DO NOT BECOME UNBALANCED
COUNTER TO ELBOW BREAK
In trying to get the elbow break the man on the right has stepped in and lost his balance.
He has thrown his elbow around opponent's upper arm instead of pulling it towards him. He has left opponent on balance, and he himself is off balance.
Opponent therefore has only to shove him backwards to cause him to fall to the ground.
Opponent is in a position, if he wishes, to throw him hard enough to knock him out.
By practicing this a few times you will learn not to become unbalanced while trying jujitsu tricks.


LESSON 20
This lesson teaches you: --
1. Escape from the elbow break.
2. Prevention of escape.
3. Wrong method of elbow break.
Name of Partner Date Commenced Escape Prevention Wrong
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Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.


ESCAPE FROM ELBOW BREAK
As Assailant slowly presses you down with the elbow break, slowly twist your body to the left, thus releasing your elbow and lowering your right hand..
It will then be easy for you to twist around, release your right hand, and give your opponent the elbow blow in the solar plexus with your left arm.
(The instructions are so worded that the veriest tyro will have no difficulty in doing the trick correctly and without danger.)


PREVENTION OF ESCAPE
Frustrate opponent's efforts to escape by pressing with your left forearm and pulling with your right forearm.
A little experimenting will show just how it is done.
In this practice, be cautious. Go slow.
By continuing the pressure on his elbow it is easy to force him to the ground. It is superfluous to trip him.
In case of necessity it is easy to break his arm or to hold him prisoner.


WRONG ELBOW LOCK
Some instructors teach you to block your Assailant's arm with your own right forearm.
Pass your left hand behind his forearm and grasp your right wrist.
Force his hand back until he quits.
THE COUNTER
The counter to this trick is obvious and easy.
Simply bend one knee, dropping down, thus relieving the pain in your elbow.
Raise the other knee, and kick him in the stomach.


LESSON 21
This lesson teaches you: --
The second defense against downward blow of knife.
It also teaches you the principle of the line of support.

Name of Partner Date Commenced Second Defense
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Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.


SECOND DEFENSE AGAINST DOWNWARD BLOW OF KNIFE
Assailant may frustrate your attempt to secure the elbow break by straightening his arm.
Immediately give up the idea of trying for the elbow break and instead, force his arm straight up and back.
Catch him on the throat with the space between the thumb and forefinger, of your right hand, pushing him back at right angles to his line of support.
This shows a trip by bringing your right leg behind his right leg. This can only be done when his right leg is forward.
It is superfluous, as if you strike him smartly on the neck, in the proper direction, he will go down like a ninepin.
If you are ever up against a man with a knife, the most important thing for you if you wish to survive, is to give him your knee, either before or after your hand has reached his throat.
Assailant again attacks you with his right arm stiff and straight making the elbow break impossible.
Again force his right arm up unbalancing him backwards.
He has stepped forward with his left foot this time making it impossible to trip his right leg as on previous page.
A trip is unnecessary as a blow to the throat with the right hand will knock him over backwards.
The direction of the blow must be at right angles to his line of support.
This demonstrates that the trip shown on previous page is unnecessary. You can throw your man in both cases much more quickly by the blow on the throat.
In practice simply unbalance him slightly until you feel that you could throw him with a little extra shove.


THE LINE OF SUPPORT
The line of support is a line drawn between your feet.
If the pressure you exert against opponent runs in the same direction as his line of support you are working against his strongest point.
To illustrate, when opponent has right leg forward, if you push against his left leg, you are working against his strongest point.
If his left leg is forward and you push against his right leg, you are fighting 100% of his strength.
Instead of that, if you work at right angles to his line of support, as illustrated in figures 128 and 130, you can always throw him, if you work neatly.
If on the other hand you work clumsily and allow him to divine your intention, he can change his line of support and bring it parallel to the direction of your pressure, and thus frustrate your intentions.
This principle I submit as the solution of the enigma propounded in the terse observation (credited alike to Bob Fitzsimmons, of cherished memory, and the more humble disciples of the cult of jujitsu), "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
It also supplies the clue to the broader principles of jujitsu on which the statesmen, financiers, and economists, both of the Orient and Occident, base their diplomatic relations with each other.
No teacher at whose feet I have sat, or whose writings I have earnestly studied, has ever informed me of this principle.
I have had to find it out for myself, and I therefore submit it, I hope with pardonable pride, as my own discovery.
However, history relates that when Columbus showed a critical world how to stand an egg on its end, he was told that he arrogated too much credit to himself.
Similarly I may be told that my labored explanation is superfluous, and that I have simply stated a well-known principle of applied mechanics.
If that is so, I shall not press my point, but instead shall express pleasure and gratification that the principle is so thoroughly understood.
Will the kind reader retrace his steps to Book 4, and apply this principle to his execution of the back throw.
He may then review all the other lessons in this course, and apply this principle to every trick in which he should unbalance his opponent.
He may perhaps be generously inclined and admit that I have discovered a new principle in the applied mechanics of hand-to-hand fighting.
If so, I thank him sincerely.
If not, I shall simply remark that it is a hard world, and pass on to the next lesson.


LESSON 22
This lesson teaches you: --
The third defense against downward blow of knife.
It also teaches the comparative value of the three methods.

Name of Partner Date Commenced Third Defense, Kick Third Defense, Blow
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Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.


THIRD DEFENSE AGAINST DOWNWARD BLOW OF KNIFE
The quickest method of turning the tables on a man who attacks you with knife or pistol is to parry the blow with your forearm, stepping in and lowering the body slightly, keeping erect and well-balanced.
Kick him in the abdomen with the rear foot.
Bend your left knee slightly, this lowers your center of gravity and gives you more balance.
Make the effort from the Stahara, this makes the kick twice as powerful as if you merely used the leg muscles. (See note further down re "The Jujitsu Kick.")
This is a foul kick only to be used where Assailant is trying to kill you. That is the only circumstance under which such a foul blow would be justifiable.
A surer parry still is to block his blow above the elbow.
This necessitates stepping in closer and lowering your body more.
When you block his forearm, if he had a long knife it might reach your head, but if you block his upper arm you are quite safe.
Simultaneously give him a sharp blow on the abdomen, either above or below the belt.
This blow is made with a sharp jab, the return being as quick as the blow.
In practice, put your full strength into the blow but stop it a few inches from the target.
Whether you would use the kick or blow depends upon your distance from the Assailant.
If you are farther away, the kick would be better, if you are closer in, the punch would be quicker.
Although the knee kick to the crotch is not illustrated here, it is the first thing to do in an emergency, as was taught to you in Book Two.
If you are a certain distance from Assailant you would use the toe kick, Figure 132. In other positions you might use the punch, Figure 133. But you would always precede or follow up with the knee kick.
Merely filing this information away in your mind is no good. This course trains your subconscious by repeated practice of selected tricks to use the best combination in an emergency.


THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE VARIOUS DEFENSES
On account of the ease with which an Assailant's arm can be broken, too high a value is apt to be placed on the elbow break. It is true that, once secured, the elbow break wins the fight, and enables the smaller man to take prisoner or disable his enemy.
There are many occasions where such a hold can be secured and it therefore should be mastered.
But in an actual fight against a man armed with a knife the chances of securing such a hold are only one in ten. The tactics taught in the third defense against downward blow give you a much better chance for your life.
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