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Old February 1st, 2023 #1
James Radov
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Bratislava
Posts: 1,973
Lightbulb The Demon

[found an old essay i read on some fighting forum, around 2005-06; it is a bit over inspired by "action movies"]


This was written by a friend for use in a self defense book he is working on. I like the
essay alot and I think alot of fighters can get some benefit out of it. I have not edited
this at all. Food for thought, enjoy


The Demon


Think about the assumptions that we make about our potential opponents when we enter into
any kind of self-defense training. Virtually any martial art or fighting system will work
if your opponent is a moron or aged professor, but how does it fare when you have to go
up against the rare "black swan" event; the “perfect storm” opponent situation?


Since you cannot control who you will run into, maybe it is prudent to create a template
for a worst case opponent and assume that is who you will have to face in a fight for
your life? Let's call him "The Demon."

Physical fitness? Discipline? Motivation? The Demon is a former Division I-level athlete.
He benches over 300 and runs an all-out quarter-mile in just over 50 seconds. The Demon
spends his mornings pounding out miles of hard roadwork, pumps iron like a maniac in lieu
of eating lunch, and spends his evenings dry-firing his EDC handgun, studying ways to
hurt people, and beating the hell out of his Spar-Pro and heavy bag. He maintains an
extensive library of books and videos on combat and survival-related topics.

He goes to bed tired but satisfied every night, satisfied because he has no other hobbies
and because he looks at training as money in the bank: he will cash in his full paycheck
on the fateful day that he faces you in a fight.

The Demon spends his weekends doing strenuous physical activities and competing in IPSC
Limited or IDPA matches. He spends his vacations going to places like Crucible, the
Rogers Academy, and other specialized training centers. The Demon has no other hobbies
and he is not really concerned with being a "weird, paranoid freak" in the eyes
of many normal people. The Demon does not really hang out with "normal" people
anyway; he prefers to hang out with people like himself.

Warning of an attack? Deception? Good luck trying any Jedi mind tricks on The Demon: he
is a master of “cold reading“ and street psychology. The Demon does not dress like some
kind of thug, either: he knows that a clean-cut appearance increases his time/distance
window of opportunity to ambush his prey. Pay very close attention to The Demon's choice
of boots, belt, and watch; they may be the only warnings that you get.

The Demon knows that anonymity is the most important weapon in his formidable arsenal. He
does not threaten, he does not warn, he does not talk shit or insult; those things take
time and telegraph intentions. The Demon just makes a binary decision and then acts.

Training? Background? The Demon trains in the most effective fighting and survival
techniques that he can. He is open-minded and non-judgmental, caring only that techniques
fit within an overarching framework of logic and ruthless pragmatism. He lives his whole
life this way: it is his structure, his discipline, his religion. The Demon may have a
black belt in any number of hardcore functional martial arts, studied military unarmed
combat methods, may have been a Golden Gloves boxer or a freestyle wrestler or a
linebacker, or may have trained in the famous Muay Thai gyms of Holland.

Maybe - and now the plot gets chilling - maybe The Demon has been the recipient of
millions of dollars in government-sponsored training..... money that was specifically
spent to turn him into some kind of professional shadow-warrior killing machine, like
Peter Mason, Richard Marcinko, or John Macejunas.

Maybe The Demon is all of the above: operator, martial artist, fighter, contact-sport
athlete.

It does not really matter where he got his start, because he has synthesized his approach
into a combination of very destructive, attack-oriented techniques that he can perform
with maximal effort without much fear of hurting himself in the process. He can strike
and he can grapple, and most importantly he always strikes first.

Weapons? Equipment? This is the best part: trying to beat The Demon in an unarmed fight
is largely academic speculation, because you will never, ever catch The Demon unarmed. He
carries a Glock or 1911 and a fixed-blade combat knife with him every single day of his
life. The Demon is not interested in hitting you with his hands or feet: given even the
slightest provocation, his opening gambit will be to present his handgun from the holster
and to demand that you remain very still and quiet. If you then try to disarm The Demon,
strike The Demon, or reach for your own weapon to attack The Demon, The Demon will not
hesitate to shoot until slide-lock.

The Demon also trains in ways to use his knife to great effect; maybe Filipino knife
methods, maybe military sentry takeout methods, maybe both.

The Demon will run you over with his car if you give him reason to. If you are more of a
distant problem, he keeps an M4 or a DSA FAL in a Pelican case in the trunk, next to a
trauma med kit and bugout pack.

Forget trying to get to The Demon at home: his place is like a fortress, complete with
crazy locks (The Demon studies B&E, too), booby traps, a large dog, and the ubiquitous
Mossberg 500 12-gauge scattergun.

Remember that The Demon likes to move first: his first move is to draw a weapon on you.
The Demon is not stupid. This isn't a Steven Segal, Bruce Lee, or Jackie Chan film. The
Demon does not want to “fight.” The Demon wants to win..... period.

The Demon sounds like a nightmare, doesn't he? Well, let's all take heart... while we
cannot control whether or not we will ever have to face a The Demon, we CAN control our
own training and preparation. We can become "The Demons" (!). Perhaps many of
you consciously found some similarities between your own lifestyles and habits and the
ones that were described above. I think the idea is to imagine the most ferocious and
skilled opponent that you could face in a nightmare, then try to become that person
(within whatever constraints that you face). If you are not willing to become a The
Demon, then you need to ask yourself who it is that you believe you are training to face.


We can become the "worst-case scenario" for someone else to have to deal with:
The mindset, the techniques, the equipment.
Become THE DEMON.
 
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