At first, the instructor begins from an out-of-range distance, holding the air shield low, so the student can see his face. Then, the instructor “woofs” on the student, as he moves around and begins to reduce the distance between them. One of the objectives is to allow the student to experience how woofing affects him mentally and disrupts his ability to think clearly.

The student raises his hands at the opening “woof”, but his hands are open and at face level or slightly above. This closes the “gates” for the ideal sucker shot. The student uses his previously practiced verbal boundary skills. He or she may shout, “Back off, I don’t want any trouble with you!” This helps to establish his legal testimony with witnesses, regarding his attempt to avoid violence, and that he was not the aggressor. Hence, he must shout loud enough, so anyone in earshot will hear him.

Eventually, the woofer/instructor with the air shield will make that final move to close the distance necessary to strike the student. The student now sees the forthcoming attack and launches his own with the heel-of-palm on the air shield. The student shouts as he strikes and then shouts again and repeats the strike.

The remainder of the class watches carefully. They must be psychologically involved in each student’s drill. This is critical. The other students are silent until each student finishes his or her strikes, and then they all applaud. Now, if this sounds rather “Kumba Ya” to you, then I will remind you that this is the way it is done at RMCAT; and, after some research, Black Belt Magazine called RMCAT “The bests short-term, self-defense program existent.

Rarely, a student’s verbal boundary will be so strong that the instructor will back off and not close to striking distance. Years ago, I was doing a class in California. There was a Black Belt in Master Ernie Reye’s class, whose verbal boundary was so electrifying and powerful that all 300-odd people in the room reacted immediately; and, frankly, so did I.

Later, I asked him, “The way you took total command in that drill you must have been a Marine drill sergeant or a police officer.” The gentleman replied that he had been both!

The shuto or sudo strike can be practiced exactly the same way as the heel-of-palm drill. I feel it is beneficial for students to put their left (or weak hand) on the shield the instant before they strike. As a bouncer, I used my left to push the head back and expose the carotid artery, when possible. The weak hand touching the target is also a distance-measuring tool. You will see it used in professional boxing.

The student strikes at least twice and he must shout and expel air as he strikes. If he does not do this properly, then have him repeat the drill. Instruct the student to bring the back of his hand to his ear each time he strikes. This means the hand turns as it strikes the knife hand blow. The side of the neck, the carotid artery, is the target. I use the “Bob” dummy for these drills too. Do not instruct a student to strike with total full force on Bob, to avoid injury. Bob is harder on the hand than are human beings, so avoid injury here.

In any athletic contest, both participants know why they are there. In a martial arts tournament, they both know they are there to “fight”. This is not the case, however, in a real fight. The predator or aggressor alone knows that he intends to find a suitable victim to pound or maybe just verbally humiliate. The potential victim is not usually aware of the predator’s intent before the fact.

Most people are not prepared for direct stand up, in-your-face aggression, especially from a stranger. Their minds cannot make sense of it. They may think, “What did I ever do to this guy to make him act so hostile and aggressive to me; I’ve never even seen him before”? This type of thinking is simply a form of denial of the reality of the hostile intent of the aggressor.

The predator will recognize such a display of denial and confusion as weakness and this brings him one step closer to executing his “attack the suitable and safe victim program.”

The easiest point in time to win a fight is long before any blows are thrown. As a good, general rule, the aggressor will not throw his first shot until he is either provoked or he thinks it is safe to do so. Consequently, the first technique we teach our self-defense students is the strong and authoritative Verbal Boundary Drill. If a student’s voice level, inflection, body carriage, etc. sends a clear message, totally and congruently, then most bully types will simply walk away and look for more passive “game”.

Understand that the verbal boundary also serves to ramp up the student’s mental preparedness to employ violence, when and if, there is no reasonable alternative. The student must respond to the first verbal “woof” at the same level of intensity. If the student’s intensity level is higher, then he may seem provoking to the bully. If his verbal intensity is too low, then he seems too passive, and this invites the bully to go further.

I will present a drill that involves air shields, the woof and striking and shouting by the student. It is essential that you understandthat most people are socialized against the use of violence. Hence, you must create a social support group to support your students’ decision to use violence, as required in their self-defense class. This is very important. No matter how hard or fast you can strike a blow or kick, it won’t mean much in an actual fight if you don’t have your mind right. You must develop your self-defense students’ “minds right.” Their class group will accomplish this in large part.

First, we repeat the “Time-To-Go-Off Drill”. All the students stand in a line on one side of the mat. The instructor says words to the effect, “Many of us are not used to the idea of using violence, but we are all here because we know the time may come when effective violence may be the only way we can protect ourselves, our children or other loved ones. We want to make sure that all of us really know when it is time to strike the enemy. When you feel it is time to strike the aggressor, then everyone shout loudly, ‘NOW!’” The instructor then “woofs” on the co-instructor and moves around him to the ideal range and position to throw a sucker punch. When you reach that ideal position, you may be surprised at how quickly everyone in the class shouts loudly and in unison, “Now!”