In order to demonstrate the power of the cane for self-defense,
I often place martial arts instructors in the following scenario. If you had a petite female student who was offered one million dollars to face Mike Tyson and you only had a couple of hours to prepare her for the event, what would you teach her?
Many respond by saying they would teach her how to fire a gun. Let’s keep it legal. Would you teach her grappling techniques, striking techniques, or any of the hand-to-hand self defense methods available? These may all be great, but considering you only have a couple of hours that wouldn’t be very realistic. Teaching them how to use a martial arts weapon would also be illegal and possibly too complicated to learn in such a short period of time. While they sit wondering about the best response, I share the following.
I would give her a Robaina Heavy (training cane) and teach her what I call the “five basic power shots.” These five shots dissect the body diagonally and on a transverse plane. Basically, they cover every angle that an individual could get attacked from. In other words, the five shots simultaneously serve as both defense and offense. For about the first 30 minutes to an hour I would have her concentrate on developing speed, power, and accuracy on an anatomical heavy bag. This would condition her grip and give her neuromuscular system an idea of what it’s like to make contact. The strategy then would be simple: Give her a slightly lighter street cane and just swing the darn thing!!!
This is the power of the cane in its most primitive form. It is a legal stick with a twist on the end that has the potential to be a lethal self-defense tool. This is the first skill I teach new students and most can master it in a couple of hours, everyone certainly has it down by their 2nd training session. In essence, soon after her first self defense session, the brand new cane practitioner has to be respected for her ability to defend herself. Not because she’s so great, but because the cane creates leverage for her. So again I ask: Is there another legal self defense combat system that can be so practical in such a short period of time? Never underestimate the power of five.
