My wife wrote this about the MUC/IEK course she was able to attend that was held in conjunction with the recent AMIS course here in Pittsburgh.
Southnarc Class review
February 22, 2013
Part 1: Managing Unknown Contacts
Part 2: In-extremis Knife
It’s been a few weeks since I took the class and this has given me plenty of time to mull things over. I have to admit that I was extremely apprehensive about taking this class and nearly backed out last minute. I really didn’t know what to expect and what I knew of other Southnarc classes terrified the shit out of me.
My husband has taken ECQC (Extreme Close Quarters Concepts) with Craig a few times and I’ve seen the videos for that. It’s down on the ground grappling, intense stuff. It’s the type of stuff that many grown men can’t handle. For some reason I had it in my head that this class was going to be much like that and in the end I would end up a crying, slobbering mess curled up in the fetal position. I imagined guys coming at me, yelling profanities, overpowering me and not backing down until I overpowered them. I could not have been more off base.
I participated with the strict understanding that I didn’t have to do anything that I was uncomfortable with and that NOBODY would pressure me to do otherwise or feel bad or embarrassed about my decision. I took it step by step, watched each drill and then decided if I wanted to participate.
I think that it needs to be stated that there was physical contact, and plenty of it. It is also important to say that it was gradually eased into. We did not start off the class with physical entanglements as I had feared we would. A main point of the class was how to avoid getting into physical entanglements in the first place.
The first half of the day was spent on Managing Unknown Contacts. I guess this is where I should say that this class is VERY heavy in role playing (If you have a background in acting or larping you would have a field day.)
Managing Unknown Contacts is exactly what it sounds like. The session begins with discussing not making yourself an easy target for criminals. We talked about the obvious mistakes so many of us make like being distracted with your phone while walking to your car that is parked in a dark lot. Next we talked about distance, surroundings, and vocalization.
Everything was broken down step by step but here is how the scenario plays out.
You pair up with a partner, one is the aggressor and one the defendant. The aggressor approaches asking for change, directions, something random. The idea is to not let him get close enough to attack you. Before he is within reaching distance you put up a hand and say “hold up a minute.” A normal person would stop in their tracks at this point and then you can see what they want. If they keep advancing this is when you need to scream “BACK THE **** UP!” Or in my case just “BACK UP!” because I don’t really swear in everyday conversation so it would sound really fake if I did it now. Just yelling is really out of character for me. I learned that it’s something I need to practice and get more comfortable with
It is really important not to let the aggressor close the distance but DO NOT just step straight back. A lot of times criminals are working in pairs so someone might be coming up behind you or there might be a wall or something behind you. Instead, you want to maintain the distance by stepping diagonally and being aware of what and who is around you so that you do not get trapped.
Honestly, just this lesson alone is enough to save your life in most cases. Your garden variety criminal is just looking for an easy target that won’t put up a fight. It’s a real nutbag that will persist after doing all of the above. That was what the rest of the day was for.
After lunch we began the physical contact stuff. This was the part of the class that I was very unsure of. I told myself that I can stop at any time and that I would take it drill by drill. Watch what was demonstrated and then decide if I wanted to participate.
We began with non aggressive consensual exercises with minimal physical contact (Billy goat drill, arm ties...) We gradually moved into aggressive, non consensual exercises where you begin in an entanglement and have to successfully deploy your knock knife and stab your attacker.
Everything was taken step by step with the next exercise building off of the last. All of the material was easy to understand and easy to implement. There wasn’t any hocus pocus like learning the vulcan death grip or memorizing where all of the main arteries are to stab. The general gist was get your weapon out as fast as possible and stab him in the face. Easy enough.
The only negative that I came away with was that as a female I feel that they guys took it too easy on me. There was one other female in the class and she was more of a challenge to go up against than most of the men. On the other hand I don’t know if I could have handled it mentally if the men went at me full force. I was told though that my strength is not what this was about. It was about learning the techniques. If I properly learn and deploy these techniques I have a better chance at surviving and attack by someone much larger and stronger than myself.
At the end of the day I Participated in EVERYTHING. There was not one single thing that I felt incapable of doing mentally or physically. It was absolutely manageable. More importantly it was practical. Perhaps some of the most practical instruction I have ever had.
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