Eskrima Kombat

The manhunt for escaped convict Alberto Morales has ended in his death.

Morales was being transported on a plane accompanied by two officers, when his erratic behavior (banging his head on the seat in front of him) caused the airline to deny him service. In retrospect, this was a devious part of his escape plan. Knowing he couldn’t escape from a plane, it appears his aim was to force the officers to drive him.

Prison Weapons

Although he was handcuffed and escorted by three officers, he made his escape when they stopped at a Wal-mart to use the restroom. While two officers were inside, Morales appears to have snapped the arm off of his eyeglasses and used it to stab the deputy repeatedly in the neck and back. According to reports, “Authorities said Pardinas was stabbed very deeply in the neck and back and that he suffered a collapsed lung.”

After a manhunt, authorities finally confronted him. “Officers instructed Morales to lie on the ground and show his hands, but he rushed toward them. Morales, 42, was unarmed at the time of the shooting and was not wearing handcuffs. He was holding some sticks, Eberling said.

 

‘He was very skilled and crafty as far as making makeshift edged weapons inside the prison. That was in the forethoughts of the officers. He was able to almost kill an officer with some eyeglasses,’ Eberling added.”

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Toothbrush Weapon

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Lessons Learned

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1)  Get a Weapon

Had Morales tried to fight the officer with his bare hands, I doubt he could have inflicted the type of damage (a collapsed lung!) that he was able to cause with his makeshift weapon. If your system and training is based on empty-handed opponents fighting each other, you will be unprepared for the real world. If you’re facing a hardened predator like Morales, you need a weapon ASAP, and even then you’re in grave danger.

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2)  With the Right Mindset, Weapons Are Everywhere

Too much dojo training features samurai swords or bokken, sai, nunchaku, tonfa, hook swords, butterfly swords, and rattan sticks. Reality is a convict stabbing you in the neck with the arm of his eyeglasses, or getting hit in the side of the head with a beer bottle. Look, if you’re a convict being escorted to prison, you undoubtedly have been thoroughly searched for anything even resembling a weapon, yet Morales was able to come up with a weapon. He was also able to get some sticks even though he was a fugitive. With the right training and mindset, you can find a weapon anywhere.

Martial artists need serious training in recognizing and using improvised weapons. I have an Amazon Kindle book Street Fighting Weapons, which covers the types of improvised weapons and how to use them. In the future I will release a deluxe  version of the book with video links.

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