Tag: Self-defence
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Terrorism Preparedness Primer for Singapore
Hamas has called for a global day of terrorism on 13 October. Here in Singapore, it is tempting to believe that it has little to do with us. The Middle East is far away, and Singapore doesn’t embroil itself in international affairs. Yet this is a mistake. Singapore’s long-standing relationship with Israel and the United…
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Series Review: Writing Violence by Marc MacYoung
Marc ‘Animal’ MacYoung watches rom-coms because Hollywood gets action scenes wrong. Having worked as a court-recognized expert witness, correctional institute director, bodyguard, bouncer, cooler and event security, he has decades of first-hand experience with violence and criminals. His street name came from a high-risk lifestyle filled with life-or-death encounters on the mean streets of Los…
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Tactical Breathing in A High Pressure Situation
A few days ago I’ve had the misfortune of speaking with a most unpleasant individual. What started as an attempt at civil conversation degenerated into a one-way tirade of insults, hyperbole and outright lies. It reached the point where he uttered three lies in the space of a breath. I called him out on that,…
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Martial Analysis: The Knife
Knives are brutally effective at killing people and terribly ineffective for self-defence. To understand this conundrum, we need to understand the properties of a knife. First, the pros. Knives puncture and sever. With a properly sharpened knife, it doesn’t take a lot of force to penetrate flesh and open veins. Smaller knives can be easily…
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The Appeal of the Islamic State
Yesterday The Middle Ground published an opinion piece titled A Young Muslim on ISIS. While it approaches the Islamic State (henceforth called Daesh here) from the perspective of a Muslim, the writer makes a few generalities that don’t hold up. Crucially, he says: “My sense is, if you add a dash of ignorance and a sprinkle…
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Banning Julien Blanc: NIMBYism on a global scale
Banning Julien Blanc undermines freedom of speech and travel. The better approach would be to arrest him, criticise him, or kill him. The latter removes a threat to society; the former pushes the burden to someone else and punishes someone for disagreeing with the memes of the day.