Deadly Weapons

I earned my black belt on November 5, 2005 under Sifu Rick Fowler, an eigth degree Black Belt.

Someone once told me that the day after you become a black belt you have to register your hands as deadly weapons. I always thought that was quite funny but it also got me thinking.

Now imagine I’m drinking at a bar one Saturday night when another patron bumps into my back causing me to spill my drink. The word ‘a–hole’ comes out of my mouth before I even turn and see what happened. When I do there is a man about a foot taller than me and a probably a hundred pounds heavier and he’s probably had one too many because he looks really upset. His face gets close to mine and he asks me to repeat what I just said.

Now in class we were taught that at this phase of a confrontation your hands should come up to about shoulder height as you try to talk your way out of trouble. The first blow is usually aimed at the head so you get your hands closer while you appear to be reasoning. You always want to avoid a fight, because unless you are Jackie Chan, you will more than likely take some punishment. Although hopefully you will dish out more than you receive. And you remind yourself that American Kenpo Karate was designed to help you against someone who doesn’t know anything about fighting. This angry man could be a martial artist with ten times more training.

I’m trying to justify my reaction to the bump when he makes the mistake of grabbing my shirt with his left hand while he cocks his right back into a fist and I, as I have practiced more than a thousand times in the dojo, execute a technique called Lone Kimono. The base beginner technique shouldn’t take longer than 1.5 seconds.

First I cover his left hand with my left hand ‘trapping ‘ it and rotating it slightly clockwise as I step back with my left foot. Stepping back gives me the torque needed to pop his elbow with a right upward block. I keep his hand trapped as my right hand circles below and I smash the other side of his broken arm at an angle that brings his body forward and down while snapping his head back. Then the side of my right hand backhands into his exposed throat. Videos. This blow ends the fight and he drops to the ground.

If the final blow to the man in the bar killed him would it be deemed manslaughter or self defense?

I am not a lawyer but after some research I found out that in most states the law that applies here goes like this: “Use of Force in Defense of Person: A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony.”

Which means I would need a really good lawyer to prove that when the man grabbed me I felt that my life was threatened by ‘imminent use of unlawful force.’ And that my training had imprinted my reaction as a natural reflex over which I had little control in the volatile nature of the situation.

What do you think? Please comment below.