THE “NUCLEAR OPTION” OF LIFE OR DEATH SELF-DEFENSE

I’ve often referred to our approach to life or death self-defense as a “nuclear weapon.” It’s uncompromising, total, and devastating — just like lighting a nuke off in a city.

We don’t work in half-measures. There’s no “taking it back” in violence.

The injuries we talk about inflicting will be life-altering for the man, provided he survives them. This means what we are training to do can only be considered as the absolute last option. It’s what you do when there is nothing else left but to do or die.

A better, and more closely related analogy is the use of a handgun for life or death self-defense. If you would feel comfortable, correct, and vindicated in pulling a handgun and emptying the clip into his body, then you’re most likely cleared to do what we train if you happened to find yourself, ahem, “unarmed.”

The only problem with the handgun analogy is that you can brandish a handgun to show your intent and capability to give the other person or people a chance to change their minds and alter their behavior.

This isn’t possible with fists and boots. Getting in a “fighting stance” or telling someone you’re trained will likely only escalate an antisocial situation rather than defuse it. A criminal who runs from a gun may be willing to call your bluff with bare hands. Especially if he brought something more.

If you’ve trained with us, it’s no bluff. You really do know how to blind, cripple and kill a man with your bare hands. He just has no way of knowing that until it’s too late. It’s better, then, to think of this as a nuclear option. It’s not realistically on the table for your daily interactions. You’ll pull the trigger on it only when there is literally no other option left, because when you do uncork it, the results will be terrible and irrevocable.

Nuclear weapons are only good for one thing: laying waste to cities.

TFT is only good for when the only solution to your current situation is a nonfunctional person (crippled, unconscious, or dead).

For the (hopefully) vast spread of your life, it will never be appropriate. But when that’s what you need, like a nuke, nothing else will do.