The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

Maintaining Space and Weapons Transition

By Phil Elmore

In my half of one of the point-counterpoint-style editorials here at The Martialist, I wrote of one encounter with a street person after parking my car downtown:

In Wing Chun we are taught that a potential threat must not be allowed to close within striking distance of you. You must attack the opponent preemptively when he enters this range. When approached by someone whom you do not trust, we are taught, you must put up your hands and maintain a safe distance. As the panhandler approached, my first thought was that I must, at any cost, keep him outside that distance – or else I would have to strike him, as I did not want him approaching me.

You see, every panhandler you meet IS a potential threat to your health and your well-being. Under no circumstances whatsoever should you allow a street person to approach you...

...I pointed at him, bringing my rear hand up in a subtle approximation of the double Wu Sau guard that is the default hand position in Wing Chun Kung Fu.

"Step away," I hissed.

Now, I'm not describing this because I think I'm cool or because I think I have the ability to put the Fear of Phil into random strangers. I was simply enraged and I spat at this beggar with a hostility I did not realize I possessed. I reacted instinctively – but my instincts were, in this case, developed by training that simply took over under stress. I was pleased that when I needed it, I did not have to think about it. That is the goal of training to defend yourself for real-life problems.

Some of the armchair experts across the Internet accused me of overreacting, of "dropping into a Kung Fu stance" to deal with a relatively benign situation. In so doing, these critics betrayed their ignorance – because the basic hand positioning to maintain personal space is fairly universal.

I've seen the stance referred to as a "I don't want any trouble" position, a "fence," and a "de-escalation stance." Whatever the terminology, the basic concept is the same. When you are approached by someone who represents a potential threat to your person – be he a panhandler, a drunken barfly, or an incongruously aggressive stranger demanding the time – you must keep that person outside striking distance to avoid making yourself a potential victim.

The basic "Hey, stop, I don't want any trouble" position is a bladed (angled) posture in which the hands are up, staggered, palms open. This does indeed look almost identical to the double Wu Sau guard. The arms create distance and provide a protective barrier for your body (and, more specifically, your centerline). The body language is clear: Do not come any closer. The open palms are less aggressive than vertical hands in appearance, but open-hand blows can be delivered easily from either stance.

Maintaining space while deescalating if possible. Open-
hand blows can be delivered easily from this posture.

Wing Chun's double Wu Sau ("Guarding Hand") posture. It's
the same stance with the hands turned vertically. The body
is more squared to the opponent, but the idea is the same.

From this hands-up, palms-open, bladed posture, you have the option to deliver physical strikes if you must defend yourself. You also may choose to transition to a weapon (thus escalating the force used in the scenario). The most common justification for making this transition would probably be facing multiple opponents, in which case a "force multiplier" could be seen as a rational necessity on your part as the defender. (I'm not a lawyer, so don't take this as legal advice. It's safe to say that if you use a weapon in a violent altercation, you're going to have to answer for your actions in court.)

If you carry a knife or a firearm on your strong side – in your waistband, in your front pocket, or behind your strong-side hip – the transition is as simple as dropping the rear hand to index the weapon. Simply preparing to draw your weapon can be done relatively discreetly, too. Here I am maintaining space with my weak-side hand while indexing the tactical folder in my right front pocket. Provided you don't slap yourself like a gunslinger going for his piece, this needn't be perceived as provocative until the weapon is actually drawn.

Indexing a tactical folder in the pocket
while maintaining space and protecting
the body's centerline.

The postures shown here are merely starting points, of course. What you do from the decision to attack (or to make the transition to a weapon) is up to you and will depend on your individual training. At that point, all bets are off. What's important to remember is that, if at all possible, you must keep potential opponents outside the distance at which they can reach you to do you harm.

In another article here at The Martialist, I spoke of maintaining space when asked for the time in public:

If you're obviously wearing a watch, you have two choices when asked for the time. You can be rude and refuse to give it, or you can comply with the request. The problem is that when approached on the street by a stranger, there is a chance – not a great one, but a real one nonetheless – that someone who asks you for the time is trying to distract you in order to assault you. Think about it: when you look at your watch, you typically look down at your arm, making you an easy target.

If someone you don't know comes up to you and asks you for the time, you can easily minimize your risk. Step back casually, away from the stranger, preferably blading your body as you do so. Raise your arm rather than lowering your head, keeping that arm well away from your body and between you and the other person. In this way you can read the time while keeping your guard up.
Practice doing this so it looks casual rather than confrontational. There's no need to drop into your Daniel-san crane stance and fire off a flurry of snap kicks just to tell someone they're late for an appointment.

Do this properly and you will see the similarities between it and the posture(s) already described. The rear hand could be relaxed, or it could be brought up casually to protect the centerline. Pretend to be scratching your chest or simply talking with your hands, if you must, but bring that rear hand up if needed.

Step back and raise your arm to read the time. This
puts that arm between you and the other person,
keeping your vision directed up and forward.

These are simple concepts and nothing really new. It does not hurt, however, to be reminded of them.

Use your body and your body language to maintain space for self-defense.