In the empty-hand realm of combat true ambidexterity
is a rare bird. Marvelous Marvin Hagler took great pains to develop facility
both as an orthodox fighter and as a southpaw, but we could easily see where he
stacked his chips when the heat was high.
Seeking ambidexterity is a worthy goal, but one that
has opportunity-costs. That is, the time put into developing the off-hand
[off-foot for kicking, or off-side for grappling] means that is time we no
longer have for moving the competency needle further towards mastery on our
“good” side.
We should always make that opportunity
cost/cost-to-benefit analysis in our training as there are only so many hours
in the day, and precious few per week dedicated to training itself. With actual
training time at a premium do we want so-so returns or better-than-average?
This is not an argument against empty-handed ambidexterity,
not at all, just one of time-utility and, well, a jaded eye towards reality.
If we are to make an empty hand attempt, it might be
wise to also attack the ambidextrous in the non-training realm as well.
“Practice even
at the things which you despair of accomplishing. For even the left hand, which
is ineffectual for all other things for want of practice, holds the bridle more
vigorously than the right hand; for it has been practiced in this.”-Marcus
Aurelius, The Meditations Book XII,
6
The Emperor is referring to building up qualities we despair
of attaining, courage, coolness under pressure, but his example does indeed
show the way.
Brushing the teeth with the off-hand, feeding yourself
with the off-hand, tying the shoes with the off-hand etc. can make in-roads
into bringing the off-hand online, but…specificity of task being specificity of
task this is zero guarantee that a facile off-hand tooth-scrubbing turns into a
lightning-fast laser-pinpointed off-hand jab.
Not to worry though, ambidexterity in the empty-hand
game may be of little value in the long-run. Most sportive encounters no-longer
see injuries where a switch must be made. Most street encounters are of such short
durations that “equal” facility does not pay dividends.
Where a bit of ambidexterity may play a part is in the
realm of weapons.
THE CASE FOR WEAPON AMBIDEXTERITY
Weapons imply higher stakes, higher rates of injury
and more dire injuries at that. Injuries that at the very least can put the
“good hand” out of play.
But even here, opportunity costs must be obeyed. True ambidextrous
facility may not hit 100%, but rather than despair, we might wisely shift our
goal from being ambidextrous to being “shifty.”
Here, being shifty does not refer to being unscrupulous
in character but having just enough facility with the off-hand that your off-side
is not so much an ace in the hole, but at least a face card.
Let’s
talk Vikings for a moment.
In the Sagas which, admittedly are legend, but in many
cases, legend steeped in actuality, we occasionally come across references to a
warrior being “cunning.” To be “cunning” in these old translations is not our current
incarnation of the word which is something akin to wickedly ingenious.
The early use of cunning refers to the ability to
switch-hands with a weapon. A sword or battle axe or spear that is wielded with
facility in either hand.
You will occasionally find this “cunning” trait in the
Sagas referred to as “shifty” literally the ability to “shift hands” in battle.
Shifty gradually mutated to meaning “resourceful,
or full of maneuvers” and how it finally wound up with the disreputable meaning
today is another story. Some folks considered it not quite “fair play” to be
facile and shifty and able to swap hands with a weapon. [Sounds like sour
grapes to me.]
There are numerous references in the Sagas to cunning
and shifty fighters. Feats of sword and axe juggling demonstrated in leisure
hours which seemed to be a part of gaining this facility/ability for
either-handedness.
There are also numerous [oh, my Lord, I do mean
numerous] mentions of warriors losing limbs in battle. Being able to “shift” is
a necessity when the good hand is laying in the gore begrimed mud of battle.
[For a look at how the shift was done with a Viking
axe see our volume Battle-Axe
Secrets.]
There are other warrior cultures that placed a premium
on two-handed facility but let’s place a spotlight on just one more.
The American Frontier
The
Bushwhackers of Missouri in the Civil War era [and Post-War
for those who kept up the wilding ways on the outlaw trail.]
The Missouri Bushwhackers were guerillas to some,
heroes to some, violent villains to many [and the truth is an “All of the
above” answer here.]
But what was agreed on was their fierce fighting
ability. One aspect of it was going into battle with more than a few pistols
strapped to the body. A minimum of two, in some cases as many as five.
These Missourians were known for the ability to fire
quickly and well from horseback [a none too easy feat—try hitting a moving
target with a handgun from atop a moving perch while in the heat of battle.]
Many possessed facility firing with both hands alternately
but…to keep us in the corral of being “shifty” many adopted a maneuver that
become known as the Border Shift.
Let’s break this Border Shift down…
·
Draw both pistols, holding the reins at
the same time with your teeth or off-hand.
·
Fire and empty the pistol in the strong
hand.
·
Toss it for a single backward somersault
in the air…
·
Toss the off-hand pistol to the strong
hand.
·
Catch the somersaulting firearm and…
·
Fire the newly arrived strong-hand weapon.
Contemporary accounts say the manner was accomplished
so fast you could not hear the break between the firing of two pistols.
[For the Record—There are many varieties of
firearm shifts—we have a Black
Box title in the works that offers a complete historically accurate vocabulary
of these canny CQB firearms tactics.]
To round this musing back to the present, it might be
wise to look to the Vikings and Bushwhackers and consider that where weapons
are concerned there is likely a high probability of debilitating injury. And
with that in mind, like the Vikings and Bushwhackers it might be wise to devote
a bit of time to being shifty, to being a bit cunning.
If never wholly ambidextrous we at least weight the
game a bit more in our favor using real-world models as our “resourceful and full of maneuvers”
template.
With all that said, our latest Black
Box Volume is titled Frontier Bowie Knife & Tomahawk Shifts, a
complete training plan for historically accurate fore and aft shifts with each
of these weapons, including the natural follow-ups, the wheres, whens and
how-to’s of use, the “Grab the Thumb” concept and much much more.
Resources for
Livin’ the Warrior Life
The Black Box
Store
https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/
The Indigenous
Ability Blog
https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/
The Rough ‘n’
Tumble Raconteur Podcast
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