headed with your peripheral vision when you are moving rearward. If you move rearward square to the target you cannot see where you are headed or if there is anyone else around you. When you zigzag from right to left or left to right using this footwork you can scan the entire area for attackers as well. Another benefit of moving using this method of cross stepping is that you can cover a lot more ground than just running backwards. This cross stepping motion used as “baby steps” for the most part, but the ninja used it as a method of running so they could see where they are going and to see if anyone is following them. I have to admit that it is going to take a lot of practice in order for you to get good at the cross stepping movement, but once you get it down it is HARD to catch you if someone is trying to grab you.

When moving 45 degrees back you need to do so relevant to the attackers positioning. Don’t just move back 45 degrees with the initial movement and continue that direction if the attacker adjusts his body positioning to shoot because you are now on a straight line away from the attacker. If the attacker adjusts you need to move 45 degrees again.

If you are at a close distance to the attacker when you move and you zigzag it will be much harder for the attacker to be able to prevent you from drawing as well. In my training I have found that if I am within a about 3 feet of the attacker (or less) and they pick up on my movement (or get lucky), I have been prevented from drawing because moving laterally doesn’t really create enough distance in the first split second of the fight to allow me to escape successfully as often as does moving back at 45 degrees. If I am wearing a hip holster on my right side and I move laterally while drawing the attacker can still hit me with a fist if he takes a step and/or also grabs my drawing hand/arm preventing me from drawing my weapon. Now, if I drop back with my right leg at 45 degrees (as in the first picture) I have created a safety zone at which I can now I can draw my weapon successfully more often. Add the zigzagging movement to this and I am pretty much untouchable by an unarmed attacker.

Moving 45 degrees rearward is NOT “THE WAY” to move. I say that because in your situation it may not be applicable due to other factors in your situation at which I cannot account for. If you are going to get away and create distance it is a great way to move!

There are a lot of instructors teaching is that moving away from the attacker is your best option. I believe there are a couple of reasons this is taught:

1. A lot of people don’t know how to defend their selves so their only option is to try and draw their weapon.
2. Most people believe that drawing the weapon is the goal and will resolve the situation.

By not possessing unarmed self-defense skills you have reduced your chances of survival greatly. Those who rely on their gun to resolve the situation or to stay alive are short-sighted. Who said that you will ever have a chance to attempt to draw your weapon in the first place? Don’t you know there is no such thing as a fair fight?! Things don’t always go as planned either!!! Quit living in your motion picture world and get a grip on reality! If an attacker has any sort of street fighting skills (or any fighting skills or is even lucky) you probably will never have a chance to draw your weapon and carrying the gun was useless because you are now dead. A skilled attacker with a firearm or any weapon will decrease your chances of drawing your weapon even more! People need to understand that drawing the weapon is not the goal in any confrontation. Staying ALIVE is the goal. If you focus on drawing your weapon instead of staying alive, you may never have the chance to attempt to draw your weapon.

Now, having said that we should talk about another direction of movement which is rarely taught and that is moving in on the attacker. That’s right, I said moving IN on the attacker. Think about it, a gun is a long range weapon and one of the best places you can be is CLOSE to the attacker. Sure, moving in takes a lot of skill, courage, and confidence. There are ways NOT to move in because they place you at greater risk of getting shot than other methods of moving in. I am not going to elaborate on this one a lot because you need to see it in order to understand it. However, I will say that moving straight in is not a smart thing to do! Not only can you move to safety but by moving in, but if you have trained a lot you can draw your weapon as you move in and use it if necessary.

In all directions of movement you need to know WHEN to move, and that is going to be another thread!

In all of our training we teach our students to MOVE FIRST and then try to draw your weapon. If you are moving then you are at least a moving target. And if you aren’t successful at drawing your weapon at least you are doing something!!! Now, I’m not going to say there aren’t times that you may get caught off guard and you may not be able to move at all. The question is; is this a time at which you should even attempt to draw your weapon? I’m saying that it is not the ideal situation to stand still and draw your weapon because there are far more dangers involved in doing this than there are in moving most directions and not drawing your gun at all.

Of course, proper distancing (according to the weapon the attacker has) plays a very large role in what happens and can increase your chances of successfully drawing your firearm. If your attacker has a knife or short range weapon then moving away from the attacker is probably a better option for you. If you need to create or close distance, then you need to do so quickly. And knowing WHEN to do that is yet another issue to discuss.

Remember, staying alive is your goal. Therefore you should try and defend yourself FIRST and then draw your weapon even if you are standing still. The gun is the LAST RESORT… NEVER forget that! Just because you have the weapon does not mean you SHOULD use it!!!

Mannlicher · August 10, 2005, 06:23 AM

ok...................

Jkwas · August 10, 2005, 06:41 AM

Never hand a sword to a man that can't dance. It's not logical, but often true

ATW525 · August 10, 2005, 07:06 AM

Quote:

ok...................

My sentiments exactly.

Yankee Doodle · August 10, 2005, 09:19 AM

Wha?????????
Evasive Footwork: Get your a$$ the hell out of there. The best way to survive a gunfight is "Don't get in one".
Great lecture, but why?
Y.D.

Brian@ITC · August 10, 2005, 09:41 PM

Ok....

Trip20 · August 10, 2005, 11:33 PM

I prefer to look as such when I'm retreating in a 45 degree angle. This of course depends on whether my cover is red, black, or white.

Rangefinder · August 11, 2005, 02:09 AM

Hey Trip, how'd you get photos of my last shopping spree? The guy at the store guaranteed that ninja suit was made from the "Super-Stealthy no-see-em" material and wouldn't show up on film. HE LIED TO ME!! That was a wasted ten bucks... Oh well, at least you got to see my "I don't need a bag, and keep the recept" stance exiting the check-out counter... LOL

Mikkel · August 11, 2005, 07:34 AM

Run man run!!! The best footwork ever

3 weelin geezer · August 11, 2005, 09:01 AM

Mall ninjas? My evasive footwork consists of throwing on my cammies somersaulting and rolling around on the floor pointing my gun in random directions looking for something to shoot like the in british army training and going: HUP, HUP, HUP, HUP! Something like the lion tamers do in the circus. It would look so funny if I was a midget. Hell, it looks funny anyways!

I prefer a picture like this:

**Rich Lucibella** · August 11, 2005, 10:13 AM

Brian-
Welcome to TFL.

Were this a response to a post, it would simply be long winded.
As it comes out of the blue, as your FIRST post; and as it is a VERBATIM repeat of your first posts at other boards, it comes across more as, well, SPAM.

Thread closed.
Think Twice, Post Once.
Rich

August 9, 2005, 10:50 PM	#1
Brian@ITC Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Richmond, IN Posts: 32	Evasive Footwork Evasive Footwork As always there is going to be different opinions on which way you should move in a confrontation. NO ONE can tell you for certain you need to move any particular direction. There is no possible way that someone can know all of the elements in your situation to say “this is the way to move” in a confrontation. Realistically, all that instructors can do is to provide you with options for dealing with life-threatening situations. The elements in a situation will determine your direction of movement and NOT the instructor. Some of those elements are as follows (but not limited to): surroundings (buildings, cars, furniture, etc.), multiple attackers, distance from the attacker(s), is the attacker armed or unarmed (if armed, with a short range or long range weapon), ideal escape route such as a doorway or possible cover, loved ones, to name a few. A lot of instructors teach you that moving lateral is your best option. I tend to disagree with this even under “ideal” circumstances. Sure, moving lateral is bettering than standing there trying to draw. One of the issues with moving lateral is that it is “easy” for a beginner shooter to hit a target moving laterally. Or should I say that it is more likely that an attacker may get lucky hitting a target moving laterally than moving away at an angle. However, moving laterally may be your best option under the circumstance. Therefore you should not discard this teaching. Moving laterally is ONE WAY to move! It is not “THE WAY” to move! So, what way is “better” to move under the “ideal” circumstance? I was doing some research years ago when I was just beginning to shoot with a rifle. The research was regarding lead time when shooting. It is much harder to gauge the direction of movement, distance, and speed at which the target is moving when the target is moving at a 45 degree angle (forward or rearward). Moving at 45 degree angles adds 3 dimensions to the target making it much harder to successfully hit the target. Therefore, if moving away from the attacker is indeed your best option, then I would suggest moving back at 45 degree angles zigzagging becoming a harder target to hit. Your first movement may be back to the right at 45 degrees and then back to the left at 45 degrees and then back to the right again. Now, this leads us to the actual footwork in moving back at 45 degrees. I do not recommend moving back 45 degrees square to the target. If you are moving back 45 degrees to the right you should drop back with your right foot making you a narrow target. Your left shoulder is forward and your right should is back. I don’t have all of the pictures available yet, but you should look something like this or this if you are looking straight on. Now that you have made yourself a narrow target you should have decreased the surface target area by about 25% if your body positioning is correct. In order to move your rear foot (which is the right) should be facing in the direction you are headed as it is in the first picture. As you step your left foot should move across the right foot placing the side of the left foot next to your toes of your right foot. This is actually footwork from ninjutsu called yoko aruki. One advantage of stepping this way is so that you can see where you are headed with your peripheral vision when you are moving rearward. If you move rearward square to the target you cannot see where you are headed or if there is anyone else around you. When you zigzag from right to left or left to right using this footwork you can scan the entire area for attackers as well. Another benefit of moving using this method of cross stepping is that you can cover a lot more ground than just running backwards. This cross stepping motion used as “baby steps” for the most part, but the ninja used it as a method of running so they could see where they are going and to see if anyone is following them. I have to admit that it is going to take a lot of practice in order for you to get good at the cross stepping movement, but once you get it down it is HARD to catch you if someone is trying to grab you. When moving 45 degrees back you need to do so relevant to the attackers positioning. Don’t just move back 45 degrees with the initial movement and continue that direction if the attacker adjusts his body positioning to shoot because you are now on a straight line away from the attacker. If the attacker adjusts you need to move 45 degrees again. If you are at a close distance to the attacker when you move and you zigzag it will be much harder for the attacker to be able to prevent you from drawing as well. In my training I have found that if I am within a about 3 feet of the attacker (or less) and they pick up on my movement (or get lucky), I have been prevented from drawing because moving laterally doesn’t really create enough distance in the first split second of the fight to allow me to escape successfully as often as does moving back at 45 degrees. If I am wearing a hip holster on my right side and I move laterally while drawing the attacker can still hit me with a fist if he takes a step and/or also grabs my drawing hand/arm preventing me from drawing my weapon. Now, if I drop back with my right leg at 45 degrees (as in the first picture) I have created a safety zone at which I can now I can draw my weapon successfully more often. Add the zigzagging movement to this and I am pretty much untouchable by an unarmed attacker. Moving 45 degrees rearward is NOT “THE WAY” to move. I say that because in your situation it may not be applicable due to other factors in your situation at which I cannot account for. If you are going to get away and create distance it is a great way to move! There are a lot of instructors teaching is that moving away from the attacker is your best option. I believe there are a couple of reasons this is taught: 1. A lot of people don’t know how to defend their selves so their only option is to try and draw their weapon. 2. Most people believe that drawing the weapon is the goal and will resolve the situation. By not possessing unarmed self-defense skills you have reduced your chances of survival greatly. Those who rely on their gun to resolve the situation or to stay alive are short-sighted. Who said that you will ever have a chance to attempt to draw your weapon in the first place? Don’t you know there is no such thing as a fair fight?! Things don’t always go as planned either!!! Quit living in your motion picture world and get a grip on reality! If an attacker has any sort of street fighting skills (or any fighting skills or is even lucky) you probably will never have a chance to draw your weapon and carrying the gun was useless because you are now dead. A skilled attacker with a firearm or any weapon will decrease your chances of drawing your weapon even more! People need to understand that drawing the weapon is not the goal in any confrontation. Staying ALIVE is the goal. If you focus on drawing your weapon instead of staying alive, you may never have the chance to attempt to draw your weapon. Now, having said that we should talk about another direction of movement which is rarely taught and that is moving in on the attacker. That’s right, I said moving IN on the attacker. Think about it, a gun is a long range weapon and one of the best places you can be is CLOSE to the attacker. Sure, moving in takes a lot of skill, courage, and confidence. There are ways NOT to move in because they place you at greater risk of getting shot than other methods of moving in. I am not going to elaborate on this one a lot because you need to see it in order to understand it. However, I will say that moving straight in is not a smart thing to do! Not only can you move to safety but by moving in, but if you have trained a lot you can draw your weapon as you move in and use it if necessary. In all directions of movement you need to know WHEN to move, and that is going to be another thread! In all of our training we teach our students to MOVE FIRST and then try to draw your weapon. If you are moving then you are at least a moving target. And if you aren’t successful at drawing your weapon at least you are doing something!!! Now, I’m not going to say there aren’t times that you may get caught off guard and you may not be able to move at all. The question is; is this a time at which you should even attempt to draw your weapon? I’m saying that it is not the ideal situation to stand still and draw your weapon because there are far more dangers involved in doing this than there are in moving most directions and not drawing your gun at all. Of course, proper distancing (according to the weapon the attacker has) plays a very large role in what happens and can increase your chances of successfully drawing your firearm. If your attacker has a knife or short range weapon then moving away from the attacker is probably a better option for you. If you need to create or close distance, then you need to do so quickly. And knowing WHEN to do that is yet another issue to discuss. Remember, staying alive is your goal. Therefore you should try and defend yourself FIRST and then draw your weapon even if you are standing still. The gun is the LAST RESORT… NEVER forget that! Just because you have the weapon does not mean you SHOULD use it!!!

August 10, 2005, 06:23 AM	#2
Mannlicher Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2001 Location: North Central Florida & Miami Posts: 3,209	ok................... __________________ Nemo Me Impune Lacesset "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.".........Ronald Reagan

August 11, 2005, 02:09 AM	#8
Rangefinder Senior Member Join Date: August 4, 2005 Posts: 2,017	Hey Trip, how'd you get photos of my last shopping spree? The guy at the store guaranteed that ninja suit was made from the "Super-Stealthy no-see-em" material and wouldn't show up on film. HE LIED TO ME!! That was a wasted ten bucks... Oh well, at least you got to see my "I don't need a bag, and keep the recept" stance exiting the check-out counter... LOL __________________ "Why is is called Common Sense when it seems so few actually possess it?" Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Politicians.

August 11, 2005, 10:13 AM	#11
Rich Lucibella Staff Join Date: October 6, 1998 Location: South Florida Posts: 10,229	Brian- Welcome to TFL. Were this a response to a post, it would simply be long winded. As it comes out of the blue, as your *FIRST* post; and as it is a *VERBATIM* repeat of your first posts at other boards, it comes across more as, well, SPAM. Thread closed. Think Twice, Post Once. Rich __________________ S.W.A.T. Magazine Weapons, Training and Tactics for the Real World Join us at TFL or at AR15.com or on Facebook

August 10, 2005, 06:41 AM	#3
Jkwas Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2005 Location: Mouth of the Rat, Florida Posts: 1,778	Never hand a sword to a man that can't dance. It's not logical, but often true

August 10, 2005, 09:19 AM	#5
Yankee Doodle Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2004 Posts: 619	Wha????????? Evasive Footwork: Get your a$$ the hell out of there. The best way to survive a gunfight is "Don't get in one". Great lecture, but why? Y.D.

August 10, 2005, 09:41 PM	#6
Brian@ITC Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Richmond, IN Posts: 32	Ok....

August 11, 2005, 07:34 AM	#9
Mikkel Member Join Date: January 6, 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 81	Run man run!!! The best footwork ever