The Punch T e “punch” is actually a quick palm-heel strike to the face, head or body concurrent with drawing the handgun. T is strike is properly more a “stiff -arm” to the face, rock- ing the man’s head back or gaining distance from the suspect—either he moves back or the offi cer is propelled backward, gaining some distance.
It is not unusual for any strike to the head to miss completely, or to get only partial contact. Accuracy is important, but so is speed. The moment you orient to his drawing a weapon, you must react. If your hand is not instantly to his face or striking his chest upon orienting, you won’t beat his first shot. T e expectation of the eff ect of the strike must be realistic. Most punches in a fi ght miss. T is one just might miss as well. If you manage to make contact, it will likely be ineff ective at stopping his fi rst gunshot. He may stumble back if hit well, but that may not give you much extra time. It is highly unlikely to unbalance him and cause him to fall, and an instant knockout is very unlikely.
The Draw It is not unusual for a draw to take more than one second from a duty holster in nor- mal circumstances. T is means your strike must be eff ective enough to buy you the time you need to draw your handgun, target the T reat, and fi re accurately enough with suffi - cient rounds to stop him from shooting you. Failing that, you are simply in a gunfi ght. Striking and pushing him back may not stop him from shooting.
Modifying the Punch/Draw A modifi cation combined with movement may be a better option in certain situations where you choose maneuver to your ad- vantage. T e traditional straight palm-heel strike carries your bodyweight either forward into the T reat (resulting in a more eff ective strike) or, more likely, backward. In either case, the linear movement keeps you an- chored in front of the T reat. A static target on his radar is a very dangerous place to be in a gunfi ght. Rather than a straight palm-heel strike to his nose, a quick lateral palm-strike has
11 The Police Marksman Jan-Feb 2014
Moving far enough back permits full extension of the weapon while fi ring, but leaves you standing in front of the suspect while exchanging rounds—never a good strategy.
Moving laterally provides your body movement and weight to support the quick horizontal palm strike to the side of his face, jaw, or ear (which is potentially much more effective) than a palm heel strike while moving backward) and takes you out of his primary targeting zone.
proven to be useful. It is similar to a slapping motion and delivered horizontally to his jaw or ear in the same direction you are moving. T e strike is combined with the fi rst step (if moving to the right, the right foot steps as the non-gun left hand strikes). T e strik-
ing surface is ideally the open-handed palm heel. As you move, you strike on the way by, draw, circling to his fl ank or rear as you make your shoot/no-shoot decisions. If you reasonably believe he is a deadly imminent threat, shoot him in the fl ank or back.
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Photo Credit: Cynthia Williams, Cutting Edge Training, LLC
Photo Credit: Cynthia Williams, Cutting Edge Training, LLC
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