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A Fighter’s Intuition

Hey, you awake?

Frankly, if you’re like most people, you’re probably asleep at the wheel, spending most of your day in a kind of waking dream, on the phone, texting, listening to music. Thinking about something else, anything except what’s happening around you. Believe me, the bad guys love this.

Police reports tell the story. Big red flags that something was about to go terribly wrong gone unheeded and ignored with tragic consequences for the victim. It’s understandable. People just don’t want to believe that another human being would want to beat rape or kill them.

It Happens All The Time

You wanna get scared shitless just go online and check out that “sexual offenders” website. I’ll bet you discover a dozen or more of these goons are living right in your neighborhood. And that’s just a tip of the iceberg.

Which is why developing a fighter’s intuition is crucial. It doesn’t mean you have to become paranoid. No, you just have to start listening for the subtle warning bells — to make sure you’re not being set up for a bad day.

Thirty five years ago, in my Special Forces days, I saw a LOT of action on the battlefield and in the streets. Those were bloody days. Many times my early-warning “sixth sense” alerted me that the shit was about to hit the fan. Other times I was caught off guard. Yep, it can happen to anyone.

With more than 100 stitches in my face from beer bottles and the likes, I don’t know if I would have survived, without training and practice. Let me make my point with a quick story.

This Really Happened

Several years ago I was in Aberdeen, Maryland relaxing at an Applebee’s. I was new in town and didn’t know anyone, my first night in town and “Family Night”. I was sitting at the bar and ordered a beer and food. I’m alone. I’m minding my own business.

The place was lively, families coming in for dinner, a very non-violent atmosphere and a group guys beside me loudly debating where Egypt is located. They obviously had a few drinks in them.

Initially there were no indications trouble could be looming. The guy sitting right next to me insisted that Egypt was in the Middle East.

His buddy laughed. “It’s in Africa, you idiot.”

This went on for a while and the guy sitting to my right asked if I was ever in the military, stating I should know all the answers. I thought he was drunk and decided to accommodate the conversation by answering. Besides I was new in town.

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One Simple Rule

A moment later the aforementioned “idiot” shook my hand and offered his thanks for my military service. I initially declined, but he became pushy, insisting I let him buy me a drink to show his appreciation for my military service. I didn’t want trouble or to start off wrong, so eventually I accepted with a simple rule.

I told him I typically will not drink shots during the week, because it never has a happy ending. I agreed and told him here is the rule; you have to drink one with me. He told me no problem order what you want and he would pay.

I ordered two double shots of tequila one for each of us. He proposed a toast and we clicked glasses and I started to down my shot. At the exact time he placed his shot on the bar in front of me…

Ding, ding, ding a RED FLAG immediately popped up for me.

The Sucker Punch

I drank my shot, set the glass down, and told him he had to drink his too, that’s the rule! I was laughing when I told him this. As I was in the motion of pushing the shot glass back to him, he punched me in my face while I was sitting on the bar stool. These particular bar stools had a high back to them, which worked out in my favor.

Problem for him is that my skull is made of steel or something very much like it. As his fist came in contact with my face, I immediately placed my feet onto the floor, guarding and pushing simultaneously with my left hand on his chest, palm out and pressing. I call this hitting three points of contact.

In a split second, I was defended and already launching my offense– a simple overhand right. Initially I could only see his chest and down to the base of his chair and floor as I had tucked my chin and bulled my neck on impact.

It was the wildest thing because I immediately noticed the front legs of his chair tipping over backwards as I was press punching him. Odds would have it, my favorite headhunting technique, “the overhand right” landed on his jaw knocking him out in his seat.

A Brutal Response

I continued to push through after the knockout blow was delivered in order to control the distance. He was rendered immediately unconscious while falling backward in the chair. So on his way down his ear came in contact with a lower table chair, ripping off half his ear.

He then landed on his head, splitting his skull open. The poor bastard had toppled over hard, chair and all, and, as an extra bonus, he struck his head on the lower chair on the way down. By now (a split second from start to finish), I was fully engaged and my radar was turned on, looking for his friends and any others who may have wanted to be a hero.

I stood over him and briefly considered finishing with a head stomp. It would have pointless though. He was sprawled out, unconscious, and wouldn’t have felt a thing. He was fully bleeding out, nearly dying. The joint fell into a shocked silence.

On a number of occasions I’ve knocked out guys then felt the need to finish up by stomping on them. Of course I was concerned others may get involved. That did not happen. There was so much damage and blood that the crowd thought he was dead, rendering them motionless.

Justified Defense

I could see no one wanted any part of me. I went back to my beer while I waited for the police and EMS to arrive. The manager flew from his office hysterical and indignant shouting “You are going to jail, I’m calling the police,” blah, blah, blah. I sipped my beer and downed my unconscious friend’s shot of tequila while waiting for the law to arrive.

Later, as the paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher, the cops went into the manager’s office and watched the security video which 100% confirmed my story. A crafty experienced man ambushed me by bringing my guard down with his friendly antics, then sucker-punched me in the face while I was minding my own business.

The police captain was impressed with my handy work and asked me if I wanted to press charges. Press charges? Nah, I wanted nothing to do with him and figured (if he lives) the scar through his skull and missing half an ear would forever remind him of my sexy smile, so I didn’t bother.

I believe if you are justified in your defense, it is best to damage your attacker so badly they will never come back at you. In fact I heard later he was telling his friends from the hospital “3 black guys beat me up”. What a jerk.

The Moral of the Story

So what does this fun story have to do YOU? Just this, the most powerful tool you possess is your intuition and training. Don’t be afraid of it, and don’t ignore it. I highly recommend to all GO WITH YOUR GUT!

Observe people in restaurants, parking lots, bars, gas stations, around your neighborhood, and everywhere else you go. You don’t have to be a hyper-vigilant nut case. Just put down the phone for a second and look around.

Listen to what your gut is telling you. If you ever hear two or three alarm bells go off, it’s probably time to get the hell out of there.

In my case I let my guard down and was lured into a false sense of security – even though the red flag indicators where present the whole time.

That pisses me off at myself. I am lucky to the extent my training and previous fight and sparring gave me an advantage. When you are under fire, you will do what you know. Practice, practice and practice.

Jim West
Retired: Special Operations Technician
U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group

Jim West is a 20-year U.S. Special Forces combat vet who has earned a half a dozen medals in the “first” Iraq war… spent 13 years in the “covert operations” as a member of the Green Berets… Jim was a member of HALO, SCUBA Teams and a combat veteran. Jim has trained organizations with a top secret clearance, including Special Forces, Delta Force, CIA and Clandestine Foreign Operators and Navy Seals. Jim West has also trained two UFC Fighters, Vale Tudo Champions, Professional Boxers and Kick boxers as seen on HBO, Pay Per View and USA Tuesday Night Fights.

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88 thoughts on “A Fighter’s Intuition”

  3. I have studied hundreds of hours of self defense videos from dozens of experts. I can truly say Jim West is one of, if not the, most natural marshal arts instructors I have ever seen. Can’t wait to study this video set completely. It’s almost something you cannot your finger on, but his moves instill a confidence well above other instructors.

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  4. Any idea why he went on the offensive? Also, what triggered you to know he was about to attack? I assume it was his not following the rules for the shared drink. You also said your flags were up earlier, but I didn’t catch the thing that made you concerned. Thanks

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  5. Frank, thanks as for the moves they were very simple. I always use the phylosophy, learn a lot and use a little. What gave me an instant advatage was a few things, 1st the last flag was up, the instant he didn’t take his shot and proceeded to push it towards me on the bar. What a natural distractor. So Bill, you are correct with the shared drink theory. The earlier flags for me is why the “F” is he presisently talking to me and nudging me. I did’t get it and my way of thinking is uncomfortable is unnatural, something had to be up.

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  6. Frank I feel compelled to explain what worked here. It was very quick from the time the drink was being pushed towards me, to the time he punched me. The push time allowed me time to see him wind up for the punch. Initially we were so close he had to wind up for a straight right hand. Truth be known he would have had greater success with a headbut or elbow. So his punch didn’t carry any real impact, kind of powder puff. maybe he should have trained. Because it was a high backed tall bar chair, I had one my left foot already on the floor and the foot between him and me on the lower rung. I have made a habit through years of unexpected happenings, I make a point to always maintain my base with a power foot to the rear. This always allows not being pushed off balance by falling straight back. In turn this allowed the other foot to go straight down to the floor. I always go to a crash position because I train so much under fire. It just so happened when as he connected the punch, I was hitting what I call a 3 point contact with the ground and my left hand simply came up and landed on his chest just below his chin, with my arm from the elbow to the fist perpendicular to the ground, much like a boxer in-fighting positioned for an uppercut. from the initial crash position, I push off my back foot and pressed him with my left, already on his chest. I had tucked my head instantly, stiff nack of neck and chin tucked. As his punch was landing and I was pushing, I could see the front 2 legs of his chair coming off the ground. This made me push harder simply attempting to control the distance. well it just so happens my signature punch is an old Rocky Marcinao style over hand right. It is an up close looping overhand right, and you arm usually stays in almost and arm wrestling tightness. When I connected it knocked him out while he was still seated in the chair. The rest is history.

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  7. Don, I have heard people before state they fely I was the most natural or puerest street fighter they have seen. With me I have always been very lieral and like a kid in a cady store. If one of my instructors taught me something, the first chance I got I tried it out in the street. I guess I’m luckey to be alive and employed, but when I was young and on the teams, times were different.I had a lot of chances to vet-out the techniques and what works for me. At the end of the day that kid like mentality has allwed my street techniques to flow. It’s all about relaxation and staying loose. Great observation and thanks!.

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  8. Good God guys forgive my spelling wow fely = felt … lieral = literal, my fingers keep hitting the wrong key.

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  11. Hey guys, I just want to say, because of all of you the beast is out of the box. For the last 11 years I have been working and laying low. Now I am back to full time training so …
    Thanks!

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  14. Great Story. Situational awareness is so important these days and when confronted in a violent way being able to ensure your safety and the safety of your family is crucial. Thank you.

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  17. JW. First off, Thank You for your dedicated service! Secondly, enjoyed the narrative. Learned long ago, head on a swivel at all times, back to a wall, scan the room. Best advice, home by 11pm. lol.

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  18. Very good. I love hearing those stories. As a retired Detroit Police Officer, Marine. .Combat Veteran of Vietnam, I trained in several Martial Arts. I still “Bounce” & study “Reality Self Defense”.

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  20. Jim , I’m guessing your a biker . Wearing color’s myself it always amazes me how many people feel they just have to go talk to the biker before their day is complete . Scares the hell out of me , I never know what to expect , so I expect the worst . I’m always friendly , but I NEVER let my guard down .
    and thanks for your service .
    By the way , Egypt is in Hell .

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  22. The other side of that coin, the preferred one, at least from my standpoint. Viet-era veteran, late ’70’s, hunting trip to unfamiliar area in So. Carolina, a visit to a local bar w/ the friend I came with. My friend had gone downstairs to shoot pool, I stayed at the table w/ a pitcher o beer, they were very long tables in a very open & large building that had several party areas. A biker gang entered and seated themselves at my table a few seats down from me. Internal radar alert immediately went sky high, the leader (60 pounds on me at least) asked for some of my beer, my choice as I saw it was to comply & avoid or insult & defend, I always choose non-violence when allowed to choose. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy, as he started to pass the pitcher to his friends I spoke out in a calm & firm voice that he had been welcome to a drink but that my friend would not appreciate all of his beer being gone, because that pitcher was NOT coming back w/ any beer left in it. Somewhat surprisingly, he returned the pitcher to me w/o any further damage being done to it other than the drink he took. I probably should have let it rest, but then I wouldn’t be me if I did. I felt like he/they were bullies out to take advantage of anyone they could as often as they could. So, within a minute I asked the dude if he wanted to arm-wrestle for a dollar, he agreed & moved across from me, I placed my dollar down & asked him where was his, he said he was good for it, I said put it on the table and he had to borrow 67 cents from his gang. Anyway, while we were at it my friend returned and my arm was going down, he bumped my leg as if to say, “c’mon man”, somehow I recovered & won and took the dollar and went back to enjoying my well deserved beer w/ my buddy. The guy looked at me kind of strange & said, “what does that mean to you?” I said it just means I got the dollar. We didn’t speak again, as we were leaving we were about 45 seconds behind a stabbing at the front by some leader of a biker gang. A lot of things quickly raced thru my mind upon hearing that, not the least of which was relief & a great deal of contemplation.
    PS.
    Update: I have none now nor did I at the time, any doubt as to my purpose in this interaction. My purpose was to cut him down to size & show them that they weren’t going to run over everone all the time. Of course it could have gone bad for me but it was a risk I had to take, not just for myself but for others too. I believe my military training & the confidence I had because of it are the reasons for a good ending in my case, although I do feel responsible to some extent for the stabbing but I shouldn’t, it was inevitable.
    Btw, I didn’t mean to imply all bikers are trouble, I ride & know many great ones, but this was a time & place where bikers weren’t as well thought of & generally for good reason. I see errors in my decision of course, I suppose I could have cowered, but like I said before, if I did that, it just wouldn’t be me. Lesson is, actions carry consequences, always, maybe not to you, maybe not now, but somewhere, someplace & to somebody.

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  24. Sorry to hear that Garry . When you have 30 or 40 alpha male’s in one place you have to have rules , and we do . Our first rule is “Show respect” our second rule is “Show respect” and our third is to “expect the same” and all is well , until someone breaks the rules . And it seems to work everywhere we go 99.9% of the time but just as Jim said I have yet to meet anyone , that after having to be shown the rules , ever forgot them .
    But as you know you can meet trash anywhere you go .

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  25. After training in Tang Soo Do, Aikido and currently Kyusho Jitsu I can honestly say I would never F*** with Jim West. After knowing him personally I know he could mop the floor with Guys half his age. Experience & Wisdom will trump youth and brute force. Jim not only has the experience, Wisdom but also Demon Speed!! Now for my Story….

    I was in the Persia Gulf and out to sea for several weeks. After coming back to Bahrain for a few days me & my Buddy went to a Hotel Bar. A group of other Military Guys were at a table near ours getting sh8t faced and being rude to everyone around them. My Buddy and I saw them get up and leave (unknown to me they made a stop into the large Mens room). I got up and went into the Bathroom without knowing they were in there. As soon as I walked in my Radar went thru the roof. I should have returned to my table but I had to P8ss. So I straddled a Urinal and started my Business. I felt a BUMP into my shoulder which I thought one of the As8hole tripped into me. Then I felt another BUMP into my back and I could hear laughing. Well at that time I got pretty mad because I p8ssed on my hand & knew the Bumps were no accident. I calmy zipped up and walked over to the sink to wash my hands (I wanted to get seperation because I knew sh8t was going to go down). I kept my eyes in the Mirror and told the Guys friends to get the dude that bumped into me away from me before I wasted him. As soon as the jerk who bumped into me heard what I said hear he comes walking at me (I could see him in Mirror) saying “your going to waste me???”. He was a big guy that looked like he took steroids and was having a Roid Rage. Well I didn’t wait. As soon as he was in striking distance I turned and reversed punched him right between the eyes. He stumbled backwards dazed….then here he came. Started to swing wildly at me which I easily parried and landed 2 more punches on him and he went down. Then I yelled….Alright who’s F8cking next !!! His friends all looked in amazement while pulling him off the floor and scrambling out of the Mens Room. I remember calmly walking back to my table and my friend saying “What just happened…I just saw Guys pouring out of the Mens Room”. Reality kind of sunk in and I said “I just got into a fight”. I was more stunned than anything. Fights happen & they happen quick !!! I think the smartest thing I did was to get some seperation to launch MY Attack…(plus keeping my eyes on them in the Mirror)….vs. falling into the As8holes trap of trying to fight with my Back turned while p8ssing. As I have heard from a lot of smart fighters….”Fight YOUR fight…don’t get sucked into someone elses Fight / their strenghts”.

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  26. Awesome comments! I have been riding since the 70’s, but I am not affiliated. I have lot’s riends who are and all of them have treated me with repect. I am sure there are bullys everywhere. Mostlt, my fights have been with guys generally involved in drinking. For many years for me especially around Ft. Bragg and a few places over seas, I felt it was a proving ground. When most of us were kids, boys were playing king of the mountain. At some level I feel during certain phases of our life we go through that. Amazingly enough if you look at the statistics for date rape, the offender is generaly the jock that went unchallenged most of his life and simply can’t accept “NO” for an answer. It’s sad we have lost so much as a country, what with big brother and all. In the old days you could have a fight and not worry about losing you job. That doesn’t make it right, but at some point maybe it was just a right of passage. It;s not always about winning or losing, it’s about not quiting and earning respect. Even if you lose, but put up a good fight, you will gain respect. For those who don’t fully understand the fighters mentality, it’s not always going out an looking for a fight, but more about being prepared for the “what if” situation. You guys are right, with the erosion of our economy, poor people generally stay angry and in some cases are lead to crime, just to survive. Yep, I belive we are heading down this dark path as a nation. More than ever it is time to prepare to protect yourself and your family and friends. Doesn’t always matter what style or system, as long as you practice with a touch of reality. At 60, I feel the need to walk with confidence and with training and sparring, your overall awareness and reaction timing will simply be better. Better to have it and not need it, that need it and not have it.

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  27. Keith you are right on, when you say fight your fight. Great comment. So many get wrapped around the axle trying to fight the other guys fight. Maybe we should talk about a fighters point of view.

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  28. Same thing happened to me in Vegas at the Excalibur. My Uncle and I were at the bar, drinking a beer, and this fat bastard sitting next to me was telling a story to his fat buddies, and was crowding me, and elbowing me in the gut, as he made hand gestures to go with the story. After about five minutes of this I’d had enough, and instead of just getting up and leaving, I spun the idiot around in his bar stool, and grabbed his left arm, while pushing him away with my right hand. That dislocated his shoulder, as he fell to the floor, as he started screaming. My Uncle and I left post haste, not wanting any part of the Las Vegas police. That was the night Tupac got killed, and there was an air of evil all around Las Vegas that night. I was an aircrew survival equipmentman (PR) in the Navy, and have been through SAR school at Damneck that taught me a lot. Thanks for the story.

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  29. I appreciated the story. As a slightly built much older woman, I have watched repeatedly Tim Larkin’s training videos, and I agree completely with being prepared and making sure you practice what you’re taught. You will do what you have practiced. It may help someday.

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  30. Mr. West,

    Thank you for sharing and most importantly thank you for your service to our country. Nice motorcycle by the way, good points about hitting three points of contact at once, I have used the finishing stomp to the head many times myself, it definitely sends a message. It’s funny how simple techinques like the overhand right, can be devasting when proper timing and leverage, come into play. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next update.

    Thank You,

    Joe Breen

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  34. Retired Army First Sargent, up through the ranks as a company clerk (the most powerful man in any company LOL). I’ve not got a tenth of your experience in the “Field” or your martial skills, but coming from a Army Family (Dad a 39 year Veteran, Granddad 31, Great GD 36 and so on) I grew up with getting into the various martial arts and being a master at Aikido. I teach an Anti Rape class that the emphasis is on personal Awareness. But as you said, sometimes the situation is such that the guard goes down and the most innocent situation can go horribly wrong. That is why I teach my students to kill their assailants. Rape is not about sex, its about power. The rapist has raped before and will do so again. I teach them to break the cycle as she owes it to her sisters this scum has raped and to those he will in the future. You did the right thing in using the proper amount of force to counteract his assault upon your personal space and your self. Makes you kind of wonder how many times he’s done this before. Thank you for your service. The Co, Clerk.

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  37. How do you fight and defend against someone whos continuosly rushing you with punches and trading punches with this person isnt a good idea given his size and strength advantage. Bullies and fighters where I live lead with powerful step in jabs and then when close in range release hell upper cuts, hooks, crosses everything. Getting to defensive will probably get me hurt and im not exactly the strongest or biggest guy where I go to school. And I definetly don’t have the luxury of range because im not very tall. And getting in is hard because I’ll have to take some punishing and probably lethal blows before I get in.

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  38. Jim, Good for you for handling the situation the way you did. You could have finished him but chose not to seeing that doing anything more was actually not needed. I commend you on your abilities and restraint!

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  39. He got what he deserved as far as I am concerned. Apparently, his parents had failed when they attempted to teach him how to treat “guests”. A lesson he apparently learned when he tried to force you to be become his friend.

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  41. Tavon, your question goes straight to the heart of street fighting. First thing is to avoid the areas if you can. Clearly I don’t think you can. 1st never let anyone behind you, and if there is more than one, you need to learn about angulation (how to angle so multiple attackers tend to bock each other out). There seem to be two things going on in your question; 1. Most guys in the street tend to rush and bully because they are afraid of getting hit; 2. Is if they are throwing double jabs and upper cuts, it seems they have some boxing training, tough neighborhood. As far as being defensive, I believe you should get into a protective brace position, I commonly refer to this as a “crash position” meaning your weight is pushing forward and your hands and elbows are up protecting your face, neck and centerline. By stepping in at an angle or in a zig-zag method, you will cut most of his punches short reducing his leverage. If you had a dart, cork screw or pencil in your hands you could disrupt his actions with a little pain compliance. Then you go to work. Remember this; you will have more power punching up, than a person has when he is punching downward. You can find some of this in my TRS DVD named “Master of Destruction”

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  42. Peter, Gary and patrick first thank you guys for recognizing the reality of the situation, that is right on. You are right I think he did deserve it. As far as lessons learned that’s another story. Itls kind of like the county clerk stated below, It makes you wonder how many times he has done that before. I thought long and hard and I agreethis was probaly not his first time. A part of me thinks he gets a few free drink and then starts shit and leaves without paying. Also if he has hit others, my thought is the other victims didn’t hit back, before a bouncer broke it up. That’s why you have to practice answering back during training. I’ll explain more on that later, but great observation.

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  43. Hi Jim

    I’ve heard of you from Clint and wanted to say good for you taking care of business with this guy. Also, thank you for your service. I’m Canadian myself but we’re all allies right? 🙂

    I was curious about your DVDs, which of your sets would you recommend? Is Master of Destruction material that you use currently compared to Fight to Win?

    Thanks
    Tom

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  44. Tom, all of my DVD’s are different. The basics remain the same, but different. If you are looking for hardcore military and other deadly applications, i would guide you to Secrtes of The Black Ops. The master of Destruction is more subtle and has interesting and simle ways of achieving the same goals. I am planing to do a more concise and updated version combining some of the old with some new simple but deadly useful tactics. If you are under 45 and fit Black Ops, Master of Destruction has techniques more closely related to where I am heading, so I would recommed MOD. Yes Tom we are allies and probably more. Our future will bring warriors togeter.

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  46. Sammy my brother, you have been there a few times in the past loll so you know how it was back in the day. Let’s stay in touch

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  48. As Redd Foxx would say that guy was A Big Dummy!Picking a fight with Jim West is not a good idea.Just love any insights he gives for fighting.

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  49. Yep Jeff, I think picking fights could really set someone up for failure. When somebody is picking the fight, the other person may be throwing a punch.

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  50. You know Dan, when it’s you and when it’s real, you will remeber every detail. It’s weird how you can take 10 minutes describing the exact details, when the fight may have only lasted for a few seconds. Most guys with PTSD go through this all the time, remebering every detail.

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