Threat of force
vs.
Use of force

If killer only needs your life, he’s just going to kill you. Using threat of force (or more accurately, but also more verbose threat of use of lethal force) by assailant is an indicator that he’s not going to kill you (at least, not yet), but needs your active cooperation in achieving his goals.

Human are multi-dimensional creatures. At any moment and in any situation we have multiple goals – some are articulated and some aren’t (even for ourselves).

Your assailant (regardless of how disgusting this monster that pointed gun at you) is a human and killing you isn’t the only goal he has in mind.

To find your way out of danger, you need first to figure out what are goals of your assailant. To win over anyone, and it’s doesn’t matter – in love or in hate, you need to understand him and to give him what he wants. Also, you need to define for yourself terms on which you’re willing to win and on which you’re willing to concede.

Even most crazy serial killer that got you on a gunpoint may not be satisfied with killing you unless he’ll see you terrified. So, if you’ll remain calm and visibly assured, you have batter chance to survive the ordeal. However, in a look-a-like situation, when it’s not a real killer, but just deeply disturbed and scared street thug that see you as an dangerous invader that trespassing his territory, he may kill you out of fear if you do display courage and will let you go if you will display acceptance of his "authority”.

The problem here, even if you can perfectly control your emotions under threat of force, is that you need to understand your assailant in the first moments of encounter when under enormous pressure and your error may cost you live.

Excellent discussion on this subject is on the site of Macs “Animal” MacYoung http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/ . When his site has nothing to do with Judo or, in strait terms, with Martial Arts, its discussion of criminal violence, threat of force, legal self-defense, and personal safety unsurpassed by any other source I know about. Take a look at this – it will challenge your understanding of many, seemingly simple, things.

When leaving subject of hostage crises negotiation to pros (and when you on a gunpoint, you’re indeed hostage), I want to come back to using threat-of-use-of-lethal-force.

When someone pulling gun on you, he’s saying “I’m ready to kill you” and, unless his developmental level below five year old child, he expects you to return the “favor”. From this point on he’s really scared of you – he effectively made you his own (potential) killer. For a lone gunmen (and this is the scenario, I’m addressing) it posing multiple challenges – he needs to keep you in his weapon effective zone and be inaccessible to your potential take-over. Especially risky activities are body search, immobilization, and moving around.

Book by colonel Rex Applegate “Kill Or Get Killed: Riot Control Techniques, Manhandling, and Close Combat for Police and the Military" is the classic manual from WWII. If you’ll compare it to more recent instructions, you will see notable differences: some techniques that ware fine then considered too risky now. I feel that those changes are the result of proliferation of Judo knowledge (as Olympic Judo is the second most practiced sport in the World after soccer, and may even surpass it, if we’ll take into account all it’s non-Olympic versions ).

When you under threat of force at gunpoint , you may not have a chance, but if you’ll have the chance, Judo training will help you to use it.

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