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Date Posted: 17:00:17 10/25/02 Fri
Author: Goktimus Prime
Subject: Case Study: Monash University shooting

During the Oct 2 Martial Arts Workshop at Parramatta Park, we covered some Kung Fu moves for hand vs gun techniques. There was some debate about the effectiveness of using Kung Fu against a firearm.

According to a morning news broadcast earlier this week, the student who helped subdue the gunman at the Monash University shooting used Kung Fu to thwart the gunman. According to a press interview, he said that he crossed the gunman's arm and was able to press an attack from then on. This carries on from something we were discussing at the workshop about fighting an opponent armed with a gun;
* The reduced effectiveness of a firearm in close combat. A gun is meant to be a ranged weapon.
* The need of establishing control of that opponent's body (or at very least, the arm that is holding the firearm).

For those who questioned if Kung Fu has any use in modern fighting against a foe with a firearm, then last Monday's tragedy at Monash University illustrates that the answer is yes.

I am by no means saying that Kung Fu is the ultimate defence against a gun or that defeating an armed opponent is an easy task. In fact no matter how skilled you are, ANY fight involving a weapon, especially a firearm, is extremely hazardous. However this case shows that training in martial arts can greatly increase the odds of you surviving a fight with a weapon involved, which is all martial arts training is about -- not ever guaranteeing victory in a fight, but merely improving the odds in your favour.

A person with no martial arts training might have a one in a million chance of winning a fight against an armed opponent -- after all, there were two people who subdued the gunman, the other was a lecturer who hasn't told the media of any experience in martial arts or combat. He sustained a shot to the arm. The student who had been practising Kung Fu for the last few years helped overcome the gunman without any injuries. Of course, we can see that this student was extremely lucky, but we can also argue that his Kung Fu training improved his odds of surviving from one in a million to one in a thousand.

One in a thousand are NOT good odds. None of the victims in that tutorial rooms had any good odds -- all the odds were tipped in Xiang's favour... after all, HE was wielding a pair of semi-automatic pistols (and he had more on him as well). But a 1:1000 chance is better than a 1:1000000000 chance!

Naturally I'm inventing these figures, but you get the point.

For more information on last Monday's shootings, check out these sites:

http://www.monash.edu.au/incident.html
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/021022/reuters/asia-130763.html

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