Self Defense Video Analysis

Main goal is to think about scenarios and tactics you wouldn't have thought of before cause it's better to think about it before it happens rather than while it happens.  I like these ASP videos because they break down the videos and talk about what went right and what went wrong.

1.  Watch the full video first, skip to 6:45.
2.  Think about how you would have handled it and tactics that were used in the video.
3.  Watch the analysis
4.  Comment

The scenario: A cab driver with a passenger in the front seat, which is normal in other counties.  Passenger attacks the driver.  This could also happen to you in a carjacking or hostage situation.

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=svQR8_1525464720

The analysis video

Here's my own experience.

Close to 20 years ago when I was around 22, I was involved in a carjacking incident.  I finished night school at Honolulu Community College and drove home towards Aiea on the Vineyard Blvd headed to the freeway westbound.  When I was by the church on Halona St. I heard a noise on my 1985 Toyota Corolla, which was a piece of junk, so I pulled over to the side to see if something fell off my car.  There were a couple of houses around but it was deserted and dark.  I walked around the car and found nothing wrong so I got back in.

As soon as I closed the door I heard footsteps as if someone was running towards me.  I looked in my drivers side rear view mirror and saw 2 men just steps away running towards my door.  I panicked and reached for the door lock, but it was too late when the man flung my door open.  I shifted the car to drive while the man was grabbing at me and swearing.  I floored the gas pedal but my car did 0 to 60 in about 15 seconds so it'll take a while to less them.  The attacker was running with the car grabbing on to the door frame and seat and looked down at his face and our eyes met.  I still remember that angry and determined look that he had.  My car eventually sped up and the attacker let go and gave up.  I called the police and met the police officer at the scene to file a report.

Looking back knowing the things I know now  I feel like an idiot.  Here are the reasons why.
1.  Bad environment.  I parked in a bad place and should have drove to a safer place even if it meant possibly losing something off my car.
2.  Lack of situational awareness.  I was just focused on my car and didn't look at the environment.  I probably would've seen the 2 men if I looked around.
3.  The door was unlocked.  First priority is to immediately lock the doors when getting in a car.  Always.
4.  Passiveness.  I was only interested in getting away.  I could have punched his arms and fingers, or crush him with the car door.
5.  Silence.  You'd think yelling and screaming would be a natural thing to do during an attack but I didn't do it.  I was just focused on getting away and stayed silent.

I'm better trained and experienced now and hopefully will be better prepared if something like that happens again.  Even if you're trained, sometimes you take safety for granted and let your guard down.  Then you don't have the right frame of mind when something does occur and you panic.  Also even the simplest thing like yelling doesn't come naturally unless you practice it.  It may sound stupid, but everyone should practice yelling for help.

I put this out so people can learn from my mistakes and be prepared if it should happen to you.

Hard to determine what the conversation was about, but I would have given him the car and money.  Unlock your seatbelt.  Open your door and bail out.  You may get stabbed once or twice, but this guy remained buckled in and was just sitting there taking it. 

Wow.  Tough one.  Once the knife was out 

I haven't been to training in a while, but when we did knife stuff, it was all about the "head of the snake".  Avoiding it, attacking and securing it, disarming it, etc.  This one was especially tough and the analysis mentions the leveraging arm and close proximity.  Even if the driver was able to get a hold of the passenger's wrist or hand, the blood would have made it close to impossible to secure.  Best bet I could see would be the jacket sleeve, but dayum. 

As mentioned, hard to tell what it was all about.  From the video, it seemed to me that the passenger was intent on doing harm, even if the driver complied.  Just my read of the video and not being able to understand Spanish.  Who knows.  Hope they caught the guy. . .

The video was in Ecuador and it seemed like the attacker wanted to steal the car as he kept reaching for the car keys, but the driver was preventing that over his own safety.  When a carjacking situation comes up or where a passenger becomes a threat you have to make the quick decision to protect your car or bail out.  I think the gut instinct for gun owners would be to protect the car and it may be too late to bail later.  If a stranger enters the car, bail out immediately and get distance.

What I take from it is when someone enters your car like that the driver is at a disadvantage.  You can't maneuver and have the steering so you can't dodge and have difficulty blocking with the steering wheel in the way.  CCW appendix carry would be useless if you're right handed since you have to block with your right hand and the grip would be facing away from your left hand.  Same with right side strong side carry.  One of the few situations where it's better to be left handed.

The video was in Ecuador and it seemed like the attacker wanted to steal the car as he kept reaching for the car keys, but the driver was preventing that over his own safety.  When a carjacking situation comes up or where a passenger becomes a threat you have to make the quick decision to protect your car or bail out.  I think the gut instinct for gun owners would be to protect the car and it may be too late to bail later.  If a stranger enters the car, bail out immediately and get distance.

What I take from it is when someone enters your car like that the driver is at a disadvantage.  You can't maneuver and have the steering so you can't dodge and have difficulty blocking with the steering wheel in the way.  CCW appendix carry would be useless if you're right handed since you have to block with your right hand and the grip would be facing away from your left hand.  Same with right side strong side carry.  One of the few situations where it's better to be left handed.

That's why also important is sit awareness.