Security codes: how to protect yourself in any situation. Lee Morrison Lee Morrison self defense

A man who has a weapon is no more armed than a musician who has a piano.
There's no point in owning a gun if you're not skilled with it.
Colonel Jeff Cooper

There are many dangerous situations in the modern world: street clashes, robber attacks, civil unrest... To ensure a safe life, special skills are required. And in order to apply them in a timely manner, you need to be informed, attentive, and most importantly, self-confident.

But blind self-confidence is of the sort “I am confident in myself, which means nothing will happen to me” can lead to carelessness, which will not lead to the best consequences.

You must clearly understand when you are safe and when it is time to use self-defense techniques.

A scheme known in self-defense circles called “Security Codes” will help you figure this out. The author of this application system is Colonel Jeff Cooper, who was at the forefront of practical shooting in America. He used the security code scheme to prepare soldiers for military action. This scheme is also used and regularly discussed at their seminars by such experts in the field of self-defense as the Englishman Lee Morrison, the American Kelly McCann, and our compatriot Maxim Stepanov.

How will a security code system benefit you? Of course, with its help you will not hit harder or dodge blows better. But it will give you a very important understanding of the structure of a conflict situation.

Understand the main thing: self-defense begins long before the aggressor’s fist goes straight to your face.

Are you being beaten? This means you made a mistake by ignoring the previous security codes. How to avoid an attack? At what point should you decide on your actions? When to start a fight and what to do after? Your common sense will answer these questions, and the diagram will help you organize your thoughts.

1. White code

You think you are safe (for example, sleeping at home, behind a door with a bunch of bolts). Your apartment is on alarm. Since you are completely relaxed, you are most vulnerable at this moment - you are not ready to react to danger. If you trusted fate and carelessly walk along a dark street in a hood and with a player, typing sms on your smartphone, you are in the white code.

2. Code yellow

You carefully and intently examine the space around you, be it the street, the parking lot, or the entrance to the entrance. You're not on edge, but you're ready to recognize potential danger.

3. Red code

You saw the threat, managed to assess it, and are quickly looking for ways to ensure your safety. You still have time to make the right decision - run away, lock the car doors, get a weapon, and so on.

4. Code red

An attack is taking place. The danger is maximum. You are forced to defend your life and must use every opportunity to do so. This is the active phase.

Now let's look at a real-life situation and figure out where each code is applicable.

So, you left the apartment and closed the door behind you (with all the locks). You are in a code yellow state. Yes, exactly yellow, not white. You must be attentive and alert. This does not mean that you are now a paranoid person who is just looking for where a CIA agent or another robber is hiding. You're just "on."

You walk briskly into the parking lot where your Mustang is parked and notice that several young men are rubbing themselves near your car. Suppose you noticed them, and they noticed you, but there is still a decent distance between you. This is code red. If you see someone you know in one of them, you are again in code yellow. And if not, you have a few seconds to make the right decision.

Suppose you misjudged or completely ignored the threat and went to chase the punks away from your car. You approached the company, a conversation began... As soon as you determined by indirect signs that the situation was developing critically (they answered your question harshly, someone stood behind you, a knife flashed in the hand of one of the guys), you has recognized a red code and must act immediately. If you did not recognize the situation in time and waited for one of the hooligans to attack, you thereby reduced your chances of survival tens of times and “drew” into the red zone. What can I say - fight for life with full dedication and maximum effectiveness.

We have already told you what to do when facing several opponents. Let us remind you now: hit.

1. Hit hard, two- or three-punch hand combinations from those that work best for you will do. For example, like this: the right one is straight and immediately the left one is on the side. Grab the attacker by the collar - strike with a “hammer fist” with the base of a clenched fist and immediately move to the flank to deal with the next aggressor.

2. If they had the initiative, block your head with your hands (most likely, they will hit you there) and go back to point 1.

3. Run as soon as possible. As soon as you disappeared from the scene - ran a sufficient distance - you switched to code red. Why not yellow? Because after a fight, your adrenaline level goes through the roof, and you are not able to adequately assess what is happening around you. Therefore, be as careful as possible. As soon as you find yourself in a truly safe place - for example, in your apartment or in the company of a police patrol - you can take a breath, now you are in code yellow.

You still don’t understand why you need these codes? Understand the main thing - they illustrate your state and show at what stage of events you have a real chance of avoiding danger, where you need to make a decision, and where, without hesitation, act. Most hazards can be avoided by staying in the Code Yellow “on state.” If you see a potential danger, make a decision about your further actions immediately, do not wait until the threat becomes relevant, because you are in red code. If you wait until the critical stage of physical confrontation, act. This is code red. The fight has stopped, you are safe - don't relax. You are in code yellow - check your battle wounds, call your friends, call the police, an ambulance if necessary. Well, you can call your mom...

Think about this model in your spare time - it can make your life safer and give you reasons for self-confidence.

One of the masters of his craft who had a significant influence on the formation of “” is British self-defense specialist Lee Morrison.

Lee is a charismatic, very fast, explosive and tough person with his own special energy and a very competent instructor in terms of method.

He is the creator of the Urban Combatives (UC) real-life combat system, which he has been teaching since 1999. The basis for UC was the author’s more than 22 years of experience in practicing various Asian and Western martial arts, as well as experience working as a security guard in bars and clubs, many of which were far from the most prosperous.

At the moment, in addition to private and group classes in his UK, Lee travels extensively to other countries, conducting training for civilians, as well as police officers, rescue workers and security guards.

The Urban Combatives program is about “cultivating” good personal safety skills. In his system, Morrison relies entirely on the realism of the techniques being practiced and preaches the principle of “nothing superfluous.” Everything is capacious and tough. This makes it possible to prepare a person in a fairly short time so that he can respond to violence with violence if such a need arises.

Lee divides the skills a person needs into “soft” (awareness of a threat, avoidance, attention to warning signs, self-confidence expressed non-verbally) and the “hard” ones that support them (purely physical combat elements that are easy to learn and applicable in a stressful situation).

A few important points that Lee Morrison emphasizes when teaching:

– If there is an opportunity to avoid a fight, use it.

– If a fight cannot be avoided, then hit first and hit hard.

– Put your body weight into the punch and punch through the target.

– Hit the head to damage the “computer”.

– Don't telegraph your intention to strike. The pose should not look aggressive and express readiness. The attack occurs quickly, suddenly and powerfully.

– Don't bet on a single strike. Attack in a series.

– Be aware of your surroundings. Know how to recognize a potential threat. For example: a person is in the parking lot, but he has no bags, no keys, and at the same time he is heading towards you... or if the person, asking you about something, looks around suspiciously...

– If a person is alone and behaves aggressively, then as a rule this can mean the following: a) he has accomplices nearby, b) he has a weapon.

– 90% is mental preparation. This is the inner attitude of a predator, a clear intention, asocial behavior (because any violence is essentially asocial), the confidence that I will be the one to win; " ". 10% - technology. These are the simplest hard techniques that can be performed under stress.

– The two main elements of your technique are impact and attitude.

- Fatigue represents fear. When you feel fear, you already feel weak. Three things you should never show in a fight: don't show that you're scared; do not show that you are in pain; don't show that you're tired. Hide it from the enemy.

Konstantin Larin

Englishman Lee Morrison developed a system of self-defense and self-defense for survival in a big city, based on many years of personal experience

At the age of 14, Lee left home with the goal of realizing himself in life. At first it was very difficult for him - he spent the night right on the street, doing odd jobs. But these tests quickly helped him understand that active actions lead a person to success. Nature blessed Lee with a powerful physique, so getting a job as a bouncer in a nightclub was not difficult for him. Years of work introduced Lee Morrison to the English criminal world in detail. This man participated in numerous fights with bandits, robbers and just scumbags who creep out onto the streets of a big city at night. And for fun, they are ready to deprive a random passer-by not only of their wallet, but also of their life.

The experience and subtle understanding of the psychology of a street fight, gained in his youth, was very useful to Lee Morrison in adulthood. Today in the world of self-defense he is known as a renowned personal safety trainer and expert. From now on, he is committed to sharing his wealth of experience with everyone, traveling around the world and conducting self-defense training.

AS EASY AS PIE

The first piece of advice from Lee Morrison is to learn to distinguish between the concepts: “self-defense” and “self-defense.” Self-defense is a set of actions you can take BEFORE you are attacked. In turn, self-defense explains how to act if an attack by a criminal is inevitable.

First of all, you need to learn how to manage the threat. You should always be careful on the street. You must monitor the space around you at all times, assessing people walking by for threats, teaches Lee Morrison. - If you have headphones in your ears and your eyes are looking at the phone on which you are typing an SMS, you are not able to anticipate the danger in time. But if you are alert, you will notice in time that a certain stranger is purposefully walking towards you, without slowing down. You should not allow anyone to get too close to you. A hand extended at the right time can save you from a lot of trouble. You must control the situation and understand what behavior of people around you can pose a threat to you, says the Briton.

Lee Morrison advises to always be confident on the street. Representatives of the criminal world know “body language” very well. Therefore, they literally determine at first glance whether you are a victim or a predator.

If you look like food, you will be eaten, explains the expert. - If you resemble a lion, then they won’t come close to you.

An intelligent person who has well mastered the simple rules of self-defense will first of all try to avoid danger. If there is an opportunity to turn away from unambiguously looking strangers standing on the road, then a smart person will do so. And, of course, you can reduce unwanted encounters to a minimum by not going outside in the dark.

If three tall guys suddenly come at you from around the corner, then the optimal self-defense in this case is to turn around and run away, advises Lee Morrison. - Think about the consequences of a fight. They are not always good for your health. Strangers certainly have a chance to get what they deserve from you. But there is also a non-zero chance that you could be maimed or even killed. In addition, the scumbag you beat may meet you later with your family and take revenge... Therefore, the best way to live without problems is not to create them, the expert believes.

CONVERSATION AS SELF-DEFENSE

The last self-defense technique is conversation. People who can speak the language of gopniks often nullify the threat. However, most respectable citizens are not trained in the intricacies of conducting such conversations. There are several simple rules for communicating with this category of the population, and the main rule is to never make excuses. First of all, if aggressive young people approach you, they will try to “download” you. That is, to make you guilty and punish you for this guilt. According to the concept of a “sucker”, you can do whatever you want. Therefore, your task is to prove that you are not a sucker at all. When talking with gopniks, you need to forget about the existence of the particle “not” in the Russian language. Do not respond to provocations, look into the eyes, speak in a confident voice, and smile slightly at the end of the phrase. This behavior, firstly, shows the gopniks that you are not afraid of them, and secondly, it shows that you are not an ordinary person at all. If they have no reason left to cling to you, then they will leave you behind, since “attacking for no reason” is called “lawlessness.” Creating “lawlessness” in terms of concepts is very bad. They can be punished for this even among thieves themselves. (It’s amazing how similar the British gopniks are in their behavior to our domestic brothers in mind).

STRIKE FIRST

Having mastered the rules for managing a threat, you should learn to manage a physical threat, in other words, learn self-defense.

If self-defense begins with someone tugging at your chest, then you are already losing, says Lee Morrison. - If it is impossible to avoid a collision, attack first. The techniques in a street fight should be very simple. After all, you have to act in a state of stress and disorientation. The easiest way is to hit him in the head. Strong enough to make the enemy lose consciousness. I will not choke him, grab him, or use any other fighting or boxing techniques. Nothing. I'll hit it in the head and just turn off his “computer”. You have to hit hard before he hits you,” Morrison says.

A fight in a bar while watching a football match and an attack by a robber on the street are completely different situations. In order to fight back against a street predator, you need to understand his psychology.

The predator is looking for a prey that he can easily pick out from the crowd. The main characteristic of a victim is a lack of self-confidence. Go to a large supermarket and observe people's behavior. Think about which of them you would choose as your victim if you were planning to commit a robbery. You will quickly understand what a victim looks like and intuitively try to be different.

Street scumbags attack either from a dark corner from behind, or come up to ask something. If a person walks towards you, looking around, asking something, you should be wary. A passerby who really wants to ask something will not look around. He will look you in the eye. And the one who looks around is checking to see if there are any witnesses to the attack or surveillance cameras nearby.

Anyone who just wants to ask how to get there will stop a step away from you. Anyone who wants to attack will come close, put his right leg back, taking a striking position and, asking how to get there, quietly move his hand back, where he has a knife or pistol hidden. Then he will plunge the weapon into your stomach with lightning speed. He distracts your attention with questions in order to attack and quickly finish you off without waiting for your resistance.

A threat can be identified by the characteristic behavior of criminals. For example, you are standing in a supermarket parking lot. You opened the trunk and put your purchases into it. Suddenly you notice a certain man looking at you. He doesn't have shopping bags. He doesn't put anything in the trunk of the car. He doesn't even know what he's doing here. If you notice him and look into his eyes, he most likely will not choose you.

If you were walking down the street, and someone sat down in front of you, then stood up and followed you, crossed the intersection like you, this is a threat. Swift steps behind you, which sound like they are quickly approaching from behind, can also mean a threat. Or in a crowded nightclub, as you head to the toilet, a guy suddenly appears in front of you, blocking your path. What else do you need to understand that you have problems?

Learn to hit hard, advises Lee Morrison. - You must put all the weight of your body into the blow, then it will be crushing. If you just hit with your hand, this may not be enough to turn off the criminal’s “computer.” The successful outcome of an unpleasant meeting on the street for you depends 90% on you. If you could not convince the criminal not to attack you with a word, then you must hit first. But it is also important to experience aggression and be antisocial. That is, you must become a predator. A scumbag must be opposed to an equal scumbag. You need to become a scumbag for a while. This is not the time to think about morality, your life is at stake here. Remember this.

“You have to train the predator in yourself,” Morrison continues. - If I walk down a dark street and see two people there, and at the same time I feel like a bigger predator than them, my body shows it, and they feel it. This makes me a difficult target to attack. The second important aspect in attack is your thoughts. It's important to hit hard because your life depends on it - that's what emotions should set you up to hit. Explode! Stun the predator: “Don’t touch me, you bastard! Just touch me! You must make the predator feel that he has attacked the wrong person.

Having struck, do not stop, except in those cases when the enemy immediately gives up and is ready to run away from you as fast as he can. Let him go. Let him run away. In a street fight there is no exchange of blows, as in martial arts. A street fight is just your kick. Strike after strike, don't stop. Someone wants to kill you. Imagine your family grieving at your funeral. This will add fury to your actions. It's all asocial, but it works.

GET USED TO THE PAIN

Lee Morrison at one time reached such a level of skill in street fighting that he and his friend often went for walks through the nooks and crannies of the night, specifically looking for thugs. During the latter, the Englishman practiced simple but very effective street fighting techniques.

One day, my friend and I saw two characteristic-looking criminals. We stopped not far from them. They began to glance at us, clearly intending to attack. I told my friend: “We will hit at the same time whichever one of them comes first.” Soon the criminals headed towards us. The one who was closer to us received a double blow to the jaw - I hit with my left hand, and my friend - with his right. He fell, and his comrade immediately timidly sat down, raised his hands up, babbled something, then ran away. One woman, who saw the whole scene from the window, called my friend and I animals. But there are no rules on the street. We neutralized one enemy physically and the second mentally.

In the face of a physical threat, an unprepared person becomes paralyzed with fear. He cannot put two words together and looks like a suitable victim for a street bandit, which gives the latter a free hand. You can overcome the fear of pain if you get used to it. Morrison recommends this exercise: Simulate group fights with your friends, in which several people beat up one. It’s interesting that in his trainings Morrison himself acts as such a punching bag. The purpose of this exercise is to simulate an unpleasant situation, find a way to break out of the ring of attackers and get used to the pain. After all, what does not kill us makes us stronger and more experienced.

A knife sparkling in the hands of a scumbag often has a paralyzing effect on the psyche of an unprepared person. This is a terrible weapon and it is better to avoid direct physical confrontation with such a subject. But at the stage when the knife is not in combat readiness and it is impossible to retreat, there is a chance to provide decent resistance. Quickly go behind the enemy's back with your unarmed hand and strike him with a series of blows with an open palm at the base of the skull, followed by knocking the enemy to the ground. Avoiding a knife should be practiced in pairs with a change of partner, so as not to get hung up on the same weight and height of a potential opponent.

HOW TO “TAME” A BAT?

Defending yourself from a person who has a bat in his hand is easy. You must control your distance - do not let him approach. As Morrison watched, when there were massive street riots in England, one man died due to his own stupidity. The guy broke a window on the second floor of the house. The door opened and an impressive-looking man came out of the house, holding a bat on his shoulder. The guy, instead of somehow smoothing out the conflict, came close to this man and began to provoke him by shouting: “Well, what will you do?” A few seconds later he received a powerful blow to the forehead with a bat (the man didn’t even swing - he hit it “from the shoulder”). The guy fell dead.

It may be hard to believe, but you have an advantage when your opponent is armed with a bat or stick. Especially if he has a bat. First, he has an emotional attachment to weapons. If he drops his bat in a fight, he bends down to pick it up instead of defending himself. At this moment you need to pounce on him and beat him until he breaks. Secondly, the opponent's actions with the bat are limited by his own weapon, which, moreover, exaggerates his self-confidence. The exception is when a person is specifically trained to strike with this weapon. Or he knows how to fight with a rifle and a bayonet and will use them with a bat. It is difficult to predict the techniques of a person who, unlike you, knows how to handle a weapon.

If an opponent comes at you with the bat down in his right hand, the most likely way he will strike is with a swing and a blow to the head area. If the victim deviates, he will return the bat in an arc and still hit the head. How to resist these blows?

The most dangerous part of the bat is the end, as this part produces the most speed when swinging. If you expose your hand to a blow, it will be broken. But there is another option for confrontation. You need to hit the enemy in the middle of the hand at the moment when he is just swinging. Thus, the weapon ends up behind the “victim” and the enemy cannot use it. Meanwhile, having grabbed the enemy’s hand, you need to hit him in the jaw, knee him in the stomach, bite him on the ear, and so on. At the same time, break him psychologically, for example, with abuse and threats. Make him afraid of you. Beat him physically and mentally. Don't forget that at this moment your life depends on your actions.

When a person becomes self-confident, this state changes his whole life. He quits his boring job and calmly gets a new one. He meets a girl he likes. People around him begin to treat him differently because self-confidence makes a person different, says Lee Morrison. - Confidence makes you a harder target to attack. Outwardly, you look like a predator. But don't forget that even the biggest predators can also be polite or affectionate creatures. The lioness is gentle with her cubs, but look at her while hunting. There must be a balance. You have to remember that violence looks the same. If a thief tries to take your wallet and you fight him off, and it was caught on camera, then when you watch the footage, you will see that you look ugly because you are behaving antisocially.

The manifestation of my aggression will look exactly the same as the aggression of the person who tried to rob me. The only difference is the reason for the aggression. Street criminals are predators because they want to eat other people. You must be a predator in order to protect yourself and your loved ones. When confronted with antisocial individuals, you must also be antisocial so that they understand that you are not a victim. But when the conflict is over, you must become a normal person again. Don’t forget about this, the expert advises.

Lee Morrison- “guru” of street fighting, one of the creators of modern “urban combat”. An expert with 32 years' experience teaching martial arts and a track record of 12 years as a bouncer in bars, pubs and restaurants across the UK. Years of constant search, meetings and joint training with such generally recognized martial arts masters as Charles Nelson, Jim Grover And Paul Vunak, led Morrison to create the “Urban Combatives” system, which allows almost any of us to master street self-defense skills in a fairly short time.

The founder of the “Self-Defense 100%” club, Max Stepanov, had long been nurturing the idea of ​​inviting Lee Morrison to Moscow. And now, thanks to his efforts, Lee is in the capital. In the gym of the “Self-Defense 100%” club, he conducts a two-day seminar on the psychology of conflict, strategy and tactics of street self-defense, the use of improvised objects, protection from a group attack and protection from an attack using bladed weapons. Of course, I could not miss this event and gladly joined the group of instructors and students who decided to take part in the seminar.

The first day

On the first day, Lee introduced us to the basics of Urban Combatives. As it turns out, he doesn't really like it term self-defense, since it implies that the attack has already occurred and the victim of the attack needs to use defensive tactics, which sharply reduces her chances of success. Instead of such pre-losing behavior, Morrison suggests using preemptive attack based on 3-4 well placed And brought to automaticity blows In addition, an adherent of his system must master “threat control,” i.e. learn to avoid potentially dangerous places and gatherings, “turn on” your senses (sight, hearing, smell) and the natural instinct for danger. It is also necessary to learn to read “body language” in order to guess in advance the criminal intentions of a potential aggressor.

The first day of the seminar was devoted to all this: the theoretical part, demonstration of various conflict scenarios, and then practical exercises: strikes with fingers in the eyes, strikes with the heel of the palm, strikes with a hammer hand, elbows and knees, grabs and grabs that help to use the aggressor as a human shield . And attacks, attacks, attacks with shouting and swearing (for verbal suppression!), with a release of energy, powerful and leaving no chance for the attacker...

Second day

The second day turned out to be even more meaningful. Lee voiced his views on protection from bladed weapons and group attacks. He agrees with the opinion of most experts that a knife in the hands of a psychopath or scumbag is terrible weapon and it is better to avoid direct physical confrontation with such a subject. But at the stage when the knife is not in combat readiness and it is impossible to retreat, there is a chance to provide decent resistance. Exactly how to do this was shown by Morrison in his usual manner: quickly, specifically and convincingly, with an approach from the side behind the back from the unarmed hand, delivering a series of open palm strikes to the base of the skull and then knocking the opponent to the ground. We practiced avoiding the knife in pairs, changing partners so as not to get hung up on a certain weight and height.

We've just caught our breath, and Morrison is already introducing us to the tactics of defending against group attack. During a group attack, the main task is not to miss a blow to the head and not to be knocked down. If you fall, group yourself and protect your head, groin area, and back as much as possible. Having solved this problem, try to get to your feet and break through the gap in the ranks of your opponents, and then, as they say, “Run Forrest, run!” Each of us was able to be in the shoes of a victim who was simultaneously beaten by 5 to 10 people, pinned in a corner or knocked to the floor. The adrenaline rush is such that after performing the exercise you stand up half-bent. It’s good that the head was protected by a helmet with a visor, there was a mouthguard in the mouth, and a shell covered the “between legs,” otherwise injuries would definitely have been unavoidable. By the way, Morrison is an adept at using protective equipment, since it is this that allows him to practice full contact techniques without the risk of serious injury. The helmet he invented for training was tested in 700 sparrings, and during all this time there were only two knockouts (the helmet can be seen in the videos posted on the Urban Combatives website).

Six hours of classes flew by in a flash, it was time to say goodbye to the master, especially since he really wanted to watch the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Monson, broadcast that day, in the company of Max Stepanov. As a souvenir, Morrison personally presented each training participant with an autographed diploma, took a photo with all the seminar participants and thanked them for their productive and effective work. He noted with satisfaction the high potential of Russian instructors and promised to definitely come to Moscow again, since in two days he shared only a small fraction of his knowledge.

Well, we will look forward to the next meeting with this wonderful fighter and coach, but for now we will comprehend and practice the material received first-hand.